JP2005242158A - Developer amount regulating blade - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a developer amount regulating blade which is composed of a thin belt-like holder and a rubber member held on the holder and can be reused by separating only the holder. <P>SOLUTION: The developer amount regulating blade is constituted in a manner that the rubber member 3 is extended on both sides of the thickness direction of the holder, a through-hole 9 which pierces the holder 2 in the thickness direction is disposed and rubbers 3a, 3b on both sides of the holder 2 are fastened to each other through the through-hole 9. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a developer amount regulating blade comprising a thin belt-like holder and a rubber member held by the holder and regulating the amount of developer carried on the developing roller, and more particularly, to a holder that enables recycling of the holder. .

  In electrophotographic or electrostatic recording type image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, facsimiles, printers, etc., particularly for color, there is a method in which a non-magnetic developer is charged and the developer is transferred to the photosensitive drum by the charge. In this system, the developer is carried on the outer periphery of the developing roller, and the amount of developer is regulated by a developer amount regulating blade provided facing the outer circumferential surface of the developing roller. The developer is triboelectrically charged.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional developer amount regulating blade attached to an image forming apparatus. The developer amount regulating blade 81 extends in the length direction of the thin-walled holder 82 and the holder 82. The holder 82 is usually made of metal, for example, stainless steel, and the rubber member 83 is attached only to one surface in the thickness direction of the holder 82 (for example, Patent Documents). 1).

  The blade 81 is attached to the blade support 84 so that the one surface of the holder 82 provided with the rubber member 83 faces the peripheral surface 85a of the developing roller 85, and the peripheral surface 85a is rotated by the rotation of the developing roller 85. The rubber member 83 acts to regulate the amount of developer carried on the surface.

  In order to manufacture such a blade 81, when the rubber member 83 is a thermosetting material such as silicone rubber, for example, first, an adhesive is applied to the surface of the holder 82 and dried. Then, the holder 82 is loaded into a high-temperature mold cavity, a rubber material is injected into the cavity and thermally cured, and a rubber member 83 is molded integrally with the holder 82 to form a blade 81. Similarly, when the rubber member 83 is thermoplastic, the rubber material heated and fluidized is injected into the mold cavity loaded with the adhesive-applied holder 82, and the rubber member 83 is injected. Are formed integrally with the holder 82 to form the blade 81.

Here, the application of the adhesive to the holder 82 is carried out for the purpose of ensuring the adhesion between the surface of the holder 82 and the surface of the rubber member 83. In order to remove the holder 82 for reuse, it is difficult to separate the rubber member 83 and the holder 82, and an adhesive layer remains on the surface of the holder 82 to remove it. Took a lot of man-hours, and there was a problem that it could not be recycled in practice.
JP 2001-117358 A

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a developer amount regulating blade that can be separated and reused.

(1) The present invention provides a developer amount regulating blade comprising a thin strip holder and a rubber member held by the holder.
The rubber member extends on both sides in the thickness direction of the holder and has a through hole penetrating the holder in the thickness direction. The developer amount regulating blade is formed by connecting the rubber on both sides of the holder through the through hole. It is.

  (2) The present invention relates to (1), wherein the development is formed by secondary vulcanization of the rubber member molded integrally with the holder by injecting a rubber material into the mold cavity loaded with the holder. This is a dose control blade.

  (3) In the present invention, in (1) or (2), the developer amount regulation is such that at least a part of the surface roughness Ra of the surface of the holder that contacts and holds the rubber member is 0.4 μm or more. It is a blade.

  According to the invention of (1), while extending the rubber member on both sides in the thickness direction of the holder, the through holes penetrating the holder in the thickness direction are provided, and the rubbers on both sides of the holder are passed through the through holes. Since the holder is connected, the holder can hold the rubber member with a strength that can resist the reaction force from the developer, and since no adhesive is used, only the metal holder is re-used from the used blade. It can be separated in a usable state, which can contribute to effective use of resources.

  According to the invention of (2), after the rubber material is injected into the mold cavity loaded with the holder and the rubber member is molded integrally with the holder, the rubber member is secondarily vulcanized. It can be made perfect to increase the strength of the rubber member. If the rubber member is made of silicone rubber, the low-molecular components that become pollutants can be decomposed and removed by heat from secondary vulcanization. Thus, the contamination resistance can be improved.

