JP2007024954A - Method for manufacturing seamless belt for electrophotography - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a seamless belt for electrophotography which does not generate transfer irregularity and has excellent durability. <P>SOLUTION: Problems are solved by driving an extension rod moving at predetermined speed while heating a preform molded from thermoplastic resin compound (a) in a metal mold by a motor, making gas flow in the preform with predetermined pressure simultaneously as elapse of predetermined time from the start of movement of the extension rod and making time until pressure of the gas when the preform is swelled in the metal mold reach the maximum set pressure from the start of inflow as 0.5 seconds or more when the preform is extended using the extension rod. Preferably, recyclables by crushing a mouth side part (b) and the bottom side part (c) of a cut bottle which is a by-product are used at a part of the thermoplastic resin compound (a). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for producing a seamless belt used for an intermediate transfer belt, a transfer belt, a photoreceptor belt, and the like in electrophotography.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an example of an image forming apparatus using an intermediate transfer belt as an electrophotographic seamless belt. In the case of this intermediate transfer method, the transfer of the toner image from the electrophotographic photosensitive member to the transfer material is mainly performed by the primary transfer charging member, the intermediate transfer member, and the secondary transfer charging member.

  In the following description, examples of four colors (yellow, magenta, cyan, and black) are given. However, the “color” in the present invention is not limited to four colors (so-called full color), and is multicolor. That is, two or more colors.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a cylindrical electrophotographic photosensitive member, which is rotationally driven in a direction of an arrow about a shaft 2 at a predetermined peripheral speed.

  The surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1 that is rotationally driven is uniformly charged to a predetermined positive or negative potential by the primary charging member 3, and then output from an exposure means (not shown) such as slit exposure or laser beam scanning exposure. The exposure light (image exposure light) 4 is received. The exposure light at this time is exposure light corresponding to the first color component image (for example, yellow component image) of the target color image. In this way, a first color component electrostatic latent image (yellow component electrostatic latent image) corresponding to the first color component image of the target color image is sequentially formed on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1.

  The intermediate transfer member (intermediate transfer belt) 11 stretched by the tension roller 12 and the secondary transfer counter roller 13 has substantially the same peripheral speed as the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1 in the direction of the arrow (for example, the peripheral speed of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1). 97 to 103%).

  The first color component electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor 1 is the first color contained in the developer carried on the first color developer carrying body (yellow developer carrying body) 5Y. The first color toner image (yellow toner image) is developed by developing with toner (yellow toner). Next, the first color toner image formed and supported on the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor 1 is transferred to the electrophotographic photoreceptor 1 and the primary transfer charging member by the primary transfer bias from the primary transfer charging member (primary transfer charging roller) 6p. The primary transfer is sequentially performed on the surface of the intermediate transfer member 11 passing between 6p.

  The surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1 after the transfer of the first color toner image is cleaned by the cleaning member 7 to remove the developer (toner) remaining after the primary transfer, and then used for image formation of the next color. The

  The second color toner image (magenta toner image), the third color toner image (cyan toner image), and the fourth color toner image (black toner image) are also formed on the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor 1 in the same manner as the first color toner image. And are sequentially transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer member 11. In this way, a synthetic toner image corresponding to the target color image is formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer member 11. During primary transfer of the first to fourth colors, the secondary transfer charging member (secondary transfer charging roller) 6s and the charge applying member (charge applying roller) 7r are separated from the surface of the intermediate transfer member 11.

  The composite toner image formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer body 11 is transferred from the transfer material supply means (not shown) to the secondary transfer counter roller 13 and the intermediate transfer body 11 by the secondary transfer bias from the secondary transfer charging member 6s. Secondary transfer is sequentially performed on a transfer material (paper or the like) P taken out and fed between the secondary transfer charging member 6s (contact portion) in synchronization with the rotation of the intermediate transfer body 11.

  The transfer material P that has received the transfer of the synthetic toner image is separated from the surface of the intermediate transfer body 11 and introduced into the fixing means 8 to undergo image fixing to print out as a color image formed product (print, copy) outside the apparatus. Out.

  The charge imparting member 7r is brought into contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer member 11 after the synthetic toner image is transferred. The charge imparting member 7r imparts a charge having a reverse polarity to that of the secondary transfer remaining developer (toner) on the surface of the intermediate transfer body 11 to that of the primary transfer. The developer (toner) remaining after the secondary transfer to which a charge having a polarity opposite to that at the time of the primary transfer is applied is in contact with the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1 and the intermediate transfer member 11 and in the vicinity thereof. It is electrostatically transferred to the surface. In this way, the surface of the intermediate transfer member 11 after the transfer of the synthetic toner image is cleaned by removing the developer (toner) remaining after transfer. The secondary transfer residual developer (toner) transferred to the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor 1 is removed by the cleaning member 7 together with the primary transfer residual developer (toner) of the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor 1. Since the transfer of the developer (toner) remaining after the secondary transfer from the intermediate transfer member 11 to the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1 can be performed simultaneously with the primary transfer, the throughput does not decrease.

  Further, the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1 after the developer (toner) remaining after transfer by the cleaning member 7 may be removed by pre-exposure light from the pre-exposure means, but as shown in FIG. When contact charging using a roller-shaped primary charging member (primary charging roller) or the like is employed for charging the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, pre-exposure is not necessarily required.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a schematic configuration of an inline type color electrophotographic apparatus. In the case of this in-line method, the transfer of the toner image from the electrophotographic photosensitive member to the transfer material is mainly performed by a transfer material conveying member and a transfer charging member.

  In FIG. 2, reference numerals 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K denote cylindrical electrophotographic photosensitive members (first to fourth color electrophotographic photosensitive members), and the directions of the arrows are about axes 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K, respectively. Are rotated at a predetermined peripheral speed.

  The surface of the first color electrophotographic photosensitive member 1Y that is rotationally driven is uniformly charged to a predetermined positive or negative potential by the primary charging member 3Y for the first color, and then subjected to slit exposure, laser beam scanning exposure, or the like. Exposure light (image exposure light) 4Y output from exposure means (not shown) is received. The exposure light 4Y is exposure light corresponding to a first color component image (for example, a yellow component image) of a target color image. Thus, a first color component electrostatic latent image (yellow component electrostatic latent image) corresponding to the first color component image of the target color image is sequentially formed on the surface of the first color electrophotographic photoreceptor 1Y.

  The transfer material conveyance member (transfer material conveyance belt) 14 stretched by the tension roller 12 has substantially the same peripheral speed (first to fourth color electrophotographic photoreceptors 1Y, 1M, 1C, 1K) in the direction of the arrow ( For example, the first to fourth color electrophotographic photoreceptors 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K are driven to rotate at a peripheral speed of 97 to 103%). Further, the transfer material (paper or the like) P fed from a transfer material supply means (not shown) is electrostatically carried (adsorbed) on the transfer material transport member 14 and is electrophotographic for the first to fourth colors. The photosensitive members 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K are sequentially conveyed between the transfer material conveying members (contact portions). The first color component electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the first color electrophotographic photosensitive member 1Y is developed with the first color toner contained in the developer carried on the first color developer carrying member 5Y. Thus, the first color toner image (yellow toner image) is obtained. Next, the first color toner image formed and supported on the surface of the first color electrophotographic photosensitive member 1Y is transferred by the transfer bias from the first color transfer charging member (first color transfer charging roller) 6Y. The image is sequentially transferred onto the transfer material P carried on the transfer material transport member 14 that passes between the one-color electrophotographic photosensitive member 1Y and the first color transfer charging member 6Y.

  The surface of the first color electrophotographic photoreceptor 1Y after the transfer of the first color toner image is subjected to removal of the developer (toner) remaining after transfer by the first color cleaning member (first color cleaning blade) 7Y. After the surface is cleaned, it is repeatedly used for forming a first color toner image.

  The first color electrophotographic photosensitive member 1Y, the first color primary charging member 3Y, the first color exposure means, the first color developer carrying member 5Y, and the first color transfer charging member 6Y are grouped into the first color. This is called an image forming unit.

  Second color electrophotographic photoreceptor 1M, second color primary charging member 3M, second color exposure means, second color developer carrying member 5M, second color transfer charging member 6M The image forming unit includes a third color electrophotographic photosensitive member 1C, a third color primary charging member 3C, a third color exposure unit, a third color developer carrier 5C, and a third color transfer charging member 6C. Third color image forming section, fourth color electrophotographic photosensitive member 1K, fourth color primary charging member 3K, fourth color exposure means, fourth color developer carrier 5K, fourth color transfer charge The operation of the image forming unit for the fourth color having the member 6K is the same as the operation of the image forming unit for the first color, and is carried by the transfer material conveying member 14 and the transfer material P on which the first color toner image is transferred. The second color toner image (magenta toner image), the third color toner image (cyan toner image), and the fourth color toner image (black toner image) are sequentially transferred. We are. In this way, a composite toner image corresponding to the target color image is formed on the transfer material P carried on the transfer material conveying member 14.

  The transfer material P on which the synthetic toner image is formed is separated from the surface of the transfer material conveying member 14 and introduced into the fixing means 8 to be subjected to image fixing to be printed out of the apparatus as a color image formed product (print, copy). Out.

  The first to fourth color electrophotographic photoreceptors 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K after the remaining developer (toner) after transfer is removed by the first to fourth color cleaning members 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K. The surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member may be neutralized by pre-exposure light from pre-exposure means. However, as shown in FIG. When the contact charging used is adopted, pre-exposure is not always necessary.

  In FIG. 2, 15 is an adsorption roller for adsorbing the transfer material to the transfer material conveyance member, and 16 is a separation charger for separating the transfer material from the transfer material conveyance member.

  FIG. 3 shows another example of a schematic configuration of an intermediate transfer type color electrophotographic apparatus. In the case of this intermediate transfer method, the transfer of the toner image from the electrophotographic photosensitive member to the transfer material is mainly performed by the primary transfer charging member, the intermediate transfer member, and the secondary transfer charging member.

  In FIG. 3, reference numerals 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K denote cylindrical electrophotographic photosensitive members (first to fourth color electrophotographic photosensitive members), and the directions of the arrows are about axes 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K, respectively. Are rotated at a predetermined peripheral speed.

