JP2005155870A - Method of manufacturing elastic foam roller - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of manufacturing an elastic foam roller suitably used as a toner supply roller capable of stably supplying the toner, being easily manufactured without generating abrasive powder and cutting powder, and providing an image of high quality. <P>SOLUTION: A shaping roller 55 having an elastic foam 21a on an outer periphery of a shaft 11, and a pressing roller 51 having a projecting and recessed part in the circumferential direction of its outer peripheral face are mounted in a state that their central shafts are in parallel with each other, the elastic foam 21a of the shaping roller 55 and the projecting and recessed part 52 of the pressing roller 51 are closely kept into contact with each other, a cutting edge 41a of a blade is kept into contact with a part where an outer peripheral face of the elastic foam 21a is deformed by close contact with the projecting and recessed part 52 of the pressing roller, and the outer peripheral face of the elastic foam 21a is cut in a projecting and recessed state by the blade 41 by rotating the pressing roller 51 and the shaping roller 55. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an elastic foam roller.

  Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying apparatus, an image recording apparatus, a printer, and a facsimile, an electrostatic latent image formed on an image carrier made of an electrophotographic photosensitive member or an electrostatic recording dielectric is developed by a developing device. Development with toner (developer) supplied to a roller to visualize the toner image is performed. In such a developing device, a toner supply roller is incorporated in order to supply an appropriate amount of toner of about 10 μm or less contained in the hopper to the developing roller, or to scrape excess toner from the developing roller.

  As the toner supply roller, an elastic foam roller in which an elastic foam such as polyurethane foam or silicone foam is provided on the outer periphery of the shaft is often used. In addition, as a method for manufacturing the elastic foam roller, (1) an elastic foam of a required size is cut out from an elastic foam of slab or mold foam, a forming roller is formed through the shaft, and then the elastic foam (2) After forming an elastic foam integrally with the shaft to form a molding roller, grinding or polishing unnecessary portions of the elastic foam. (3) The cutting edge of the blade is applied to the surface of the elastic foam of the molding roller, and the surface of the elastic foam is cut off by rotating the molding roller. There is a method by peeling processing to make a cylindrical body of size.

In the method of manufacturing the elastic foam roller by grinding or polishing, the grinding residue or polishing residue is likely to remain on the surface (roller surface) of the elastic foam, and if the residue is present, white streaks are generated in the image. Or the residual material falls off during use of the toner supply roller and is sandwiched between the developing roller and the toner regulating blade to cause white streaks in the image. Moreover, since grinding powder or polishing powder is generated, the grinding powder or polishing powder adheres to the surface of the elastic foam, and the image may be damaged by the adhered grinding powder or polishing powder. In the peeling method, the blade is applied to the rotating elastic body, so that the soft elastic body can easily escape from the blade edge. The manufactured toner supply roller that is not formed on the surface is likely to cause non-uniform rubbing with the developing roller, increasing the stress on the toner and causing the toner to deteriorate due to the stress. In addition, the surface of the peeled elastic foam is more likely to have unevenness compared to the polishing process, and supplies toner to the developing roller or scrapes off the toner on the surface of the developing roller compared to the polished product. The action tends to be inferior. Particularly in recent years, with the spread of laser color printers, the atomization of toner has progressed, and the peeling-processed products have become defective due to the supply of toner and scraping off. Although it has been proposed to make the outer peripheral surface of the elastic foam a polygonal shape, there is a demand for further improvement in toner supply and scraping.
JP 2001-121495 A JP 2001-121472 A JP 2002-148926 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and does not generate abrasive powder or cutting powder, is easy to manufacture, can stably supply toner when used in a toner supply roller, and is excellent. A method for producing an elastic foam roller capable of obtaining an image is provided.

  According to the present invention, a molding roller provided with an elastic foam on the outer periphery of a shaft and a pressing roll formed with irregularities in the circumferential direction of the outer peripheral surface are arranged so that their central axes are parallel to each other, and the molding roller The elastic foam is pressed against the unevenness of the pressing roll, and the blade edge of the blade is applied to a portion where the outer peripheral surface of the elastic foam is deformed by pressing with the unevenness of the pressing roll, and the pressing roll and the molding roller According to the method for manufacturing an elastic foam roller, the outer peripheral surface of the elastic foam is cut into irregularities with the blade by rotation.

