JP2003057941A - Method for coating - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for applying a powder material by which a powder material not mixed with a solvent can be uniformly applied on the surface of the member to be coated at a low cost. SOLUTION: The method for applying a powder material on a member 38 to be coated by using a coating member 12 includes a first process of depositing the powder material on the member 12 without mixing the powder with a solvent into a liquid state, a second process of transferring the powder material from the coating member 12 to the member 38 to be coated while the coating member 12 is in contact with the member 38, and a third process to smooth the powder material applied on the member 38.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a laser printer, a process cartridge removably arranged in the image forming apparatus, and a developer carrying member or the like included in a developing device provided therein. In a cylindrical rotating body,
The present invention relates to a coating method for coating powder.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A developing device, a photoconductor, a charging means, and a cleaning means are often integrally formed as a process cartridge. When toner runs out, the user replaces the process cartridge to form an image again. be able to.

An example of such a process cartridge is shown in FIG.
Will be explained. The process cartridge 100 includes a photosensitive drum 50 that is an image carrier, a cleaning device 40, a developing device 30, and a primary charger 60 that are arranged around the photosensitive drum 50. Such a device is integrated in the cartridge container 100. Are to be placed in.

An image forming operation of the process cartridge 100 when it is attached to the image forming apparatus will be described. The photosensitive drum 50 is uniformly charged by a charging roller 60 as a primary charger. After that, a latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 50 by image exposure L from a laser optical system (not shown), and the developer 36 is selectively attached to the latent image by the developing device 30 as a developing device. Thus, a visible image as a toner image is formed. The toner image on the photosensitive drum 50 is transferred and fixed on the recording paper by the operation on the image forming apparatus side.

The developer and the paper dust remaining on the photosensitive drum 50 are removed by the cleaning device 40.

Now, the cleaning device 40 and the developing device 30 for transferring the developer to the photosensitive drum 50 will be described. Developing device 30 and cleaning device 40
Has various sealing mechanisms in order to prevent developer leakage and scattering when the developer is transferred to and from the photosensitive drum 50.

The cleaning device 40 has a cleaning blade 41 and a squeeze sheet 45 which are process means, a vertical seal 43, an end seal 44, and a waste developer container 400 for storing a waste developer 46.

In the cleaning device 40, a vertical sealing member 43 made of urethane foam or the like is arranged so that the waste developer 46 does not leak to the outside from the gap between the end of the photosensitive drum 50 and the waste developer container 400. At the end of the photosensitive drum 50, an end seal member 44 made of foamed rubber or the like is arranged between the cleaning blade 41 and the squeeze sheet 45.

The developing device 30 includes a developing blade 31, a toner seal 32, an end seal 33, and a blowout prevention sheet 3.
4, and a developing container 300 for accommodating the developing sleeve 38 and the developing agent 36 which are the developing agent carrier of the developing means.

The developing sleeve 38 is located at the opening of the developing container 300 and carries the developer 36 in the developing container 300 and supplies it to the photosensitive drum 50. The layer thickness of the developer 36 on the surface of the developing sleeve 38 is regulated by the developing blade 31 installed at the end of the opening so as to be in contact with the circumferential direction of the developing sleeve 38. A blowing prevention sheet 34 that prevents the developer 36 from blowing out is installed at the end of the opening opposite to the developing blade 31.

Also in the developing device 30, the developing sleeve 38
Of the developing container 300 of the developing sleeve 38 so that the developer does not leak from the gap between the end portion of the developing container 300 and the developing container 300.
An end seal 33, which is a seal member made of felt or the like, is arranged on the side outer peripheral portion.

Therefore, the developing sleeve 38 has the end seal 3
3, the photosensitive drum 50, the end seal 33, the end seal 4
It will rotate while rubbing against 4.

On the other hand, the developing device 30 is filled with the developer 36, and is blocked from the developing sleeve 38 by the toner seal 32 so as to prevent the developer from leaking when the process cartridge 100 is conveyed, and the developing container 300. It is sealed in. In actual use, the flow path 3 for breaking the toner seal 32 and supplying the developer to the developing sleeve 38.
9, the developer 36 is supplied to the developing sleeve 38,
The developing blade 31 makes the supply thickness of the developer 36 uniform.

