JP2007101927A - Developing device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent sticking of toner on a wall surface of a developer conveyance and supply passage which conveys a developer and to prevent a white void or the like in an image due to generation of an aggregated toner. <P>SOLUTION: A developing device 15 is equipped with a developer supply and conveyance passage 66 that supplies a developer from a toner cartridge 44 into a housing 50. A release agent 68, comprising an inorganic material and an organic material by intermolecular coupling, is applied on the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance passage 66. The release agent used is an organic-inorganic composite material prepared from a Ti-based metal alkoxide and polydimethyl siloxane which are made to react by a sol-gel method, and has superior mechanical strength and release properties. Thereby, the sticking of the toner on the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance passage 66 can be suppressed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a developing device provided with a developer supply conveyance path for supplying a developer from a developer storage section such as a developer cartridge, and an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile machine provided with the developing device. .

  In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, an image carrier such as a photosensitive member is charged in an image forming unit, and a laser beam is irradiated to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the image carrier. The image is visualized by a developing device to form a toner image made of powder toner. Then, the sheet is conveyed to the image forming unit at a certain timing, and the toner image on the image carrier is transferred to the surface of the sheet, and then the toner image on the surface of the sheet is fixed by the fixing device to form an image.

  The developing device includes a developer cartridge that stores the developer, and is provided with a developer supply conveyance path that supplies the developer from the developer cartridge. Then, the developer is supplied from the developer supply conveyance path into the developer accommodating portion, and is supplied to the developing roll by conveying the developer with stirring by the developer conveying member. The developer on the developing roll is regulated with a trimmer to form a developer layer, which is conveyed to a position facing the image carrier.

  In recent years, with the miniaturization and high performance of printers and the like, the diameter of the developer supply conveyance path from the developer cartridge that occupies a certain volume tends to be small. For this reason, there is a problem that the toner adheres to the wall surface of the developer supply transport path when supplying the developer.

  In addition, in order to prevent the toner from sticking, there is disclosed one in which minute uneven portions are formed on the surface of the developer conveying member (see, for example, Patent Document 1). However, when the applied toner is a relatively soft toner, the toner easily adheres to the surface of the developer conveying member even if a minute uneven portion is formed. Further, the toner adheres to the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance path to deteriorate the fluidity of the toner and cause secondary obstacles such as image density reduction (Low TC).

  Further, the developer conveying member tends to have a complicated shape of the protrusion protruding from the periphery of the support shaft in order to improve charging performance and stirring performance. For this reason, there has been proposed a developer conveying member having protrusions having various protrusion shapes around the support shaft (see, for example, Patent Document 2). However, when such a developer conveying member is used, the developer conveying path inside the developing device tends to be narrowed. In such a developer transport path, soft toner or the like tends to deteriorate in fluidity, so that the toner is easily fixed to the wall surface.

When the toner fixed on the wall or the like is dropped off and developed on the image carrier together with the developer, the transferability of the aggregated toner is lowered, and this portion causes image quality defects such as white spots. End up. These phenomena become more prominent as the hardness of the toner itself becomes softer.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-45929 JP-A-7-13420

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to reduce adhesion of toner to the wall surface of a developer supply conveyance path and to prevent a decrease in image density and white spots.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a developing device according to the first aspect of the present invention conveys a developer while stirring the developer by a developer conveying member in a housing in which the developer is accommodated, and then on the image carrier. A developing device for visualizing a formed electrostatic latent image with a developer, comprising a developer supply transport path for supplying the developer into the housing from a developer storage section for storing the developer, and supplying the developer A release agent is applied to the wall surface of the conveyance path.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the developer is supplied from the developer storage section that stores the developer into the housing through the developer supply conveyance path. Since the release agent is applied to the wall surface of the developer supply / conveyance path, even if the inner diameter of the developer supply / conveyance path is reduced, the toner can be prevented from sticking to the wall surface. Accordingly, aggregated toner (glitz) is less likely to occur due to the fixed toner falling off in the housing. For this reason, a decrease in image density due to a deterioration in toner fluidity and a transfer white spot due to agglomerated toner are suppressed, and a stable and high-quality image can be obtained.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the developing device according to the first aspect, the release agent is composed of an organic-inorganic composite material in which an organic material and an inorganic material are intermolecularly bonded. It is characterized by.

