JP2006317515A - Developer amount regulating blade and production method of developer amount regulating blade - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a developer amount regulating blade without a defect such as the irregularity of a charge control surface caused by the incorporation of foreign matter and the production method of the developer amount regulating blade, with short processes. <P>SOLUTION: The production method of the developer amount regulating blade which is configured in such a manner that at least a blade member, a bonding member and a support member are laminated in the same shape as that of the developer amount regulating blade, is provided with a laminated body forming process in which a support member sheet and a surface transfer member sheet face each other and are supplied to a pressure means and a laminated sheet where a blade member layer and a bonding member layer which are formed by using a double-layer coextrusion T-die are laminated is supplied to a gap formed by the supporting member sheet and the surface transfer member sheet, that is, to the pressure means, so that the blade member layer faces the surface transfer member sheet and the bonding member layer faces the support member sheet respectively, and pressurized to form a laminated body. and a process in which the laminated body is cut off in the shape of the developer amount regulating blade as a final shape. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a developer amount regulating blade used for developing and visualizing an electrostatic latent image formed on an image carrier such as an electrophotographic apparatus, and a manufacturing method thereof.

  FIG. 4 shows a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the developing device. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the developer amount regulating blade. The developer 46 existing in the developer container 42 is supplied to the developer carrier 43 by the elastic roller 45. The developer carrying member 43 rotates in the direction of the arrow in the drawing, and supplies the developer 46 supplied from the elastic roller 45 to the electrophotographic photosensitive member 41. At this time, the developer amount regulating blade 44 is in pressure contact with the developer carrier 43 so that the developer carrier 43 can supply a certain amount of developer 46 (FIG. 4). The developer amount regulating blade is composed of a support member 12, an adhesive member 11, and a blade member 10 (FIG. 1).

  The developer amount regulating blade is generally formed from a rubber plate, a metallic thin plate, a resin plate, and a laminate thereof. The developer amount regulating blade is made of a blade member pressed against the developer carrier and a support member that supports the blade member at a predetermined position, and a pressure contact surface of the blade member that is pressed against the developer carrier is In addition, since it has a function of controlling the triboelectric charge of the developer, it is also called a charge control surface. The blade member surface layer in the vicinity of the charge control surface may be referred to as a charge control layer.

  Conventionally, this developer amount regulating blade first melts the raw material of the blade member with an extruder, passes it through a T die, and then extrudes it onto a surface transfer sheet, solidifies it to a uniform film thickness, Forming a control surface and producing a blade member in the form of a thin-layer sheet, a step of laminating and bonding a support member to a surface of the thin-layer sheet-like blade member that is not the charge control surface, and the laminate And a step of cutting the developer into a shape of a developer amount regulating blade as a final shape.

  Specifically, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses an example of a manufacturing method of a developer amount regulating blade using a roll coater method shown in FIG. In this method, first, the surface transfer sheet 24a is mounted on the roll 22a, the raw material 25a of the blade member is fed from the nozzle 21a, and after passing through the gaps of the rolls 22a and 23a adjusted to a predetermined interval, 25a is dried and solidified. As a result, a blade member in which the charge control surface is covered with the surface transfer sheet is obtained.

Next, using an apparatus as shown in FIG. 2 (b), an adhesive coating film is formed on the surface opposite to the surface coated with the surface transfer sheet, and then laminated with a support member to produce a laminated structure. can do. That is, a multilayer sheet comprising the blade member 21b and the surface transfer sheet 22b is supplied to the roll 25b through the roll 26b, and an adhesive is applied from the spray 24b to the surface to which the support member of the blade member 21b is bonded. Thereafter, while supplying the support member 23b from the roll 27b, the support member 23b is bonded to the blade member 21b, and the obtained laminate is wound around the roll 28b.
Then, the obtained laminate is punched and cut into a predetermined shape to obtain a developer amount regulating blade.