However, immediately after the toner seal 32 is broken, the developer 36 does not reach the developing blade 31, so that the developing blade 31 is leveled with no developer, that is, no lubricant. Therefore, the tip of the developing blade 31 and the surface of the developing sleeve 38 are damaged.

Therefore, it is necessary to apply a lubricant between the developing blade 31 and the developing sleeve 38 in advance. As a method of applying the lubricant, a lubricant and a solvent are mixed to be in a liquefied state and then applied to the developing blade 31. After application to the developing blade 31, the solvent evaporates and only the lubricant remains, which serves as lubrication after the toner seal 32 is opened until the developer 36 reaches the developing blade 31.

FIG. 7 shows such a conventional coating method. A lubricant applying device 70 is used to apply the liquefied lubricant 71 to the contact portion 30 a between the developing blade 31 of the developing device 30 and the developing sleeve 38.

The coating nozzle 72 of the lubricant coating device 70 is
It is moved to the position of the developing device 30 by means not shown. The lubricant 71 is a mixture of a solvent and a lubricant, and an apparent liquefied state is circulated by a circulator 74, and is stored in a tank 77. Mix solvent and lubricant,
The liquefied lubricant 71 is adjusted by the circulator 74 so that there is no stagnation in the tank 77.

Here, the lubricant used in the liquefied lubricant 71 is fine particles of silicone resin, and a polar solvent such as an alcohol solvent is used as a solvent to be mixed.

The lubricant 71 in the liquefied state is sucked through the application nozzle 72 by the piston movement in the syringe 78 by the drive of the motor 76 from the drive unit 75 of the lubricant application device 70, and a predetermined application is performed. The lubricant applying device 70 is moved to the position (developing device 30), and the portion 30 where the developing sleeve 38 of the developing device 30 and the developing blade 31 are in contact with each other by the syringe 78.
Apply to a.

[0020]

However, in the method of coating in a liquefied state using a solvent, the use of the solvent has an adverse effect on the environment while the concern for the environment has increased in recent years.

Further, the lubricant is not actually dissolved in the solvent. In other words, since it is in a floating state and is in an apparently liquefied state, it is very difficult to mix it, and a non-uniform mass of the lubricant occurs after the solvent is evaporated. Thus
So-called uneven coating occurs, resulting in non-uniform sliding resistance of the developing blade, which affects the image. As a result, the developing blade is scratched or chipped.

Although there is a method of using pure water instead of the solvent, it takes a long time for evaporation and the mixing property of pure water and the lubricant is
Not used because it is inferior to the solvent.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a powder coating method capable of uniformly coating a solvent-free powder on the surface of a member to be coated at low cost.

[0024]

The above object can be achieved by the coating method according to the present invention. In summary, the present invention relates to a coating method for coating powder on a member to be coated using a coating member, the first step of adhering the powder to the coating member without mixing with a solvent to form a liquid state. A second step of applying the powder to the coated member by moving the powder from the coated member in a state where the coating member is in contact with the coated member, and the powder coated on the coated member A third step of smoothing the body is provided.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the coating member and the coating target member have a cylindrical shape, and in the first step, the powder contained in the reservoir is brought into contact with the cylindrical coating member. , While the cylindrical coating member is being rotated, the powder is uniformly carried on the surface, and in the second step, both the cylindrical coating target member and the cylindrical coating member are rotated while contacting each other. Let me
Applying the powder carried on the surface of the cylindrical coating member to the cylindrical member to be coated, in the third step,
After the powder is applied to the cylindrical member to be coated, the powder is uniformly regulated by the regulating means.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the coating member has a planar shape, and the coating target member has a cylindrical shape, and the powder contained in the reservoir in the first step has the planar surface. The shape-applied member is brought into contact with the surface of the powder, and the powder is uniformly carried on the surface thereof. In the second step, the cylindrical object is brought into contact with the powder carried by the plane-shaped application member to obtain the plane-shaped shape. While rotating the cylindrical member to be coated on the powder carrying surface of the coating member, either the planar member to be coated or the cylindrical member to be coated is moved in parallel to move the powder to the planar shape. After moving from the coating member, the cylindrical coating target member is coated, and in the third step, the cylindrical coating target member is coated with the powder, and then the regulating unit regulates the powder uniformly.