  Moreover, in this invention, the pitch of the unevenness | corrugation formed in the outer peripheral surface of the said elastic foam can be changed by changing the rotational speed of the said press roll and the said forming roller, respectively. Furthermore, in this invention, the height of the unevenness | corrugation formed in the outer peripheral surface of the said elastic foam can be changed by changing the center distance of the said press roll and the said forming roller.

  According to the elastic foam roller manufacturing method of the present invention, the elastic foam of the molding roller is pressed against the unevenness of the pressing roll, and the outer peripheral surface of the elastic foam is deformed by the press contact with the unevenness of the pressing roll. The part of the elastic foam to which the cutting edge of the blade is applied is applied in order to cut the outer peripheral surface of the elastic foam into irregularities with the blade by rotating the pressing roll and the molding roller. Is compressed and deformed by being pressed by the pressing roll, and its hardness is increased from the surroundings. Therefore, the cutting edge of the blade is difficult to escape from the outer peripheral surface of the elastic foam, and the outer peripheral surface of the elastic foam can be excised well. In addition, the portion of the elastic foam that the blade edge of the blade hits is compressed and deformed by pressure contact with the unevenness of the outer peripheral surface of the pressing roll, and the degree of compressive deformation changes due to the rotation of the pressing roll. The concavo-convex shape is cut out to form the concavo-convex shape on the surface of the elastic foam. Moreover, since the pitch of the unevenness | corrugation formed in the said elastic foam surface can be changed by changing the rotational speed of the said press roll and the said molding roller, respectively, the material, size, etc. of the said elastic foam Accordingly, an optimum uneven pitch can be formed on the surface of the elastic foam roller. Furthermore, since the height of the unevenness formed on the outer peripheral surface of the elastic foam can be changed by changing the interaxial distance between the pressing roll and the molding roller, the material of the elastic foam Irregularities having an optimal height difference according to the size and the like can be formed on the surface of the elastic foam roller.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an elastic foam roller manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a manufacturing apparatus, FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the formation of irregularities during manufacture, and FIG. It is an example of unevenness.

  An elastic foam roller 10 shown in FIG. 1 is manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention, and includes a shaft 11 and a cylindrical elastic foam 21 provided on the outer periphery of the shaft 11, and includes a copying apparatus, an image recording apparatus, and a printer. It is used as a toner supply roller in an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile.

  The shaft 11 serves as a central axis of the elastic foam roller 10 and is made of a material having a required rigidity such as metal and is sized according to the elastic foam roller 10.

  The cylindrical elastic foam 21 has an open cell structure such as urethane foam or silicone foam, and the shaft 11 passes through the center. Concavities and convexities 22 are formed along the circumferential direction C on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical elastic foam 21. In the irregularities 22, convex portions 22 a and concave portions 22 b formed along the longitudinal direction L of the elastic foam 21 up to both ends of the elastic foam 21 are alternately arranged in the circumferential direction.

  An example of an apparatus for manufacturing the elastic foam roller 10 is shown in FIG. In the illustrated manufacturing apparatus, a cutter 41 is attached in a horizontal direction to a lower end of a wedge-shaped main body 31 having an inclined upper and lower surface and protrudes from the main body 31 of a blade edge 41a. As the blade 41, an appropriate tool such as a band knife is used. In particular, the width of the cutting edge 41a is preferably equal to or greater than the entire length of the elastic foam 21 in the elastic foam roller 10. In this embodiment, the cutter 41 is attached to the upper and lower surfaces of the main body base 31 by holding plates 43 and 44 attached to concave step portions formed from the middle to the lower end. It is done by being pinched from.

  A drive unit support plate 32 is attached above the main body base unit 31. The drive unit support plate 32 is attached to the upper surface 31a of the main body base portion 31 by a hinge member 33 so that the driving portion support plate 32 can rotate upward from a substantially parallel state to the upper surface 31a of the main body base portion 31. It has been. A pressing roll 51 is attached to the tip of the drive unit support plate 32 and can be rotated by a drive motor 61 on the drive unit support plate 32.

