JP2008039897A - Blade having rough surface and its manufacture method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a developing blade having rough surfaces formed on its frictional rubbing surface and edge surface. <P>SOLUTION: A method for consecutively molding the material of the blade using synthetic resin as raw material for molding by using a molding drum equipped with a molding groove on its outer periphery and a heating device inside is provided, and a method for manufacturing the material of the blade having rough surface parts on its frictional rubbing surface and edge surface by using the molding drum having roughened parts formed on the base and the side surface of the molding groove is provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a blade used in an electrophotographic copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and the like. In particular, the present invention relates to a blade material having a rough surface as a material for a developing blade made of thermosetting polyurethane, a method for manufacturing the same, and a manufacturing apparatus for the same.

The developing blade is a part formed by bonding an elastic blade member to a support or a case of a developing device, and regulates the toner layer on the outer periphery of the developing roller to a predetermined thickness and at the same time frictionally charges the toner. A polyurethane sheet having a thickness of about 1.5 mm formed by centrifugal molding or the like is often used. Centrifugal molding sheets are preheated with a cylindrical mold with ring-shaped flanges integrated on the inner periphery of both axial ends of the cylindrical mold, and a polyurethane-forming viscous liquid mixed with a curing agent is injected into the mold. Manufactured by curing while rotating.
At this time, the molded sheet has a surface in contact with the mold (mold surface) and a surface in contact with the air inside (air surface), and the mold surface of the sheet is uneven on the mold surface. The air surface of the sheet is finished as a mirror surface. When the polyurethane sheet manufactured by centrifugal molding is used as the elastic blade member, conventionally, the air surface is arranged to be a friction surface with the developing roller due to excellent smoothness and a high friction coefficient. However, when the air surface is arranged so as to be a friction surface with the developing roller, there is a problem that a character becomes thick and unclear as the number of printed sheets increases (character thickening).
This phenomenon was remarkable in the small particle size single component magnetic toner. In recent years, as the quality of printers and energy savings have increased, the toner design has been changed to “sharp melt by rounding, small size, and low melting point”. This is because the required performance of the developing blade is in the direction that the frictional charging and the toner thin layer are difficult to form and the degree of difficulty increases, and the surface of the developing blade (the frictional friction surface with the developing sleeve) has an appropriate surface roughness. Proposed measures are proposed.

A developing blade used in an electrophotographic apparatus having a rough friction sliding surface is proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-117919. Patent Document 1 proposes a developing blade having a toner regulating member that is roughened so that at least the charge imparting surface has a surface roughness Rz of 1 μm or more and 20 μm or less. Specifically, as Example 1, a 60 μm-thick stainless steel coated with a primer for silicone was placed in a mold having a mirror surface and a rough surface (Rz 5 μm), and after the mold was heated, LTV A developing blade made of silicone rubber having a surface roughness Rz of 5 μm, which is formed by jetting silicone rubber into a mold using a LIM jet molding machine, is disclosed. Further, using a similar technique, five types of examples having a surface roughness in the range of Rz 1 to 50 μm and a developing blade made of silicone rubber, which are comparative examples, are disclosed.
In Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent No. 3284490), the 10-point average roughness (Rz) of the surface is 0.8 to 0.8 by sandblasting means for spraying a glass ball having a diameter of 10 to 300 μm from a predetermined distance at a predetermined pressure for a predetermined time. A method for producing a developing blade made of phosphor bronze thin plate having a thickness of 0.1 to 0.5 mm of 16.3 μm is exemplified.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-35073 discloses a developing blade in which silicone resin particles or acrylic resin particles having a particle size of resin particles of 10 μm or less are adhered to the surface of a silicone rubber material.
In Patent Document 4 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-25846), in a method of manufacturing a cleaning blade material or a developing blade material using a centrifugal molding means using the inner surface of a rotating cylinder, a solid is formed on the inner surface of the cylinder. A manufacturing method is disclosed that uses a mold in which a release layer mainly composed of silicone rubber having a 10-point average surface roughness Rz of about 2 to 10 μm and embedded with a lubricant is formed.
Thus, there is a prior art that has been subjected to a roughening treatment, and the outline of the roughening is as follows (see Patent Document 1).

An example of a developing device such as an electrophotographic copying machine to which the developing blade is applied is as follows. As shown in FIG. 9 in particular, the developing device 100 includes a developer container 111 formed in a hollow shape, and a single component magnetic toner (developer) T is provided in the developer container 111. Is stored, and a roller-shaped developing sleeve (developer carrier) 112 is provided so as to be partially exposed from the developer container 111. The exposed portion of the developing sleeve 112 is disposed so as to face the surface of the photosensitive drum 101 described above.
Further, a stirring blade 110 is provided in the developer container 111, and the one-component magnetic toner T is conveyed to the developing sleeve 112 side while stirring by the rotating action of the stirring blade 110. It is configured.
Further, on the surface of the developing sleeve (developer carrier) 112, a charge imparting surface 121a of a developing blade 120 made of a plate-like rubber elastic material 121 or the like is pressed. The one-component magnetic toner T fed to the nip portion between the charge applying surface 121a of the developing blade 120 and the developing sleeve 112 is uniformly thinned between the two members, The one-component magnetic toner T is charged by friction between members, and triboelectric charge (tribo) is applied.

