JP2005084134A - Heat fixing member, fixing device provided with heat fixing member, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heat resistant and durable heat fixing member which has excellent surface smoothness, is excelling both in rubber hardness and heat conductivity, forms a high quality toner image by heat fixing at high speed and saving energy, and to provide a fixing device provided with the heat fixing member and an image forming apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The heat fixing member is composed of: a substrate (1) to be heated while being held turnably; an elastic layer (2) which is formed on the substrate (1) and comprises an inside elastic layer (2a) and an outside elastic layer (2b) formed on the outer side of the inside elastic layer (2a) and with low thermal conductivity; and a release layer (3) which is formed on the outside elastic layer (2b). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat fixing member, a fixing device including the heat fixing member, and an image forming apparatus. More specifically, the present invention rotates a toner image formed on a transfer medium in an electrophotographic process. Of a heat fixing member that heats and fixes while fixing, a fixing device that heats and fixes a toner image formed on a transfer target in an electrophotographic process including the heat fixing member, and an electrophotographic method The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, or a complex machine of these that forms a toner image in a process.

  In a conventional fixing roller of a heat fixing member and a fixing device including the fixing roller of the heat fixing member, and a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, or the like of an image forming apparatus, a pair of rolls having a heat source, or The fixing belt is brought into pressure contact to form a fixing nip portion, and the toner image transferred onto the transfer sheet of the transfer medium is passed through the fixing nip portion and overheated. Fixing to a transfer sheet of a transfer body is performed.

The first coating layer on the side close to the metal roller is made of a heat-resistant polymer material made of at least one of fluoro rubber, silicone rubber and fluoro resin, and the coating layer has excellent thermal conductivity. The metal oxide powder is contained in an amount of 250 to 500 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the heat resistant polymer material, and the outermost second coating layer is formed of a fluororubber compound to shorten the warm-up time. It is known that the outermost second coating layer is rich in elasticity so as to improve the fixing property (see Patent Document 1).
However, these are two layers of polymer material coating layers, and the inner layer is filled with a filler to achieve high thermal conductivity, but the outer layer is a release layer and does not have two elastic layers.

A fixing roller having an elastic layer composed of n layers on the outer periphery of a shaft, wherein at least the outermost layer of the elastic layer is formed of a fluorine-based rubber composition subjected to peroxide vulcanization. It is also known to make a fixing roll excellent in releasability such as an OHP sheet and peelability of molten toner (see Patent Document 2).
However, these are fixing rolls related to releasability and the like, although the elastic layer of n layers is a rubber layer, and does not take thermal conductivity into consideration.

An elastic roll comprising a shaft body and a base layer formed along the outer periphery of the shaft body, wherein the base layer is composed of two layers, and the inner layer of the base layer is a peroxide. It is formed using a rubber composition containing a cross-linking agent, and the outer layer of the base layer is formed using a liquid rubber composition, so that the cost can be reduced, and the compression set and dimensional system can be reduced. An elastic roll that can be improved is also known (see Patent Document 3).
However, these are related to compression set or the like due to the two rubber layers, but do not consider thermal conductivity.

5 and 6, the conventional image forming apparatus 150 shown in the figure is a case where a black and white toner image is formed by an electrophotographic image production process.
When forming a full-color toner image, although not shown, it is a superposition of four color toner images of red (magenta), blue (cyan), yellow (yellow), and black (black). A developing unit and a mechanism for superimposing them are provided.

  For example, a copying machine or a laser printer of the image forming apparatus 150 has a photosensitive drum 151 that rotates in the direction of the arrow (A) shown in the figure, and the photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum 151 is integrated by using a charging device 152. After being charged in the same manner, an electrostatic latent image is formed by exposure with a laser beam from the laser scanning unit 153, and the electrostatic latent image is developed with toner by a developing device 154 to form a toner image. The image is transferred onto the transfer paper of the transfer target (P) by the transfer unit 155, and the transfer image of the transfer target (P) is further passed through the thermal fixing device 110 to thermally fix the toner image. Has been.

In the conventional image forming apparatus 150, the heat-fixing member 100 of the heat-fixing apparatus 110 using only black and white black toner is made of a core metal 101a made of a hollow cylindrical body such as aluminum in the roller system shown in FIG. A heat-fixing roller 101 having an adhesion preventing layer 101b made of a fluororesin layer or the like for preventing adhesion of toner on the outer peripheral surface is used.
In such a heat fixing roller 101, a halogen heater 111a of a heating body 111 such as a halogen lamp is disposed along a rotation center line in a hollow portion of the core metal 101a, and the heat fixing roller 101 is radiated from the inside. It is supposed to be heated.

