JP2002236389A - Toner and image forming device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the durability of a toner contact member to improve the electrification of toner by effectively suppressing filming on the toner contact member such as a toner carrier, a toner control member and a latent image carrier, as for the toner using base particles and an external additive. SOLUTION: As for the toner having the base particle roundness of <=0.95, the isolation ratio of the external additive is set to be 0.2 to 5%. Then, it is difficult for the toner T to pass through a cleaning blade after a transfer process, then, the residual toner is surely removed by the cleaning blade, and the occurrence of filming on the toner contact member is suppressed. Besides, the amount of the free external additive 19' is appropriately set, then, the base particle 18 is effectively covered with the external additive 19, and filming on the toner contact member hardly occurs, and the durability of the toner contact member is improved. The developing roller 16 in a developing unit and the toner control blade 17 are hardly covered with the external additive 19 due to the free external additive 19', then, the toner can be appropriately electrified.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toner for developing an electrostatic latent image on a latent image carrier, comprising at least a number of base particles and a number of particles of an external additive such as silica. It belongs to the technical field and the technical field of an image forming apparatus for forming an image using the toner, and in particular, fills a toner contact member such as a latent image carrier, a toner carrier and a toner regulating member with a toner contact member. The present invention belongs to the technical field of a toner capable of improving the durability of a toner contact member by suppressing the occurrence of a toner, and an image forming apparatus using the toner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus using toner, an electrostatic latent image on a latent image carrier is developed with toner, and the developed image is transferred to a transfer material such as paper. Then, a transferred image of the exposed electrostatic latent image is formed on the latent image carrier, and then the transferred image is fixed to form an image.

As an example of such a conventional image forming apparatus, there is a full-color intermediate transfer type image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. In the image forming apparatus 1, an image is exposed as an electrostatic latent image on a photoreceptor 2, which is a latent image carrier, and the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 2 is changed to yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. Each non-magnetic one-component developer 3,
The developed images are sequentially developed at 4, 5, and 6 (the order of each color is arbitrary) to be visualized, and the developed image on the photoreceptor 2 is color-matched on the intermediate transfer belt 7a of the intermediate transfer body 7 to be primary. After the transfer, the image is secondarily transferred to a transfer material 9 such as paper on a secondary transfer roller 8 a of a transfer device 8, and thereafter, a desired image is obtained on the transfer material 9 by heating and fixing in a fixing device 10. It has become.

After the developed image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 7a, the residual toner T 'remaining on the photosensitive member 2
Is removed by the cleaning blade 11 is collected in a residual toner box 12. Although not shown, the primary transfer image on the intermediate transfer belt 7a is similarly
After the secondary transfer, the residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 7a is also removed by the cleaning blade,
Collected in the residual toner box.

Each of the non-magnetic one-component developing units 3, 4, 5, and 6 has substantially the same configuration, and is a contact developing type developing unit in which the conductive developing roller 16 and the photosensitive member 2 are in contact with each other. As shown in FIG. 2A, each of the developing devices 3, 4, 5, and 6 transfers the toner T in the toner storage unit 13 to the toner conveying unit 1.
At 4, the toner T is conveyed to a toner supply roller 15 serving as a toner supply unit, and the toner T is supplied to the developing roller 16 by the toner supply roller 15 and carried on the surface of the developing roller 16. When the developing voltage of the AC bias is applied to the developing roller 16 and the developing roller 16 is rotated at a high speed, the toner T on the developing roller 16 is a toner regulating member pressed against the surface of the developing roller 16. The toner is regulated to a uniform thin layer by a certain toner regulating blade 17 and is uniformly charged. Then, the developing roller 1
The toner T on 6 is uniformly conveyed toward the photoconductor 2 that is in contact with the developing roller 16. Then, the toner T on the developing roller 16 is applied with the developing voltage applied to the developing roller 16.
Are moved toward the photoconductor 2, the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 2 is developed with the toner T.