The charged toner layer adhered in a uniform thin layer on the surface of the developing sleeve 112 described above by the developing blade 120 is conveyed toward the photosensitive drum 101 as the developing sleeve 112 rotates, Development is performed by supplying the electrostatic latent image previously formed on the photosensitive drum 101.
As shown in FIG. 10, a rubber elastic blade 121, which is also formed in the shape of an elongated plate, is attached along one side edge of an elongated plate-like support 122 made of a metal sheet metal member or the like. As described above, the roughened charge imparting surface 121a provided on the developing blade 120 is configured to come into pressure contact with the surface of the developing sleeve 112 as described above.
At this time, as the support 122 described above, a flat plate made of resin can be used in addition to a metal, but as the flat plate made of metal, a stainless steel plate (tensile strength of about 110 kg / mm ² ), aluminum, or the like can be used. A plate (tensile strength of about 40 kg / mm ² ) or the like is used. In addition, the plate thickness at that time is preferably in the range of 20 μm to 500 μm in consideration of the controllability of the pressing force against the surface of the developing sleeve 112 described above.
Further, as the rubber elastic blade constituting the main body portion of the developing blade 120, it is preferable to use a rubber blade having a JIS-A hardness of 90 degrees or less. Specifically, in the present invention, urethane rubber or the like is used. Is used.
Furthermore, the charge imparting surface 121a of the developing blade 120 is not a mirror surface as in the prior art, but is formed on a roughened surface. More specifically, it is desirable that the surface is roughened to have a surface roughness Rz of 1 to 10 μm.
That is, when the surface roughness Rz of the charge imparting surface 121a of the developing blade 120 is smaller than 1 μm and is in a smooth state, the charged charge (tribo) to be imparted to the one-component magnetic toner T becomes insufficient, resulting in an image density. Becomes thin or the toner scatters. On the other hand, if the surface roughness Rz of the charge imparting surface 121a of the developing blade 120 is larger than 20 μm and is too rough, the regulating action by the developing blade 120 is deteriorated, and the uniform thin layer is originally formed on the developing sleeve 112. As a result, streaks appear in the one-component magnetic toner layer to be regulated to become a non-uniform layer, which is also formed on the image.

  According to such a developing device, since the frictional friction surface of the developing blade is roughened within an appropriate range, frictional charging is performed between the developing blade and the charged charge (tribo). At the same time as being applied to the one-component magnetic toner T, uniform thinning of the one-component magnetic toner T and improvement in image quality are achieved.

JP 2004-117919 A Japanese Patent No. 3284490 JP-A-5-35073 JP 2004-25846 A

A method for roughening the surface of the blade and a roughened developing blade have been proposed. As a method of roughening the blade surface, a method of roughening the formed sheet by post-processing (for example, polishing sandblasting as disclosed in Patent Document 2) can be considered. It is difficult to roughen the body uniformly. When the surface is mechanically roughened by post-processing, flaking and burrs are generated, and it is difficult to obtain a stable and uniform shape. Moreover, although the method (for example, patent document 3) which apply | coats the coating agent which disperse | distributed the particle | grains to the sheet | seat surface, and makes a rough surface can be considered, while a process becomes two processes, the thickness of a coating layer and particle dispersion | distribution It is difficult to ensure uniformity and stable quality is difficult to obtain. Therefore, the surface of molds such as split molds (for example, Patent Document 1) and cylindrical drums used for centrifugal molding are roughened by cutting, polishing, sandblasting, etching, laser processing, etc., and cast and synthesized. Although a method of transferring a rough surface to the resin sheet molding surface is conceivable, the release agent may not be used because the sheet is torn or frayed during demolding. When producing a developing blade having a surface roughness of about Rz 1 to 10 μm, if a release agent is used, it will fill the valley portion of the mold where the release agent is roughened, and the required rough surface. Is difficult to obtain. A method of dispersing a powdery surface roughening treatment agent in a mold release layer of a centrifugal mold (for example, Patent Document 4) is a method in which the surface roughness is uniform for the purpose of roughening the surface of the developing blade. There are problems that are lacking.
And these prior art is an individual manufacturing method or a batch manufacturing method, and its manufacturing efficiency is bad.
If stable and uniform roughening cannot be obtained, the friction between the developing blade and the toner will not be evenly performed, and the charge to the toner will be non-uniform and good image quality will not be obtained. Become. Further, if the release agent adheres to the developing blade, it causes a variation in charging performance, and in particular, the residual release agent is not constant, and also changes with time, which causes a variation in image quality.
Also, in the production of the blade material, if the mold release agent is reused while remaining in the mold, the residual mold release agent is deteriorated due to oxidation or the like, resulting in an adverse effect, so that the mold must be cleaned.

The present applicant has proposed as Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-218241 a method for continuously producing a developing blade material made of a synthetic resin having a roughened surface, in particular, a developing blade that does not use a release agent.
The present invention further provides a blade having a frictional friction surface and a roughened tip surface, a manufacturing method thereof, and a manufacturing apparatus.