[0027]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the present invention, in order to solve the problems in the conventional lubricant application method, a lubricant is applied as a powder without mixing a solvent,
We propose a powder coating method.

The use of the powder is not limited to the lubricant.

The powder coating method according to the present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to the drawings.

Example 1 A member to be coated using the coating member, that is, in FIG.
In the coating method of coating the powder on the developing sleeve as the developer carrying member as described in the conventional example, the first step of adhering the powder to the coating member without mixing with a solvent to form a liquid is , With the coating member in contact with the coating target member,
The method includes a second step of moving the powder from the coating member to apply the powder to the coating target member, and a third step of leveling the powder coated on the coating target member.

In the present embodiment, the powder coating device described below uses a cylindrical member as the coating member.
The operations of the first step, the second step, and the third step are performed by the lubricant applying device 10 shown in the front view of FIG. 1 and the perspective view of FIG.

The powder used in this embodiment is a silicone resin fine particle having a true spherical shape of 0.5 μm to 12 μm or an indeterminate shape.
Provided in a process cartridge as shown in FIG.
It is used as a lubricant for a developing sleeve which is a developer carrier in a developing device as a developing device.

The lubricant applying device 10 according to the present invention includes a supply unit 1 for supplying a lubricant as powder to a sponge roller 12 which is a cylindrical applying member, and a developing sleeve 38 which is a cylindrical member to be applied here. Lubricant application section 2 of
Have.

Here, the sponge roller 12 which is a cylindrical coating member provided in the lubricant coating device 10 of FIG. 1 will be described.

Although the material of the sponge roller 12 is not limited to this, urethane foam is used in this embodiment. For example, a roller manufactured by Inoac Corporation (trade name, model SP-10), which is a processing maker, is used.
0X92) is preferred and the hardness is 200 g ± 50 g. The hardness is measured by using a hardness measuring jig 80 as shown in FIG.

The measuring jig 80 has a handle 82 on a disk 81.
Are fixed together. Thickness t of disk 81
Is 7 mm, and the diameter d (d1, d2) is d1 = 10 mm
And d2 = 50 mm is prepared.

In the hardness measurement, the disk 81 of the hardness measuring jig 80 is inserted into the roller 12 by 1 mm, and the load at that time is measured. As shown in the longitudinal axis direction front view of the sponge roller 12 of FIG. 4A, the measurement points are three points in the longitudinal directions a, b, and c, and the front view in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of FIG. 4B. At 4 points in the circumferential direction d, e, f, g shown in
Measure at 12 points in total.

The diameter of the sponge roller 12 is 16 mm in this embodiment, while the diameter of the developing sleeve 38 is
It is 12 mm.

The crushing amount of the sponge roller 12 with respect to the developing sleeve 38 is 0.2 mm, and the powder coating amount is
It is 0.0123 g. When the crushing amount is 0.25 mm,
The coating amount of powder is 0.013 g, and the crushing amount is 0.3
In the case of mm, the coating amount of the powder is 0.014 g.

The rotation angle of the developing sleeve 38 with respect to the rotation angle of the sponge roller 12, the amount of powder applied thereto, and σ (standard deviation) are as follows. 1. Sleeve rotation angle 360 ° Sponge roller rotation angle 360 ° Powder substance coating amount 0.014 g σ (standard deviation) 0.0013 2. Sleeve rotation angle 360 ° Sponge roller rotation angle 180 ° Powder substance coating amount 0.014 g σ (standard deviation) 0.0017 3. 3. Sleeve rotation angle 360 ° Sponge roller rotation angle 120 ° Powder substance coating amount 0.014 g σ (standard deviation) 0.0024 4. 4. Sleeve rotation angle 360 ° Sponge roller rotation angle 90 ° Powder substance coating amount 0.014 g σ (standard deviation) 0.0024 5. Sleeve rotation angle 360 ° Sponge roller rotation angle 45 ° Powder substance application amount 0.014 g σ (standard deviation) 0.0037 In this embodiment, the sponge roller rotation angle is 90 ° with respect to the sleeve rotation angle 360 °. The coating amount of the powder substance was 0.014 g, and σ (standard deviation) was 0.0024.
Note that 3σ = 0.024 × 3 = 0.0072.