  The surface of the first color electrophotographic photosensitive member 1Y that is rotationally driven is uniformly charged to a predetermined positive or negative potential by the primary charging member 3Y for the first color, and then subjected to slit exposure, laser beam scanning exposure, or the like. Exposure light (image exposure light) 4Y output from exposure means (not shown) is received. The exposure light 4Y is exposure light corresponding to a first color component image (for example, a yellow component image) of a target color image. Thus, a first color component electrostatic latent image (yellow component electrostatic latent image) corresponding to the first color component image of the target color image is sequentially formed on the surface of the first color electrophotographic photoreceptor 1Y.

  The intermediate transfer member (intermediate transfer belt) 11 stretched by the tension roller 12 and the secondary transfer counter roller 13 has substantially the same peripheral speed as the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1 in the direction of the arrow (for example, the peripheral speed of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1). 97 to 103%).

  The first color component electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the first color electrophotographic photosensitive member 1Y is developed with the first color toner contained in the developer carried on the first color developer carrying member 5Y. Thus, the first color toner image (yellow toner image) is obtained. Next, the first color toner image formed and supported on the surface of the first color electrophotographic photosensitive member 1Y is transferred to the primary transfer bias from the first color primary transfer charging member (first color primary transfer charging roller) 6pY. As a result, primary transfer is sequentially performed on the surface of the intermediate transfer body 11 passing between the first color electrophotographic photosensitive member 1Y and the first color primary transfer charging member 6pY.

  The surface of the first color electrophotographic photoreceptor 1Y after the transfer of the first color toner image is subjected to removal of the developer (toner) remaining after transfer by the first color cleaning member (first color cleaning blade) 7Y. After the surface is cleaned, it is repeatedly used for forming a first color toner image.

  The first color electrophotographic photosensitive member 1Y, the first color primary charging member 3Y, the first color exposure means, the first color developer carrying member 5Y, and the first color primary transfer charging member 6pY are grouped together as a first. This is called a color image forming unit.

  Second color having second color electrophotographic photosensitive member 1M, second color primary charging member 3M, second color exposure means, second color developer carrier 5M, and second color primary transfer charging member 6pM. Image forming portion, third color electrophotographic photoreceptor 1C, third color primary charging member 3C, third color exposure means, third color developer carrier 5C, third color primary transfer charging member 6pC A third color image forming section, a fourth color electrophotographic photosensitive member 1K, a fourth color primary charging member 3K, a fourth color exposure means, a fourth color developer carrier 5K, and a fourth color use. The operation of the fourth color image forming unit having the primary transfer charging member 6pK is the same as that of the first color image forming unit, and the second color toner image (magenta toner image) is formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer member 11. Then, the third color toner image (cyan toner image) and the fourth color toner image (black toner image) are sequentially primary transferred. In this way, a synthetic toner image corresponding to the target color image is formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer member 11.

  The composite toner image formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer body 11 is transferred from the transfer material supply means (not shown) to the secondary transfer counter roller 13 and the intermediate transfer body 11 by the secondary transfer bias from the secondary transfer charging member 6s. Secondary transfer is sequentially performed on a transfer material (paper or the like) P taken out and fed between the secondary transfer charging member 6s (contact portion) in synchronization with the rotation of the intermediate transfer body 11.

  The transfer material P that has received the transfer of the synthetic toner image is separated from the surface of the intermediate transfer body 11 and introduced into the fixing means 8 to undergo image fixing to print out as a color image formed product (print, copy) outside the apparatus. Out.

  The surface of the intermediate transfer body 11 after the transfer of the synthetic toner image is cleaned by removing the developer (toner) remaining after the secondary transfer by the intermediate transfer body cleaning member 7 ′, and then the next synthetic toner image. Used for forming.

  The first to fourth color electrophotographic photoreceptors 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K after the remaining developer (toner) after transfer is removed by the first to fourth color cleaning members 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K. The surface of the toner may be neutralized by pre-exposure light from pre-exposure means. However, as shown in FIG. 6, a roller-shaped primary charging member (primary charging roller) is used to charge the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member. When the contact charging used is adopted, pre-exposure is not always necessary.

  As described above, color copiers, color printers and the like using a seamless belt for electrophotography are already on the market.

  Examples of the method for producing such a seamless belt for electrophotography include tube extrusion, inflation, centrifugal molding, blow molding, and injection molding. Among these, blow molding, particularly the stretch blow molding method, stabilizes the outer dimensions by using a mold which is a feature of blow molding, and further stretching causes molecular orientation and improves the strength of the belt. In addition, since the reproducibility is high, a product of uniform quality can be stably formed, and since it can be molded at high speed, there are characteristics that can reduce the cost, and this is preferable as a belt molding method (Patent Documents 2 and 3).

  An example of the stretch blow molding method will be described with reference to FIGS. In the stretch blow molding, first, a test tube type molded product called a preform is molded. In this case, it is preferable to use injection molding in which the shape is easily stabilized. A preform 104 is formed by injection molding as shown in FIG.

Next, stretch blow is performed as shown in FIG. First, the preform 104 is placed in a heating furnace 107 and heated to the stretching temperature. After heating, the preform 104 is placed in the blow mold 108 and the preform is stretched in the longitudinal direction by a stretching rod 109. This stretching is called primary stretching. At this time, it is preferable to introduce a gas so that the preform does not come into contact with the stretching rod, and this is called a primary pressure. After this primary stretching, the gas 110 flows from the preform port 106 and expands in the lateral direction. This is called secondary stretching. Moreover, the gas inflow at this time is called secondary pressure. By performing these primary stretching and secondary stretching, a blow molded article 112 is obtained. Since the blow molded product 112 is stretched in both the vertical and horizontal directions, it becomes a high strength molded product.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-301960 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-061230 JP 2001-018284 JP

  However, the color electrophotographic apparatus using these electrophotographic seamless belts such as the intermediate transfer belt and the transfer belt is a device that takes full advantage of the above-mentioned advantages, truly meets expectations and satisfies the user. It is not working. When providing an image forming apparatus using these electrophotographic seamless belts, there are still problems to be overcome.

  When trying to make a belt by stretch blow molding, the outer dimensions are molds, so a high precision is completed, but it is difficult to blow uniformly due to the manufacturing method of expanding the preform with gas, If uniform blowing is not possible, image transfer unevenness and running properties may become unstable. The reason why the unevenness of transfer and the running property become unstable is considered to be caused by the unevenness of the bulge and the occurrence of internal stress and the distortion of the belt. If the belt is distorted at the time of transfer, it is considered that the distance from the photosensitive member becomes uneven and the transfer efficiency changes, resulting in image unevenness. In addition, when the belt is distorted, a difference in speed occurs within the same belt, and as a result, the running property becomes unstable, and image defects such as misregistration may occur.

  Furthermore, when trying to create a belt by stretch blow molding, film thickness unevenness may occur, and when film thickness unevenness occurs, the uniformity of transferability within the belt is impaired, causing image color misregistration, The uniform transfer efficiency in the belt may not be obtained. Furthermore, the running performance becomes unstable, and the durability of the belt may not be obtained. In addition, when an electrophotographic seamless belt is used as an intermediate transfer belt, it is always subjected to tension and repeated bending and stretching stress, and the intermediate transfer belt may break or crack when used for a long period of time.

  Thus, an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic seamless belt such as an intermediate transfer belt or a transfer belt by a stretch blow molding method has not yet been obtained.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and to realize an electrophotographic seamless belt having no transfer unevenness, high running stability and high durability, and an image forming apparatus using the same. .

  That is, the present invention provides a highly durable electrophotographic seamless belt that does not cause uneven transfer by realizing uniform stretch blow molding.

In the present invention, the preform molded from the thermoplastic resin composition (a) is heated and stretched in a mold using a stretching rod that moves at a predetermined speed, and in the preform that is stretched by the stretching rod. In addition, by injecting gas at a predetermined pressure and expanding the preform in the mold, a bottle-shaped molded product is obtained, and the mouth side part (b) and the bottom side part (c) of the bottle are cut. In the method for producing a seamless belt for electrophotography obtained,
A step of flowing a gas into the preform simultaneously with the elapse of a predetermined time from the start of movement of the drawing rod during drawing by the drawing rod, and the time for the pressure of the gas to reach a set maximum pressure from the start of the flow is 0.5 The above-mentioned problems can be solved by a method for producing a seamless belt for electrophotography obtained by moving the stretching rod in the above-mentioned step by a motor drive.

  Further, in part of the thermoplastic resin mixture (a), the mouth side part (b) and the bottom side part (c) of the cut bottle which is a by-product of the electrophotographic seamless belt produced by the production method The above-mentioned problem can be solved by the manufacturing method described above, wherein a recycled product obtained by pulverizing the slag is used.

  According to the present invention, an electrophotographic seamless belt having no transfer unevenness and high durability is provided. Therefore, high image quality and simplified maintenance can be achieved.

In the present invention, the preform molded from the thermoplastic resin composition (a) is heated and stretched in a mold using a stretching rod that moves at a predetermined speed, and in the preform that is stretched by the stretching rod. In addition, by injecting gas at a predetermined pressure and expanding the preform in the mold, a bottle-shaped molded product is obtained, and the mouth side part (b) and the bottom side part (c) of the bottle are cut. In the method for producing a seamless belt for electrophotography obtained,
A step of flowing a gas into the preform simultaneously with the elapse of a predetermined time from the start of movement of the drawing rod during drawing by the drawing rod, and the time for the pressure of the gas to reach a set maximum pressure from the start of the flow is 0.5 It is possible to freely control the position of contact with the mold at the beginning of bulging by moving the extending rod in the above-described step by motor driving. Conventionally, the stretching rod has been moved by air pressure. In this case, the speed control was air pressure control. For example, when the stretching rod hits the preform, the speed is slowed by the resistance of the preform. When the stretching rod is further stretched, the stress is increased due to molecular orientation due to stretching, and the speed is further decreased. For example, when the same preform is formed, the preform (1) in FIG. 6 is soft (heating temperature is high) and the preform (2) is hard (heating temperature is low). Even if the stretching rod is moved at the same air pressure (1) Even when the stretching rod is fully extended until it contacts the upper part of the mold 6-1-3, in the case of (2), 6-2-3 At the time, the upper part of the mold may not be reached. In this way, the stretching rod always fluctuated without moving at a constant speed, and the fluctuation also changed constantly due to the hardness of the preform, etc. It can be reduced to a constant speed.