  According to the invention described in claim 2, since the release agent is composed of an organic-inorganic composite material in which an organic material and an inorganic material are intermolecularly bonded, the advantages of the organic material and the inorganic material ( For example, a release agent having both mechanical strength and releasability is applicable. For this reason, it is possible to prevent toner or bleed substances from adhering to the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance path, and to prevent the release agent from being peeled off or scraped off by increasing the mechanical strength.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the developing device according to the second aspect, the release agent changes the state of sol and gel from a mixed solution of a metal organic compound and an inorganic compound by a sol-gel method. After that, it is characterized as an organic-inorganic composite material.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the mold release agent is made into an organic-inorganic composite material through a sol and gel state from a mixed solution of a metal-based inorganic compound and an organic compound by a sol-gel method. Therefore, a mold release agent having both advantages of an organic compound and an inorganic compound is applicable. Moreover, the characteristics of the organic-inorganic composite material can be adjusted by changing the mixing ratio of the organic compound and the inorganic compound.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the developing apparatus according to the third aspect, the release agent uses a reaction product obtained by reacting a metal alkoxide and polydimethylsiloxane using a sol-gel method. It is characterized by.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, the mold release agent uses a reaction product obtained by reacting a metal alkoxide and polydimethylsiloxane by a sol-gel method, and has a mold release property and mechanical strength. It is possible to apply a mold release agent having both.

  An image forming apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention includes the developing device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the developing device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects is provided, the toner hardly adheres to the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance path. Accordingly, aggregated toner (glitz) is less likely to occur due to the fixed toner falling off in the housing. For this reason, a decrease in image density due to a deterioration in toner fluidity and a transfer white spot due to agglomerated toner are suppressed, and a stable and high-quality image can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the toner from adhering to the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance path. For this reason, it is possible to suppress a decrease in image density due to the deterioration of the fluidity of the toner, and it is possible to suppress the occurrence of image quality defects such as white spots in the image due to the fixed developer being dropped and developed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an image forming apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

  The image forming apparatus 1 performs image processing based on color image information sent from an image data input device such as a personal computer (not shown), and forms a color image on a recording sheet P by an electrophotographic method.

  The image forming apparatus 1 includes image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K that form toner images of colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). In the following, when it is necessary to distinguish YMCK, description will be made by adding any of Y, M, C, and K after the reference. When YMCK does not need to be distinguished, Y, M, C, K is omitted.

  The image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K are arranged so that the endless intermediate transfer belt 30 stretched by the backup roll 34 and the plurality of stretching rolls 32 moves in the traveling direction (arrow direction). They are arranged in series in the order of 10M, 10C, and 10K. Further, the intermediate transfer belt 30 is provided with primary transfer rolls 16Y, 16M, 16C, and 16K arranged to face the photosensitive drums 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K of the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K, respectively. Is inserted between.

  Next, the configuration of each of the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K and the image forming operation will be described using the image forming unit 10Y that forms a yellow toner image as a representative.

  The photosensitive drum 12Y is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow, and the surface is uniformly charged by the contact charger 13Y. Next, image exposure corresponding to the yellow image is performed by the exposure device 14Y, and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the yellow image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 12Y. The electrostatic latent image corresponding to the yellow image is developed by the toner carried on the developing roll 52Y to which the developing bias of the developing device 15Y is applied, and becomes a yellow toner image. The developing device 15Y will be described later.