Further, the heating and fixing member 100 of the thermal fixing device 110 can use an induction overheating method (not shown) other than the halogen heater 111a of the heating body 111 (Patent Document 4 and Patent Document 5). See).
Moreover, although the electric power supply to the said heating body 111 is performed from the commercial power supply, it is also possible to provide the auxiliary power supply which is not shown in figure and to supply electric power from the said auxiliary power supply.
As the auxiliary power source, it is preferable to use an electrochemical capacitor of an electric double layer capacitor (see Patent Document 6).

  Further, a pressure roller 112 that is in pressure contact with the heat fixing roller 101 of the heat fixing member 100 is provided between the pressure roller 112 and the heat fixing roller 101 of the heat fixing member 100. By passing the transfer sheet of the transfer medium (P) in the direction of the arrow (B) shown in the figure, the toner image adhering to the transfer sheet of the transfer object (P) is heated and fixed by the heating and fixing member 100. While being softened and melted by the heat of the roller 101, it is fixed on the transfer paper of the transfer target (P) by pressing.

The heat-fixing roller 101 of the heat-fixing member 100 in which the anti-adhesion layer 101b made of a fluororesin layer or the like is provided on the core metal 101a is excellent in releasability but is inferior in flexibility and elasticity. It cannot be applied to full-color copiers that require gloss and full-color laser printers.
The glossy image forming apparatus 150 is a full-color copying machine or laser printer that uses four color toners of red (magenta), blue (cyan), yellow (yellow), and black (black). When fixing the toner image, it is necessary to mix these color toners in a melted state. When the toner is made to have a low melting point and is easily melted, a plurality of types of toners are formed on the surface of the heat fixing roller 101 of the heat fixing member 100. It is necessary to uniformly mix the toner in a molten state so as to enclose the color toner.

For this reason, flexibility is one of the characteristics required for the surface of the heat fixing roller 101 of the heat fixing member 100.
In order to provide flexibility of the surface of the heat-fixing roller 101 of the heat-fixing member 100, the heat-fixing roller 101 of the heat-fixing member 100 of a conventional full-color gloss image is provided on the surface of the core metal 101a. The elastic layer 102 is provided.
As the material of the elastic layer 102, rubber is generally used, and silicone rubber, which is a heat resistant material, is mainly used.

The heat roller fixing method using the heat fixing roller 101 of the heat fixing member 100 is such that the entire heat fixing roller 101 of the heat fixing member 100 is kept at a predetermined temperature, the heat capacity is large, etc., so that the image forming speed is high. However, it took a considerable amount of time to heat the heat-fixing roller 101 of the heat-fixing member 100 to a predetermined temperature.
Further, for this reason, the power consumption is large for heating the entire heat fixing roller 101 of the heat fixing member 100.

In recent years, energy conservation activities have become active, and shortening of the rise time is being studied.
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a film-like endless belt fixing roller 113 heated by a heater of the heating roller 111b of the heating body 111 of the thermal fixing device 110 and the heating roller 111b are stretched. A belt fixing method for heating a toner image on a transfer sheet of a transfer medium (P) via the fixing belt 101c is proposed and commercialized.
In this belt fixing method, the thin film-like fixing belt 101c is directly heated, and after the power is turned on, the heating unit reaches a predetermined temperature in a short time, so that the waiting time after the power is turned on can be reduced. I can do it. In addition, since only necessary portions are heated, there is an advantage that power consumption is low.

Here, when the transfer sheet of the transfer target (P) passes through the thermal fixing device 110 when the toner image is fixed in the image forming apparatus 150, the heat on the surface of the fixing belt 101c is transferred to the transfer target (P). Taken away by paper.
A high speed machine passes a lot of paper in a short time. In this case, the amount of heat taken from the surface of the fixing belt 101c increases.
Here, the elastic layer 102 of rubber having a low thermal conductivity is less than the heat deprived in the fixing belt 101c in which the thermal conductivity of silicone rubber conventionally used is 0.21 W / m ° C. However, the temperature of the surface of the fixing belt 101c is lowered.
If the surface temperature of the fixing belt 101c is lowered by 20 ° C. compared to the initial fixing temperature, there is a problem that a standby mode is caused as a control of the image forming apparatus 150 due to the danger of cold offset.
In the fixing belt 101c using rubber having low thermal conductivity, it takes a long time to reach a predetermined temperature after turning on the power of the thermal fixing device 110, and a lot of energy is required for heating. There is also a disadvantage.

In order to solve this, there is a means of using rubber having a high thermal conductivity. In this case, the above problems do not occur.
However, since rubber with high thermal conductivity is filled with a large amount of filler having a large particle size, there are side effects such as deterioration in surface roughness (Rz) and increase in rubber hardness.
In the fixing belt 101c having a poor surface roughness (Rz), the fixed image is not uniform.
Further, the fixed image by the fixing belt 101c having a high rubber hardness has a large dot diameter of the fixed toner image, and an index defined as granularity increases.