Further, when the gas is drawn during the primary blow, the gas can be prevented from coming into contact with the drawing rod, but at this time, if the gas is rapidly flowed in, the preform rapidly swells and swells. In some cases, it was difficult to keep the position constant.
Conventionally, air rapidly enters at the time of primary stretching. Therefore, when gas flows in so as to follow the stretching rod, the portion that starts to swell as shown in FIG. Although the upper and lower controls can be controlled by changing the timing at which gas is introduced, there are many cases where the product first comes in contact with the position to be a product, and the completed electrophotographic belt 114 can have a distortion 115. There were many.

  On the other hand, if it takes 0.5 seconds or more for the pressure of the gas flowing in at the time of primary stretching to reach the set maximum pressure during the stretch blow, it takes time to reach the set pressure as shown in FIG. Because the reform does not swell rapidly and gradually swells while following the stretching rod, the preform bulge is always constant, and the stretching rod always has a constant speed and the preform bulge is always constant. In addition, the position where the bulge begins to bulge first when blowing can be made constant at all times.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to control that the position where the bottle 116 swells and first comes into contact is the lower part of the bottle 116, and the part where the distortion 115 appears can be the lower part of the bottle 116. . As a result, the portion that becomes the seamless belt 114 can be made without the distortion 115.

  As an example of the vertical movement of the extending rod driven by a motor, as shown in FIG. 9, the belt or chain 202 or the like can be driven by a motor to cause the vertical movement.

  As for the motor, a linear motor may be used in addition to the rotating motor. When a linear motor is used, no belt or chain is required. An ultrasonic motor or the like can also be used, and there is no particular limitation on the motor, but it is desirable to use a servo motor to obtain a constant speed. This is because the servo motor constantly feeds back the speed, so that the speed does not easily change even if resistance is generated in the stretching rod by the preform.

  The speed of the stretching rod is preferably a constant speed because it is easy to set the film thickness, but may be variable. In the present invention, since the motor control is used, the stretching rod speed is unlikely to fluctuate like air pressure. Therefore, depending on the shape of the preform, the stretching rod speed can be gradually decreased or increased to obtain an appropriate axial film. It is because it may become thick.

  As a method for setting the time for the gas pressure to reach the set maximum pressure from the start of the inflow to 0.5 seconds or more, for example, the air inflow controller (speed controller) 211 is used before the primary pressure is jetted. However, it is not particularly limited.

  In order to measure the time for the gas pressure to reach the set maximum pressure from the start of inflow, a pressure gauge 212 is installed at the position of FIG. 10, and the pressure is measured for the time from the start of inflow to the end.

  The time for reaching the set pressure is preferably within 5 seconds. This is because if the time is longer than 5 seconds, the preform is cooled and it may be difficult to stretch.

  By driving the drawing rod with a motor, the belt portion can be made without distortion, but the thickness unevenness in the axial direction may increase. This is thought to be because when the part is inflated from the lower side, the part that first contacts the mold cools, and the film thickness at the bottom increases.

  Therefore, by changing the preform heating state in the preform axial direction, it becomes possible to control in a direction in which unevenness in thickness is eliminated when the preform is stretched in the axial direction. For example, when the thickness of the lower side becomes thicker, the temperature on the lower side of the preform is raised and the upper side is lowered. As a result, the axial film thickness becomes uniform. Conversely, if the upper side becomes thicker, the lower side temperature may be lowered and the upper side may be raised. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 11, it is desirable that heating be performed by the heater 111 at each position divided into three or more parts in the longitudinal direction of the preform 104. This is because if the heater is divided into three or more parts, the heating temperature of the preform can be positively controlled by controlling the heaters independently. Further, it is more preferable that the number is 5 or more. If it is five or more, the film thickness control of the film thickness in the axial direction becomes more precise. Furthermore, since precise control is possible by changing the heater distance to the preform as shown in FIG. 11, it is desirable to adjust the heater distance. Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular regarding a heater, A halogen heater, a far-infrared heater, an IH heater, etc. can be used. The preform is preferably preheated while rotating around the preform longitudinal axis in order to prevent uneven heating.

  The preform surface temperature measurement is not particularly limited as long as it is a thermometer, but a non-contact thermometer is preferable so that it can be molded after the measurement, and a radiation thermometer is particularly preferable. It is necessary to set the emissivity of the object before.

Regarding the film thickness unevenness in the circumferential direction, the outer diameter of the preform axial center portion (d / 2 position) shown in FIG. 12 is a, and the mold axial center portion (i / 2 position) is When the inner diameter is b, it is preferable to satisfy the following formula (1).

4a ≤ b ≤ 6a (1)

When it is smaller than 4a, the effect of uniforming the film thickness in the circumferential direction due to stretching is reduced, and the film thickness may not be uniform.

  On the other hand, if it is larger than 6a, it may be larger than the draw ratio of the resin, and it may rupture at the time of blowing or may have soot (minute voids) in the belt.

Further, a preform molded from the thermoplastic resin composition (a) is heated and stretched using a stretching rod moving at a predetermined speed in a mold, and a preform stretched by the stretching rod An electrophotographic image obtained by injecting gas under pressure and expanding a preform in a mold to obtain a bottle-shaped molded product, and cutting the mouth side (b) and bottom side (c) of the bottle In the manufacturing method of the seamless belt for
The thermoplastic resin mixture (a) can be used to recycle the mouth side part (b) and the bottom side part (c) of the bottle to obtain a seamless belt for electrophotography without uniform film thickness unevenness. Further, since the portion that cannot be used as a belt is reused, the cost can be reduced.

  In electrophotographic belts, it is necessary to reduce the uneven film thickness in the circumferential direction as much as possible. However, when creating a preform by injection, the uneven film thickness of the preform affects the final uneven film thickness of the belt. To do. However, the preform has only one fulcrum on the mold structure as shown in Fig. 18 (1), and the portion that is not on the fulcrum side is affected by the injection pressure when the resin is injected as shown in Fig. 18 (2). May swing. This vibration can be suppressed by lowering the maximum pressure at the time of injection. However, when trying to make the belt with a thin film thickness, it is necessary to make the preform thin, and it is usually difficult to reduce the injection pressure. It is.

  Here, when the thermoplastic resin mixture (a) is a recycled product of the mouth side (b) and the bottom side (c) of the bottle, a molded product formed once is contained, so that the thermoplastic resin composition is not a recycled product. The resin fluidity is improved as compared with the state of the product (a). For this reason, the maximum pressure at the time of injection can be lowered.

  The recycled product must be mixed not only with the mouth side (b) and bottom side (c) of the bottle, but also with the unrecycled thermoplastic resin composition (a). This mixing ratio is called the recycling rate, and the mass ratio of the molded product once molded (that is, the mouth side part (b) and the bottom side part (c) of the bottle) and the thermoplastic resin composition (a) is 5:95. In this case, the recycling rate is 5%, and at 50:50, the recycling rate is 50%.

  The recycling rate is preferably 5% to 70%.

  If the recycling rate is less than 5%, the effect of improving fluidity is reduced. On the other hand, if it exceeds 70%, the molecular properties of the belt may be cut and the mechanical properties of the belt may deteriorate.

  A more preferable range for the recycling rate is 30% to 50%. This makes it possible to achieve a high balance between fluidity and mechanical properties.

  Recycling is preferable because the resin cost can be reduced.

  In the case of recycling, the shredder, jaw crusher, corn crusher, gyle crusher, hammer crusher, roll crusher, roll mill, stamp mill, fret mill, cutter mill, rod mill, erotic fall can be crushed. Mill, Cascade mill, Ring roller mill, Centrifugal roller mill, Ball bearing mill, Zegomir, Hammer mill, Cage mill, Pin mill, Disintegrator, Screen mill, Turbo type mill, Centrifugal classification type mill, Ball mill, Stirring mill, Jet crusher, Shear mill, Examples include, but are not limited to, colloid mills, mortars, and stone mills. Further, the pulverizer used in the present invention is preferably a cutter mill in which the particle size tends to be constant.

  As a method for mixing recycled products, there is a method in which a pulverized product to be recycled and a thermoplastic resin composition (a) are dry-mixed directly into an injection molding apparatus. Since this method has the least heat history, it is preferable when a thermoplastic resin composition that is easily decomposed is used.

  In addition, as another method for mixing recycled products, there is a method in which a pulverized product to be recycled and a raw material of the thermoplastic resin composition (a) are dry-mixed and then melt-extruded and pelletized. This method is preferable because the recycled product is pelletized and put into an injection molding apparatus to form a preform, so that melting in the injection apparatus is in the form of pellets and is easy to stabilize. In this method, since the heat history of the pulverized product is the highest, it is preferable to use a thermoplastic resin having high heat resistance.

  As another mixing method of recycled products, there is a method in which a pulverized product to be recycled is melt-extruded and pelletized, and then dry-mixed with the thermoplastic resin composition (a) and put into an injection molding apparatus. This method is preferable because the heating method and the dispersion method of the recycled product and the thermoplastic resin composition (a) can be respectively changed, and the melting characteristics can be freely controlled. For example, when the viscosity of the thermoplastic resin composition mixture (a) is too high, the viscosity is lowered by increasing the kneading temperature and kneading strength of the recycled product, and the thermoplastic resin composition (a ) And recycled products can be adjusted to an appropriate viscosity.

  As a dry mixing method, a capacity rotary mixer (various tumblers, etc.), a mechanical stirring mixer (various mixers, etc.), a fluid stirring mixer, a non-stirring mixer, a high-speed shear mixer, an impact mixer However, it is not limited to this.

  The thermoplastic resin composition (a) and the recycled product need to be sufficiently dried. If the drying is insufficient, the molecular weight may be greatly reduced, and the mechanical properties may be greatly reduced. As the dry state, the moisture content is preferably 0.01% by weight or less, and more preferably 0.005% by weight or less because the influence of moisture is almost eliminated.