  According to the invention of (3), since the surface roughness Ra of at least a part of the surface of the holder that contacts and holds the rubber member is set to 0.4 μm or more, the holder surface and the rubber member surface are relatively The displacement can be more reliably suppressed, and the positioning accuracy of the rubber member with respect to the holder can be improved.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view in the width direction showing the developer amount regulating blade according to the embodiment in an attached state. FIG. 3A is a longitudinal sectional view of the developer amount regulating blade, and FIG. b) is a plan view showing a holder constituting the blade.

  The developer amount regulating blade 1 is composed of a strip-shaped holder 2 and a rubber member 3 extending in the length direction of the holder 2, and the holder 2 is made of a thin plate, usually made of metal, for example, stainless steel. The rubber member 3 is configured by arranging rubbers 3 a and 3 b on both sides in the thickness direction of the holder 2.

  The blade 1 is attached to the blade support 4 in such a posture that the rubber 3a on one side in the thickness direction of the holder 2 is opposed to the peripheral surface of the developing roller 5, and is placed on the peripheral surface 5a by the rotation of the developing roller 5. It functions to regulate the amount of developer carried.

  In the blade 1, a through hole 9 that penetrates the holder 2 in the thickness direction is provided, and the rubbers 3 a and 3 b on both sides in the thickness direction of the holder 2 are connected to each other through the through hole 9. As described above, in the blade 1, the rubber 3 a and 3 b are connected through the through-hole 9, so that the holder 2 can hold the rubber member 3 without performing the coating process of the adhesive. By not using, the holder 2 and the rubber member 3 can be easily separated and only the holder 2 can be taken out in a reusable form.

  Here, the surface portion 2a of the holder 2 that contacts and holds the rubbers 3a and 3b is preferably subjected to a surface treatment so that the surface roughness Ra becomes 0.4 μm or more. Relative slippage between the surface and the surface of the rubber member 3 can be suppressed, and the positioning accuracy of the rubber member 3 with respect to the holder 2 can be increased even in portions other than the through holes 9, and the amount of developer regulation can be made uniform Can do.

  Here, instead of setting the surface roughness represented by Ra to 0.4 μm or more, the surface roughness represented by Rz may be set to 3.0 μm or more, and more preferably, the surface roughness represented by Ra is set to 1.5 μm. Alternatively, the surface roughness represented by Rz is preferably 6.0 μm or more, which can further suppress the relative slip of the rubber member 3 with respect to the holder 2.

  In manufacturing the blade 1, when the rubber member 3 is a thermosetting material such as silicone rubber, the liquid silicone rubber is placed in a high-temperature mold cavity in which the holder 2 is pre-loaded. After being injected and thermally cured, the blade 1 is formed by cooling integrally with the holder 2, and the details thereof will be described below. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a two-cavity mold for molding the blade 1, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a VV cross section of FIG.

The mold 11 includes a main mold 13 and an insert mold 14 that are spaced apart from each other along an arrow T ₃ , and a sprue plate that is relatively spaced and displaced along the arrow T ₁ with respect to the molds 13 and 14. 15, the sprue plate 15 includes a first sprue 22 and a runner 23 for allowing the injected liquid silicone rubber to pass therethrough, and the main mold 13 corresponds to one rubber 3 a of the rubber member 3. Cavities 17A, a gate 25A and a second sprue 24A for injecting liquid silicone rubber into the cavities 17A, the insert mold 14 has a recess 22 for placing the holder 2, and a rubber member 3 A cavity 17B corresponding to the other rubber 3b, a gate 25B and a second sprue 24B for injecting liquid silicone rubber into the cavity 17B But, they are respectively provided.

In the figure, 12 is an injection head of a molding machine for injecting liquid silicone rubber, and 19 is a liquid silicone rubber conduit. Injection head 12 is arranged relatively spaced proximity displaced along the arrow T ₂ relative to the sprue plate 15, at a position into contact with the sprue plate 15, where the liquid silicone rubber conduit 19 and sprue 22 communicating Is done.