As a non-magnetic one-component developing method using the conductive developing roller 16, there is a non-contact developing method in which the developing roller 16 and the photosensitive member 2 are separated from each other. In the non-contact developing method, a developing voltage is applied to the developing roller 16, and the toner T particles on the developing roller 16 are applied to the photosensitive member 2 by the developing voltage.
The electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 2 is jumped and developed with the toner T by the jumping movement toward.

[0007] Such a conventional non-magnetic one-component developing apparatus 1
In the above, the toner T is fused onto a toner contact member such as the developing roller 16, the toner regulating blade 17, the photoconductor 2, and the intermediate transfer belt 7a which comes into contact with the toner, or the floating external additive is separated from the toner to fill the toner. May occur. For this reason, poor conveyance of the toner T by the developing roller 16, poor regulation of the toner regulating blade 17, poor development of the photoconductor 2, and the like occur, and image quality deteriorates. Therefore, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 2B, an external additive 1 such as silica
9 is appropriately covered to prevent the toner T from adhering to the above-mentioned toner contact member. The diameter of the external additive 19 is set to be extremely smaller than the diameter of the base particles 18. Further, in the heat fixing by the fixing device 10, in order to enable low-temperature fixing, conventionally, the toner T uses the base particles 18 having a relatively soft and low softening point even at normal temperature.

[0008]

Incidentally, in the above-mentioned toner T, the external additive 19 is adhered to the base particle 18 by mixing the base particle 18 and the external additive 19; The mother particles 18 adhere to each other as shown in FIG.
And an external additive 19 (reference numeral 18 is used for both the base particle itself and the mother particle to which the external additive is attached, as described above. Reference numeral 19 is an external additive itself and the mother particle, as described above. Used as any of the external additives attached to the base particles), the free base particles 18 'to which the external additives 19 are not attached, and the free external additives 19' not to be attached to the base particles 18. I have.

However, especially the base particles 18 having a low softening point
In the case, when the circularity of the base particles 18 is large, the base particles 18
Becomes round, and after the transfer, the photosensitive member 2 and the intermediate transfer belt 2a
The mother particles 18 of the residual toner T 'remaining on the photosensitive member 2 and the intermediate transfer belt 7 are not removed by slipping between the cleaning blade 11 and the photosensitive member 2 or between the cleaning blade 11 and the intermediate transfer belt 7a. 7a, and filming occurs. For this reason, the photosensitive member 2 and the intermediate transfer belt 7 which are toner contact members
a deteriorates in durability.

When the amount of the free external additive 19 'is increased in the toner T, it becomes difficult to effectively cover the base particles 18 with the external additives 19, and the base particles 18 are placed on the toner contact member as described above. Fusing and filming are likely to occur,
Many of the free external additives 19 'adhere to the toner contact member, so that filming easily occurs, and the durability of the toner contact member is reduced.

Further, the inside of the developing devices 3, 4, 5, and 6 is easily contaminated by a large number of free external additives 19 ', and in particular, a charging member such as the developing roller 16 and the toner regulating blade 17 for charging the toner T. Is covered with the free external additive 19 ', the toner T becomes difficult to be charged, and the chargeability of the toner T is reduced.

Further, if the amount of the free external additive 19 ′ in the toner T is small, the mother particles 18 are covered with a large amount of the external additive 19, so that a large amount of heat is taken by the external additive 19 during heat fixing. In addition to this, there is a problem that heat is hardly transmitted to the base particles 18 to cause deterioration of low-temperature fixability, and further, elution of the release agent is inhibited, thereby causing deterioration of fixability. There is also a problem that the external additive is buried in the base particles, and the low melting point component of the base particles contaminates the toner contact member.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a toner using a mother particle, an external additive, a toner carrier, a toner regulating member, and a latent image carrier. and more effectively suppress the filming on the toner contact members of the body such as to provide an image forming apparatus using the toner and the toner can be improved durability and toner charging property of the toner contact member.

[0014]

In order to solve this problem, the toner according to the first aspect of the present invention has at least a large number of base particles and a large number of external additive particles, and the circularity of the base particles is small. The toner of 0.95 or less is characterized in that the external additive release rate of the free external additive that is not attached to the base particles is set to 0.2 to 5%.