  The drawing rod speed means a value obtained by dividing the moving distance of the drawing rod tip by the drawing rod moving time, and the unit is m / sec. The stretching rod moving time is the time from when the stretching rod starts moving until it stops.

The thermoplastic resin mixture (a) is 30% or more is a single thermoplastic resin, the intrinsic viscosity of the thermoplastic resin [eta] is not more 0.5 dl · g ^-1 or more 2.0 dl · g ^-1 or less preferable. This is because when the intrinsic viscosity [η] is 0.5 or more and 2.0 or less, the tensile stress at the stretching temperature becomes appropriate with respect to the blow pressure, so that uniform stretching is possible. When the intrinsic viscosity [η] is less than 0.5, the stress of the resin when it is stretched becomes low, so that uniform stretching becomes difficult, which is not preferable. On the other hand, if the intrinsic viscosity [η] is larger than 2.0, the tensile stress becomes too high, and stretching itself becomes difficult.

  The intrinsic viscosity [η] is measured according to JIS K 7367.

As an example, the intrinsic viscosity [η] of polyethylene terephthalate is measured by diluting a sample using polyethylene terephthalate as a mixed solvent with a solvent of phenol and 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane in a weight ratio of 60:40, and Using a viscometer, the viscosity η ₀ of the diluted sample and the viscosity η ₀ of the solvent are obtained at 25 ° C., the specific viscosity (η _sp ) is obtained from Equation (3), and the intrinsic viscosity [η] is obtained from Equation (4). .

η _sp = (η-η ₀ ) / η ₀ (3)

Where c is the solvent dilution concentration c (g / 100 ml)

The thermoplastic resin mixture (a) used in the present invention has thermoplasticity as a resin mixture. For example, the final resin may be a mixture of a thermoplastic resin and a thermosetting resin powder. It is sufficient if the mixture has thermoplasticity.

  The thermoplastic resin as the main material of the thermoplastic resin mixture (a) used for the electrophotographic seamless belt of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it satisfies the characteristics of the present invention. Linear low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, polypropylene (homo, block and random copolymer), polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, polyamide, polycarbonate, vinyl chloride, polystyrene, methacryl, polyimide, polyamideimide, Polyetherimide, vinylidene chloride, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, ionomer resin, ethylene / ethyl acrylate copolymer resin, acrylonitrile / acrylic rubber / styrene copolymer resin, acrylonitrile / styrene copolymer tree , Acrylonitrile / chlorinated polyethylene / styrene copolymer resin, acrylonitrile / butadiene / styrene copolymer resin, chlorinated polyethylene, polyacetal resin, polyoxybenzoyl resin, polyether ether ketone resin, polysulfone resin, polyphenylene ether resin, polyphenylene sulfide resin, Polybutadiene resin, methylpentene resin, polyvinylidene fluoride, tetrafluoroethylene-ethylene copolymer resin, tetrafluoroethylene-6-fluoropropylene copolymer resin, ethylene-chlorotrifluoroethylene copolymer resin and various thermoplastic elastomers There are thermoplastic resins and the like, and one or more of these resins can be used. However, it is not limited to the said material. Among these, more preferable thermoplastic resins include polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, and MX nylon, which are crystalline resins having a low crystallization rate. By using these resins, electrophotography with higher film thickness accuracy is available. You can make a seamless belt for.

  The resistance value of the electrophotographic seamless belt needs to be adjusted. In the case of an intermediate transfer belt, the volume resistivity range in which a good image is obtained is between 1E + 6 Ω · cm and 8E + 13 Ω · cm. If the volume resistivity is less than 1E + 6 Ω · cm, the resistance is too low to obtain a sufficient transfer electric field, resulting in image omission and roughness. On the other hand, if the volume resistivity is higher than 8E + 13Ω · cm, it is necessary to increase the transfer voltage, which may increase the size and cost of the power supply. In the case of a transfer belt, it is necessary to adsorb and convey a transfer material such as paper, and the preferable resistance range is between 1E + 8Ω · cm and 5E + 14Ω · cm. However, depending on the transfer process, transfer may be possible even outside this range, so the resistance is not necessarily limited to the above range.

  The additive to be mixed for adjusting the electric resistance value of the electrophotographic seamless belt of the present invention is not particularly limited, but for example, carbon black, graphite, aluminum-doped zinc oxide, tin oxide-coated titanium oxide, oxidation Tin, tin oxide coated barium sulfate, potassium titanate, aluminum metal powder, nickel metal powder, tetraalkylammonium salt, trialkylbenzyl, ammonium salt, alkylsulfonate, alkylbenzenesulfonate, alkylsulfate, glycerin fatty acid ester, sorbitan Examples thereof include fatty acid esters, polyoxyethylene alkyl amines, polyoxyethylene fatty alcohol esters, alkyl betaines, lithium perchlorate, polyether ester amides, and polyether amides. Although the said resistance adjustment material may be used independently, according to a use, you may mix several resistance adjustment materials.

  The blow mold used in the present invention is a horizontally divided cylindrical mold in which the cylindrical body portion is not divided vertically as shown in FIG. 13 so that the parting line does not enter the image transfer portion. desirable. In the case of a vertically split die that has a parting line in the image transfer part as shown in Fig. 14, a step occurs on the parting line, so horizontal stripes appear in the image or the parting occurs when the belt is rotated. This is because vibration may occur at the level difference of the part and banding may occur.

  The thickness of the electrophotographic seamless belt is preferably in the range of 40 μm to 300 μm. If it is 40 μm or less, molding stability is insufficient, thickness unevenness is likely to occur, durability is insufficient, and belt breakage or cracking may occur. On the other hand, if the thickness exceeds 300 μm, the material increases and the cost increases, and the difference in the peripheral speed between the inner surface and the outer surface at the stretched shaft portion of a printer or the like increases, and problems such as image scattering due to contraction of the outer surface are likely to occur. Further, there is a problem that the bending durability is lowered and the rigidity of the belt becomes too high to increase the driving torque, resulting in an increase in the size of the main body and an increase in cost.

  The gas to be blown can be selected from nitrogen, carbon dioxide, argon and the like in addition to air.

  Although the above description has been concerned with a single-layer belt, the same applies to a belt composed of a plurality of layers, except that the preform 104 shown in FIG. As the multilayer molding method, it is desirable to form a single layer called two-color molding in injection molding and then mold the second layer or more.

  The volume resistance measuring method according to the present invention will be described below.

<Volume resistance measurement method>
As the measuring device, an ultrahigh resistance meter R8340A (manufactured by Advantest) is used as an ohmmeter, and a data box TR42 (manufactured by Advantest) is used as a sample box. The main electrode has a diameter of 25 mm, the guard ring electrode has an inner diameter of 41 mm, and an outer diameter of 49 mm (according to ASTM D257-78).

  Samples are prepared as follows. First, the electrophotographic seamless belt is cut into a circular shape having a diameter of 56 mm with a punching machine or a sharp blade. An electrode is provided on the entire surface of one side of the cut-out circular piece by a Pt—Pd vapor deposition film, and a main electrode having a diameter of 25 mm and a guard electrode having an inner diameter of 38 mm and an outer diameter of 50 mm are provided on the other surface by a Pt—Pd vapor deposition film. The Pt—Pd vapor deposition film can be obtained by performing a vapor deposition operation for 2 minutes with mild sputtering E1030 (manufactured by Hitachi, Ltd.) at a current of 15 mA and a distance between the target and the sample of 15 mm. The sample after the vapor deposition operation is used as a measurement sample.

  The measurement atmosphere is 23 ° C./52%, and the measurement sample is left in the same atmosphere for 12 hours or more in advance. The measurement is performed with a discharge of 10 seconds, a charge of 30 seconds, and a major of 30 seconds at an applied voltage of 100V.

  In order to reduce the production cost, it is preferable that the cleaning mechanism for the intermediate transfer belt uses a primary transfer simultaneous cleaning system in which the transfer residual toner is charged to a reverse polarity and is simultaneously returned to the photosensitive member at the time of primary transfer. Specifically, a voltage is applied to a charging member such as a cleaning roller that is detachably arranged on the intermediate transfer belt to give the secondary transfer residual toner a charge having a polarity opposite to that at the time of primary transfer. It is means for returning to the photoreceptor by a transfer electric field. A blade, a corona charger, or the like may be used as a means for charging the toner to a reverse polarity. The toner returned from the intermediate transfer belt to the photoconductor is removed by a photoconductor cleaning mechanism such as a cleaning blade. According to this method, a cleaning blade or the like is arranged on both the photosensitive member and the intermediate transfer belt, and compared with a method in which a waste toner feeding mechanism and a container are installed, the apparatus is greatly reduced in size and cost.

[Example 1]
<Preparation of thermoplastic resin mixture (a)>
PEN resin (Teonex TN-8065S manufactured by Teijin Chemicals Ltd. (intrinsic viscosity [η] = 0.65)): 79.5 parts by weight Polyetheresteramide resin (Pelestat NC6321 manufactured by Sanyo Chemical Industries): 20.5 parts by weight The components were melted and kneaded at 280 ° C. with an extruder, and the components were uniformly mixed. This was designated as molding raw material 1.

<Preform production by injection molding equipment>
Injection molding equipment: SE180D C360M (φ32 screw) manufactured by Sumitomo Heavy Industries
Position before filling: 105mm
Injection speed: 1st stage 95mm 10mm / s 2nd stage 34.5mm 130mm / s
VP switching position: 34.5mm
Holding pressure: 20MPa, 2.0s
Screw rotation: 100rpm
Back pressure: 5MPa
Cooling time: 25s
Mold temperature: 15 ℃

Under the above conditions, the molding raw material 1 was put into the hopper 102 of the injection molding apparatus shown in FIG. 4 after being dried at 160 ° C. for 3 hours, and the molding temperature was adjusted to 285 ° C. to perform injection molding. In this preform mold, the d portion in FIG. 12 was 200 mm, the a portion was 32 mm, and the center and bottom thickness h was 1.8 mm. The maximum injection pressure when using this mold was 108 MPa.