The surface roughness Rz of the developing sleeve 38 is 4
Since the surface roughness Rz of the photosensitive drum is 0.8 μm or less, the applicable range of the surface roughness Rz of the coated member is 1 μm.
~ 4 μm.

The powder coating apparatus 10 will be described. The supply unit 1 has a lubricant container 11 having a boots shape in the lateral direction as shown in FIG. 1, and the lubricant container 11 contains a lubricant. It is housed. The lubricant is supplied from the opening 112 at the uppermost end of the lubricant container 11, and attracted by the attractive force and stirring portions 14, 15
Guided down by.

The lubricant container 11 has a sponge roller 12 as a cylindrical coating member at a portion protruding laterally in the boots shape as viewed from the lateral direction, and the lubricant is sponge roller 12
In order to be guided to the side, the laterally protruding portion has a narrow tip, and the boots-shaped heel portion directly below the opening 112 is slightly floated from the portion where the sponge roller 12 is located. With such a structure, a portion of the lower portion of the lubricant container 11 that projects to the side and has a narrower lower end becomes a lubricant reservoir 111, and the lubricant is concentrated and guided toward the sponge roller 12 to collect the lubricant. A part of the sponge roller 12 located at the tip protruding laterally of the 111 is already in contact with the lubricant. Also, the lubricant container 11
The portion located above the sponge roller 12 is opened, and half of the peripheral surface of the sponge roller 12 is exposed.

The sponge roller 12 has a metal 113 at the center.
The two ends are supported by bearings (not shown) on the side wall of the lubricant reservoir 111, and are sealed so that the lubricant does not leak out. The sponge roller 12 is rotated by the motor 121 shown in FIG. 2 connected to the central metal 113. Sponge roller 1
The lubricant adhering to 2 is scraped off to a constant thickness by the scraping plate 13 which is adjacent to the lubricant. A rubber member is attached to the tip of the scraping plate 13 and is provided with an advancing / retreating mechanism (not shown).

In addition, the lubricant inside the lubricant container 11 of the supply unit 1 is the stirring unit 1 located in the lubricant reservoir 111.
4 and the stirring section 15 located near the frontage 112 above it
Prevents it from hardening.

The stirring section 14 is provided with a stirring bar 141, both ends of which are supported by bearings on the side wall of the lubricant reservoir 111, like the sponge roller 12, and are sealed to prevent the lubricant from leaking. is doing. The stirring rod 141 is connected to a motor (not shown) and is rotating. The stirring in the stirring unit 14 is performed so that the stirring rod 141 rotates regularly so that the lubricant does not aggregate and solidify.

The stirring section 15 is also provided with a stirring rod 151, which is rotated by a motor (not shown), and both ends of the stirring rod 151 are supported by bearings on the side wall near the frontage 112 of the lubricant container 11 for lubrication. A seal is provided to prevent the agent from leaking. In the stirring in the stirring unit 15, the stirring rod 151 rotates periodically to prevent the lubricant from coagulating and solidifying and to uniformly supply the sponge roller 12.

The agglomerates of the solidified lubricant are unraveled by being agitated by the agitating parts 14 and 15, and the lubricant is made uniform in the supply part 1 from the frontage 112 to the pool part 1.
11 is guided to the direction of the sponge roller 12,
The scraping plate 13 holds the sponge roller 12 in a uniform layer state on the surface thereof.

Therefore, according to the above structure, in the coating method of the present invention, the first step of adhering the powder to the coating member without mixing with a solvent to form a liquid state is performed, and the lubricant accumulation portion 111 is formed. The sponge roller 12, which is located and whose upper part is exposed to the outside from the substantially center at the portion laterally protruding from the lubricant container 11, always conveys the lubricant contained in the supply unit 1 to the outside.