  In addition, the developer amount regulating blade is first formed into a cylindrical shape by co-extrusion of a surface transfer molten resin to be a surface transfer sheet of the charge control surface and a blade member molten resin to be a blade member, by a multilayer inflation method. Cutting the obtained cylindrical body in parallel to the extrusion direction to produce a multilayer sheet, then laminating and laminating a support member on the blade member side of the multilayer sheet, and The laminate was manufactured through a process of cutting into a shape of a developer amount regulating blade which is a final shape (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

  Both of the above two production methods require many production steps to completion, take time, and require intermediate products to be stored. Along with this, there are more opportunities for foreign matters to be mixed in the manufacturing process, and if the process control is not severe, irregularities on the charge control surface due to foreign matter mixing in the manufactured developer amount regulation blade There was a problem that defects such as the above would occur.

JP 2002-372856 A JP 2002-372858 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the state of the prior art as described above, and the manufacturing process of the developer amount regulating blade is short, prevents foreign matters from being mixed, and the charge control surface caused by the foreign matters is prevented. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a developer amount regulating blade capable of producing an excellent developer amount regulating blade free from defects such as irregularities, and a developer amount regulating blade produced by the production method.

The method for producing a developer amount regulating blade of the present invention that achieves the above-described object is characterized in that at least the blade member, the adhesive member, and the support member regulate the amount of the developer carried out from the developer container by the developer carrier. In the manufacturing method of the developer amount regulating blade which is the same shape as the amount regulating blade and has a laminated structure,
The supporting member sheet and the surface transfer member sheet are opposed to each other and supplied to the pressing means,
In the gap formed by the support member sheet surface and the surface transfer member sheet surface, a laminated sheet of a blade member layer and an adhesive member layer formed using a two-layer coextrusion T die is used. Supply the member sheet so that the adhesive member layer faces the support member sheet,
Each of these sheets is pressed by the pressing means to bond the support member sheet to the adhesive member layer side of the laminated sheet, and a surface shape is formed by the surface transfer member sheet on the surface of the blade member layer,
A laminate forming step of forming a laminate, and a cutting step of cutting the laminate into the shape of a developer amount regulating blade that is a final shape.
Moreover, it is preferable that the said laminated body formation process further includes the preheating process which preheats a supporting member as a pre-process.
Moreover, it is preferable that the said laminated body formation process forms a laminated body by making into 30 mm or less the distance from the front-end | tip of the lip | rip part of T-die to the position where a laminated sheet contacts either a support member sheet | seat or a surface transfer member sheet | seat. .
In addition, the present invention that has achieved the above object is a laminate in which at least a blade member, an adhesive member, and a supporting member regulate the amount of the developer carried out from the developer container by the developer carrying member and have the same shape as the developer amount regulating blade. In the developer amount regulating blade having the structure, the adhesive member is a thermoplastic adhesive material, the group consisting of a polyurethane hot melt, a polyester hot melt, an EVA hot melt, and a polyamide hot melt A developer amount regulating blade produced by the method for producing a developer amount regulating blade of the present invention, wherein the developer amount regulating blade is formed from an adhesive material containing at least one selected type.
The developer amount regulating blade of the present invention has a total thickness of from 0.10 mm to 0.45 mm, and the thickness of the blade member of the developer amount regulating blade is from 0.01 mm to 0.3 mm. It is preferable that the thickness of the adhesive member is 0.01 mm or more and 0.3 mm or less, and the thickness of the support member is 0.08 mm or more and 0.15 mm or less.

  According to the method for producing a developer amount regulating blade of the present invention, the process of forming the laminate sheet from the laminate sheet, the support member sheet, and the blade member sheet is integrated into one process, and thus the production up to completion is performed. There are few processes, time is shortened, and management of intermediate products can be eliminated. Accordingly, it is possible to provide an excellent developer amount regulating blade that is free from foreign matter contamination in the manufacturing process in terms of quality and has no defects such as irregularities on the charge control surface due to such foreign matter.