The present invention uses a molding drum having a molding groove having a roughened bottom surface on the outer periphery to continuously produce a resin tape-like developing blade material having a rough surface transferred while rotating the molding drum. It is.
The main solution of the present invention is as follows.
(1) In a method of continuously forming a blade material using a synthetic resin as a raw material for molding, using a molding drum provided with a molding groove on the outer periphery and a heating device inside, the bottom and side surfaces of the molding groove are roughened. A method of manufacturing a blade material having a frictional rubbing surface and a rough surface portion on a front end surface by using a forming drum in which a portion is formed.
(2) The method of manufacturing a blade material having a rough surface according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the blade material is cooled from the outside immediately before peeling off the blade material from the forming drum.
(3) At least the bottom surface forming the portion corresponding to the friction rubbing surface of the blade and the side surface forming the portion corresponding to the tip surface of the blade are roughened on the outer periphery, and the heating device is provided inside. A forming drum provided,
Synthetic resin supply means in the molding groove along the outer periphery of the molding drum, and an endless belt that rotates following the rotation of the molding drum while covering the molding groove of the molding drum are sequentially arranged and supplied to the molding groove A blade material having a rough surface, wherein a blade material having a belt-like rough surface having a predetermined width and thickness is produced according to rotation of a forming drum by a forming space formed by an endless belt and a forming groove. A method of continuously manufacturing.
(4) The method for producing a blade material having a rough surface according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the synthetic resin is a non-solvent type thermosetting polyurethane resin.
(5) A method for producing a blade material having a rough surface according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein no release agent is used.
(6) The rough surface according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein the blade material having a rough surface is a rough surface having a 10-point average roughness Rz of 1 to 10 μm. A method of manufacturing a blade material having
(7) In an apparatus for continuously molding a raw material of a blade having a rough surface using synthetic resin as a raw material for molding, using a rotating molding drum having a molding groove on the outer periphery and a heating device inside, the bottom surface of the molding groove An apparatus for manufacturing a blade material, wherein a rough surface is formed on the portion and the side surface portion.
(8) A rotating forming drum having a concave cross-sectional forming groove formed on the entire outer peripheral surface and provided with an internal heating device;
A resin material quantitative casting machine that adjusts and discharges synthetic resin materials,
A metal endless belt that abuts on the outer peripheral surface of the molding drum and rotates following the molding drum;
An apparatus for manufacturing a blade material, comprising an apparatus for bringing a molded product for a charging blade close to one end of the take-out part;
The forming groove having a concave cross section has a rough surface formed on at least a bottom surface portion forming a portion corresponding to the friction rubbing surface of the blade and a side surface portion forming a portion corresponding to the tip surface of the blade,
An apparatus for producing a blade material, characterized in that a casting port of the resin material quantitative casting machine and a metal endless belt are arranged in this order along the rotation direction of the molding drum.
(9) The blade according to (7) or (8), characterized in that a cooling device is provided outside the molding drum before the take-out portion and immediately before the blade material is peeled from the molding groove. Material production equipment.
(10) As a post-processing device for the forming drum, a metal endless conveyor belt for cooling or non-cooling conveyance, and a cutting device for cutting the belt-like blade material into a fixed size are arranged in the subsequent process of the conveying conveyor. (7) The manufacturing apparatus of the blade raw material in any one of (9).
(11) The apparatus for manufacturing a blade material according to any one of (7) to (10), wherein a non-solvent type thermosetting polyurethane is used as the synthetic resin.
(12) The blade material manufacturing apparatus according to any one of (8) to (11), wherein a release agent supply device is not provided.
(13) A blade material having a rough surface portion on the friction rubbing surface and the tip surface (14) A blade material having a rough surface portion on the friction rubbing surface and the tip surface to which no release agent is attached.
(15) The blade material described in (13) or (14), which is for development.
(16) The blade material according to any one of (13) to (15), wherein the rough surface has a ten-point average roughness Rz of 1 to 10 μm.
(17) A molding groove in which a partly or entirely roughened bottom surface and a partly or entirely roughened side surface are formed on the outer periphery, and obtained using a molding drum having a heating device inside. The blade material described in any one of (13) to (16).
(18) A blade obtained by joining the blade material according to any one of (13) to (17) to a holder.
(19) The blade material manufacturing apparatus according to (8), wherein a cooling device is provided at a position immediately before the blade material is peeled from the forming groove and outside the forming drum.

1. According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a developing blade made of a synthetic resin in which only necessary portions are roughened. Further, it is possible to provide a blade in which a high-precision rough surface with little variation due to individual products is formed on the frictional friction surface and the tip surface.
2. In particular, by roughening the blade tip surface, the charging characteristics can be maintained even in a highly humid environment where the electric power tends to decrease. The difference between the charge amount in a normal environment and the charge amount in a high-temperature and high-humidity environment is small, and stabilization of image quality due to environmental changes is improved.
3. A blade material made of a synthetic resin roughened on the friction surface and the tip surface can be continuously produced. In particular, since the groove width of the forming roll is the blade width, the width is not cut as in the case of the centrifugal molding method, so that a rough surface can be formed with a mold on the tip surface of the blade. Since it is not roughing by a post process, it is inexpensive. A rough surface can be obtained because the mold is used to create roughness.
4). Since it is not necessary to use a release agent on the molding surface, it is possible to continuously produce a synthetic resin blade material that faithfully transfers the rough surface of the mold. Unlike the rubbing surface, the front end surface cannot be directly roughened with a split mold or a centrifugal drum. Since the sheet | seat shape | molded by centrifugal molding etc. is cut in strip shape, the front end surface (cut surface) is a mirror surface. There is only a method of roughing the front end surface by post-processing such as polishing or sandblasting, and there are problems such as high cost and difficulty in uniformly roughening the elastic body.
5. A developing blade made of a synthetic resin having a roughened surface and no release agent attached thereto can be provided.
6). Since no release agent is used, the surface of the obtained urethane developing blade is pure urethane, and stable chargeability can be obtained without disturbing the frictional charge imparting property to the toner.

1. Blade 1-1 Blade The blade targeted by the present invention is obtained by joining a tape made of an elastic rubber body made of synthetic resin along one side edge of a metal support member, and is used as a developing blade or a cleaning blade. The In the case of a developing blade, at least a friction sliding portion (nip) that is a portion to be a charge imparting surface and a tip surface are roughened. As the synthetic resin, thermosetting polyurethane is mainly used.
The application of the developing blade obtained in the present invention is the same as that used in a conventional electrophotographic developing device.
For example, the developing device shown in FIG.
The developing blade 31 is provided in pressure contact with the developing roller 37. When the toner 39 is transferred from the supply roller 38 to the developing roller 37 and passes between the developing roller 37 and the elastic rubber member 33 made of polyurethane provided on the developing blade 31, the toner 39 is triboelectrically charged to the photosensitive member 36. Transfer.
The developing blade 31 is obtained by attaching a polyurethane elastic rubber member 33 to a metal support 32 (see FIG. 2a).
The elastic rubber member 33 made of polyurethane is provided with a roughened portion W on a rubbing surface 35 and a front end surface 41 which are surfaces facing the developing roller 7. The roughened portion W is provided at least from the roughened portion Q provided at the front end surface, the nip portion N, the nip successor portion P, and the front end to the nip portion (see FIG. 2b).