On the other hand, the developing sleeve 38, which is a cylindrical member to be coated, is set in the coating section 2 of the apparatus main body 10 in a state where it is not attached to the developing device 30. The coating unit 2 includes a rotating unit 21 for rotating the developing sleeve 38, a clamp unit 22 for clamping the developing sleeve 38 as a holding unit, and a gap adjusting mechanism between the sponge roller 12 and the developing sleeve 38 as a holding unit. 24, and a scraping and smoothing portion 23 which is a regulating means for uniformly regulating the lubricant applied to the developing sleeve 38.

The developing sleeve 38 is positioned by the clamp portion 22, but in the present embodiment, the positioning plate members 221 constituting the clamp portion 22 are provided at the sleeve flanges 381 provided at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the developing sleeve 38.
Be fitted into. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the developing sleeve flange 381 has two holes 382 at both ends.
Is a plate member having an end surface of the developing sleeve 38, and a rotary shaft of the developing sleeve 38 is rotatably attached to a central hole of the plate member 381.

A positioning plate member 221 having needle-shaped pins 222 provided vertically at two positions is positioned by inserting the pins 222 into the holes 382 of the sleeve flange 381 as shown in FIG.

The positioning member plate 221 is connected to the cylinder 225, and when the positioning pin 222 moves forward, the developing sleeve 38 is clamped by the clamp portion 22 and the position is set.

The sponge roller 12 and the sleeve 38 are a plate-like member adjusting plate 243 connected to the moving cylinder 241 shown in FIG. The position is adjusted by mounting and moving the bending portion 23. The clamp portion 22 and the scraping / equalizing portion 23 are mounted on the adjusting plate 243, and a shifter 242 that moves in parallel is installed on the back side of the adjusting plate 243. The adjusting plate 243 is an adjusting mechanism (not shown) and is positioned in the direction of the arrow 245. It is adjusted so that the sponge roller 12 and the developing sleeve 38 are brought into contact with each other or separated from each other. A stopper 244 is provided at the tip of the adjusting plate 243 so that the developing sleeve 38 does not come into pressure contact with the sponge roller 12 too much.
The gap between the sponge roller 12 and the sleeve 38 is adjusted by the gap adjusting mechanism 24 from the sponge roller 12 to the sleeve 3.
8 is adjusted to an appropriate distance so that the lubricant is applied.

The rotating portion 21 for rotating the developing sleeve 38 has a gear 211 for transmitting the rotation to the sleeve, as shown in FIG. The gear 211 includes a pulley 211a, and a belt 216 is wound between a pulley 217a of a roller member 217 that is connected to the pulley 211a and the motor 213 and is rotated by the drive of the motor 213.
By driving No. 3, the rotation of the motor 213 is transmitted to the gear 211.

The gear 211 is connected to one end of the lever 212, and the vicinity of the other end of the lever 212 is attached to the rotary shaft of the rotation motor 213. Lever 21
The other end of 2 is connected to the cylinder 214 and urges the cylinder 214 to move the gear 211 to the sleeve 3.
8 of the gear 38a, the rotary motor 213, the roller member 217, the belt 216, the gear 211 and the gear 3
The developing sleeve 38 is rotated by 8a.

The rotation transmission mechanism 21 of the developing sleeve 38 is swung, and after confirming the swiveling operation of the lever 212, the developing sleeve 3 is rotated.
The gear 211 for rotating 8 rotates, the developing sleeve 38 rotates, and at the same time, the motor 121 for rotating the sponge roller 12 operates. At this time, since the sponge roller 12 and the lubricant are in contact with each other as described above, the lubricant adheres to the sponge roller 12 at the same time as the rotation and is adjusted by the scraping plate 13 to have a constant thickness. A certain thickness of lubricant is attached to the. By the gap adjusting mechanism 24, the peripheral surface of the developing sleeve 38 comes close to the surface of the sponge roller 12 at an appropriate position, the lubricant on the sponge roller 12 moves to the surface of the sleeve 38, and is applied to the sleeve 38 as it is. .

At the time of coating, when the sponge roller 12 and the developing sleeve 38 are rotated in the same direction in FIG. 1, that is, when the sponge roller 12 is set counterclockwise and the developing sleeve 38 is set counterclockwise, they are rubbed against each other. The sponge roller 12 is worn.