Further, the invention of claim 2 is characterized in that the base particles are pulverized toner produced by the pulverization method. Further, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the external additive is silica. Further, the image forming apparatus of the invention according to claim 4, wherein a latent image carrier on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, and a toner carrier for conveying toner to develop the electrostatic latent image on the latent image carrier, And a developing device having a toner regulating member that regulates at least toner conveyed toward the latent image carrier by the toner carrier, wherein the toner is the toner according to any one of claims 1 to 3. It is characterized by having.

[0016]

In the toner of the present invention thus constituted, the circularity of the base particles is set to 0.95 or less, and the external additive release rate is set to 0.2 to 5%. This allows
Since the base particles are not so rounded (spherical), it is difficult for the toner to pass through the cleaning blade after transfer,
Residual toner is reliably removed by the cleaning blade. Therefore, since the occurrence of filming of the toner contact member is suppressed, the durability of the toner contact member cleaned by the cleaning blade is improved.

Further, since the amount of the free external additive is set to an appropriate amount with respect to the total amount of the toner, the base particles are effectively covered with the external additive, and the base particles are fused on the toner contact member. As a result, the free external additives are not so small that the free external additives adhere to the toner contact member, so that the filming hardly occurs. This also improves the durability of the toner contact member.

In addition, since the inside of the developing device is less likely to be contaminated by the free external additive, in particular, a charging member for charging the toner, such as a toner carrier or a toner regulating member, in the developing device is hardly covered with the external additive. Become. Therefore, the toner is easily charged properly, and the chargeability of the toner is improved. Therefore, in the toner of the present invention, the latent image carrier, the toner carrier,
In addition, the durability of the toner contact member such as the toner regulating member is improved, and the chargeability of the toner is improved, so that the image quality is improved.

Further, since the base particles are effectively covered with the external additive, the amount of heat is not deprived by the external additive during heating and fixing, and the heat is effectively transmitted to the base particles. The low-temperature fixability is improved, and the release agent of the toner is appropriately eluted, so that the fixability is improved. Furthermore, even if the external additive is embedded in the base particles, the base particles are effectively coated with the external additive, so that the low melting point component of the base particles is prevented from contaminating the toner contact member. .

On the other hand, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention,
By using this toner, the durability of the toner contact member such as the latent image carrier, the toner carrier, and the toner regulating member is improved, and the chargeability of the toner is improved, so that good image quality can be obtained.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration as the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2A, respectively. Therefore, the operation of the image forming apparatus 1 of this example at the time of image formation is the same as that of the above-described conventional example.

The toner T of the present invention used in the image forming apparatus 1 of this embodiment has a large number of base particles 18 made of a resin having a low softening point at room temperature and silica or the like which covers these base particles 18. And a large number of external additives 19. In this case, the toner T having a base particle circularity of 0.95 or less
In the above, the external additive release rate of the free external additive 19 ′, which is not attached to the base particles 18, is set to 0.2 to 5%. In addition, if the circularity is too low, the above-described effects and the effects described below may not be reliably obtained. Therefore, preferably, the base particle circularity is 0.88 to 0.8.
95 is desirable.

The circularity is given by: circularity = (perimeter of a circle having the same area as the projected area of a particle) / {contour length (perimeter) of particle projected view}.

The circularity of the base particles 18 can be determined by, for example, a flow type particle image analyzer (FPIA-2100; manufactured by Sysmex Corporation). In this flow type particle image analyzer, the particles of the toner T are guided to a flat sheath flow cell and made into a flat sample flow by a sheath liquid, and the sample flow is irradiated with strobe light. Then, the particles passing through the flow cell are imaged as a focused still image particle image by a CCD camera through an objective lens, and the imaged particle image is analyzed in real time, and the projected area and perimeter of each particle are determined. The equivalent circle diameter and circularity are calculated from the measured projection area and the circumference.

In this example, the circularity of the base particles 18 is obtained by using the above-mentioned flow type particle image analyzer, but the circularity of the base particles 18 is calculated by the above-mentioned flow type particle image analyzer. Other conventional methods for calculating circularity other than the calculation method can be used.However, since the circularity can be obtained more accurately and more easily, it is preferable to use the calculation method using the flow type particle image analyzer. preferable.