1-2 Outline of Elastic Rubber Member (Blade Material) The blade provided by the present invention has a frictional friction surface and a tip surface formed on a rough surface. Since the blade has no release agent attached thereto, the blade has high roughness accuracy and is not affected by the release agent.
When the toner becomes more spherical, the void ratio becomes small, and the toner passing through the nip tends to slip through, so the chargeability of the toner tends to be non-uniform. On the other hand, the toner passing through the nip is rolled by the unevenness of the blade rough surface and rotated in the nip portion, and the charging effect is enhanced by friction between the blade and the toner and between the toner. Since the toner is soft at a low melting point and troubles such as filming are likely to occur, it is necessary to reduce the contact pressure, but if the contact pressure is reduced, the regulation force for thinning will be reduced, As the toner successively overlaps the sleeve, image defects are likely to occur. Therefore, while the chargeability and the regulating force cannot be balanced with the conventional mirror blade, the surface roughening blade prevents the toner passing through the nip due to surface irregularities even when the contact pressure is low. It is considered that the amount can be moderately controlled and that the agglomerated toner entering the nip is destroyed.

Furthermore, in the present invention, by roughening the blade tip surface, it is possible to maintain the charging characteristics even in a highly humid environment in which the electric power tends to decrease. The rough surface provided on the blade front end surface starts rotating when the toner particles mounted on the rotating developing roller come into contact with the rough surface formed on the front end surface of the blade, and also on the toner particles adjacent to the rotating particles. The charging function is strengthened by fulfilling the effect of propagating the rotational motion. By this action, it is considered that a sufficient charge amount can be secured even under high temperature and high humidity where aggregation and discharge are likely to occur and a sufficient charge amount is difficult to obtain.
In order to maintain the rotation of the toner particles that have started to rotate in contact with the blade tip surface, it is desirable that the rubbing surface from the tip surface to the nip is also subjected to a roughening treatment, and even after passing through the nip. In order not to stop the rotation suddenly, it is desirable to provide a roughened region to some extent also after the nip portion in order to apply the rotational force.
An example of a blade material having a rough surface is shown in FIG. FIG. 7a shows the entire surface roughened from the front end surface, and FIG. 7b shows an example in which a part of the friction rubbing surface 35 is roughened from the front end surface.
The rough surface treatment range (W) of the blade of the present invention is 0.2 mm or more, preferably 0.5 mm or more on the tip surface (Q), and on the rubbing surface side, the nip portion (N ) Further, it is provided on the downstream side (P) of the nip with an extension of 0.5 mm, preferably 1.0 mm.
The surface roughness to be provided is such that the surface roughness is 10-point average roughness Rz, and 0.1 μm <Rz <13.3 μm, preferably 1 μm ≦ Rz ≦ 10 μm, and more preferably 1.8 μm ≦ Rz ≦ 9.0 μm.

  Unlike the rubbing surface, the front end surface cannot be directly roughened with a split mold or a centrifugally formed cylindrical drum. Since the sheet | seat shape | molded by centrifugal molding etc. is cut in strip shape, the front end surface (cut surface) is a mirror surface. The roughening of the front end surface is not only a method of roughening by post-processing such as polishing and sandblasting, but also has problems such as an increase in the number of steps and difficulty in uniformly roughing the elastic body and an increase in cost. .

2. Production method In the present invention, a synthetic resin tape having a width equal to or slightly larger than the width of the tape made of the synthetic resin elastic rubber, which is the target product, is continuously produced, and the long tape is made into a fixed size. The basic manufacturing method is a technique of cutting, joining to one side edge of a metal support and finishing it to a developing blade or the like. When the width is cut, the rear end face side trimming that does not come into contact with the toner is performed.
The basic manufacturing means used for this manufacturing method is to continuously cast a liquid material such as polyurethane into the forming groove from the vicinity of the apex while rotating a forming drum having a forming groove on the outer periphery around the horizontal axis, and forming drum A continuous molded product such as polyurethane, which is polymerized during the rotation operation, is removed from the molding groove, taken out, and supplied to a subsequent process. Since tape-shaped moldings are continuously produced, in the subsequent process, a series of operations such as cutting to a single standard, joining to a metal support, and so on can be carried out continuously. Is expensive.
As this basic manufacturing means, there are Japanese Patent No. 2645980 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-7676 proposed by the present applicant.

The present invention is a method for producing a raw material such as a synthetic resin developing blade having a rough surface continuously by subjecting the bottom surface and the side surface of the forming groove of the forming drum to a roughening treatment. The roughening treatment of the bottom surface can be applied in the circumferential direction along the necessary portion of the groove width, and can be accurately formed in the necessary portion.
The roughening portion of the bottom surface is preferably provided on the bottom surface portion of the groove that forms from the side surface of the groove that forms the tip surface of the blade to the downstream portion of the nip portion.
The side surface roughening treatment can be applied to at least the side surface on the side where the tip surface of the blade is formed. The formation site is provided on a part of or the entire height from the corner of the corner. The height is 0.2 mm or more corresponding to the roughened portion Q of the tip surface of the blade.
In centrifugal molding which is another manufacturing method, it is assumed that a rough surface is formed in a striped shape on a part of the inner surface of the mold, but the obtained molding is a wide sheet shape, and this is cut vertically and horizontally, Since one blade material is obtained, it is difficult to accurately perform the cutting position, and it is difficult to roughen the cut surface. In contrast, according to the present invention, since the width direction is regulated and continuous molding is performed, a rough surface can be accurately formed from the frictional sliding portion (nip portion) of the blade to the tip surface.

  Further, in the blade manufacturing method of the present invention, the molding groove of the molding drum is covered with a metal endless belt from a position slightly downstream of the casting portion of the synthetic resin to the take-out position. It is designed to move in synchronization. The molding groove is sealed in this section to form a molding cavity. Since the molding pressure is not applied in the section where the polymerization of the synthetic resin proceeds, the synthetic resin is not pressed against the molding groove surface roughened more than necessary. In addition, the time from casting to removal is as short as about 30 to 60 seconds. Since the manufacturing method of the present invention is molded in a short time without pressure, peeling is easy because no biting pressure is generated on the rough surface.