Therefore, the conventional heat fixing member, the fixing device including the heat fixing member, and the image forming apparatus are heated for a long time until the predetermined temperature is reached after the fixing device is turned on. It requires a lot of energy, or the surface roughness deteriorates, the rubber hardness increases, the fixed image becomes non-uniform and the granularity increases, the quality of the formed image decreases at a low speed, not only the heating There was a problem that more energy was needed.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-43820 JP-A-6-324589 JP 2000-283146 A JP 2001-242732 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-13805 JP 2002-174988 A

  The conventional heat fixing member, the fixing device including the heat fixing member, and the image forming apparatus have a long time until the predetermined temperature is reached after the fixing device is turned on. Is necessary, or the surface roughness deteriorates and the rubber hardness increases, the fixed image becomes non-uniform and the granularity increases, and the formed image has low quality at a low speed, and the energy for heating The problem of needing more was occurring.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve such problems. That is, a heat-resistant and durable heat-fixing member formed by heat-fixing high-quality toner images at high speed and energy saving, and excellent in surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, and the heat-fixing member It is an object of the present invention to provide a fixing device and an image forming apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention described in claim 1 is directed to a heating and fixing member that heats and fixes a toner image formed on a transfer target in an electrophotographic process. A base that is held and heated in a movable manner, an elastic layer formed on the base, and the elastic layer is formed of an inner elastic layer and an outer elastic layer having a low thermal conductivity formed outside the inner elastic layer. The main feature is that it is a heat-fixing member comprising a layer and a release layer formed on the outer elastic layer.

  Alternatively, the present invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that, in the heat fixing member according to claim 1, the substrate is a heat fixing member which is a metal roller made of a metal material.

  Alternatively, the present invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that, in the heat fixing member according to claim 2, the metal roller is a heat fixing member made of an aluminum material.

  Alternatively, the present invention described in claim 4 is characterized in that, in the heat fixing member according to claim 2, the metal roller is a heat fixing member made of a stainless steel material.

  Alternatively, the present invention described in claim 5 is characterized in that, in the heat fixing member according to claim 2, the metal roller is a heat fixing member made of a brass material.

  Alternatively, the invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that, in the heat fixing member according to claim 1, the substrate is a heat fixing member which is a metal belt made of a metal material.

  Alternatively, the present invention described in claim 7 is characterized in that, in the heat fixing member according to claim 6, the metal belt is a heat fixing member made of a stainless steel material.

  Alternatively, the present invention described in claim 8 is characterized in that, in the heat fixing member according to claim 6, the metal belt is a heat fixing member made of a nickel material.

  Alternatively, the present invention according to claim 9 is characterized in that, in the heat fixing member according to claim 6, 7 or 8, the metal belt is a heat fixing member having a film pressure of 100 μm or less. .

  Alternatively, the invention according to claim 10 is characterized in that, in the heat fixing member according to claim 1, the substrate is a heat fixing member which is a heat resistant resin belt made of a heat resistant resin material. .

  Alternatively, the invention according to claim 11 is characterized in that, in the heat fixing member according to claim 10, the heat-resistant resin belt is a heat fixing member made of a polyimide resin material.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the heat fixing member according to the tenth aspect, the heat-resistant resin belt is a heat fixing member made of a polyamide-imide resin material.

  Alternatively, the invention according to claim 13 is characterized in that, in the heat fixing member according to claim 10, the heat-resistant resin belt is a heat fixing member made of a fluororesin material.

  Alternatively, the present invention described in claim 14 is the heat-fixing member according to claim 10, 11, 12 or 13, wherein the heat-resistant resin belt has a film pressure of 30 μm to 200 μm. This is the main feature.

  Alternatively, according to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the heat fixing member according to the first aspect, the base is the metal belt according to the sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth aspect and the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, or thirteenth aspect. Or a heat fixing member which is a laminated belt in which the heat-resistant resin belts described in 14 are laminated.

  Alternatively, the present invention according to claim 16 is characterized in that, in the heat fixing member according to any one of claims 1 to 15, the elastic layer is a heat fixing member made of a heat resistant synthetic rubber material. Features.

  Alternatively, the present invention according to claim 17 is characterized in that, in the heat fixing member according to claim 16, the heat resistant synthetic rubber material is a heat fixing member which is a heat resistant rubber of silicone.

  Alternatively, the present invention according to claim 18 is characterized in that, in the heat fixing member according to claim 16, the heat resistant synthetic rubber material is a heat fixing member which is a heat resistant rubber of fluorine.

  Alternatively, the present invention according to claim 19 is characterized in that, in the heat-fixing member according to claim 16, the heat-resistant synthetic rubber material is a heat-fixing member that is a heat-resistant rubber of fluorosilicone. .