As described above, the developer amount regulating blade manufacturing method of the present invention regulates the amount of the developer carried out from the developer container by the developer carrier, and at least the blade member, the adhesive member and the support member are the developer. In the manufacturing method of the developer amount regulating blade which is a laminated configuration having the same shape as the amount regulating blade,
The supporting member sheet and the surface transfer member sheet are opposed to each other and supplied to the pressing means,
In the gap formed by the support member sheet surface and the surface transfer member sheet surface, a laminated sheet of a blade member layer and an adhesive member layer formed using a two-layer coextrusion T die is used. Supply the member sheet so that the adhesive member layer faces the support member sheet,
Each of these sheets is pressed by the pressing means to bond the support member sheet to the adhesive member layer side of the laminated sheet, and a surface shape is formed by the surface transfer member sheet on the surface of the blade member layer,
A laminate forming step of forming a laminate, and a cutting step of cutting the laminate into the shape of a developer amount regulating blade which is a final shape.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining an example of the embodiment of the developer amount regulating blade manufacturing method in the present invention. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the blade member raw material for forming the blade member is charged into the extrusion device 31, and the adhesive member raw material for forming the adhesive member is charged into the extrusion device 32. And a sheet 36 in which a blade member layer and an adhesive member layer are laminated is formed through a two-layer coextrusion T die 33.

  On the other hand, the support member sheet 37 and the surface transfer member sheet 38 are supplied to the gap between the nip rolls 35 and 34 that are arranged to face each other as a pressing unit. The surface transfer member sheet 38 supplied from the nip roll 35 side and the support member sheet 37 supplied from the nip roll 34 side are arranged so that the respective sheet surfaces face the gap formed by the nip rolls 34 and 35 to form a gap. To do. The laminated sheet 36 extruded from the two-layer coextrusion T die 33 has a blade member layer side supplied to the surface transfer member sheet 38 supplied from the nip roll 38 side, and an adhesive member layer side supplied to the support member sheet supplied from the nip roll 34 side. The sheet is supplied to the gap so as to face each other, pressed by the nip rolls 35 and 34, the support member sheet is adhered to the adhesive member layer side of the laminated sheet, and the surface transfer member sheet is laminated on the blade member layer side and the blade The surface shape is transferred to the surface of the member layer to form a laminate.

  The extrusion conditions for the laminated sheet are not particularly limited, and appropriate extrusion conditions may be adopted depending on the blade member raw material or the adhesive member raw material to be used. For example, the preferable extrusion temperature of the blade member raw material or the adhesive member raw material may be [material melting point + 20-30 ° C.].

  As shown in FIG. 3, the lip portion of the two-layer co-extrusion T die that can be used in the present invention has a substantially trapezoidal cross-sectional shape in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and the tip of the lip portion. It is preferable to have a shape with a width that decreases with time, and the distance from the tip of the lip portion of the two-layer coextrusion T die to the position where the laminated sheet contacts the support member sheet or the surface transfer member sheet is 30 mm or less. preferable. When the two-layer co-extrusion T-dies are arranged in this way, the co-extruded laminated sheet comes into contact with the support member sheet and the surface transfer member sheet at a high temperature in a molten state. The support member sheet is easily adhered, and the surface shape of the surface transfer member sheet is transferred to the blade member layer surface.

  Moreover, it is preferable to further have a preheating step of preheating the support member as a pre-step of the laminate forming step. In the preliminary heating step, for example, a heating device 39 such as an electric heater can be used. In order to bring the temperature of the support member closer to the resin temperature coextruded from the T-die, the preheating can be performed, for example, at a heating temperature of 150 ° C. to 250 ° C. for a time of 2 s to 10 s. The support member sheet 37 is preferably preheated to, for example, 80 ° C. to 150 ° C. and supplied to the nip roll 34. The temperature of the nip roll 34 is preferably 60 ° C. to 120 ° C. Is preferably molded.

  The laminate thus prepared in the laminate forming step is wound up and cut into a predetermined shape in a cutting step of cutting into the final shape of the developer amount regulating blade, and the developer amount regulating blade Is obtained. By cutting a laminated body using a press, a cutter, etc., it can manufacture accurately and with favorable productivity.