  Further, the yellow toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 12Y is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 30 by the pressure contact force of the primary transfer roll 16Y and the electrostatic attraction force due to the transfer bias applied to the primary transfer roll 16Y. Primary transfer. In this primary transfer, all of the yellow toner image is not transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 30, and a part of the yellow toner remains on the photosensitive drum 12Y. The photosensitive drum 12Y after the primary transfer passes through the contact position with the cleaning device 17Y, and the transfer residual yellow toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum 12Y is removed by the cleaning blade 19. Thereafter, the surface of the photosensitive drum 12Y is charged again by the contact charger 13Y for the next image forming cycle.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the image forming apparatus 1, the image forming process similar to the above is performed at each image forming unit 10 </ b> Y at a timing that considers the relative position difference between the image forming units 10 </ b> Y, 10 </ b> M, 10 </ b> C, and 10 </ b> K. , 10M, 10C, and 10K, and Y, M, C, and K color toner images are sequentially superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 30 to form a full color toner image.

  Then, a full color toner image is collectively collected from the intermediate transfer belt 30 by the electrostatic attraction force of the secondary transfer roll 36 to which a transfer bias is applied to the recording paper P conveyed to the secondary transfer position A at a predetermined timing. Then, it is transferred onto the recording paper P. The recording paper P to which the full-color toner image has been transferred is separated from the intermediate transfer belt 30, and then conveyed to the fixing device 31, where the full-color toner image is fixed to the recording paper P by heat and pressure.

  The transfer residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt 30 that has not been transferred to the recording paper P is collected by the intermediate transfer belt cleaner 33.

  Next, the developing device 15 will be described.

  The four developing devices 15Y, 15M, 15C, and 15K are two-component developing type developing devices that perform development using a two-component developer G composed of a non-magnetic toner of each color and a magnetic carrier. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each developing device 15 includes a developing roll 52 disposed on the photosensitive drum 12 side in a housing 50, and a two-component developer on the lower rear side of the developing roll 52. Two augers 54 and 56 that convey G while stirring are provided. A trimmer 58 that regulates the layer thickness of the two-component developer G conveyed in a state where a magnetic brush is formed on the developing roll 52 is disposed at a position facing the developing roll 52 at the upper portion of the housing 50.

  The developing roll 52 includes a cylindrical sleeve 52A made of a nonmagnetic conductive material, and a magnet roll 52B disposed in the hollow of the sleeve 52A. The magnet roll 52B is fixedly supported, and the sleeve 52A is rotationally driven in a fixed direction (arrow B direction) by a drive source (not shown). A predetermined developing bias (a voltage in which alternating current is superimposed on direct current in the present embodiment) is applied to the sleeve 52A from the developing bias power source 60. The photosensitive drum 12 is grounded.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a partition plate 62 is provided between the auger 54 and the auger 56 in the housing 50 so as to form passages 62 </ b> A and 62 </ b> B at both ends thereof. As shown in FIG. 2, a carry-in portion 64 into which toner and a carrier supplied from the toner cartridge 44 through the developer supply conveyance path 66 are once carried in an upper portion of one end portion (near the passage 62 </ b> A) of the auger 56. It is arranged. An opening 64A is provided on the bottom surface of the carry-in portion 64 so that toner and carrier are replenished to the one end of the auger 56 by appropriate amounts.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the augers 54 and 56 are provided with a spiral protrusion 72 that protrudes spirally in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 70. Further, a plate-like convex portion 74 that protrudes in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the shaft 70 is provided between the adjacent spiral protrusions 72. The convex portions 74 are formed at positions of 0 degrees and 180 degrees in the circumferential direction of the shaft 70 within one pitch of the spiral protrusion 72. The plurality of convex portions 74 are formed such that the direction of the plate pieces is directed to the axial direction of the shaft 70. These helical protrusions 72 and the plurality of convex portions 74 are made of an elastic member whose surface can be deformed when in contact with the developer. In the present embodiment, a material having good bleeding resistance such as EPDM (ethylene-propylene-diene rubber) is selected as the elastic member. Here, bleed refers to a phenomenon in which low-molecular components in rubber ooze out on the rubber surface and the rubbers block or become cloudy. Note that CR (chloroprene) or the like may be used as the elastic member. Further, in order to increase the rigidity of the elastic member, a metal filler (for example, SnO2, ZnO2, Al-based particles) is added in an amount of 30 wt% or more. By adding the metal filler, the rigidity of the spiral protrusions 72 and the protrusions 74 is increased, and the surfaces of the spiral protrusions 72 and the protrusions 74 are elastically deformed when the two-component developer G is conveyed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the auger 54 and the auger 56 are arranged so that the conveying direction of the spiral protrusion 72 is opposite so that the two-component developer G is conveyed in the opposite direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, detachable / replaceable toner cartridges 44Y, 44M, 44C, and 44K as developer storage portions in which toners for replenishing colors and carriers are accommodated are disposed above the image forming unit 10. It is arranged. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the toner cartridges 44Y, 44M, 44C, and 44K are provided with developer supply / conveying paths 66 connected to the developing devices 15Y, 15M, 15C, and 15K, respectively. An appropriate amount of toner and carrier is supplied through the supply conveyance path 66.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, the inner wall of the developer supply conveyance path 66 is formed in a substantially flat surface, and a release agent 68 is applied to the inner wall. The release agent 68 is composed of an organic-inorganic composite material (organic-inorganic hybrid material) formed by intermolecular bonding of an organic material and an inorganic material, and combines the advantages of both the characteristics of the organic material and the inorganic material. I have. The developer supply transport path 66 is not provided with a developer auger or the like, and the developer supply transport path 66 has a narrow inner diameter (for example, inner diameter: 10 mm).