  The pressing roll 51 has irregularities 52 formed in the circumferential direction of the outer peripheral surface, a rotating belt 62 is hung between a center shaft 53 and the driving motor 61, and the rotating belt 62 is rotated by the driving motor 61. It can rotate in one direction. The position of the pressing roll 51 is a position where the lowermost outer periphery of the pressing roll 51 is near the cutting edge 41a of the cutter 41 and does not contact the cutting edge 41a. In the illustrated example, the outermost lower end of the pressing roll 51 is on the extension of the cutting edge 41a, and the distance from the cutting edge 41a is about 0.1 to 1 mm. Further, the pitch (protrusion distance or concave distance) of the unevenness 52 in the pressing roll 51 and the diameter of the pressing roll 51 are appropriately determined according to the elastic foam roller to be manufactured. The uneven height difference of the pressing roll 51 is also appropriately determined according to the elastic foam roller to be manufactured, but is usually about 3 mm. Further, the irregularities 52 are not limited to those having grooves parallel to the central axis 53 formed at a predetermined angular interval, and are appropriate irregularities, whereby the irregularities 22 on the outer peripheral surface of the elastic foam roller 10 are formed in a desired shape. Can be. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the groove | channel may be formed in the outer peripheral surface of a press roll helically, and the said unevenness | corrugation 52 may be formed by what the groove | channel cross | intersected.

  In order to manufacture the elastic foam roller 10 using the manufacturing apparatus, a molding roller 55 provided with an elastic foam 21a on the outer periphery of the shaft 11 is opposite to the pressing roll 51 with respect to the blade 41. The upper portion of the elastic foam 21a is pressed against and pressed against the unevenness 52 of the pressing roll 51, and the cutting edge 41a hits a portion deformed by the pressure contact of the elastic foam 21a. Like that. The amount of deformation of the elastic foam 21a due to the pressure contact with the unevenness 52 of the pressing roll 51 is set as appropriate, and as an example, it shows about 5 to 10% with respect to the outer diameter of the elastic foam 21a.

  In the molding roller 55, the elastic foam 21a is larger in size than the elastic foam 21 of the elastic foam roller 10, and the shaft 11 is inserted into the previously formed elastic foam 21a. Alternatively, the elastic foam 21a may be formed on the outer periphery of the shaft 11 by molding.

  The molding roller 55 is detachably held on a support base 57 so that the shaft 11 corresponding to the central axis is parallel to the central axis 53 of the pressing roll 51, and is attached on the support base 57. It can be rotated by a drive motor 58. A rotary belt 59 is hung between the shaft 11 of the molding roller 55 and the drive motor 58. When the rotary belt 59 is rotated by the drive motor 58, the molding roller 55 rotates. ing.

  Next, the pressing roll 51 and the forming roller 55 are rotated along rotation directions E1 and E2 from the front of the blade edge 41a toward the blade edge 41a. The rotation speed of the pressing roll 51 and the forming roller 55 is preferably in the range of 1 rotation / 5 to 10 seconds, since the elastic foam 21a is easily cut off by the blade edge 41. At that time, as shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, the elastic foam 21a of the molding roller 55 is pressed by the cutting edge 41a located in a portion that is in pressure contact with the pressing roll 51 and is compressed and deformed. It is excised to peel off. Reference numeral 21b denotes a cut-out portion of the elastic foam 21a. In addition, since the amount of compressive deformation changes in the compressive deformation portion of the elastic foam 21a where the blade edge 41a is located due to the unevenness 52 on the outer periphery of the pressing roll 51, the outer periphery of the rotating elastic foam 21a is uneven. Excised. By one rotation of the molding roller 55, the molding roller 55 becomes the elastic foam roller 10 shown in FIG. After the one rotation, the elastic foam roller 10 is separated from the blade edge 41 a and the pressing roll 51 and is removed from the support base 57. In addition, the pitch of the unevenness | corrugation 22 formed in the outer peripheral surface of the said elastic foam 21 can be changed by changing the rotational speed of the said press roll 51 and the molding roller 55, respectively. Further, the outer circumference of the elastic foam 21 is changed by changing the distance between the pressing roll 51 and the molding roller 55 (the distance between the central axis 53 of the pressing roll and the shaft 11 of the molding roller 55). The height of the unevenness formed on the surface can be changed.