  The adhesive member raw material used to form the adhesive member is a thermoplastic adhesive material such as polyurethane hot melt, polyester hot melt, ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVA) hot melt, or polyamide hot. An adhesive material such as a melt can be used. In the present invention, an adhesive material containing at least one selected from the group consisting of a polyurethane hot melt, a polyester hot melt, an ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVA) hot melt, and a polyamide hot melt is bonded. It is preferable to use it as a member raw material.

  Developer (toner) particles are present between the surface of the blade member of the developer amount regulating blade and the developer carrier when development is performed. For this reason, if the blade member of the developer amount regulating blade is too thin, the blade member having more variability may be pushed back. Conversely, if the blade member is too thick, the repulsion by the developer particles becomes insufficient. There is a risk that sufficient charging cannot be performed.

  In addition to the thickness of the blade member of the developer amount regulating blade, the pressure contact behavior of the developer is also affected by the elasticity of the blade member, the thickness of the support member, and the rigidity of the support member. Similarly, the total thickness of the developer regulating blade is an important factor.

  Taking these into account, the developer amount regulating blade usually has a total thickness of 0.10 mm to 0.45 mm, and the thickness of the blade member is 0.01 mm to 0.3 mm, It is preferable that the thickness of the adhesive member is 0.01 mm or more and 0.3 mm or less, and the thickness of the support member is 0.08 mm or more and 0.15 mm or less.

  From the above viewpoint, it is preferable to use urethane rubber, polyamide resin, polyamide elastomer, silicone rubber, silicone resin or the like as the blade member raw material for forming the blade member of the developer amount regulating blade.

  Further, as the support member (support member sheet), it is preferable to use a sheet made of metal or resin, more specifically, a sheet of stainless steel, phosphor bronze, aluminum or the like, or a sheet of polyethylene terephthalate or the like. In order to realize predetermined charging performance and the like, an additive such as a conductive material can be added to the support member. As described above, the thickness of the support member is preferably 0.08 mm or more and 0.15 mm or less.

  In the method for producing a developer amount regulating blade of the present invention, unlike a blade member of a developer amount regulating blade formed using a mold or the like, a blade member layer formed using a two-layer coextrusion T die, The surface transfer member sheet is deposited on the surface of the blade member layer of the laminated sheet laminated with the adhesive member layer, and the surface shape of the surface transfer member sheet is replicated on the blade member layer surface of the laminated sheet. The ten-point average roughness (Rz) of the surface determined by the measurement method according to JIS B 0601-2001 on the side of the developer member that regulates the amount of the developer amount regulating blade that is in contact with the developer carrier. It is preferable that it is 3.5 μm or less.

  The developer amount regulating blade manufactured as described above is preferably left without peeling off the surface transfer member until just before the developer amount regulating blade is mounted at a predetermined position of a developing device or the like. When the developer amount regulating blade coated with the surface transfer member is stored and transported as a component (product), the surface transfer member plays a role as a protective sheet for the developer amount regulating blade as it is.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a developing device using the developer amount regulating blade of the present invention. The developer container 42 is, for example, a developer container containing a one-component developer 46, and this developing device is an image carrier that rotates in the direction of arrow a in the figure as a developer carrier 43 in the developer container 42. And an electrostatic latent image on the electrophotographic photosensitive member 41 is developed and visualized as a developer image. As shown in FIG. 4, the developer carrying member 43 protrudes into the developer container 42 at the right substantially half-peripheral surface, and the left substantially half-peripheral surface is exposed outside the developer container 42 so as to face the electrophotographic photoreceptor 41. In addition, it is laid horizontally. A minute gap is provided between the developer carrier 43 and the electrophotographic photosensitive member 41. The developer carrier 43 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow b with respect to the rotational direction a of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 41.

  In the developer container 42, a developer amount regulating blade 44 of the present invention is provided above the developer carrier 43, and an elastic roller is provided at a position upstream of the blade member 47 in the rotation direction of the developer carrier 43. 45 is provided.

  The developer amount regulating blade 44 is provided so as to be inclined downward toward the upstream side in the rotation direction of the developer carrier 43, and abuts against the upper outer peripheral surface of the developer carrier 43 while facing the rotation direction. .