  When the thickness at a position of 30 mm was measured in the circumferential direction from the top to the bottom of the preform obtained by this injection molding, it was 1.792 mm to 1.889 mm, and the thickness fluctuation was 97 μm.

  The preform obtained under these conditions is designated as preform (1).

<Production of seamless belt for electrophotography by stretch blow molding equipment>
The preform (1) was put into the molding apparatus shown in FIG. 4 and molded under the following conditions.

  Mold size: Since a cylindrical mold with b of 140.6 mm and i of 475 mm in FIG. 12 was used, the outer shape a of the central portion in the preform axial direction was 35.15 mm. 4.0a was achieved, thereby satisfying the expression (1).

Blowing gas: Compressed air Preform heating position: When the heater was divided into 5 parts in the vertical direction and independent control was performed, the temperature of the preform shown in FIG.

Temperature at position A, 10% of the total length from the top of the preform, 147 ° C
150 ° C at position B, 25% of the total length from the top of the preform
Temperature at 150 ° C, 50% of the total length from the top of the preform
Temperature at position D, 75% of the total length from the top of the preform
Temperature at position E, 90% of the total length from the top of the preform 161 ° C

Primary air pressure: 0.85 MPa

Time and pressure from when the drawing rod starts moving to when compressed air flows in: After 0.48 seconds, adjust the compressed air speed controller from the beginning of this compressed air inflow to adjust to reach the maximum pressure of 0.85 MPa in 0.6 seconds. The pressure was maintained for 2.48 seconds.

Secondary pressure: 0.85 MPa for 0.5 seconds Blow mold temperature: 20 ° C
An apparatus similar to that shown in FIG. 9 was used to drive the stretching rod. A belt was used for the power transmission portion indicated by 202. The motor 201 used was a Fuji Electric GYS152DC1-SA servo motor, and the speed reducer used was Fuji Electric 152SAG-G09.

  The drawing rod speed was set to 710 mm / sec.

  When molding was performed under these conditions, as shown in FIG. 15, the strain 115 occurred at a position of 100 mm from the bottom (stretching rod insertion side). The upper and lower portions were cut with an ultrasonic cutter, leaving a range of 250 mm from the bottom of this molded product to 5 mm upward. As a result, an intermediate transfer belt having a diameter of 139.8 mm and a length of 250 mm was obtained. The diameter became 139.8 mm because the material contracted during molding. The average film thickness of this intermediate transfer belt was 104 μm, and the film thickness unevenness at the center of the belt was 104 ± 6 μm.

  This was designated as an intermediate transfer belt (1).

<Evaluation>
When the intermediate transfer belt (1) was left in an environment of 23 ° C./52% for 1 day, 100 V was applied and the resistance was measured, the volume resistance value was 3.2 × 10 ¹⁰ Ω · cm. Further, when resistance was measured by applying 500 V, no leak occurred. This intermediate transfer belt (1) is mounted on the full-color electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and a full-color image is printed on 80 g / m ² paper. However, the belt does not sway and stable image output is possible. there were. Further, the positional deviation of each color of the full-color image was 180 μm at the maximum, which was a practically acceptable level. Further, since the image was also a belt without distortion, it was a good image with no transfer unevenness.

The cleaning method for the intermediate transfer belt was a primary transfer simultaneous cleaning method using an elastic roller having a resistance of 1 × 10 ⁸ Ω for the cleaning charging member 7. In addition, when the full-color electrophotographic apparatus was used to output a full-color image to 100,000 sheets and the intermediate transfer belt (1) was inspected, the belt was not distorted, so the belt was not cracked or cracked. The durability was good.

[Example 2]
<Preparation of thermoplastic resin mixture (a)>
PEN resin (Teonex TN-8065S manufactured by Teijin Chemicals Ltd. (intrinsic viscosity [η] = 0.65)): 79 parts by weight Polyetheresteramide resin (TPAE-10 manufactured by Fuji Kasei): 21.0 parts by weight The components were melted and kneaded at 280 ° C. with a shaft extruder, and the components were uniformly mixed, extruded as a strand having a diameter of about 2 mm, cut and formed into pellets. This was designated as forming raw material 2.

<Preform production by injection molding equipment>
Injection molding equipment: SE180D C360M (φ32 screw) manufactured by Sumitomo Heavy Industries
Position before filling: 105mm
Injection speed: 1st stage 95mm 10mm / s 2nd stage 23.5mm 130mm / s
VP switching position: 23.5mm
Holding pressure: 20MPa, 2.0s
Screw rotation: 100rpm
Back pressure: 5MPa
Cooling time: 25s
Mold temperature: 15 ℃

Under the above conditions, the molding raw material 2 was put into the hopper 102 of the injection molding apparatus shown in FIG. 4 after being dried at 160 ° C. for 3 hours, and the molding temperature was adjusted to 285 ° C. to perform injection molding. In this preform mold, the d portion in FIG. 12 was 220 mm, the a portion was 35.5 mm, and the center and bottom thickness h was 2.0 mm. The maximum injection pressure when this mold was used was 110 MPa.

  When the thickness at a position 30 mm from the upper part of the preform obtained by this injection molding was measured in the circumferential direction, it was 1.867 mm to 1.993 mm, and the thickness fluctuation was 106 μm.

  The preform obtained under these conditions is designated as preform (2).

<Production of seamless belt for electrophotography by stretch blow molding equipment>
Preform (2) was put into the molding apparatus of FIG. 5 and molded under the following conditions.

  Mold size: The mold size is a horizontal mold with b of 211.0mm and i of 660mm in Fig. 12, and the outer shape a of the central part in the preform axial direction is 35.5mm. The inner diameter b of this was 5.94a, which satisfied the formula (1).

Blowing gas: Compressed air Preform heating position: When the heater was divided into 5 parts in the vertical direction and independent control was performed, the temperature of the preform shown in FIG.

Position A 149 ° C 10% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position B 152 ° C 25% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position C 153 ° C 50% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position D 155 ° C 75% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position E 160 ° C 90% of the total length from the top of the preform

Primary air pressure: 0.85 MPa

Time and pressure from when the drawing rod starts to move to when compressed air flows in: After 0.47 seconds, adjust the compressed air speed controller from the start of compressed air flow and adjust to reach the maximum pressure of 0.85 MPa in 1.2 seconds. The pressure was maintained for 2.47 seconds.

Secondary pressure: 0.85 MPa for 0.5 seconds Blow mold temperature: 20 ° C
An apparatus similar to that shown in FIG. 9 was used to drive the stretching rod. A belt was used for the power transmission portion indicated by 202. The motor used was a Fuji Electric GYS152DC1-SA servo motor, and the speed reducer used was Fuji Electric 152SAG-G09.

  The drawing rod speed was set to 730 mm / sec.

  When molding was performed under these conditions, as shown in FIG. 15, the strain 115 occurred at a position of 90 mm from the bottom (stretching rod insertion side). The upper and lower portions were cut with an ultrasonic cutter, leaving a range of 300 mm from the bottom of this molded product to 5 mm upward. As a result, a transfer conveyance belt having a diameter of 210.0 mm and a length of 300 mm was obtained. The diameter became 210.0 mm because the material shrunk during molding. The average film thickness of this transfer / conveyance belt was 102 μm, and the film thickness unevenness at the center of the belt was 102 ± 5 μm.

  This was designated as a transfer conveyance belt (1).

<Evaluation>
When the transfer conveyance belt (1) was left in an environment of 23 ° C./52% for 1 day and measured for resistance, the volume resistance value was 5.8 × 10 ¹² Ω · cm.

The transfer / conveying belt (1) is installed in the full-color electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and a full-color image is printed on 80 g / m ² paper. there were. Further, the positional shift of each color of the full-color image was 200 μm at the maximum, which was a level that was not problematic for practical use. Further, since the image was also a belt without distortion, it was a good image with no transfer unevenness. In this print test, a full-color image was output to 100,000 sheets and the transfer / conveying belt (1) was inspected. As a result, the belt was free from cracks and tears, and the durability was good. Furthermore, when the durability test was conducted, no cracks were found at the end of the belt even at the 100,000th sheet.

[Example 3]
<Preparation of thermoplastic resin mixture (a)>
PEN resin (Teonex TN-8065S manufactured by Teijin Chemicals Ltd. (intrinsic viscosity [η] = 0.65)): 78.5 parts by weight Polyetheresteramide resin (Pelestat NC6321 manufactured by Sanyo Chemical Industries): 21.5 parts by weight The components were melted and kneaded at 280 ° C. with an extruder, and the components were uniformly mixed. This was designated as a raw material 3 for molding.

<Preform production by injection molding equipment>
Injection molding equipment: SE180D C360M (φ32 screw) manufactured by Sumitomo Heavy Industries
Position before filling: 105mm
Injection speed: 1st stage 95mm 10mm / s 2nd stage 23.5mm 130mm / s
VP switching position: 23.5mm
Holding pressure: 20MPa, 2.0s
Screw rotation: 100rpm
Back pressure: 5MPa
Cooling time: 25s
Mold temperature: 15 ℃

Under the above conditions, the molding raw material 3 was put into the hopper 102 of the injection molding apparatus shown in FIG. 4 after being dried at 160 ° C. for 3 hours, and the molding temperature was adjusted to 285 ° C. to perform injection molding. The preform mold at this time was 220 mm for part d in FIG. 12, 42 mm for part a, and the center and bottom thickness h was 1.9 mm. The maximum injection pressure when this mold was used was 117 MPa.

  When the thickness at a position of 30 mm from the upper part of the preform obtained by this injection molding was measured in the circumferential direction, it was 1.855 mm to 1.982 mm, and the thickness fluctuation was 127 μm.

  The preform obtained under these conditions is designated as preform (3).

<Production of seamless belt for electrophotography by stretch blow molding equipment>
The preform (3) was put into the molding apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and molded under the following conditions.

  Mold size: The mold size is a horizontal mold with b of 211.0mm and i of 660mm in Fig. 12, and the outer shape a of the central part in the preform axial direction is 42.0mm. The inner diameter b of this was 5.02a, which satisfied the formula (1).

Blowing gas: Compressed air Preform heating position: When the heater was divided into 5 parts in the vertical direction and independent control was performed, the temperature of the preform shown in FIG.