In the present invention, the molding drum is polymerized and solidified while rotating, and the molding range is between about 2 to 8 o'clock in a clockwise rotation display. During this time, it is in the shape of a tunnel formed by a forming groove and a belt that runs around the forming groove, and the forming proceeds without pressure except for its own weight.
Since most of the weight itself is received on the belt side, it is not loaded on the bottom surface side and the side surface side of the forming groove, and therefore, it is not pressed onto the rough surface more than necessary, so that the peeling resistance can be small. In addition, as a method for continuously casting a two-component curable polyurethane liquid material, a means for supplying two liquids while mixing them immediately before casting is adopted, and fluidity is required to fill the molding groove in a short time. In some cases, a resin designed so that the polymerization proceeds in about 60 seconds half-rotating is used.
Furthermore, in the present invention, since the film is peeled off from the outer peripheral surface of the forming drum at a constant angle in the tangential direction, the peeling force is small, the risk of the molded tape being torn or torn is small, and stable and safe. Can be peeled off.

  In order to peel off at a constant angle in the tangential direction, it is necessary to peel off from the outer peripheral surface of the forming drum in close contact with the belt side. As this means, a method of cooling the portion immediately before peeling from the outside is employed. While the groove bottom surface side of the high temperature portion maintains a high flexibility state, the metal endless belt side is cooled and is in close contact with the metal endless belt, so that the safe peelability can be improved. . For example, a cold air blowing means or a cooling roll can be adopted as the cooling means.

Further, as a means for promoting the initial polymerization, a means for heating from the outside of the forming groove immediately after casting can be provided.
By taking these measures, a blade material having a thickness of 0.4 to 3.0 mm can be manufactured.
Since the groove width of the forming roll is the blade width, since the width is not cut as in the case of the centrifugal forming method, the rough surface including the tip surface can be formed with a mold. Since it is not roughing by a post process, it is inexpensive. A rough surface can be obtained because the mold is used to create roughness.
On the other hand, in the conventional centrifugal molding or the split mold forming method in which the molds are molded one by one, a release agent is used, and the mold is formed in a state of being pressed against the roughened mold surface for a long time. In addition, since the biting pressure is increased, a mold release agent is further required. In these conventional methods, molding is performed while pressure is applied to the molding resin, and a long time is required for the polymerization and solidification. Therefore, the molding resin is strongly pressed against the rough surface for a long time. As a result, a release agent is required.

2-1 Resin Examples The synthetic resin used in the present invention is mainly a thermosetting polyurethane resin. In particular, a non-solvent two-component thermosetting polyurethane is suitable. The time from casting to taking out is within one rotation of the forming drum, and it is necessary to be polymerized and solidified to such an extent that it can be taken out in about 30 to 60 seconds. Select and design isocyanates and polyols, crosslinking agents, and catalysts that satisfy these conditions. In the post-removal step, secondary cross-linking and aging steps can be performed.

For example, the following polyurethane can be used.
A bifunctional polyol having a number average molecular weight of 1000 to 3000, a trifunctional polyol having a number average molecular weight of 92 to 980, and a high molecular weight polyol component mixed in at least one of a liquid material of a urethane prepolymer and a liquid material of a crosslinking agent, Is mixed with a polyol having an average functional group number of 2.02 to 2.20 and a diisocyanate compound having an isocyanate group content of 5 to 20% to prepare a prepolymer, and the prepolymer is mixed with an OH group / NCO. A polyurethane liquid (uncured polyurethane composition) is prepared by mixing the cross-linking agent in an amount such that the equivalent ratio of groups is 0.90 to 1.05 at 40 to 70 ° C.

The number average molecular weight of the high molecular weight polyol component is preferably in the range of 1000 to 3000. By casting this composition, the reaction is carried out smoothly, and the properties of the resulting blade are also preferred. That is, the number average molecular weight of the bifunctional polyol used is in the range of 1000 to 3000, and if it is less than 1000, the finished urethane rubber becomes too hard to obtain the necessary physical properties (flexibility). If it exceeds 1, the viscosity at the time of molding is high, and it becomes difficult to perform casting.
In addition, when the average number of functional groups (f) is f = 1, it becomes monool, so that it does not polymerize, and when f ≧ 5, it becomes too polyfunctional, so that the viscosity of the polymer increases and the physical properties decrease.

  The following can be used as a component for producing the polyurethane elastomer according to the present invention. High molecular weight polyols include polyoxyalkylene glycols such as polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, and polyoxytetramethylene glycol, or polyether-type polyols and adipine of alkylene oxide adducts such as bisphenol A, glycerin ethylene oxide, and propylene oxide. By polymerization reaction of dibasic acids such as acid, phthalic anhydride, isophthalic acid, maleic acid and fumaric acid with glycols such as ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, 1,4 butanediol, 1,6 hexanediol and trimethylolpropane The polyester type polyol obtained, polycaprolactone diol, polycarbonate diol, etc. can be mentioned.

  Examples of the diisocyanate compound include tolylene diisocyanate, 4,4 diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI), hexamethylene diisocyanate, isophorone diisocyanate, and 1,4 cyclohexane diisocyanate. Examples of the chain extender include low molecular weight diols such as ethylene glycol, 1,4 butanediol, diethylene glycol, 1,6 hexanediol, and neopentyl glycol, and diamines such as ethylenediamine, hexamethylenediamine, and isophoronediamine. Desirably, a low molecular weight diol is used. Furthermore, you may add a trimethylol propane, a triethanolamine, glycerol, and these ethylene oxide and a propylene oxide adduct as a polyfunctional component as needed.

In the production of the above polyurethane, the equivalent ratio of OH group / NCO group is preferably 0.8 to 1.05, preferably 0.90 to 1.05 in view of the physical properties of the polyurethane to be produced. Moreover, reaction accelerators, such as a general amine compound and an organic tin type compound, are used as needed.
For example, the reaction accelerator disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2942183, paragraph 0022 is an imidazole derivative or the like represented by the following general chemical formula, and specific examples thereof include a reaction temperature highly dependent on the chemical structure. Examples thereof include 2-methylimidazole and 1,2 dimethylimidazole.

In the formula, R represents hydrogen, a methyl group, or an ethyl group.