  In the present embodiment, the release agent 68 is produced using a material having a chemical formula as shown in Chemical Formula 1.

化１に示すように、有機材料としてポリジメチルシロキサンを使用した。また、Ｔｉ系の金属アルコシドを出発物質としてゾル・ゲル法により反応させた。なお、金属アルコキシドはＭ（ＯＲ）ｘで表される化合物である。ここでＭは金属、Ｒはアルキル基である。また、ゾル・ゲル法は、金属アルコキシドからなるゾルを加水分解・重縮合反応により、流動性を失ったゲルとし、このゲルを加熱して酸化物を得る方法である。

As shown in Chemical Formula 1, polydimethylsiloxane was used as the organic material. Further, the reaction was carried out by a sol-gel method using a Ti-based metal alcoside as a starting material. The metal alkoxide is a compound represented by M (OR) x. Here, M is a metal and R is an alkyl group. The sol-gel method is a method in which a sol made of a metal alkoxide is converted into a gel that loses fluidity by hydrolysis and polycondensation reaction, and the gel is heated to obtain an oxide.

  In this embodiment, polydimethylsiloxane is mixed as a metal alkoxide in a Ti-based metal particle dispersion aqueous solution, hydrolyzed, and then subjected to a condensation polymerization reaction to form a gel, and a release agent 68 in which an organic material and an inorganic material are oxygen-bonded. Was made. At that time, the reaction was carried out at a weight ratio of Ti-based inorganic material to polydimethylsiloxane of 50%. In addition, the mixing ratio is not limited to this, and is a blend having flexibility. As the inorganic material, an Al-based metal particle dispersion aqueous solution or the like may be used instead of the Ti-based material.

  Next, the operation of the developing device 15 will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the developing device 15, the toner and the carrier are supplied from the toner cartridge 44 to the carry-in unit 64 little by little through the developer supply conveyance path 66. Then, it is supplied into the housing 50 from the opening 64 </ b> A of the carry-in portion 64. The two-component developer G in the housing 50 is circulated and conveyed while passing through the passages 62A and 62B at both ends while being agitated by the rotational drive of the augers 54 and 56. At that time, the toner of the two-component developer G is triboelectrically charged to a predetermined polarity by being mixed and stirred with the carrier. Further, the two-component developer G conveyed while being agitated by the auger 54 is supplied to the side of the developing roll 52 disposed adjacent thereto, and a magnetic brush of the two-component developer G is formed on the surface of the developing roll 52. Supported.