  Alternatively, the present invention described in claim 20 is a fixing device that heats and fixes a toner image formed on a transfer medium in an electrophotographic process, and is held rotatably. 19. The heat fixing member according to any one of 19, a heating body that heats a base of the heat fixing member, and a rotatable member that is in contact with the heat fixing member heated by the heating body at a predetermined pressure. A pressure member, a heat-fixing nip portion formed by contact of the heat-fixing member and the pressure member, and a fixing member that transports and passes a transfer target on which a toner image is formed in the heat-fixing nip portion. The main feature is that the fixing device includes a conveyance path.

  Alternatively, the present invention according to claim 21 is an image forming apparatus for forming a toner image by an electrophotographic process, and an image carrier that carries a toner image that is rotatably held and the image. A charging unit for uniformly charging the carrier, a latent image forming unit for forming a latent image on the surface of the image carrier uniformly charged by the charging unit, and a latent image formed by the latent image forming unit Developing means for developing the toner image storage, transfer means for transferring the toner image formed by the developing means onto the transfer target, and the toner image transferred onto the transfer target by the transfer means. An image forming apparatus comprising the fixing device according to claim 20 provided with the heat fixing member according to any one of claims 1 to 19 for fixing.

  Since the present invention is configured as described below, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the surface smoothness, the rubber hardness and the heat conduction are both excellent, and a high-quality toner image can be saved at high speed and energy saving. It has become possible to provide a heat fixing member formed by fixing.

  According to the invention of claim 2, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, a high quality toner image is formed by heat fixing at high speed and energy saving, and the substrate is made of a metal roller and has durability. A heat fixing member can be provided.

  According to the invention of claim 3, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, a high-quality toner image is formed by heat fixing with high speed and energy saving, and the substrate is made of a metal roller made of aluminum and is durable. It has become possible to provide a heat-fixing member having a property.

  According to the invention of claim 4, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, a high quality toner image is formed by heat fixing with high speed and energy saving, and the substrate is made of a metal roller made of stainless steel. It has become possible to provide a heat fixing member having durability.

  According to the invention of claim 5, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, a high-quality toner image is formed by heat fixing with high speed and energy saving, and the base is made of a metal roller made of brass and is durable. It has become possible to provide a heat-fixing member having a property.

  According to the invention of claim 6, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, a high quality toner image is formed by heat fixing at high speed and energy saving, and the substrate is made of a metal belt and has durability. A heat fixing member can be provided.

  According to the invention of claim 7, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, a high quality toner image is formed by heat fixing with high speed and energy saving, and the substrate is made of a stainless steel metal belt. It has become possible to provide a heat fixing member having durability.

  According to the invention of claim 8, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, a high quality toner image is formed by heat fixing with high speed and energy saving, and the substrate is made of a nickel metal belt and is durable. It has become possible to provide a heat-fixing member having a property.

  According to the invention of claim 9, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, a high-quality toner image is formed by heat-fixing at high speed and energy saving, and the substrate is made of a metal belt, taking into account bending. In addition, it is possible to provide a heat fixing member that is durable and durable.

  According to the invention of claim 10, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, a high-quality toner image is formed by heat-fixing at high speed and energy saving, and the substrate comprises a heat-resistant resin belt. There is also a heat fixing member that can be provided.

  According to the invention of claim 11, a heat-resistant resin belt, which is excellent in surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, is formed by heat-fixing a high-quality toner image at high speed and energy saving, and whose base is a polyimide resin material. Therefore, it is possible to provide a heat fixing member having durability.

  According to the invention of claim 12, the heat-resistant resin is excellent in surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, is formed by heat-fixing a high-quality toner image at high speed and energy saving, and the base is a polyamide-imide resin material A heat fixing member made of a belt and having durability can be provided.

  According to the invention of claim 13, a heat-resistant resin belt which is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, is formed by heat-fixing a high-quality toner image at high speed and energy saving, and whose base is a fluororesin material. Therefore, it is possible to provide a heat fixing member having durability.

  According to the invention of claim 14, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, a high-quality toner image is formed by heat-fixing at high speed and energy saving, the substrate is composed of a heat-resistant resin belt, and rise time However, it is possible to provide a heat-fixing member that is short, strong in strength and durable.

  According to the invention of claim 15, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, a high-quality toner image is formed by heat fixing at high speed and energy saving, and the substrate is composed of a laminated belt and has durability. A heat fixing member can be provided.

  According to the invention of claim 16, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, a high quality toner image is formed by heat fixing with high speed and energy saving, and the elastic layer is made of a heat resistant synthetic rubber material. A heat fixing member having heat resistance can be provided.