  The blade 1 is molded using this mold 11 as follows. The main mold 13, the insert mold 14, the sprue plate 15, and the injection head 12 are set to be spaced apart from each other. First, the surface-treated holder 2 is set in the recess 22 of the insert mold 14.

  Thereafter, the main mold 13 and the insert mold 14 are moved closer to each other, and the sprue plate 15 is moved closer to the molds 13 and 14 to close the mold 11. Next, the injection head 12 is brought into contact with the sprue plate 15, and in this state, liquid silicone rubber is injected. The injected liquid silicone rubber passes through the liquid silicone rubber conduit 19, the first sprue 22, the runner 23, the second sprues 24A and 24B, and the gates 25A and 25B in this order, into the cavity 17A and the cavity 17B. Each is injected and thermally cured, and is cooled integrally with the holder 2 to be molded.

  In the above, the manufacturing method has been described for the case where the rubber member 3 is a thermosetting material. However, in the case where the rubber member 3 is a thermoplastic material, the temperature is increased and fluidized in the same manner. After injecting the material into the mold cavity loaded with the holder 2, the blade 1 can be formed by cooling and solidifying integrally with the holder 2.

  In addition, the rubber part extended in the through hole that connects the rubbers 3a and 3b on both sides of the holder 2 can be formed as a part where the rubbers injected into the cavities corresponding to the rubbers 3a and 3b merge. . In addition, when the holder 2 is subjected to a surface treatment, this is performed before loading into the mold.

  Here, after the rubber member 3 is taken out of the mold, it is preferable that the rubber member 3 is heated and subjected to secondary vulcanization under atmospheric pressure. This allows the degree of vulcanization to be optimized. The strength can be increased, and the contamination-resistant low molecular component can be decomposed by heat by secondary vulcanization to improve the contamination resistance.

  Further, regarding the shape and number of the through holes 9 formed in the holder 2, various ones other than those shown in FIG. 3B are conceivable, and FIGS. 6A to 6C show their deformations. It is a top view which shows the holder of an example. A holder 2B shown in FIG. 6 (a) is configured by arranging elongated through holes 9B in the holder width direction in the holder length direction, and the holder 2C shown in FIG. 6 (b) has a circular through hole 9C in the holder length. The holder 2D shown in FIG. 6C is provided with elongated through holes 9D extending over almost the entire region of the holder length direction. In any blade using the holders 2B, 2C and 2D, the holder and the rubber member can be fixed by connecting the rubbers arranged on both sides of the holder thickness direction through these through holes.

  The present invention can be applied to a developer amount regulating blade used in an electrophotographic or electrostatic recording type image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, or a printer.

It is sectional drawing which shows the conventional developer amount regulation blade in the state which attached. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the developer amount regulating blade of the embodiment according to the invention in an attached state thereof. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a developer amount regulating blade and a plan view showing a holder thereof. It is sectional drawing which shows the metal mold | die for 2 picking which shape | molds a blade. It is sectional drawing which shows the VV cross section of FIG. It is a top view which shows the holder of a modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Developer amount regulation blade 2 Holder 2B, 2C, 2D Holder 3 Rubber member 3a, 3b Rubber 4 Blade support body 5 Developing roller 5a Developing roller peripheral surface 9 Through hole 9B, 9C, 9D Through hole 11 Mold 12 Injection head 13 molds 14 insert molds 15 sprue plate 17A, B cavity 19 liquid silicone rubber conduit 22 recess 23 runner 24A, B second sprue 25A, B gate G gap H horizontal plane

Claims (3)

In the developer amount regulating blade consisting of a thin strip holder and a rubber member held by the holder,
The rubber member extends on both sides in the thickness direction of the holder and has a through hole penetrating the holder in the thickness direction. The developer amount regulating blade is formed by connecting the rubber on both sides of the holder through the through hole. .   2. The developer amount regulating blade according to claim 1, wherein the developer amount regulating blade is formed by secondarily vulcanizing the rubber member molded integrally with the holder by injecting a rubber material into a mold cavity loaded with the holder.   3. The developer amount regulating blade according to claim 1, wherein a surface roughness Ra of at least a part of a surface of the holder that contacts and holds the rubber member is set to 0.4 μm or more.

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