The external additive release rate is the percentage of the amount of the external additive 19 'relative to the total amount of the toner. To determine the developer release rate, the amount of the free external additive 19 'and the amount of the free base particle 18' which is the base particle to which the external additive 19 is not adhered are determined.
It is necessary to analyze the state of adhesion between the base particles 18 and the external additives 19 in order to know the amount of the base particles 18 to which the external additives 19 have adhered. It is being carried out. The image forming apparatus 1 of this example employs, for example, the following particle analyzer method.

That is, in the image forming apparatus 1 of this example,
As a method of analyzing the adhesion state between the base particles 18 of the toner T and the external additive 19, an annual meeting of the Electrophotographic Society of Japan (total 95
Times), "Japan Hardcopy '97", Collection of Papers, "New Evaluation Method of External Addition-Toner Analysis by Particle Analyzer-", Toshiyuki Suzuki, Toshio Takahara, Electrophotographic Society, 199
The toner analysis method (PT1000) disclosed on July 9 to 11, 2007 is employed.

In this toner analysis method, particles of toner T formed by adhering an external additive 19 made of silica (SiO ₂ ) to the surface of base particles 18 made of resin (C) are introduced into plasma. Excites the toner T particles,
This is a method of performing elemental analysis by obtaining emission spectra as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B accompanying this excitation.

In FIG. 3, the horizontal axis of the emission spectrum indicates the time axis. First, as shown in FIG. 3A, when the toner T particles obtained by adhering the external additive (SiO ₂ ) to the resin base particles (C) of the toner T are introduced into the plasma, the mother particles (C) and the outer particles are formed. The additive (SiO ₂ ) emits light. At this time,
Since the base particles (C) and the external additive (SiO ₂ ) are simultaneously introduced into the plasma, the base particles (C) and the external additive (SiO ₂ ) are introduced.
₂ ) and emit light simultaneously. Thus, when the base particles (C) and the external additive (SiO ₂ ) emit light simultaneously, it is said that the base particles (C) and the external additive (SiO ₂ ) are synchronized. In other words, the state where the base particles (C) and the external additive (SiO ₂ ) are synchronized indicates a state where the external additive (SiO ₂ ) is attached to the base particles (C).

Further, as shown in FIG.
Base particles (C) or base particles (C) to which iO ₂ ) does not adhere.
When the external additive (SiO ₂ ) released from the gas is introduced into the plasma, the mother particles (C) and the external additive (S
iO ₂ ) emits light, but at this time, the base particles (C) and the external additive (SiO ₂ ) are introduced into the plasma at different times.
Light emission occurs at a time different from ₂ ) (for example, when the base particles are introduced into the plasma before the external additives, the base particles emit light first, and thereafter the external additives emit light after a delay).

Thus, the base particles (C) and the external additives (Si
O ₂ ) emits light at different times from each other,
It is said that the base particles (C) and the external additive (SiO ₂ ) are not synchronized (that is, asynchronous). In other words, the state in which the base particles (C) and the external additive (SiO ₂ ) are asynchronous is as follows:
This means that the external additive (SiO ₂ ) does not adhere to the base particles (C), and the base particles and the external additives are free base particles and free external additives, respectively.

Further, in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the height of the light emission signal indicates the intensity of the light emission. including its elemental (C, SiO ₂₎ is proportional to the number of atoms. Then, in order to express the emission intensity of the element as the size of the particles, when light emission of the base particles (C) and the external additive (SiO ₂ ) is obtained as shown in FIG. 4, these base particles (C) And spherical particles made only of the external additive (SiO ₂ ), the base particles (C) and the external additive (Si
O ₂ ). The true sphere particles at this time are called equivalent particles, and the particle size is called an equivalent particle size. Since the external additive is very small, the particles cannot be detected one by one. Therefore, the emission signal of the detected external additive is added to be converted into one equivalent particle and analyzed. . The equivalent particle size of the equivalent particles obtained by the respective emission spectra of the base particles and the external additive is calculated by
Is plotted for each particle, an equivalent particle size distribution diagram of the toner particles as shown in FIG. 5 is obtained.