  According to the invention of claim 17, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, a high quality toner image is formed by heat fixing at high speed and energy saving, and the elastic layer is made of a heat resistant rubber of silicone. A heat fixing member having heat resistance can be provided.

  According to the invention of claim 18, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, a high quality toner image is formed by heat fixing with high speed and energy saving, and the elastic layer is made of heat resistant rubber of fluorine. A heat fixing member having heat resistance can be provided.

  According to the invention of claim 19, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, a high-quality toner image is formed by heat fixing with high speed and energy saving, and the elastic layer is made of heat-resistant rubber of fluorosilicone. Thus, a heat fixing member having heat resistance can be provided.

  According to the invention of claim 20, a heat-fixing member that is excellent in surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, and is formed by heat-fixing a high-quality toner image at high speed and energy saving, and is durable. It is now possible to provide a fixing device comprising

  According to the invention of claim 21, a heat-fixing member having excellent surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, and heat-resistant and durable formed by heat-fixing a high-quality toner image at high speed and energy saving. It is now possible to provide an image forming apparatus comprising

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, the heat fixing roller 0a or the heat fixing belt 0b of the heat fixing member 0 that heats and fixes the toner image formed on the transfer member while rotating in the electrophotographic process is rotated. The base 1 that can be held and heated by the heating body 11, the elastic layer 2 formed on the base 1, and the elastic layer 2 are formed outside the inner elastic layer 2a and the inner elastic layer 2a. The outer elastic layer 2b having a low thermal conductivity and the release layer 3 formed on the outer elastic layer 2b are excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, and have a high quality toner image. It is formed by heat fixing with high speed and energy saving.

  The inner elastic layer 2a and the outer elastic layer 2b of the elastic layer 2 are made of a heat-resistant synthetic rubber material such as silicone heat-resistant rubber, fluorine heat-resistant rubber, or fluorosilicone heat-resistant rubber. The heat-fixing roller 0a of the heat-fixing member 0 or the heat-fixing belt 0b, which is excellent in both rubber hardness and heat conduction, is formed by heat-fixing a high-quality toner image at high speed and energy-saving and has heat resistance. Can now be provided.

  Therefore, it is possible to provide the heat-fixing member 0 having excellent surface smoothness, rubber hardness, and heat conduction, and having heat resistance and high-quality toner images formed by heat-fixing at high speed and energy saving. became.

  In FIG. 2, the roll fixing device 10a of the fixing device 10 that heats and fixes a toner image formed on a transfer medium in the electrophotographic process is held rotatably. The heating and fixing roller 0a of the heating and fixing member 0 according to 3, 4, 5, 16, 17, 18 or 19, and the metal roller 1a made of a metal material of the base 1 of the heating and fixing member 0 are heated. A halogen heater 11a of the heating body 11 and a pressurizing member 12 rotatably held in contact with the heat fixing roller 0a of the heat fixing member 0 heated by the halogen heater 11a of the heating body 11 with a predetermined pressure. A pressure fixing roller, a heat fixing nip portion 13 formed by contacting the heat fixing roller 0a of the heat fixing member 0 and the pressure roller of the pressure member 12, and the heat fixing nip portion 1. And a fixing conveyance path 14 that conveys and transfers the transfer sheet (P) on which the toner image (T) is formed, and is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, and high quality. A toner image is formed by heat fixing at high speed and energy saving.

  Since the metal roller 1a of the base 1 is made of aluminum, stainless steel, or brass, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, and high-quality toner images are heated at high speed and energy saving. Provided are the heat-fixing roller 0a of the heat-fixing member 0 that is formed and has durability, and the roll-fixing device 10a of the fixing device 10 that includes the heat-fixing roller 0a of the heat-fixing member 0. I can do it now.

  Accordingly, the heat-fixing roller of the heat-fixing member 0 is excellent in surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, and is formed by heat-fixing a high-quality toner image at high speed and energy-saving and durable. 0a and the roll fixing device 10a of the fixing device 10 including the heat fixing roller 0a of the heat fixing member 0 can be provided.

  In FIG. 3, the belt fixing device 10b of the fixing device 10 that heats and fixes the toner image formed on the transfer member in the electrophotographic process is held rotatably. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19 of the heat fixing belt 0b of the heat fixing member 0 and the substrate 1 of the heat fixing member 0. The heating roller 11b of the heating body 11 for heating the metal belt 1b made of a metal material, the heat-resistant resin belt 1c made of a heat-resistant resin material, or the laminated belt 1d in which the metal belt 1b and the heat-resistant resin belt 1c are laminated. The heating and fixing bell of the heating and fixing member 0 stretched between the fixing roller 15 and the heating roller 11b of the heating body 11 and heated by the heating roller 11b of the heating body 11 The pressure roller of the pressure member 12 that is rotatably held in contact with 0b at a predetermined pressure, the heat fixing belt 0b of the heat fixing member 0, and the pressure roller of the pressure member 12 are in contact with each other. The heating and fixing nip portion 13 is formed, and the fixing and conveying path 14 through which the transfer sheet of the transfer target (P) on which the toner image (T) is formed is conveyed and passed through the heating and fixing nip portion 13. It is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, and is formed by heat-fixing high-quality toner images at high speed and energy saving.