Position A 151 ° C 10% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position B 152 ° C 25% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position C 152 ° C 50% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position D 153 ° C 75% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position E 160 ° C 90% of the total length from the top of the preform

Primary air pressure: 0.85 MPa

Time and pressure from when the drawing rod starts moving to when compressed air flows in: After 0.47 seconds, adjust the compressed air speed controller from the start of the compressed air flow and adjust it to reach the maximum pressure of 0.85 MPa in 0.9 seconds. The pressure was maintained for 2.47 seconds.

Secondary pressure: 0.85 MPa for 0.5 seconds Blow mold temperature: 20 ° C
An apparatus similar to that shown in FIG. 9 was used to drive the stretching rod. A belt was used for the power transmission portion indicated by 202. The motor used was a Fuji Electric GYS152DC1-SA servo motor, and the speed reducer used was Fuji Electric 152SAG-G09.

  The drawing rod speed was set to 720 mm / sec.

  When molding was performed under these conditions, as shown in FIG. 15, the strain 115 occurred at a position of 100 mm from the bottom (stretching rod insertion side). The upper and lower portions were cut with an ultrasonic cutter, leaving a range of 250 mm from the bottom of this molded product to 5 mm upward. As a result, an intermediate transfer belt having a diameter of 210.0 mm and a length of 250 mm was obtained. The diameter became 210.0 mm because the material shrunk during molding. The average film thickness of the intermediate transfer belt was 108 μm, and the film thickness unevenness at the center of the belt was 108 ± 7 μm.

  This was designated as an intermediate transfer belt (2).

<Evaluation>
When the intermediate transfer belt (2) was left in an environment of 23 ° C./52% for 1 day and measured for resistance, the volume resistance value was 9.3 × 10 ⁹ Ω · cm.

The intermediate transfer belt (2) is mounted on the full-color electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. 3, and a full-color image is printed on 80 g / m ² paper. However, the belt does not twist and stable image output is possible. there were. Further, the positional deviation of each color of the full-color image was 210 μm at the maximum, which was a practically acceptable level. Further, since the image was also a belt without distortion, it was a good image with no transfer unevenness. In this print test, a full-color image was output to 100,000 sheets, and the intermediate transfer belt (2) was inspected. As a result, the belt was free from cracks and tears and had good durability. Furthermore, when the durability test was conducted, no cracks were found at the end of the belt even at the 100,000th sheet.

[Example 4]
<Preparation of thermoplastic resin mixture (a)>
PEN resin (Teonex TN-8065S manufactured by Teijin Chemicals Ltd. (intrinsic viscosity [η] = 0.65)): 79.5 parts by weight Polyetheresteramide resin (TPAE-10HP-10 manufactured by Fuji Kasei): 20.5 parts by weight Was melt-kneaded at 280 ° C. with a twin-screw extruder and the components were uniformly mixed, extruded as a strand having a diameter of about 2 mm, cut and formed into pellets. This was used as a raw material 4 for molding.

<Preform production by injection molding equipment>
Injection molding equipment: SE180D C360M (φ32 screw) manufactured by Sumitomo Heavy Industries
Position before filling: 105mm
Injection speed: 1st stage 95mm 10mm / s 2nd stage 23.5mm 130mm / s
VP switching position: 23.5mm
Holding pressure: 20MPa, 2.0s
Screw rotation: 100rpm
Back pressure: 5MPa
Cooling time: 25s
Mold temperature: 15 ℃

Under the above conditions, the molding raw material 4 was put into the hopper 102 of the injection molding apparatus shown in FIG. 4 after being dried at 160 ° C. for 3 hours, and the preset temperature was adjusted to 300 ° C. to perform injection molding. The reason why the preset temperature is set to 300 ° C. in this example is that the polyether ester amide resin has high heat resistance, and this can improve the resin fluidity.

  The preform mold at this time was 220 mm for part d in FIG. 12, 42 mm for part a, and the center and bottom thickness h was 1.9 mm. The maximum injection pressure when using this mold was 105 MPa.

  When the thickness at a position 30 mm from the upper part of the preform obtained by this injection molding was measured in the circumferential direction, it was 1.855 mm to 1.947 mm, and the thickness fluctuation was 92 μm.

  The preform obtained under these conditions is designated as preform (4).

<Production of seamless belt for electrophotography by stretch blow molding equipment>
The preform (4) was put into the molding apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and molded under the following conditions.

  Mold size: The mold size is a horizontal mold with b of 211.0mm and i of 660mm in Fig. 12, and the outer shape a of the central part in the preform axial direction is 42.0mm. The inner diameter b of this was 5.02a, which satisfied the formula (1).

Blowing gas: Compressed air Preform heating position: When the heater was divided into 5 parts in the vertical direction and independent control was performed, the temperature of the preform shown in FIG.

Position A 151 ° C 10% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position B 152 ° C 25% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position C 152 ° C 50% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position D 153 ° C 75% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position E 160 ° C 90% of the total length from the top of the preform

Primary air pressure: 0.85 MPa

Time and pressure from when the drawing rod starts moving to when compressed air flows in: After 0.47 seconds, adjust the compressed air speed controller from the start of the compressed air flow and adjust it to reach the maximum pressure of 0.85 MPa in 0.9 seconds. The pressure was maintained for 2.47 seconds.

Secondary pressure: 0.85 MPa for 0.5 seconds Blow mold temperature: 20 ° C
An apparatus similar to that shown in FIG. 9 was used to drive the stretching rod. A belt was used for the power transmission portion indicated by 202. The motor used was a Fuji Electric GYS152DC1-SA servo motor, and the speed reducer used was Fuji Electric 152SAG-G09.

  The drawing rod speed was set to 720 mm / sec.

  When molding was performed under these conditions, as shown in FIG. 15, distortion occurred at a position of 100 mm from the bottom (stretching rod insertion side). The upper and lower portions were cut with an ultrasonic cutter, leaving a range of 300 mm from the bottom of this molded product to 5 mm upward. As a result, an intermediate transfer belt having a diameter of 210.0 mm and a length of 300 mm was obtained. The diameter became 210.0 mm because the material shrunk during molding. The average film thickness of the intermediate transfer belt was 108 μm, and the film thickness unevenness at the center of the belt was 108 ± 5 μm.

  This was designated as an intermediate transfer belt (3).

<Evaluation>
When the intermediate transfer belt (3) was left in an environment of 23 ° C./52% for 1 day and measured for resistance, the volume resistance value was 9.3 × 10 ⁹ Ω · cm.

The intermediate transfer belt (3) is mounted on the full-color electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. 3, and a full-color image is printed on 80 g / m ² paper. However, the belt does not twist and stable image output is possible. there were. Further, the positional deviation of each color of the full-color image was 170 μm at the maximum, which was a practically acceptable level. Further, since the image was also a belt without distortion, it was a good image with no transfer unevenness. In this print test, a full color image was output to 100,000 sheets, and the intermediate transfer belt (3) was inspected. As a result, the belt showed no cracks or tears, and the durability was good. Furthermore, when the durability test was conducted, no cracks were found at the end of the belt even at the 100,000th sheet.

[Example 5]
<Preparation of thermoplastic resin mixture (e)>
The bottle mouth side part (b) and the bottom side part (c) which were no longer necessary for the belt in the stretch blow molded product produced in Example 3 were crushed into a flank of about 5 mm with a Unotex crusher UF-37. A dry product was obtained by dry mixing.

  Further, the same molding material 3 as in Example 3 was used for the thermoplastic resin mixture (a).

  This recycled product and the thermoplastic resin mixture (a) were mixed with a tumbler at a ratio of 40:60 to obtain a thermoplastic resin mixture (a) having a recycling rate of 40%, that is, a molding raw material 5.

<Preform production by injection molding equipment>
Injection molding equipment: SE180D C360M (φ32 screw) manufactured by Sumitomo Heavy Industries
Position before filling: 105mm
Injection speed: 1st stage 95mm 10mm / s 2nd stage 23.5mm 130mm / s
VP switching position: 23.5mm
Holding pressure: 20MPa, 2.0s
Screw rotation: 100rpm
Back pressure: 5MPa
Cooling time: 25s
Mold temperature: 15 ℃

Under the above conditions, the molding raw material 5 was dried at 160 ° C. for 3 hours into the hopper 102 of the injection molding apparatus shown in FIG. 4 and injected, and the set temperature was adjusted to 285 ° C. The preform mold at this time was the same as in Example 3, but the maximum injection pressure when this mold was used was reduced to 90 MPa. This is considered because the fluidity | liquidity of resin improved by having mixed the recycled product.

  When the thickness at a position 30 mm from the upper part of the preform obtained by this injection molding was measured in the circumferential direction, it was 1.874 mm to 1.921 mm, and the thickness fluctuation was 47 μm.

  The preform obtained under these conditions is designated as preform (5).

<Production of seamless belt for electrophotography by stretch blow molding equipment>
The preform (5) was put into the molding apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and molded under the following conditions.

  Mold size: The mold size is a horizontal mold with b of 211.0mm and i of 660mm in Fig. 12, and the outer shape a of the central part in the preform axial direction is 42.0mm. The inner diameter b of this was 5.02a, which satisfied the formula (1).

Blowing gas: Compressed air Preform heating position: When the heater was divided into 5 parts in the vertical direction and independent control was performed, the temperature of the preform shown in FIG.

Position A 151 ° C 10% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position B 152 ° C 25% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position C 152 ° C 50% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position D 153 ° C 75% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position E 160 ° C 90% of the total length from the top of the preform

Primary air pressure: 0.85 MPa

Time and pressure from when the drawing rod starts moving to when compressed air flows in: After 0.47 seconds, adjust the compressed air speed controller from the start of the compressed air flow and adjust it to reach the maximum pressure of 0.85 MPa in 0.9 seconds. The pressure was maintained for 2.47 seconds.

Secondary pressure: 0.85 MPa for 0.5 seconds Blow mold temperature: 20 ° C
An apparatus similar to that shown in FIG. 9 was used to drive the stretching rod. A belt was used for the power transmission portion indicated by 202. The motor used was a Fuji Electric GYS152DC1-SA servo motor, and the speed reducer used was Fuji Electric 152SAG-G09.