  The magnetic brush of the two-component developer G is conveyed in the direction of arrow B by the rotation of the sleeve 52A. At that time, the layer thickness of the two-component developer G on the surface of the developing roll 52 is regulated to a predetermined thickness by passing between the trimmer 58 and the layer thickness. When the two-component developer G after the regulation of the layer thickness is conveyed to a development region facing the photosensitive drum 12, the two-component developer G is generated by a development electric field formed by a development bias applied to the sleeve 52A. Only the toner inside is electrostatically attached to the latent image portion of the photosensitive drum 12 and development is performed.

  In the developing device 15, an organic-inorganic composite material in which an organic material and an inorganic material are intermolecularly bonded is used as the release agent 68 applied to the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance path 66. For this reason, the release agent 68 having both mechanical strength and releasability as the characteristics of the organic material and the inorganic material can be realized, and even when used on the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance path 66 whose surface is rubbed with a carrier or the like. The release agent 68 can be prevented from being peeled off or scraped off. Further, by changing the mixing ratio of the organic material and the inorganic material, the mechanical strength can be increased or the releasability can be improved according to the site to be applied. Furthermore, since the inorganic material and the organic material are intermolecularly bonded, there is no uncrosslinked component, and the adverse effect of bleeding is avoided. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the toner from adhering to the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance path 66 and to prevent secondary troubles such as a decrease in density due to deterioration of the fluidity of the developer. In addition, generation of aggregated toner (glitz) due to peeling off of the fixed toner is reduced, and image quality deterioration due to white spots during transfer is prevented.

  Next, the results of evaluating the occurrence of toner aggregation (Glitz) and the occurrence of image density reduction (Low TC) due to toner adhering to the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance path 66 will be described.

  Evaluation was made by printing up to 50,000 sheets (50 KPV) of A3 size recording paper and visually evaluating each predetermined number of printed sheets.

  In Example 1, a release agent synthesized using Ti-based as an inorganic material and polydimethylsiloxane as an organic material was applied to the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance path 66 shown in FIG. The mass ratio of the Ti-based inorganic material to polydimethylsiloxane was 50%, and the mechanical strength was given in addition to the mold release performance.

  In Example 2, the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance path narrower than the developer supply conveyance path 66 shown in FIG. 2 (inner diameter: 9 mm) was synthesized using Al-based inorganic material and polydimethylsiloxane as organic material. A release agent was applied. The mass ratio of the Al-based inorganic material to the polydimethylsiloxane was 20%, and the structure was more focused on releasability than mechanical strength.

  Further, as Comparative Example 1, as shown in FIG. 6, the one in which minute uneven portions 104 are formed on the wall surface of the developer supply transport path 102 so that the toner T does not easily adhere is used. The surface roughness (10-point average roughness Rz) of the uneven portion 104 was set to 20 μm. Note that no release agent is applied to the surface of the concavo-convex portion 104.

  As Comparative Example 2, the developer supply / conveying path coated with a fluorine-based or silica-based resin coating material was used. In addition, the uneven | corrugated | grooved part is not formed in the wall surface of a developer supply conveyance path.

  Table 1 shows the results of evaluating the presence / absence of agglomerated toner (grits) due to toner adhesion and the white spots of the image.

  The presence or absence of agglomerated toner (Glitz) and white spots in the image were evaluated visually.

  In the evaluation of Table 1, ○ is a state in which no grits are generated and white spots of the image are hardly generated, and Δ is a state in which white spots of the grits and images are slightly generated but are at an acceptable level in terms of image quality. X indicates a state in which grits and white spots of the image are generated and the image quality is not satisfactory.