  Since the metal belt 1b made of the metal material of the base 1 is made of stainless steel or nickel, it has excellent surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, and high-quality toner images can be saved at high speed. The heat-fixing belt 0b of the heat-fixing member 0 formed by heat fixing and having durability, and the belt-fixing device 10b of the fixing device 10 including the heat-fixing belt 0b of the heat-fixing member 0 are provided. It became possible to provide.

  The heat-resistant resin belt 1c made of the heat-resistant resin material of the base 1 is made of a polyimide resin material, a polyamide-imide resin material, or a fluororesin material, and thus has excellent surface smoothness, both rubber hardness and heat conduction, The heat-fixing belt 0b of the heat-fixing member 0 that is formed by heat-fixing a high-quality toner image at high speed with energy saving and the heat-fixing belt 0b of the heat-fixing member 0 and the heat-fixing belt 0b of the heat-fixing member 0 are provided. The belt fixing device 10b of the fixing device 10 can be provided.

  Since the laminated belt 1d of the substrate 1 is formed by laminating the metal belt 1b and the heat-resistant resin belt 1c, it is excellent in both surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, and a high-quality toner image is high-speed and energy-saving. The heat-fixing belt 0b of the heat-fixing member 0 formed by heat fixing and having durability, and the belt-fixing device 10b of the fixing device 10 including the heat-fixing belt 0b of the heat-fixing member 0 are provided. It became possible to provide.

  The heat fixing belt 0b of the heat fixing member 0 has a structure in which the base 1 is rotatably held and heated by the heating body 11, the elastic layer 2 formed on the base 1, and the The elastic layer 2 includes the inner elastic layer 2a, the outer elastic layer 2b having a low thermal conductivity formed outside the inner elastic layer 2a, and the release layer 3 formed on the outer elastic layer 2b. (See FIG. 1).

The metal belt 1b or the heat-resistant resin belt 1c of the base 1 is a belt base material made of a heat-resistant material. As the heat-resistant material, a metal material such as a stainless steel material or a nickel material, or a polyimide resin is used. A heat resistant resin such as a material, a polyamide-imide resin material, or a fluororesin material is used.
In the case of the metal belt 1b of the base 1, it is desirable that the film thickness is 100 μm or less in consideration of bending.
In the case of the heat-resistant resin belt 1c of the substrate 1, the heat capacity is preferably thinner from the viewpoint of shortening the rise time, and the thickness is preferably 30 μm or more and 200 μm or less because the strength is advantageous.

  The elastic layer 2 is composed of two layers, the inner elastic layer 2a and the outer elastic layer 2b, and has a surface roughness (Rz) on the metal belt 1b or the heat-resistant resin belt 1c of the base 1. However, the outer elastic layer 2b having a low thermal conductivity but a small surface roughness (Rz) is covered on the inner elastic layer 2a. The material of the low thermal conductivity layer of the outer elastic layer 2b has a high leveling property as described above, and the unevenness of the outer elastic layer 2b can be eliminated.

  Materials used for the release layer 3 include tetrafluoroethylene resin (PTFE), tetrafluoroethylene / perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer resin (PFA), and tetrafluoroethylene / hexafluoropropylene. Examples thereof include a fluorine resin such as a copolymer resin (FEP), a mixture of these resins, and a resin in which these fluorine resins are dispersed in a heat resistant resin.

In order to measure the effect of the surface smoothness of the elastic layer 2, a silicone heat-resistant rubber having a high thermal conductivity is applied to the base 1 of the heat-resistant resin belt 1 c made of a polyimide resin material having a diameter of 70 mm, a thickness of 90 μm, and a surface length of 310 mm. A (rubber hardness 40) and low heat conductivity silicone heat-resistant rubber B (rubber hardness 22) were applied by 200 μm (see Table 1).
Then, the surface roughness (Rz) of the heat fixing belt 0b of the heat fixing member 0 was measured.
As a result, as shown in Table 2, the elastic layer 2 of the heat-fixing belt 0b of the heat-fixing member 0 had a surface roughness equivalent to that of Comparative Example 2.