In FIG. 5, the horizontal axis represents the equivalent of the base particle (C).
The vertical axis represents the external additive (SiO 2). _TwoTable) Equivalent particle size
are doing. The equivalent particles on the horizontal axis represent the external additive (Si
O_Two) Represents an asynchronous parent particle (C) without attachment
ing. In that case, the external additive less than the specified external additive concentration
Are also shown on this horizontal axis, and the non-
Synchronous mother particles (C). Also, the equivalent on the vertical axis
The particles are made of an asynchronous external additive (S) released from the base particles (C).
iO_Two). In addition, not on the horizontal and vertical axes
The equivalent particles are obtained by adding an external additive (SiO 2) to the base particles (C)._Two) Adheres
Represents the synchronized toner T. Like this
The external additive (Si) to the base particles (C) of the toner T
O_Two) Is analyzed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, using the equivalent particle size distribution diagram of the toner particles shown in FIG. 5, the adhesion state of carbon (C) in the base particles of the toner T and the external additive (SiO ₂ ). Is utilized using one approximate straight line α passing through the origin obtained by using the least squares method. The slope (equivalent particle size of external additive / equivalent particle size of base particle) θ of this approximate straight line α is the concentration of the external additive (SiO ₂ ) adhering (synchronizing) to the base particle (C). Represents. That is, the smaller the inclination θ, the smaller the amount of the synchronized external additive (SiO ₂ ), and the larger the inclination θ, the larger the synchronized external additive (SiO ₂ ).

In the present invention, using the equivalent particle size distribution diagram of the toner particles shown in FIG. The additive release rate is determined.

In this example, the toner analysis is performed by using the equivalent particle size distribution diagram of the toner particles shown in FIG. 5, but the toner analysis method of the present invention is not limited to the above-described particle analyzer method. Analytical methods can also be used. However, it is preferable to use the particle analyzer method because the toner analysis can be performed more accurately and more easily.

Further, the flow softening point of the base particles 18 of the toner T is preferably 100 ° C. to 120 ° C. This is because when the flow softening point of the base particles 18 becomes lower than 100 ° C., the toner T gradually fuses to the toner contact members such as the developing roller 16, the toner regulating blade 17, and the photoreceptor 2. Although this does not hinder practical use, it is not preferable that the size be further reduced. Also,
When the flow softening point of the base particles 18 is higher than 120 ° C., the low-temperature fixing becomes gradually poor. However, even if the flow softening point is increased to some extent, there is no problem in practical use. Absent.

Incidentally, the toner T used in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment may be either negative polarity or positive polarity toner. At least a coloring agent, a charge controlling agent, and other resins are added to the base particles 18, and a dispersant, a release agent (WAX), a magnetic material, other additives, and the like are also appropriately added.

As the base particles 18, a base particle material having a relatively low softening point at room temperature is used, and polystyrene and a copolymer such as a hydrogenated styrene resin, a styrene / isobutylene copolymer, an ABS resin, an ASA resin, AS resin, AAS resin, ACS resin, AES resin, styrene
P-chlorostyrene copolymer, styrene-propylene copolymer, styrene-butadiene cross-linked polymer, styrene
Butadiene / chlorinated paraffin copolymer, styrene / allyl / alcohol copolymer, styrene / butadiene rubber emulsion, styrene / maleic ester copolymer, styrene / isobutylene copolymer, styrene / maleic anhydride copolymer, acrylate Resin or methacrylate resin and its copolymer, styrene / acrylic resin and its copolymer such as styrene / acrylic copolymer, styrene / diethylamino / ethyl methacrylate copolymer, styrene / butadiene / acrylic acid Ester copolymer, styrene / methyl methacrylate copolymer, styrene / n-butyl methacrylate copolymer, styrene / methyl methacrylate / n-
Butyl acrylate copolymer, styrene / methyl methacrylate / butyl acrylate / N- (ethoxymethyl) acrylamide copolymer, styrene / glycidyl methacrylate copolymer, styrene / butadiene / dimethyl / aminoethyl methacrylate copolymer, styrene・ Acrylic acid ester ・ Maleic acid ester copolymer, Styrene ・ Methyl methacrylate ・ Acrylic acid 2-
Ethylhexyl copolymer, styrene / n-butyl acrylate / ethyl glycol methacrylate copolymer, styrene / n-butyl methacrylate / acrylic acid copolymer, styrene / n-butyl methacrylate / maleic anhydride copolymer, styrene Butyl acrylate, isobutyl maleic acid half ester, divinylbenzene copolymer, polyester and its copolymer, polyethylene and its copolymer, epoxy resin, silicone resin,
One or a mixture of two or more of polypropylene and its copolymer, a fluorine resin, a polyamide resin, a polyvinyl alcohol resin, a polyurethane resin, and a polyvinyl butyral resin can be used.