  An elastic foam 21a of a molding roller is formed by punching a slab foamed urethane foam (product number: EPM, manufactured by Inoac Corporation) with an outer diameter of 20 mm × length of 250 mm and penetrating a shaft insertion hole with a diameter of 3 mm in the center. Got. Next, a conductive metal shaft 11 having an outer diameter of 4 mm and a length of 270 mm coated with a hot melt adhesive on the outer peripheral surface is inserted into the shaft insertion hole of the elastic foam 21a, and then 30 minutes in a hot air drying oven at 70 ° C. The hot-melt adhesive was melted by heating to form a molding roller 55 provided with the elastic foam 21a on the outer surface.

  The molding roller 55 is attached to a support base 57 as shown in FIG. 2, the elastic foam 21a is disposed below the pressing roll 51 of the manufacturing apparatus, and the upper portion of the elastic foam 21a is pressed against the irregularities 52. In addition, the blade edge 41a hits the compression deformed portion of the elastic foam 21a by the pressure contact. As the pressing roll 51, a spline shaft having 16 teeth (number of recesses), a pitch diameter of 20, a large diameter of 21.5, and a small diameter of 18.5 was used. The amount of compressive deformation of the elastic foam 21a by the pressing roll 51 was 5 to 10% of the outer diameter of the elastic foam 21a. The blade 41 uses Toa Machine Blade Co., Ltd., a band knife, 80 × 0.6 × 7520, the gap between the blade edge 41a and the pressing roll 51 is 0.3 mm, and the cut thickness of the elastic foam 21a To be 1 to 2 mm.

  Next, the pressing roll 51 and the forming roller 55 were rotated in the directions E1 and E2 toward the blade edge 41a at 1 rotation / 7 seconds, respectively, and the outer periphery of the elastic foam 21a was cut off by the blade edge 41a. When the pressing roll 51 and the molding roller 55 are rotated once, the molding roller 55 (which is already the elastic foam roller 10) is separated from the blade edge 41a and the pressing roll 51, and thereafter The elastic foam roller 10 of Example was obtained by removing from the support base 57. In the elastic foam roller 10 of this example, the outer diameter of the elastic foam 21 was 16 mm.

  The elastic foam roller 10 of the above-described embodiment is attached to a laser printer, and images are printed with a durable pattern up to 10,000 sheets. A 100% solid image and a 50% halftone image in magenta every 2,000 sheets. Was printed on a test, and the image density was measured with a Macbeth densitometer at the 30 mm site after the start of printing and at the 30 mm site before the end of printing. As a result, there was almost no difference in density between the 100% solid image and the 50% halftone image at the 30 mm site after the start of printing up to 10,000 sheets, and a good printed image was obtained.

It is a perspective view of the elastic foam roller manufactured by the manufacturing method of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a manufacturing apparatus. It is the schematic which shows the time of uneven | corrugated formation at the time of manufacture. It is a perspective view which shows the example of the unevenness | corrugation of a press roll.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Elastic foam roller 11 Shaft 21 Elastic foam 21a Elastic foam of molding roller 22 Unevenness of elastic foam 22a Convex part of elastic foam 22b Concave part of elastic foam 41 Cutlery 41a Cutting edge 51 Press roll 52 Unevenness of press roll 55 Roller for molding

Claims (3)

A molding roller provided with an elastic foam on the outer periphery of the shaft and a pressing roll with irregularities formed in the circumferential direction of the outer peripheral surface are arranged so that the central axes thereof are parallel to each other,
Pressing the elastic foam of the molding roller and the unevenness of the pressing roll,
The outer peripheral surface of the elastic foam is applied with the blade edge of the blade against the portion deformed by pressure contact with the unevenness of the pressing roll,
A method of manufacturing an elastic foam roller, wherein the outer peripheral surface of the elastic foam is cut into irregularities with the blade by rotation of the pressing roll and the molding roller.   The elastic foam according to claim 1, wherein the pitch of the irregularities formed on the outer peripheral surface of the elastic foam is changed by changing the rotation speeds of the pressing roll and the molding roller, respectively. Roller manufacturing method. The height of the unevenness | corrugation formed in the outer peripheral surface of the said elastic foam is changed by changing the center distance of the said press roll and the said molding roller, The Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. A method for producing an elastic foam roller.

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