  The drawing rod speed was set to 720 mm / sec.

  When molding was performed under these conditions, as shown in FIG. 15, the strain 115 occurred at a position of 100 mm from the bottom (stretching rod insertion side). The upper and lower portions were cut with an ultrasonic cutter, leaving a range of 300 mm from the bottom of this molded product to 5 mm upward. As a result, an intermediate transfer belt having a diameter of 210.0 mm and a length of 300 mm was obtained. The diameter became 210.0 mm because the material shrunk during molding. The average film thickness of the intermediate transfer belt was 106 μm, and the film thickness unevenness at the center of the belt was 108 ± 3 μm. The reason why the film thickness unevenness was smaller than that in Example 3 was that the thickness fluctuation of the preform was reduced.

  This was designated as an intermediate transfer belt (4).

<Evaluation>
When the intermediate transfer belt (4) was left in an environment of 23 ° C./52% for 1 day and measured for resistance, the volume resistance value was 9.3 × 10 ⁹ Ω · cm.

The intermediate transfer belt (4) is mounted on the full-color electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. 3, and a full-color image is printed on 80 g / m ² paper. However, the belt is not twisted and stable image output is possible. there were. Further, the positional deviation of each color of the full color image was a very good level of 80 μm at the maximum. Further, since the image was also a belt without distortion, it was a good image with no transfer unevenness. In this print test, a full-color image was output to 100,000 sheets and the intermediate transfer belt (4) was inspected. As a result, the belt did not show any cracks or tears, and the durability was good. Furthermore, when the durability test was conducted, no cracks were found at the end of the belt even at the 100,000th sheet.


[Example 6]
<Preparation of thermoplastic resin mixture (e)>
The bottle mouth side part (b) and the bottom side part (c) which were no longer necessary for the belt in the stretch blow molded product produced in Example 4 were crushed into a scale of about 5 mm with a Unotex pulverizer UF-37 and tumbler. A dry product was obtained by dry mixing.

  This recycled product and the same thermoplastic resin mixture (a) as in Example 4 which was not melt kneaded were mixed in a tumbler at a ratio of 40:60, that is, a recycling rate of 40%, and then melted at 280 ° C. by a twin-screw extruder. Each component was kneaded and mixed uniformly, extruded as a strand having a diameter of about 2 mm, cut and formed into a pellet. This was designated as a raw material 6 for molding.

<Preform production by injection molding equipment>
Injection molding equipment: SE180D C360M (φ32 screw) manufactured by Sumitomo Heavy Industries
Position before filling: 105mm
Injection speed: 1st stage 95mm 10mm / s 2nd stage 23.5mm 130mm / s
VP switching position: 23.5mm
Holding pressure: 20MPa, 2.0s
Screw rotation: 100rpm
Back pressure: 5MPa
Cooling time: 25s
Mold temperature: 15 ℃

Under the above conditions, the molding material 6 was dried for 3 hours at 160 ° C. into the hopper 102 of the injection molding apparatus shown in FIG. 4, and injection molding was performed by adjusting the set temperature to 300 ° C. The preform mold at this time was the same as that in Example 4, but the maximum injection pressure when this mold was used was lowered to 82 MPa. This is considered because the fluidity | liquidity of resin improved by having mixed the recycled product.

  When the thickness at a position 30 mm from the upper part of the preform obtained by this injection molding was measured in the circumferential direction, it was 1.882 mm to 1.917 mm, and the thickness fluctuation was 35 μm.

  The preform obtained under these conditions is designated as preform (6).

<Production of seamless belt for electrophotography by stretch blow molding equipment>
The preform (5) was put into the molding apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and molded under the following conditions.

  Mold size: The mold size is a horizontal mold with b of 211.0mm and i of 660mm in Fig. 12, and the outer shape a of the central part in the preform axial direction is 42.0mm. The inner diameter b of this was 5.02a, which satisfied the formula (1).

Blowing gas: Compressed air Preform heating position: When the heater was divided into 5 parts in the vertical direction and independent control was performed, the temperature of the preform shown in FIG.

Position A 151 ° C 10% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position B 152 ° C 25% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position C 152 ° C 50% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position D 153 ° C 75% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position E 160 ° C 90% of the total length from the top of the preform

Primary air pressure: 0.85 MPa

Time and pressure from when the drawing rod starts moving to when compressed air flows in: After 0.47 seconds, adjust the compressed air speed controller from the start of the compressed air flow and adjust it to reach the maximum pressure of 0.85 MPa in 0.9 seconds. The pressure was maintained for 2.47 seconds.

Secondary pressure: 0.85 MPa for 0.5 seconds Blow mold temperature: 20 ° C
An apparatus similar to that shown in FIG. 9 was used to drive the stretching rod. A belt was used for the power transmission portion indicated by 202. The motor used was a Fuji Electric GYS152DC1-SA servo motor, and the speed reducer used was Fuji Electric 152SAG-G09.

  The drawing rod speed was set to 720 mm / sec.

  When molding was performed under these conditions, as shown in FIG. 15, the strain 115 occurred at a position of 100 mm from the bottom (stretching rod insertion side). The upper and lower portions were cut with an ultrasonic cutter, leaving a range of 300 mm from the bottom of this molded product to 5 mm upward. As a result, an intermediate transfer belt having a diameter of 210.0 mm and a length of 300 mm was obtained. The diameter became 210.0 mm because the material shrunk during molding. The average film thickness of this intermediate transfer belt was 106 μm, and the film thickness unevenness at the center of the belt was 108 + 2 and −3 μm. The reason why the film thickness unevenness was smaller than that of Example 4 was that the thickness fluctuation of the preform was reduced.

  This was designated as an intermediate transfer belt (5).

<Evaluation>
When the intermediate transfer belt (5) was left in an environment of 23 ° C./52% for 1 day and measured for resistance, the volume resistance value was 9.3 × 10 ⁹ Ω · cm.

The intermediate transfer belt () 5 is mounted on the full-color electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. 3 and a full-color image is printed on 80 g / m ² paper. However, the belt does not sway and stable image output is possible. there were. Further, the positional deviation of each color of the full color image was a very good level of 70 μm at the maximum. Further, since the image was also a belt without distortion, it was a good image with no transfer unevenness. In this print test, a full color image was output to 100,000 sheets, and the intermediate transfer belt (5) was inspected. As a result, the belt was not cracked or cracked, and the durability was good. Furthermore, when the durability test was conducted, no cracks were found at the end of the belt even at the 100,000th sheet.

[Example 7]
<Preparation of thermoplastic resin mixture (e)>
The bottle mouth side part (b) and the bottom side part (c) which were no longer necessary for the belt in the stretch blow molded product produced in Example 4 were crushed into a scale of about 5 mm with a Unotex pulverizer UF-37 and tumbler. A dry product was obtained by dry mixing. This recycled product was melted at 305 ° C. by a biaxial extruder, extruded as a strand having a diameter of about 2 mm, and cut into pellets. The pelletized recycled product and the thermoplastic resin mixture (a) which was the same as in Example 4 and was not melt-kneaded were tumbled at a ratio of 40:60, and then melt-kneaded at 280 ° C. with a biaxial extruder at each component. Were uniformly mixed, extruded as a strand having a diameter of about 2 mm and cut into pellets. This was designated as a raw material 7 for molding.

<Preform production by injection molding equipment>
Injection molding equipment: SE180D C360M (φ32 screw) manufactured by Sumitomo Heavy Industries
Position before filling: 105mm
Injection speed: 1st stage 95mm 10mm / s 2nd stage 23.5mm 130mm / s
VP switching position: 23.5mm
Holding pressure: 20MPa, 2.0s
Screw rotation: 100rpm
Back pressure: 5MPa
Cooling time: 25s
Mold temperature: 15 ℃

Under the above conditions, the molding material 6 was dried for 3 hours at 160 ° C. into the hopper 102 of the injection molding apparatus shown in FIG. 4, and injection molding was performed by adjusting the set temperature to 300 ° C. The preform mold at this time was the same as in Example 4, but the maximum injection pressure when this mold was used was reduced to 77 MPa. This is presumably because fluidity was improved by mixing recycled products kneaded at high temperature.

  When the thickness at a position 30 mm from the upper part of the preform obtained by this injection molding was measured in the circumferential direction, it was 1.880 mm to 1.908 mm, and the thickness fluctuation was 28 μm.

  The preform obtained under these conditions is designated as preform (7).

<Production of seamless belt for electrophotography by stretch blow molding equipment>
The preform (7) was put into the molding apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and molded under the following conditions.

  Mold size: The mold size is a horizontal mold with b of 211.0mm and i of 660mm in Fig. 12, and the outer shape a of the central part in the preform axial direction is 42.0mm. The inner diameter b of this was 5.02a, which satisfied the formula (1).

Blowing gas: Compressed air Preform heating position: When the heater was divided into 5 parts in the vertical direction and independent control was performed, the temperature of the preform shown in FIG.

Position A 151 ° C 10% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position B 152 ° C 25% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position C 152 ° C 50% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position D 153 ° C 75% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position E 160 ° C 90% of the total length from the top of the preform

Primary air pressure: 0.85 MPa

Time and pressure from when the drawing rod starts moving to when compressed air flows in: After 0.47 seconds, adjust the compressed air speed controller from the start of the compressed air flow and adjust it to reach the maximum pressure of 0.85 MPa in 0.9 seconds. The pressure was maintained for 2.47 seconds.

Secondary pressure: 0.85 MPa for 0.5 seconds Blow mold temperature: 20 ° C
An apparatus similar to that shown in FIG. 9 was used to drive the stretching rod. A belt was used for the power transmission portion indicated by 202. The motor used was a Fuji Electric GYS152DC1-SA servo motor, and the speed reducer used was Fuji Electric 152SAG-G09.

The drawing rod speed was set to 720 mm / sec.