  Such a reaction accelerator is used in an amount of 0.001 to 0.5 parts by weight, preferably 0.01 to 0.3 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the prepolymer as an effective amount. Desirably, those having a temperature sensitivity or a slow-acting property are preferably used because the usable time of the mixed resin can be increased and the demolding time is shortened. Specific examples thereof include 1,8-diazabicyclo (5,4,0) undecene-7-organic acid salt called block amine, 1,5-diazabicyclo (4,3,0) nonene-5-organic acid. Examples thereof include a salt or a mixture thereof. In this invention, a commercially available thing can be used for the two-component mixing casting machine used for mixing and stirring the liquid material of the urethane prepolymer which is the raw material component of the thermosetting polyurethane and the liquid material of the crosslinking agent. In consideration of the quantitative accuracy, the metering pump preferably uses three or more plunger types, but a gear pump type can also be used. In particular, in the production apparatus of the present invention, it is necessary to use a reaction accelerator in order to obtain a predetermined hardness at the time of demolding, and therefore, a stirring and mixing chamber is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-11389. A small-capacity type that prevents stagnation in the mixing chamber and suppresses heat generation due to reaction heat is preferable.

  Although the two-component thermosetting polyurethane resin is illustrated in detail, the blade resin that can be used in the present invention is not limited to this. Either a thermoplastic resin or a thermosetting resin can be used. Since a heated rotating molding drum is used, the non-solvent type containing no solvent is preferable because the thermosetting reaction is started immediately after casting.

2-2 Roughening means As the roughening means applied to the grooves (bottom surface, side surface) of the forming drum, cutting, polishing, sandblasting, etching, laser processing, or the like can be used. For example, glass beads # 100 to 300 can be used for the blast projection material.
The partial rough surface forming means, for example, forms a rough surface accurately at a desired location by performing a blasting process by performing masking measures such as covering a portion other than the rough surface formation with a metal tape. Can do. Alternatively, unnecessary portions can be polished after blasting the entire surface.
As for the degree of the rough surface, in the developing blade, the surface roughness formed is a ten-point average roughness Rz (based on JISB0601-1994), 0.1 μm <Rz <13.3 μm, preferably 1 μm ≦ Rz ≦ 10 μm, More preferably, 1.8 μm ≦ Rz ≦ 9.0 μm. The roughening is performed on the bottom surface portion and one side surface forming a portion corresponding to the friction rubbing surface at least in the developing blade. It is possible to perform the entire bottom and side surfaces, but it is also possible to perform a part.

3. Operation In the present invention, the molding drum is polymerized and solidified while rotating, and the molding range is between about 2 to 8 o'clock about half a rotation. During this time, it is in the shape of a tunnel formed by a forming groove and a belt that runs around the forming groove, and the forming proceeds without pressure except for its own weight. Since most of the weight itself is received on the belt side, it is not loaded on the bottom surface side or side surface side of the forming groove, and therefore, it is not pressed onto the rough surface more than necessary, so that the peeling resistance can be small. Also, the molding resin used is a two-component curable polyurethane resin, which employs a means for continuously supplying the two components while mixing them immediately before casting, and has a fluidity that fills the molding groove in a short time. Then, a resin designed so that the polymerization proceeds in about 60 seconds with half rotation is used. Also from the nature of the resin used, the peeling resistance is small because it does not penetrate into the rough surface for a long time and solidify.
Furthermore, since the peeling is performed in the tangential direction of the drum, the fact that the stress acting at the time of peeling is small also enables safe peeling. In addition, if measures are taken to cool the belt side immediately before peeling, the bottom side of the molding groove, which is hot, is flexible, but the belt side becomes harder and tightly attached, making it easy to peel off from the groove side. Can do.

  On the other hand, in the conventional centrifugal molding or the split mold method in which the molds are molded one by one, a release agent is used, and the mold is molded in a state where it is pressed against a roughened mold surface for a long time. Further, the biting pressure bonding becomes larger, and a mold release agent is required. In these conventional methods, since a long time is required for the polymerization and curing, the pressure is strongly pressed against the rough surface for a long time. As a result, a release agent is required for demolding. In the resin used for centrifugal molding, it is necessary to maintain fluidity for a long time so that the inner surface of the cylinder has a uniform thickness during rotation. It becomes a pressed state. When using a split mold, a mixed resin is used to cast from a small inlet into a thin flat cavity formed in a mold set and to cast a large number of molds. Since a resin having a long usable time is used so that the resin can be used for a long time, the curing time becomes long. For this reason, since it is pressed against the rough surface for a long time, the peeling resistance increases, and it is difficult to avoid the use of a release agent.

Therefore, the present invention is an invention capable of continuously manufacturing a roughened blade and providing a blade having a solid resin surface that does not use a release agent. As a result, an electrophotographic apparatus using a cleaning blade and a developing blade that are not affected by the release agent can be realized, and even if a small particle size toner having a high sphericity is used, a clean image can be realized.

4). Apparatus A manufacturing apparatus for a tape made of synthetic resin such as a blade material of the present invention is formed by forming a molding groove having a concave cross section with a roughened bottom surface and side surface over the entire circumference of the outer peripheral surface, and horizontally supporting a horizontal central axis. If the rotation direction is clockwise and the rotation direction is clockwise, the mixed solution discharge port at the lower end faces the molding groove and is arranged near the top of the molding drum (between about 9 and 2 o'clock). A liquid mixture of urethane prepolymer, which is a raw material component of thermosetting polyurethane, and a liquid material of a crosslinking agent are weighed, mixed, stirred, and discharged, and if necessary, placed above the forming drum. An external heating device provided, a metal endless belt that is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the forming drum and rotates following the forming drum, and an external cooling device that is disposed immediately before the peeling portion, if necessary. And strip blade material composition A conveyor (which can be cooled) that has been transported after the shape is taken out, a cooling device that cools the conveyor as necessary, and a cutting device that cuts the formed strip-shaped blade material into predetermined lengths are provided.