Therefore, since the eccentricity of the sponge roller 12 of the present embodiment is 0.3 mm, it is desirable to rotate the sponge roller 12 360 degrees in consideration of the stability of the lubricant application amount. Sponge roller 12
Is 90 degrees clockwise and the developing sleeve 38 is set 360 degrees counterclockwise.

Therefore, the rotation direction of the developing sleeve 38 is the direction that follows the rotation direction of the sponge roller 12. However, the rotation of the developing sleeve 38 and the sponge roller 12 is not limited to this.

Thus, in the coating method of the present invention, the second step of moving the powder from the coating member and coating the coating target member in the state where the coating member and the coating target member are in contact with each other is performed, and then the third step. As for the sleeve 38, the sponge roller 1
2, the scraping plate 23 comes into contact with the sleeve 38,
The sleeve 38 rotates again, the lubricant is uniformly leveled by the scraping plate 23, and the powder coating of the lubricant on the sleeve 38 is completed.

The scraping and leveling plate 23 is composed of a plate 231 having a rubber 232 at its tip, and is moved in parallel by a moving mechanism (not shown) as shown by an arrow 233 in FIG. Contact and leave. The moving amount is adjusted by a moving amount adjusting mechanism (not shown) to adjust the position with respect to the developing sleeve 38. Further, in order to prevent the developing sleeve 38 from colliding with the scraping plate 23, the stopper 23 is placed at a position sandwiching the developing sleeve 38 in a direction perpendicular to the scraping plate 23.
4 are provided. The scraping plate 13 has an adjusting mechanism (not shown) for adjusting the scraping amount onto the sponge roller 12.

As described above, in the coating method by the lubricant coating device having the structure shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sponge roller 12 which is the cylindrical coating member is used to apply the powdered lubricant to the cylinder. In the method of applying to the developing sleeve 38 of the shape-applied member, since the lubricant can be applied without using a solvent, there is no adverse effect on the environment, and it is not necessary to mix the lubricant with another medium. The lubricant can be uniformly applied to the peripheral surface of the sleeve 38.

In the developing device 30 which employs the developing sleeve 38 coated with the lubricant, the developing sleeve 38 and the layer of the developing agent on the developing sleeve 38 are operated even when the developing device 30 is operated in the initial state without the developing agent. Development blade 31 for controlling the thickness
I was able to avoid scratches and scratches.

The powder applying method of the present invention is not limited to the one using the lubricant applying device having the structure described in this embodiment, and the material of each member of the lubricant applying device is not limited to the above. The coating member, the mechanism for rotating the member to be coated, the holding means, and the mechanism for supplying the powder to the coating member are not limited to those described here.

As the member to which the coating method using the lubricant coating device of this embodiment can be applied, in addition to the developing sleeve as the developer carrying member of the developing device, the surface roughness Rz is about 1 μm to 10 μm. If so, it can be applied to other cylindrical shapes.

Example 2 In Example 1, the lubricant carried by the sponge roller 12 in layers was applied to the developing sleeve 38 so as to face the rotating developing sleeve 38, but in the present example, flat application is performed. A coating method by the planar coating type lubricant coating device 20 which is a powder coating device adopting the method will be described with reference to FIG.

In place of the supply unit 1 of the first embodiment, the flat supply unit 25 is provided in this embodiment. The flat surface supply unit 25 is a reservoir container 251 that is a reservoir, and a coating table 2 that is a flat coating member that moves vertically and horizontally in the lubricant container 251.
52 and a squeegee 255.

The tray-shaped lubricant container 251 is filled with the lubricant, which is the same powder as that described in the first embodiment, and the container 251 has a lubricant scooping table (application table). ) 252 is down.

In this state, when the lubricant flows into the depression 258 of the coating table 252, the coating table 252 rises and the squeegee 255 descends and moves left and right to level the lubricant. Thus, the first step of the coating method of the present invention is performed.

The sleeve 38 is already gripped by the clamp portion 22. The gripping method is the same as in the first embodiment. The sleeve 38 is moved to the coating table 252, and the rotational speed of the sleeve 38 and the moving speed of the coating table 252 are made to coincide with each other, so that the lubricant is applied in the second step.