  The elastic roller 45 is in contact with a portion of the developer carrying member 43 opposite to the electrophotographic photosensitive member 41 and is rotatably supported.

  In the developing device, the elastic roller 45 rotates in the direction of the arrow c in the above configuration, and the developer 46 is supported by the rotation of the elastic roller 45 and supplied to the vicinity of the developer carrier 43. The developer 46 on the elastic roller 45 is rubbed against the developer carrier 43 at the abutting portion (nip portion) where the elastic roller 45 abuts and adheres to the developer carrier 43.

  Thereafter, as the developer carrier 43 rotates, the developer 46 adhering to the developer carrier 43 enters between them at the contact portion between the developer amount regulating blade 44 and the developer carrier 43. When passing through this, the surface is rubbed by both the surface of the developer carrying member 43 and the blade member 47 and is sufficiently charged by friction.

  The charged developer 46 escapes from the contact portion between the blade member 47 and the developer carrying member 43 to form a thin layer on the developer carrying member 43 and is opposed to the electrophotographic photosensitive member 41 with a minute gap. Is conveyed to the developed section. Then, by applying an alternating voltage in which an alternating current is superimposed on a direct current, for example, as a developing bias between the developer carrying body 43 and the electrophotographic photosensitive member 41 in the developing unit, the developer 46 on the developer carrying body 43 is made to flow. The image is transferred corresponding to the electrostatic latent image on the electrophotographic photosensitive member 41, attached to the electrostatic latent image, developed, and visualized as a developer image.

The developer 46 remaining on the developer carrier 43 without being consumed for development in the developing unit is collected in the developer container 42 from the lower part of the developer carrier 43 as the developer carrier 43 rotates.
The collected developer 46 is peeled off from the developer carrier 43 by the elastic roller 45 at the contact portion with the developer carrier 43. At the same time, a new developer 46 is supplied onto the developer carrier 43 by the rotation of the elastic roller 45, and the new developer 46 is conveyed again to the contact portion between the developer carrier 43 and the blade member 47.

  On the other hand, most of the peeled off developer 46 is conveyed and mixed into the developer 46 in the developer container 42 as the elastic roller 45 rotates, and the charged charge of the peeled off developer 46 is dispersed. Is done.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of an electrophotographic apparatus suitable for employing the developer amount regulating blade of the present invention. The electrophotographic photosensitive member 51 as an image carrier is a drum type electrophotographic photosensitive member having a conductive support such as aluminum and a photosensitive layer formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof as basic constituent layers. It is rotationally driven at a predetermined peripheral speed in the clockwise direction on the drawing around the support shaft.

  The charging member 52 is a corona discharger that is in contact with the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 51 and performs primary charging uniformly on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 51 with a predetermined polarity and potential. This may be a charging roller.

The surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 51 that has been uniformly charged by the charging member 52 is then exposed to target image information (laser beam scanning exposure, slit exposure of a document image, etc.) by the exposure means L, so An electrostatic latent image 53 corresponding to target image information is formed on the surface.
Next, the electrostatic latent image 53 is sequentially visualized as a toner image by the developing device 54.

  Then, the toner image is synchronized with the rotation of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 51 from a paper feeding unit (not shown) by the transfer unit 55 and transferred between the electrophotographic photosensitive member 51 and the transfer unit 55 at an appropriate timing. Are sequentially transferred onto the surface of the transfer material P conveyed to the surface. The transfer means 55 in this example is a corona discharger (may be a roller type), and the toner image on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 51 is transferred by charging the reverse polarity of the toner from the back of the transfer material P. It is transferred to the surface side of the material P. In addition, in a color laser beam printer (color LBP printer) that outputs a color image using four color toners, in order to develop and visualize each of the four color images, a roller or the like The toner image is transferred to an intermediate transfer member (not shown) such as a belt, and this toner image is transferred to the surface side of the transfer material P.