  According to the above manufacturing apparatus, the polyurethane liquid material is discharged from the discharge port of the quantitative mixing and casting machine into the molding groove of the heated and rotating molding drum, and heated by the molding drum, and if necessary, the molding drum The polyurethane liquid is heated by an upper external heating device, and further, a space (cavity) constituted by the molding groove and the metal endless belt is filled, and the molding drum is used for a predetermined time in the cavity. A polymerization reaction is performed by heating to continuously form a polyurethane elastomer (a molded material such as a blade) continuously in a band shape with a predetermined width and thickness. A rough surface portion can be formed on one surface of a molded product such as a developing blade material by finishing a predetermined portion of the bottom surface of the forming groove of the forming drum to a rough surface having a predetermined roughness. The molded product, which is cooled by a cooling device provided immediately before the peeling portion through a metal endless belt and continuously peeled from the forming groove portion of the forming drum, is then cooled on the flat belt of the conveyor. The shape is arranged while being done. On the other hand, the conveyor belt absorbs the heat of the molded product and rises in temperature, but is cooled by a cooling device as necessary. Thus, when the band-shaped molded product is cooled to near room temperature, it is cured and stabilized. In this state, the product is cut one after another by a cutting device into a length of a developing blade or the like as a product, and an elastic rubber member for a developing blade made of thermosetting polyurethane having a predetermined width, thickness and length is completed.

  Since the cutting operation is intermittently transported once it has been stopped, in order to adjust the transport timing, the feed roll that is driven intermittently and the belt-shaped material are slackened before the cutting device. An apparatus configuration is provided in which a slack portion to be held is formed, and the cutting operation and feed synchronous control are performed. By using ceramic for the blade, it can slide smoothly with polyurethane, has a sharp cut surface and can be cut continuously for a long time.

4-1 Apparatus Each component Embodiment of the braid | blade of this invention and its manufacturing apparatus is described based on a figure with a manufacturing method.
FIG. 3 is an overall front view schematically showing an embodiment of a blade manufacturing apparatus used in an electrophotographic apparatus. As shown in FIG. 3, the blade manufacturing apparatus includes a forming drum (3), a discharge port (1) for supplying resin, an external heating device (2), an endless belt (4), a cooling conveyor (10), a cutting machine. It comprises a device (14), a carry-out conveyor (15), and the like.
The discharge port (1) for the liquid material of the polyurethane resin is disposed at a clockwise position at about 10 o'clock from the apex of the molding drum (3), followed by the external heating device (2), followed by molding. An endless belt (4) that is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the drum and covers approximately half of the drum is disposed. Subsequently, the strip-shaped blade material (s) that has been peeled off is cooled and conveyed, and the cutting device and the conveying device are sequentially processed in this order. It is arranged along. The external heating device can be omitted. When omitted, the position of the discharge port (1) of the liquid material of the polyurethane resin can be moved near the apex.
The forming drum (3) is made of, for example, hard aluminum or stainless steel, and includes a rotational drive, a forming groove, and a built-in heating structure (see FIGS. 5 and 6).
FIG. 5A shows an outline of the forming drum. A rough surface is formed on the bottom surface 21 and the side surface 24 of the molding groove 20. FIG. 5B shows a schematic groove cross-section of a forming drum provided with an entire roughened bottom surface 22 and an entire roughened side surface 25 in which rough surfaces are formed on the entire bottom surface and side surfaces of the forming groove. FIG. 5 (c) shows a partially roughened bottom surface 23 in which a rough surface is formed on a part 23a of the bottom surface, and a part of the side surface is subjected to a rough surface treatment continuously to the rough surface formed on the bottom surface. The groove cross-section outline of the shaping | molding drum provided with the partially roughened side surface 25a is shown. In the developing blade, the portion subjected to the roughening treatment is a portion that forms a nip portion that becomes a friction sliding portion, its front and back, and a lower portion of the tip surface. It is desirable that the roughening treatment is continuously performed from the front end surface to the nip portion. By extending the rough surface portion from the nip, there is no sudden blade surface property change. The roughening treatment can be performed on the entire bottom surface and side surfaces.
FIG. 6 is an outline of molding of the belt-like blade s using a molding drum. FIG. 7 shows a cross section of the developing blade material. (a) has shown the example which formed the rough surface in the whole surface of a sliding front end surface, and the whole front end surface, and this is an example corresponding to the shaping | molding groove | channel of FIG. 5b.

  In the forming groove (20), a forming groove having a concave cross section carved with a predetermined dimension corresponding to the width and thickness of the blade material is formed around the outer periphery. The bottom surface (21) of the forming groove is subjected to a roughening treatment on the surface of the developing blade so that the surface roughness becomes 1 to 10 μm with a ten-point average roughness Rz (based on JISB0601-1994). This molding groove (20) corresponds to a mold. Moreover, a heating means is incorporated in the molding drum, and heat for curing a resin such as polyurethane is supplied to the molding groove (20). The heating means is an electric heater, heating oil, steam or the like, and is not particularly limited. The heating temperature is appropriately determined depending on the resin used, the rotation speed, and the like. For example, it is set to 100 ° C. to 150 ° C. The rotational drive is rotatably supported by a horizontal rotating shaft (5), and is rotated at a predetermined speed by a driving device (not shown). The rotation direction is set clockwise in the drawing.

The discharge port (1) for supplying the resin mixes and adjusts the components of the resin to be used, and supplies a constant amount continuously to the forming groove (20) of the forming drum (3).
When the external heating device (2) is provided, it functions to irradiate and heat the resin cast into the molding groove (20) from the discharge port (1). This heat promotes curing of the resin surface side. Curing of the cast resin is accelerated by the heat of the molding drum and heat from the outside, the viscosity is increased, and the flow of the endless belt into the contact start end can be controlled. Examples of the external heating means include far-infrared rays, laser light, ultraviolet rays, and induction heating that are non-contact types. The adjustment of the heating temperature needs to be changed depending on the resin used, the production speed, the thickness of the blade, and the like. The heating conditions can also be adjusted by adjusting the output and adjusting the distance to the groove. In relation to the resin to be used, when a resin to which an ultraviolet curing agent is added is used, curing can also be promoted by irradiating with ultraviolet rays. Moreover, the installation position of the external heating device can be adjusted between the discharge port (1) and the preheating roll (6). This position can also be determined by the type of resin and the thickness of the blade. In this example, it is installed near the top of the forming drum.
By performing external heating, the thickness of the blade can be increased, or the molding speed can be increased.