Examples of colorants include carbon black, spirit black, nigrosine, rhodamine, triaminotriphenylmethane, cation, dioxazine, copper phthalocyanine, berylen, azo, gold-containing azo pigment, azochrome complex, carmine, Benzidine,
Solar Pure Yellow 8G, quinacridone, polytungstophosphoric acid, induslen blue, a sulfonamide derivative and the like can be used.

As the charge control agent, an electron-accepting organic complex, chlorinated polyester, nitrophenic acid, quaternary ammonium salt, pyridinyl salt and the like can be used. As the release agent, polypropylene wax, polyethylene wax, ester wax, or the like can be used. As a dispersant, metal soap, polyethylene glycol, and the like can be used. As other additives, zinc stearate, zinc oxide, cerium oxide and the like can be used.

As the magnetic agent, Fe, Co, Ni, C
Metal powder such as r, Mn, Zn, etc., Fe ₃ O ₄ , Fe ₂ O ₃ , Cr
_An alloy or the like which exhibits ferromagnetism by heat treatment such as a metal oxide such as ₂ O ₃ or ferrite, or an alloy containing manganese and an acid can be used, and a preliminary treatment such as a coupling agent may be performed in advance. And, using these, a general kneading and pulverizing method,
The mother particles 18 are prepared by a spray-dry method, a polymerization method, or the like.

Examples of the external additive 19 include fine particles of metal oxides such as silica, aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, strontium titanate, cerium oxide, magnesium oxide and chromium oxide, fine particles of nitride such as silicon nitride, and silicon carbide. It is possible to mix and use one or more kinds of fine particles of carbides, fine particles of metal salts such as calcium sulfate, barium sulfate and calcium carbonate, and inorganic fine particles such as composites thereof, and organic fine particles such as acrylic fine particles. it can.
In addition to these surface treatment agents, in addition to HMDS, silane coupling agents, titanate coupling agents,
A fluorine-containing silane coupling agent, silicone oil, or the like can be used. The particle size of the external additive 19 is preferably 0.001 to 1 μm from the viewpoint of transportability and chargeability. The base particles 18 and the external additives 19 are dry-mixed with a high-speed fluid mixer such as a Henschel mixer or a Papen-Meyer or a mixer such as a mechanochemical method and adhered.

According to the thus configured toner T of this example, in the toner having a base particle circularity of 0.95 or less, the external additive release rate is set to 0.2 to 5%.
The base particles 18 are not so spherical, and the free external additive 19 'can be set to an appropriate amount with respect to the total amount of the toner T. Thereby, the photosensitive member 2 and the intermediate transfer belt 7 by the cleaning blade 11 of the cleaning device are
In the cleaning of the toner contact member such as a, the mother particles 18 of the residual toner T ′ after the transfer do not easily pass through the cleaning blade 11, so that the cleaning blade removes the toner particles on the toner contact member such as the photoconductor 2 or the intermediate transfer belt 7a. The toner particles remaining in the toner can be more reliably removed and collected. Therefore, since the occurrence of filming of the toner contact member is suppressed,
The durability of the toner contact member cleaned by the cleaning blade 11 can be improved.