また、図７は、実施例１と比較例２において、Ａ３用紙に０〜２０ＫＰＶ（２００００枚）プリントしたときの画像濃度との関係を示すグラフである。ここで、画像濃度は、Ｘ−Ｒｉｔｅカラー反射濃度計（Ｃｏｌｏｒ ｒｅｆｌｅｃｔｉｏｎ- ｄｅｎｓｉｔｏｍｅｔｅｒ Ｘ−ＲＩＴＥ ４０４Ａ）により測定した。

FIG. 7 is a graph showing the relationship between image density and 0 to 20 KPV (20000 sheets) printed on A3 paper in Example 1 and Comparative Example 2. Here, the image density was measured with an X-Rite color reflection densitometer (Color reflection-densitometer X-RITE 404A).

  In Example 1, as shown in Table 1, even when a soft polymerized toner is used, the toner does not adhere to the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance path 66, and little grit is generated. It was confirmed that no omission occurred. Further, the release agent 68 was not peeled off by the carrier. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, no decrease in image density was observed even after printing 20,000 sheets.

  In Example 2, as shown in Table 1, even when toner having poor fluidity was transported to a developer supply transport path having a narrow diameter, no deterioration in toner fluidity was observed. For this reason, the fluidity of the toner can be improved without increasing the inner diameter of the developer supply conveyance path. Further, no decrease in image density caused by insufficient toner supply was observed.

  On the other hand, in Comparative Example 1, as shown in Table 1, even when the minute uneven portion 104 is formed on the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance path 102, when the number of printed sheets exceeds 10,000, soft toner adheres. Grits and white spots in the image occurred.

  Further, in Comparative Example 2, as shown in Table 1, when the number of printed sheets exceeded 10,000, soft toner fixation was observed, and grits and white spots of the image occurred. Further, peeling of the resin coating material was observed. In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, it was confirmed that the image density significantly decreased in the process of printing 20,000 sheets.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the toner from sticking to the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance path and to prevent the generation of agglomerated toner (Glitz). This eliminates the occurrence of white spots in the image, and provides a stable and high-quality image. Further, the developer supply / conveyance path with a narrow diameter can be realized, and space saving and miniaturization can be realized.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the release agent 68 is applied to the wall surface of the developer supply conveyance path 66, but is further applied to the wall surface of the developer conveyance path in which the augers 54 and 56 in the developing device 15 are arranged. A release agent may be applied. As a result, the toner can be prevented from sticking to the wall surface of the developer conveyance path.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, a transport member such as an auger is not provided in the developer supply transport path 66, but a transport member may be provided.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus including a developing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the developing device used with the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a developing device used in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1. (A) is a perspective view showing the configuration of the developing device and the toner cartridge, and (B) is a cross-sectional view of the developer supply conveyance path. It is a perspective view which shows the auger arrange | positioned in a developing device. 6 is a partially enlarged view showing a developer supply transport path of Comparative Example 1. FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the image density and the number of prints in Example 1 and Comparative Example 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 10Y, 10M, 10C, 10K Image forming unit 15 Developing device 44 Toner cartridge (developer storage part)
50 Housing 52A Sleeve 52B Magnet Roll 52 Developing Roll 54 Auger 56 Auger 58 Trimmer 60 Developing Bias Power Supply 66 Developer Supplying Transport Path 68 Release Agent 70 Shaft 72 Helical Projection 74 Projecting Part G Two-Component Developer

Claims (5)

A developing device that transports a developer while being stirred by a developer transport member in a housing in which the developer is accommodated, and visualizes the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier with the developer,
A developer supply transport path for supplying the developer into the housing from a developer storage section for storing the developer;
A developing device, wherein a release agent is applied to a wall surface of the developer supply conveyance path.   The developing device according to claim 1, wherein the release agent is composed of an organic-inorganic composite material formed by intermolecular bonding of an organic material and an inorganic material.   3. The release agent according to claim 2, wherein an organic-inorganic composite material is formed from a mixed solution of a metal-based organic compound and an inorganic compound by a sol-gel method through a sol and gel state. Development device.   4. The developing device according to claim 3, wherein the release agent uses a reaction product obtained by reacting a metal alkoxide and polydimethylsiloxane by a sol-gel method.   An image forming apparatus comprising the developing device according to claim 1.

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