When molding was performed under these conditions, as shown in FIG. 15, the strain 115 occurred at a position of 100 mm from the bottom (stretching rod insertion side). The upper and lower portions were cut with an ultrasonic cutter, leaving a range of 300 mm from the bottom of this molded product to 5 mm upward. As a result, an intermediate transfer belt having a diameter of 210.0 mm and a length of 300 mm was obtained. The diameter became 210.0 mm because the material shrunk during molding. The average film thickness of the intermediate transfer belt was 106 μm, and the film thickness unevenness at the center of the belt was 108 ± 2 μm. The reason why the film thickness unevenness was smaller than that of Example 4 was that the thickness fluctuation of the preform was reduced.

  This was designated as an intermediate transfer belt (6).

<Evaluation>
When the intermediate transfer belt (6) was left in an environment of 23 ° C./52% for 1 day and measured for resistance, the volume resistance value was 9.3 × 10 ⁹ Ω · cm.

The intermediate transfer belt () 6 is mounted on the full-color electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. 3 and a full-color image is printed on 80 g / m ² paper. However, the belt does not twist and stable image output is possible. there were. Further, the positional deviation of each color of the full-color image was a very good level of 60 μm at the maximum. Further, since the image was also a belt without distortion, it was a good image with no transfer unevenness. In this print test, a full-color image was output to 100,000 sheets and the intermediate transfer belt (6) was inspected. As a result, the belt showed no cracks or tears, and the durability was good. Furthermore, when the durability test was conducted, no cracks were found at the end of the belt even at the 100,000th sheet.

[Comparative Example 1]
<Preparation of thermoplastic resin mixture (a)>
The thermoplastic resin mixture (a) is the same as in Example 1.

<Preform production by injection molding equipment>
Preform is also the same as in Example 1. <Preparation of seamless belt for electrophotography by stretch blow molding device>
The preform (1) was put into the molding apparatus shown in FIG. 4 and molded under the following conditions.
Mold size: Since a cylindrical mold having h of 140.6 mm and f of 475 mm in FIG. 8 was used, the outer shape a of the central portion in the preform axial direction was 35.15 mm. 4.0a was achieved, thereby satisfying the expression (1).

Blowing gas: Compressed air Preform heating position: When the heater was divided into 5 parts in the vertical direction and independent control was performed, the temperature of the preform shown in FIG.

Position A 147 ° C 10% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position B 150 ° C 25% of the total length from the top of the preform
50% of the total length from the top of the preform C 150 ° C
Position D 155 ° C 75% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position E 161 ° C 90% of the total length from the top of the preform

Primary air pressure: 0.85 MPa

Time and pressure from when the drawing rod starts moving to when compressed air flows in: After 0.48 seconds, adjust the compressed air speed controller from the start of compressed air flow and adjust it to reach the maximum pressure of 0.85 MPa in 0.1 seconds. The pressure was maintained for 2.48 seconds.

Secondary pressure: 0.85 MPa for 0.5 seconds Blow mold temperature: 20 ° C
Compressed air was used to drive the stretching rod, and the compressed air pressure was 0.85 MPa. The exact speed could not be measured due to air.

  When molding was performed under these conditions, as shown in FIG. 16, the strain 115 was generated at a position 300 mm from the bottom (stretching rod insertion side). About this molded article, the range of 300 mm was left from the position of 105 mm from the bottom to the top, and the upper and lower sides were cut with an ultrasonic cutter. As a result, an intermediate transfer belt having a diameter of 139.8 mm and a length of 300 mm was obtained. The diameter became 139.8 mm because the material contracted during molding. The average film thickness of the intermediate transfer belt was 104 μm, and the film thickness unevenness at the center of the belt was 104 ± 15 μm because of distortion.

  This was designated as an intermediate transfer belt (7).

<Evaluation>
When the intermediate transfer belt (7) was left in an environment of 23 ° C./52% for 1 day, 100 V was applied and the resistance was measured, the volume resistance value was 3.2 × 10 ¹⁰ Ω · cm. Further, when resistance was measured by applying 500 V, no leak occurred. This intermediate transfer belt (7) was mounted on the full-color electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and a full-color image was printed on 80 g / m ² paper. However, since distortion occurred in the belt center, Image unevenness occurred. Further, the positional deviation of each color of the full-color image was 800 μm at the maximum and became large at the distortion occurrence portion, so that it was a practically problematic level.

  Since there was an initial image defect, the durability test was not performed.

[Comparative Example 2]
<Preparation of thermoplastic resin mixture (a)>
The thermoplastic resin mixture (a) is the same as in Example 2.

<Preform production by injection molding equipment>
The preform is the same as in Example 2.

<Production of seamless belt for electrophotography by stretch blow molding equipment>
Preform (2) was put into the molding apparatus of FIG. 4 and molded under the following conditions.
Mold size: The mold size is a horizontal mold with b of 211.0mm and i of 660mm in Fig. 12, and the outer shape a of the central part in the preform axial direction is 35.5mm. The inner diameter b of this was 5.94a, which satisfied the formula (1).

Blowing gas: Compressed air Preform heating position: When the heater was divided into 5 parts in the vertical direction and independent control was performed, the temperature of the preform shown in FIG.

Position A 149 ° C 10% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position B 152 ° C 25% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position C 153 ° C 50% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position D 155 ° C 75% of the total length from the top of the preform
Position E 160 ° C 90% of the total length from the top of the preform

Primary air pressure: 0.85 MPa

Time and pressure from when the drawing rod starts moving to when compressed air flows in: After 0.47 seconds, adjust the compressed air speed controller from the start of this compressed air inflow to reach the maximum pressure of 0.85 MPa in 0.3 seconds. The pressure was maintained for 2.47 seconds.

Secondary pressure: 0.85 MPa for 0.5 seconds Blow mold temperature: 20 ° C
Compressed air was used to drive the stretching rod, and the compressed air pressure was 0.85 MPa. The exact speed could not be measured due to air.

  When molding was performed under these conditions, as shown in FIG. 16, the strain 115 was generated at a position 300 mm from the bottom (stretching rod insertion side). About this molded article, the range of 300 mm was left from the position of 105 mm from the bottom to the top, and the upper and lower sides were cut with an ultrasonic cutter. As a result, a transfer conveyance belt having a diameter of 210.0 mm and a length of 300 mm was obtained. The diameter became 210.0 mm because the material shrunk during molding. The average film thickness of the intermediate transfer belt was 102 μm, and the film thickness unevenness at the center of the belt was 102 ± 12 μm because distortion occurred.

  This was designated as a transfer conveyance belt (2).

<Evaluation>
When the transfer conveyance belt (2) was left in an environment of 23 ° C./52% for 1 day and measured for resistance, the volume resistance value was 5.8 × 10 ¹² Ω · cm.

Further, when resistance was measured by applying 500 V, no leak occurred. This transfer / conveying belt (2) was mounted on the full-color electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. 2, and a full-color image was printed on 80 g / m ² paper. Since distortion occurred in the central portion of the belt, Image unevenness occurred. Further, the positional deviation of each color of the full-color image was 700 μm at the maximum and became large at the distortion occurrence portion, so that it was a practically problematic level.

  Since there was an initial image defect, the durability test was not performed.

1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of an example of an image forming apparatus using an intermediate transfer belt of the present invention. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus using a transfer belt of the present invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of an example of an image forming apparatus using an intermediate transfer belt of the present invention. It is the schematic of an example of an injection molding apparatus. It is the schematic of an example of an extending | stretching blow molding apparatus. It is explanatory drawing of the extending | stretching rod speed | velocity | rate at different preform heating temperature. It is explanatory drawing of the distortion position at the time of blow. It is explanatory drawing of the distortion position at the time of blow. It is explanatory drawing of the extending | stretching stick | rod operation | movement by a motor. It is explanatory drawing of the air piping of a blow. It is explanatory drawing of a preform heater. It is explanatory drawing of preform and blow mold size. It is explanatory drawing of a horizontal type. It is explanatory drawing of a vertical split type. It is explanatory drawing of a distortion position and a cut position. It is explanatory drawing of a distortion position and a cut position. It is explanatory drawing of a preform temperature measurement position. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the preform was injection-molded: (1) The ideal state, (2) The state which the film thickness nonuniformity generate | occur | produced is shown.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photosensitive drum 2 axis | shaft 3 Primary charger 4 Image exposure means 5 Developing device 6 Transfer member 7 Cleaning member 8 Fixing device
11 Intermediate transfer member
12 Tension roller
13 Cleaning device
14 Transfer conveyor belt
15 Suction roller
101 Injection molding equipment
102 cavity mold
103 core type
104 preform
105 preform bottom
106 preform mouth
107 Heating furnace
108 blow mold
109 Stretched rod
110 gas
111 Heater
112 Blow molding
113 Cut part
114 seamless belt
115 Distortion
116 bottles
201 motor
202 Belt or chain
211 Air inflow controller
212 Pressure gauge
213 Solenoid valve
214 silencer
215 Compressed air
216 Air tank P Transfer material

Claims (7)

The preform molded from the thermoplastic resin composition (a) is heated and stretched using a stretching rod that moves at a predetermined speed in a mold, and the preform that is stretched by the stretching rod is A step of cutting a mouth side (b) and a bottom side (c) of the bottle by obtaining a bottle-like molded product by injecting a gas under pressure and expanding the preform in the mold. In the method for producing a seamless belt for electrophotography,
A step of flowing a gas into the preform simultaneously with the elapse of a predetermined time from the start of movement of the drawing rod during drawing by the drawing rod, and the time for the pressure of the gas to reach a set maximum pressure from the start of the flow is 0.5 The method for producing a seamless belt for electrophotography, characterized in that the stretching rod of the step is moved by a motor drive.   The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the heating means for heating the preform is divided into three or more parts in the vertical direction and each is independently controlled.   The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the motor is a servo motor. The following equation (1) is satisfied, where a represents an outer diameter of the preform axial center portion and a represents an inner diameter of the mold axial center portion. 2. The production method according to item 1.
4a ≤ b ≤ 6a (1)   Part of the thermoplastic resin mixture (a) is pulverized with the mouth side part (b) and the bottom side part (c) of the cut bottle which is a by-product of the electrophotographic seamless belt produced by the production method. The manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the recycled product is used.   The production method according to claim 5, wherein a ratio (recycle rate) of the recycled product in the thermoplastic resin mixture (a) is 5 to 70%.   The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the preform molding method is injection molding.

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