Further, since the amount of the free external additive 19 'is set to an appropriate amount with respect to the total amount of the toner, the base particles 18 can be effectively covered with the external additive 19, and 18 can prevent the occurrence of filming of the toner contact member due to fusion. This also improves the durability of the toner contact member. In addition, since the inside of the developing units 3, 4, 5, and 6 is hardly contaminated by the free external additive 19 ', the developing roller 16, which is a toner carrier in the developing units 3, 4, 5, and 6, and the toner regulation Covering of the charging member such as the blade 17 for charging the toner T with the external additive 19 can be suppressed. Therefore, the toner T can be appropriately charged easily, and the chargeability of the toner can be improved.

Therefore, according to the toner of this example, the photosensitive member 2, the developing roller 16, and the toner regulating blade 1
7, and the toner contact members such as the intermediate transfer belt 7a can be improved in durability, and the chargeability of the toner can be improved, so that good image quality can be obtained.

Further, since the base particles 18 are effectively covered with the external additive 19, the heat quantity is not so much taken away by the external additive 19 at the time of heating and fixing, and the heat is effectively applied to the base particles 18. And improve low-temperature fixability.
Further, the release agent of the toner T can be appropriately eluted,
Good fixability can be obtained.

On the other hand, according to the image forming apparatus 1 of this example,
By using the toner T, the durability of toner contact members such as the photoconductor 2, the developing roller 16, the toner regulating blade 17, and the intermediate transfer belt 7a can be improved, and good image quality can be obtained.

Actually, with respect to each of the toners of Examples 1 to 3 of the present invention and each of the toners of Comparative Examples 1 and 2 for comparison with these Examples 1 to 3, the photosensitive member 2, the developing roller 16, and An experiment for measuring toner filming on the toner regulating blade 17 was performed. Table 1 shows the toner used and the external addition processing conditions in this measurement experiment, and the experimental results. The evaluation method of the experimental result is 10K (1K = 1
000) sheets, photoconductor 2 and developing roller 1
6 and the toner regulating blade 17 were evaluated as good when filming of the toner T did not occur, and the photosensitive member 2, the developing roller 16 and the toner regulating blade 17 were evaluated as good by 10K sheets. When filming occurred in any of them, it was evaluated as defective.

[0050]

[Table 1]

As shown in Table 1, in the toners of Examples 1 to 3 belonging to the present invention and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 not belonging to the present invention, the base particles 18 used are pulverized toners.
Silica (SiO ₂ ) is used as the external additive 19 used,
This silica is TG810G (manufactured by Cabot). In each case, the apparatus used for the external addition of the base particles 18 and silica was Henschel 20C (manufactured by Mitsui Mining), and the rotation speed of the apparatus used in the external addition was 2
850 rpm, and the throughput is 1.0 part by weight.

Further, the external addition processing time was 4 minutes in Example 1, 6 minutes in Example 2, 3 minutes in Example 3,
Comparative Example 1 is 2 minutes, and Comparative Example 2 is 10 minutes. Furthermore, the mother particle circularity was 0.92 in Example 1, 0.91 in Example 2, 0.92 in Example 3, 0.92 in Comparative Example 1, and 0.92 in Comparative Example. with 2 are 0.91, silica free rate was 2.8% eXAMPLE 1, an example 2 0.3% example 3 was 4.9% Comparative example 1 Is 8.2% and Comparative Example 2 is 0.1%.

As is clear from Table 1, with each of the toners T of Examples 1 to 3, even if the number of printed sheets reaches 10K, any one of the photosensitive member 2, the developing roller 16, and the toner regulating blade 17 is used. Also, no filming of the toner T occurred, and good results were obtained. Comparative Example 1
With the toner T, when the number of printed sheets is 1K or less, filming of the toner T occurs on both the photoconductor 2 and the toner regulating blade 17, and filming slightly occurs on the developing roller 16, which is not preferable. The result was obtained. Further, with the toner T of Comparative Example 2, the number of prints was 3K, and no filming occurred on the photoreceptor 2, but filming occurred on the toner regulating blade 17 and the developing roller 16, and an undesirable result was obtained. Was done. Therefore, it was found that filming of the toner contact member can be effectively suppressed by setting the circularity of the base particles to 0.95 or less and setting the silica release rate to 0.2 to 5%.