The transfer material P that has received the transfer of the toner image is separated from the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 51, conveyed to the heat fixing roller 58, heated under pressure, subjected to image fixing, and output as an image formed product.
The surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 51 after the image transfer is subjected to removal of adhering contaminants such as transfer residual toner by the cleaning means 56 to be cleaned and repeatedly used for image formation.

  It should be noted that a plurality of elements of the electrophotographic apparatus such as the electrophotographic photosensitive member 51, the charging member 52, the developing device 54, and the cleaning unit 56 can be integrated into the process cartridge. By doing so, the process cartridge can be attached to and detached from the electrophotographic apparatus main body. For example, the electrophotographic photosensitive member 51 and the developing device 54 and, if necessary, the charging member 52 and the cleaning means 56 are integrally incorporated in the process cartridge, and can be attached and detached using a guide means such as a rail provided in the main body of the electrophotographic apparatus. Can be configured.

  Examples of the electrophotographic apparatus that can use the developer amount regulating blade of the present invention include copying machines, laser beam printers, EL printers (LED printers), and electrophotographic application apparatuses such as an electrophotographic plate making system. it can.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example and a comparative example demonstrate this invention concretely, this invention is not limited to a following example.
Unless otherwise specified, “parts” and “%” represent “parts by mass” and “mass%”, respectively, and reagents and the like used were commercially available high-purity products.

(Examples 1-2)
Polyamide elastomer with a Shore D hardness of 40 ° as defined in JIS K 6253 is selected as the blade member raw material (trade name: Daiamide E40, manufactured by Daicel Huls Co., Ltd.). (Asahi Glass Co., Ltd., trade name: Eufine RG-11) and polyester urethane hot melt (Asahi Glass Co., Ltd., trade name: Eufine MP-10) were selected.

The blade member raw material is melted at an extrusion temperature of 200 ° C., the adhesive member raw material is melted at an extrusion temperature of 150 ° C., and the adhesive member layer, the blade member layer, Was laminated so that the adhesive member layer faced the support member sheet and the blade member layer faced the surface transfer member sheet.
Surface transfer member sheet (polyethylene terephthalate film produced by extrusion molding having a thickness of 0.1 mm and a surface roughness Rzjis of 0.2 μm determined by JIS B 0601-2001: manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd., trade name: ester film E5000) and a support member sheet preheated to about 100 ° C. with an electric heater (0.12 mm thick phosphor bronze sheet: Harada Shindohsho Co., Ltd., JIS name: C5210R-H)
The laminated sheet was dropped so as to be sandwiched in the gap between the nip roll and the nip roll (using a metal roll and a silicone rubber roller), and the laminate was pressed under a nip temperature of 60 ° C. and a nip pressure of 0.4 MPa.

  Next, this laminate was cut into a predetermined developer amount regulating blade size by a press, and finally the surface transfer member sheet was peeled off to produce a developer amount regulating blade. The obtained developer amount regulating blade has a total thickness of 0.26 mm, the thickness of the blade member is 0.03 mm, the thickness of the adhesive member is 0.01 mm, and the thickness of the support member is 0.12 mm. there were. The produced developer amount regulating blade had a length in the longitudinal direction of 200 mm and a width of 23 mm.

  As a result, the manufacturing process from the introduction of the material to the completion of the developer amount regulating blade can be made into two processes. In addition, the time from material input to completion was shortened to within 10 hours, and there was no intermediate work in progress. Furthermore, after visually inspecting the appearance of the obtained developer amount regulating blade, only the defective part was enlarged and inspected with a microscope (manufactured by Keyence Corporation), and no defects such as irregularities were found on the charge control surface due to foreign matter contamination. It was.