The drive mechanism for the coating table 25 which is the lubricant coating portion 2 of the sleeve 38, which is included in the second step, is the same as that of the first embodiment.

Further, in this embodiment, the coating table 252 was moved in parallel with the rotating developing sleeve 38.
On the contrary, the developing sleeve 38 may rotate and move in parallel along the stopped application surface of the application table 252.

After that, the sleeve 38 is separated from the coating table 252, the scraping plate 23 comes into contact with the sleeve 38, the sleeve 38 rotates again, and the scraping plate 23 is rotated as a third step.
Thus, the lubricant is leveled, and the powder coating of the lubricant on the sleeve 38 is completed.

As a result, the lubricant is uniformly applied to the sleeve 38. The leveling plate 23 is retracted, the coating table 252 is lowered, and the next operation is started.

The same effects as in Example 1 can be obtained by the coating method using the above-mentioned flat coating type lubricant coating device.

[0077]

As described above, according to the powder coating method of the present invention, in the coating method in which the powder is applied to the member to be coated by using the coating member, there is no need to mix it with a solvent to form a liquid. A first step of applying the powder to the coating member, a second step of moving the powder from the coating member while the coating member is in contact with the coating target member and coating the coating target member, and a coating of the coating target member Since it has a third step of leveling the formed powder,
The lubricant can be directly applied as powder to the developing sleeve without using a solvent, which does not have an adverse effect on the environment, leads to cost reduction, and enables uniform and good application of the lubricant.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of an example of a powder coating apparatus in which the present invention is embodied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an example of a powder coating apparatus in which the present invention is embodied.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a hardness measuring jig for measuring the hardness of a sponge roller 12.

4 is a plan view in the longitudinal direction (FIG. 4A) showing a hardness measurement portion of the sponge roller 12 and a plan view in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (FIG. 4B).

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of another example of a powder coating apparatus in which the present invention is embodied.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a process cartridge in which a developing sleeve to which the present invention is applied is installed.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional liquid material application method.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 lubricant supply unit 2 coating unit 10 lubricant coating device (powder coating device) 11 lubricant container 12 sponge roller (cylindrical coating member) 13 scraping plate 20 plane coating type lubricant coating device (powder coating device) 21 Rotating part 22 Clamping part (holding means) 23 Scraping and leveling part (regulating means) 24 Gap adjusting mechanism 25 Flat surface applying part 30 Developer 38 Developing sleeve (cylindrical member to be applied) 70 Conventional lubricant applying device 111 Reservoir 251 Lubricant container (reservoir) 252 Coating table (planar coating member) 112 Frontage

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A coating method for coating powder on a member to be coated using a coating member, the first step of adhering the powder to the coating member without mixing with a solvent to form a liquid state, With the coating member in contact with the coating target member, the second step of moving the powder from the coating member to coat the coating target member and the powder coated on the coating target member are leveled. And a third step. 2. The coating member and the member to be coated have a cylindrical shape, and in the first step, the powder contained in a reservoir is brought into contact with the cylindrical coating member to form the cylindrical coating member. The powder is uniformly carried on the surface while being rotated, and in the second step, the cylindrical coating target member and the cylindrical coating member are both rotated while being brought into contact with each other to form the cylindrical coating. The powder carried on the surface of the member is applied to the cylindrical object to be coated, and in the third step, the powder is applied to the cylindrical object to be coated, and then the powder is uniformly applied by the regulating means. The coating method according to claim 1, which is regulated. 3. The applying member has a planar shape, the applied member has a cylindrical shape, and in the first step, the planar applying member is brought into contact with the powder contained in a reservoir, The powder is uniformly carried on the surface, and in the second step, the cylindrical object to be coated is brought into contact with the powder carried by the planar coating member, and the powder carrying surface of the planar coating member. , While rotating the cylindrical object to be coated, either the planar object to be coated or the cylindrical object to be translated is moved to move the powder from the planar object to be applied to the cylinder. The coating is applied to a shape-applied member, and in the third step, the powder is applied to the cylindrical-shaped application member, and then the powder is uniformly regulated by a regulating means. Paint Cloth method. 4. The member to be coated is a developer carrying member for carrying and carrying a developer.
The coating method according to any one of 3 above.