Next, in order to measure the effects of heat conduction and heat fixing toner images, the heat fixing belt 0b of the heat fixing member 0 was tested in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus 50 described later.
In this test, in order to release the toner, the release layer 3 of fluororesin was applied to the surface of the heat fixing belt 0b of the heat fixing member 0 by 10 μm.
On the heat-fixing belt 0b of the produced heat-fixing member 0, the transfer sheet (P) is passed through the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 50 described later, and 30 toner images are output continuously. Then, the temperature drop at the center of the surface of the heat fixing belt 0b of the heat fixing member 0 was measured.
Further, the same electrophotographic image forming apparatus 50, which will be described later, was used to output a square magenta solid image having a side of 40 mm for image evaluation.
In the image evaluation, evaluation of good (◯) and bad (×) from the point of image uniformity of the solid image and evaluation of granularity (the smaller the value, the better the image quality) were performed.
As a result, as shown in Table 3, the heat-fixing belt 0b of the heat-fixing member 0 is equivalent to the comparative example 1, satisfies the above-described standard temperature drop of 20 ° C. or less, and is equivalent to the comparative example 2. As a result of image evaluation.
Further, only the heat fixing belt 0b of the heat fixing member 0 has been described. Similarly, the heat fixing roller 0a of the heat fixing member 0 has the same effect, but the description thereof is duplicated. Therefore, the following description is omitted.

  Therefore, the heat-fixing belt of the heat-fixing member 0 is excellent in surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, and is formed by heat-fixing a high-quality toner image at high speed and energy-saving and durable. 0b and the belt fixing device 10b of the fixing device 10 including the heat fixing belt 0b of the heat fixing member 0 can be provided.

  In FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus 50 for forming a toner image by an electrophotographic process includes an image carrier 51 that carries a toner image that is held rotatably in the direction of the arrow (A). A drum-shaped photosensitive drum; a charging means 52 for uniformly charging the drum-shaped photosensitive drum of the image carrier 51; and a drum-shaped image carrier 51 charged uniformly by the charging means 52. A latent image forming unit 53 for forming a latent image on the surface 51a of the photosensitive drum, a developing unit 54 for developing the latent image formed by the latent image forming unit 53 to form a toner image storage, and the developing unit 54 Transfer means 55 for transferring the toner image formed on the transfer paper of the transfer target (P), and the toner image (T) transferred on the transfer paper of the transfer target (P) by the transfer means 55. The above claim 1 to be fixed A high-quality toner comprising the fixing device 10 according to claim 20 comprising the heat-fixing member 0 according to any one of claims 19 and having excellent surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction. The image is heat-resistant and durable as it is formed by heat-fixing at high speed and energy saving.

A copying machine that forms a toner image by the electrophotographic method of the image forming apparatus 50 is provided with a document image reading device 56 that reads an image of a document (O) at the top.
On the other hand, a paper feeding device 58 for placing the image forming means 57 and supplying the transfer material (P) transfer paper is disposed at the lower part.

The charging unit 52 emits the laser diode of the latent image forming unit 53 by the electrophotographic method of forming a toner image with the image data of the original image of the original (O) to be read by the original image reading device 56. A latent image is formed on the surface 11a of the drum-shaped photosensitive drum of the image carrier 51 that is uniformly charged.
The electrostatic latent image formed by causing the laser diode of the latent image forming means 53 to emit light is visualized by the developing means 54 to form a toner image.

The toner image visualized by the developing unit 54 is transferred by the transfer unit 55 to the transfer sheet of the transfer medium (P) conveyed from the paper feeding device 58.
The toner image transferred onto the transfer sheet (P) by the transfer means 55 is transferred to the fixing device 10 including the heat fixing roller 0a of the heat fixing member 0 or the heat fixing belt 0b (not shown). After the heating and pressurization, the transfer sheet (P) transfer sheet is discharged to the discharge tray 60 by the discharge roller 59 and stored.

  On the other hand, the surface 51a of the drum-shaped photosensitive drum of the image carrier 51 is formed on the surface of the drum-shaped photosensitive drum of the image carrier 51 after the toner image is transferred to the transfer sheet of the transfer medium (P). Residual toner adhering to the surface 51a is scraped off and cleaned by the cleaning means 61 to prepare for image formation in the next process.

  Accordingly, the heat-fixing roller of the heat-fixing member 0 is excellent in surface smoothness, rubber hardness and heat conduction, and is formed by heat-fixing a high-quality toner image at high speed and energy-saving and durable. 0a or the image forming apparatus 50 provided with the heat fixing belt 0b (not shown) can be provided.