Table 1 shows data on the silica release ratio as the external additive release ratio, but the present invention can be applied to other external additive release ratios. However, it is desirable to apply the external additive release rate of the present invention to the silica release rate since the above-mentioned effects can be reliably obtained.

Further, the toner and the image forming apparatus of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned examples, but may be applied to a toner T having at least base particles and an external additive such as silica and an image forming apparatus using the toner T. If so, the present invention can be applied to any toner and image forming apparatus.

[0056]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the toner of the present invention, in the toner having a base particle circularity of 0.95 or less, the external additive release rate is set to 0.2 to 5%. Therefore, the residual toner after the transfer can be reliably removed by the cleaning blade. Therefore, the occurrence of filming of the toner contact member can be suppressed, and the durability of the toner contact member cleaned by the cleaning blade can be improved.

Since the amount of the free external additive is set to an appropriate amount with respect to the total amount of the toner, the base particles can be effectively covered with the external additive, and the toner contact member of the base particles can be effectively covered. The occurrence of filming due to fusion on the top can be suppressed.
This also improves the durability of the toner contact member. Moreover, since the developing device is not easily contaminated by free external additive, in particular, it can be suppressed, such as the toner carrier and the toner regulating member in the developing device, that the charging member for charging the toner is covered with the external additive . Therefore, the toner can be properly charged, and the chargeability of the toner can be improved.

Therefore, according to the toner of the present invention, the durability of the toner contact member such as the latent image carrier, the toner carrier, and the toner regulating member can be improved, and the chargeability of the toner can be improved. Obtainable.

Further, since the base particles can be effectively coated with the external additive, heat can be effectively transmitted to the base particles to improve the low-temperature fixability, and the release agent of the toner can be appropriately eluted. And good fixability can be obtained.

On the other hand, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, by using this toner, the durability of the toner contact members such as the latent image carrier, the toner carrier, and the toner regulating member can be improved, and the toner is charged. Quality can be improved, and good image quality can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a full-color intermediate transfer type image forming apparatus which is an example of a conventional image forming apparatus used as an example of an embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B schematically show an example of a conventional developing device used in the image forming apparatus of the example shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view thereof, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating toner particles.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining an example of a conventional toner analysis method for use in analyzing the state of adhesion between toner base particles and external additives.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating equivalent particles and equivalent particle sizes used in the toner analysis method shown in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing an analysis result by the toner analysis method shown in FIG.

6 is a diagram showing, based on the analysis result shown in FIG. 5, the state of adhesion between the mother particles of the toner and the external additive by using a single approximate straight line α passing through the origin using the least squares method.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 2 ... Latent image carrier (photoreceptor), 3, 4,
5, 6 developing device, 7 intermediate transfer member, 16 toner carrier (developing roller), 8 transfer device, 9 transfer material, 10 fixing device, 17 toner regulating member (toner regulating blade), 1
8: Base particle, 19: External additive (silica), 18 ': Free base particle, 19': Free external additive, T: Toner, T ': Residual toner

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G03G 15/08 507 G03G 15/08 507L

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A toner having at least a large number of base particles and a large number of particles of an external additive, wherein the circularity of the base particles is 0.95 or less. A toner characterized in that an external additive release rate of a certain free external additive is set to 0.2 to 5%. 2. The toner according to claim 1, wherein the base particles are a pulverized toner manufactured by a pulverization method. 3. The toner according to claim 1, wherein the external additive is silica. 4. A latent image carrier on which an electrostatic latent image is formed; a toner carrier for conveying toner to develop an electrostatic latent image on the latent image carrier; 4. An image forming apparatus, comprising: at least a developing device having a toner regulating member that regulates at least toner conveyed toward the image carrier, wherein the toner is the toner according to claim 1. apparatus.