(Comparative Example 1)
The same blade member raw material as used in Example 1 was melted at 220 ° C., extruded onto the same surface transfer member sheet as used in Example 1 by the T-die method, and the blade member layer after solidification A laminated sheet composed of a blade member layer having a thickness of 0.03 mm and a surface transfer member layer was prepared. Next, between the blade member layer side of this laminated sheet and the same supporting member sheet as used in Example 1, using an apparatus as shown in FIG. Adhesive layer consisting of blending AD-76P1 (trade name) / CAT10L (trade name) with a thickness of 0.01 mm is bonded and aged at room temperature for 7 days to produce a laminate. A developer amount regulating blade was produced in the same manner as in Example 1, and the obtained developer amount regulating blade was inspected for unevenness on the charge control surface, and the appearance was evaluated.
The manufacturing process from the introduction of the material to the completion of the developer amount regulating blade is three steps. Moreover, the time from material introduction to completion was 168 hours or more, and intermediate work in process occurred. Further, the obtained developer amount regulating blade had defects such as irregularities on the charge control surface, and about 10% of defective appearance occurred.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a developer amount regulating blade. FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a conventional method for producing a developer amount regulating blade. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the method for producing the developer amount regulating blade of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a developing device. It is a typical sectional view for explaining an electrophotographic device.

Explanation of symbols

F pressure contact force 10 blade member 11 adhesive member 12 support member 13 developer amount regulating blade 14 developer container 15 developer carrier 16 fixed point 17 pressure contact 21a nozzle 22a roll 23a roll 24a surface transfer sheet 25a raw material 21b blade member 22b Sheet for surface transfer 23b Support member 24b Spray 25b Roll 26b Roll 27b Roll 28b Roll 31 Extrusion device (blade member side)
32 Extrusion device (adhesive member side)
33 T dice 34 Nip roll 35 Nip roll 36 Laminated body of blade member and adhesive member 37 Support member 38 Surface transfer member sheet 39 Preheating device 41 Electrophotographic photosensitive member 42 Developer container 43 Developer carrier 44 Developer amount regulating blade 45 Elasticity Roller 46 Developer 47 Blade member 51 Photoconductor 52 Charging member 53 Electrostatic latent image 54 Developing device 55 Transfer means 56 Cleaning means 58 Fixing roller

Claims (5)

Production of a developer amount regulating blade that regulates the amount of developer carried out of a developer container from a developer container, and at least a blade member, an adhesive member, and a support member have the same configuration as the developer amount regulating blade In the method
The supporting member sheet and the surface transfer member sheet are opposed to each other and supplied to the pressing means,
In the gap formed by the support member sheet surface and the surface transfer member sheet surface, a laminated sheet of a blade member layer and an adhesive member layer formed using a two-layer coextrusion T die is used. Supply the member sheet so that the adhesive member layer faces the support member sheet,
Each of these sheets is pressed by the pressing means to bond the support member sheet to the adhesive member layer side of the laminated sheet, and a surface shape is formed by the surface transfer member sheet on the surface of the blade member layer,
A method for producing a developer amount regulating blade, comprising: a laminate forming step for forming a laminate, and a cutting step for cutting the laminate into a final shape of a developer amount regulating blade.   The method for manufacturing a developer amount regulating blade according to claim 1, wherein the laminate forming step further includes a preheating step of preheating the support member as a pre-step.   The laminate forming step is characterized in that the laminate is formed with a distance from the tip of the lip of the T die to a position where the laminate sheet contacts either the support member sheet or the surface transfer member sheet is 30 mm or less. A method for producing a developer amount regulating blade according to claim 1. In the developer amount regulation blade that regulates the amount of developer carried out from the developer container by the developer carrier, and at least the blade member, the adhesive member, and the support member have the same configuration as the developer amount regulation blade,
From an adhesive material containing at least one selected from the group consisting of polyurethane-based hot melt, polyester-based hot melt, EVA-based hot melt, and polyamide-based hot melt, wherein the adhesive member is a thermoplastic adhesive material The developer amount regulating blade manufactured by the manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the blade is formed.   The developer amount regulating blade has a total thickness of 0.10 mm or more and 0.45 mm or less, and the thickness of the blade member of the developer amount regulating blade is 0.01 mm or more and 0.3 mm or less. The developer amount regulating blade according to claim 4, wherein the thickness of the member is 0.01 mm or more and 0.3 mm or less, and the thickness of the support member is 0.08 mm or more and 0.15 mm or less.

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