It is an expanded sectional view explaining the heat fixing member which shows the embodiment of this invention. 1 is an enlarged view illustrating a fixing device including a heat fixing member according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is an enlarged view explaining the fixing device which comprises the heat fixing member which shows the other embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus including a heat fixing member according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. It is an explanatory view for explaining a fixing device having a conventional heat fixing member and an image forming apparatus. It is explanatory drawing explaining the fixing device which comprises the other conventional heat fixing member.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 0 Heat-fixing member 0a Heat-fixing roller 0b Heat-fixing belt 1 Base 1a Metal roller 1b Metal belt 1c Heat-resistant resin belt 1d Laminated belt 2 Elastic layer 2a Inner elastic layer 2b Outer elastic layer 3 Release layer 10 Fixing device 10a Roll fixing device DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10b Belt fixing apparatus 11 Heating body 11a Halogen heater 11b Heating roller 12 Pressure member 13 Heating fixing nip part 14 Fixing conveyance path 15 Fixing roller 50 Image forming apparatus 51 Image carrier 51a Surface 52 Charging means 53 Latent image forming means 54 Developing means 55 Transfer means 56 Document image reading device 57 Image forming means 58 Paper feed device 59 Paper discharge roller 60 Paper discharge tray 61 Cleaning means 100 Heat fixing member 101 Heat fixing roller 101a Core metal 101b Adhesion prevention layer 101c Fixing belt 102 Elastic layer 110 Heat fixing device 111 Heating member 111a Halogen heater 111b Heating roller 112 Pressure roller 113 Fixing roller 150 Image forming device 151 Photosensitive drum 152 Charging device 153 Laser scanning unit 154 Developer 155 Transfer device

Claims (21)

  In a heating and fixing member that heats and fixes a toner image formed on a transfer target in an electrophotographic process, the substrate is rotatably held and formed on the substrate. The elastic layer comprises an inner elastic layer, an outer elastic layer having a low thermal conductivity formed outside the inner elastic layer, and a release layer formed on the outer elastic layer. A heat fixing member characterized by the above.   2. The heat fixing member according to claim 1, wherein the base is a metal roller made of a metal material.   3. The heat fixing member according to claim 2, wherein the metal roller is made of an aluminum material.   3. The heat fixing member according to claim 2, wherein the metal roller is made of a stainless steel material.   The heat fixing member according to claim 2, wherein the metal roller is made of a brass material.   2. The heat fixing member according to claim 1, wherein the base is a metal belt made of a metal material.   7. The heat fixing member according to claim 6, wherein the metal belt is made of a stainless steel material.   7. The heat fixing member according to claim 6, wherein the metal belt is made of a nickel material.   9. The heat fixing member according to claim 6, 7, or 8, wherein the metal belt has a film pressure of 100 [mu] m or less.   2. The heat fixing member according to claim 1, wherein the base is a heat resistant resin belt made of a heat resistant resin material.   11. The heat fixing member according to claim 10, wherein the heat resistant resin belt is made of a polyimide resin material.   11. The heat fixing member according to claim 10, wherein the heat-resistant resin belt is made of a polyamide-imide resin material.   11. The heat fixing member according to claim 10, wherein the heat resistant resin belt is made of a fluororesin material.   14. The heat fixing member according to claim 10, 11, 12, or 13, wherein the heat resistant resin belt has a film pressure of 30 μm to 200 μm.   The heat-fixing member according to claim 1, wherein the base is formed by laminating the metal belt according to claim 6, 7, 8, or 9 and the heat-resistant resin belt according to claim 10, 11, 12, 13, or 14. A heat fixing member which is a laminated belt.   16. The heat fixing member according to claim 1, wherein the elastic layer is made of a heat resistant synthetic rubber material.   17. The heat fixing member according to claim 16, wherein the heat resistant synthetic rubber material is silicone heat resistant rubber.   17. The heat fixing member according to claim 16, wherein the heat resistant synthetic rubber material is fluorine heat resistant rubber.   17. The heat fixing member according to claim 16, wherein the heat resistant synthetic rubber material is a fluorosilicone heat resistant rubber.   20. The heat fixing member according to any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the heat fixing member is rotatably held in a fixing device that heats and fixes a toner image formed on a transfer target in an electrophotographic process. A heating body that heats the base of the heat fixing member, a pressure member that is rotatably held in contact with the heat fixing member heated by the heating body at a predetermined pressure, the heat fixing member, and the A fixing device comprising: a heat-fixing nip portion formed by contact of a pressure member; and a fixing conveyance path for conveying and passing a transfer medium on which a toner image is formed in the heat-fixing nip portion. .   In an image forming apparatus for forming a toner image by an electrophotographic process, an image carrier that carries a toner image that is rotatably held and a charging unit that uniformly charges the image carrier; A latent image forming unit that forms a latent image on the surface of the image carrier uniformly charged by the charging unit, and a developing unit that develops the latent image formed by the latent image forming unit to form a toner image storage. 20. A transfer means for transferring the toner image formed by the developing means onto the transfer target, and a toner image transferred onto the transfer target by the transfer means is fixed. An image forming apparatus comprising the fixing device according to claim 20, comprising the heat fixing member according to claim 20.

Images