The metal endless belt (4) has a structure in which a space is formed so as to cover the molding groove (20) and the polyurethane liquid material is filled. A molding cavity is formed by the endless belt (4) and the molding groove (20), the outer shape of the blade material is adjusted, and the resin curing reaction proceeds. The section where the endless belt (4) covers the molding groove (20) of the molding drum (3) is designed so that the resin can be hardened and removed from the molding groove (20) as a strip tape (s). There is a need to. For example, 180 ° corresponding to a section from 2 o'clock to 8 o'clock on the watch is an easy-to-operate area.
Immediately before peeling, a cooling device (18) for cooling by blowing cold air or the like from the outside of the endless belt is installed as necessary.

The cooling conveyor (10) conveys the blade material formed on the resin-made strip-shaped tape (s) peeled from the (3) forming groove of the forming drum to the subsequent process while cooling.
Note that this cooling conveyor may not require cooling depending on the blade material. If cooling is not necessary, this conveyor can be a transfer device to a subsequent process or can be omitted.
The cutting device (14) is a device that cuts a continuous belt-shaped material into the length of a blade. By this cutting, the blade material is molded into a final shape. After that, it is carried out to the adhering process to the metal blade support. In order to synchronize with the action of this cutting device, a feed roll (13) for controlling the feed is arranged immediately before the cutting device (14), and in order to cope with the speed of feed by the feed roll (13), the feed roll A space for allowing the tape to sag is provided before (13), and timing adjustment of the cooling conveyor (10) and the cutting device (14) is measured.
In addition, a heating step can be added as necessary as a subsequent step for secondary crosslinking for finally carrying out the curing reaction.
Next, a configuration example of each part of the apparatus will be further described.

  An endless belt (4) for forming a molding space (mold) made of a metal strip such as stainless steel is brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface of almost half of the forming drum (3). The endless belt (4) A preheating roll (6) for preheating the endless belt (4), a guide roll (7) for adjusting belt running, a tension roll (8) for applying tension to the endless belt, and a cooling roll for cooling the endless belt (4) ( 9) and is rotated following the rotation of the forming drum (3). The endless belt (4) is heated to a predetermined temperature (for example, around 145 ° C., which is about the same as that of the molding drum) by a heater, and this temperature prevents a temperature drop of the polyurethane liquid material.

  Adjacent to the cooling roll (9), a cooling conveyor (10) is provided horizontally. In the cooling conveyor (10), an endless conveyor belt made of metal such as stainless steel is stretched between two rolls. A cooling device (11) is disposed below the cooling conveyor (10), and cools the blade molding through an endless conveyor belt.

A slack detector (12), a feed roll (13), a cutting device (14) and a conveyor (15) are arranged in this order adjacent to the downstream of the roll of the cooling conveyor (10). The looseness detector (12) attaches a pair of upper and lower sensors to a pair of vertically arranged support columns, and guides a belt-like blade molding material therebetween to detect the looseness state.
The feed roller (13) receives a signal from the slack detector (12) in conjunction with the cutting device (14) and feeds the blade molding to the cutting device (14) at a predetermined speed, thereby feeding a belt-shaped blade molding material to the predetermined roller. Cut to length. The conveyor (15) conveys the cut blade forming material to the next process (crosslinking process, metal fitting bonding process, inspection process, etc.).

  Next, the blade manufacturing apparatus of the present embodiment is configured as described above. Using the example provided with the external heating device, the manufacturing process of the blade for an electrophotographic apparatus by this manufacturing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. A polyurethane liquid material is measured in a molding groove of a molding drum (3) whose temperature is adjusted to a predetermined temperature, for example, 145 ° C., from a discharge port (1) while measuring a prepolymer and a crosslinking agent and stirring and mixing uniformly. Is discharged and cast. At this time, the forming drum (3) is rotating clockwise at a predetermined speed (for example, 80 seconds per rotation), and corresponds to the peripheral speed of the drum (3) and the engraving depth and width of the forming groove (20). The required amount to be infused continuously.

The liquid polyurethane is from point A directly below the discharge port (1) disposed at about 10 o'clock from the top of the molding drum (3) to point C directly above the molding drum (heating position by an external heating device). After the reaction was started, it was heated by an external heating device at point C, and then heated by a preheating roll from the contact start position E of the endless belt, for example, to 145 ° C. only by heating with the forming drum. The endless belt for molding is heated and held between point E and point G of the forming drum (3). As a result, the urethane polymerization reaction of the liquid material is almost completed, and a blade molding material having a necessary width and thickness and a certain rough surface is continuously formed into a strip shape.
The position of the discharge port (1) is adjusted by the type of resin, the thickness of the blade, the manufacturing speed, and the like. In this example, it is installed at a clock position from 9 o'clock to 12 o'clock in the counter-rotating direction of the forming drum. Preferably, it is installed around 10:00. The synthetic resin liquid discharged toward the counter-rotation direction tends to fall according to gravity, and is lifted toward the top of the molding drum as the molding drum rotates.

When the discharge port is arranged in the counter-rotating direction from the top and the resin is discharged in the counter-rotating direction, a balance is achieved by the falling force that tends to drop in the counter-rotating direction by its own weight and the lifting force by the rotation of the molding drum. The configuration in which the discharge port is arranged in the counter-rotating direction from the top produces a blade with a uniform thickness by the balance between the flow-down force in the counter-rotating direction due to the weight of the synthetic resin liquid and the lifting force due to the rotation of the molding drum. This is an effective configuration.
And by shaking the position of the discharge port (1), a space can be made between the preheating roll (6) and the degree of freedom of arrangement of the external heating device (2) can be increased. is there.
In this example, the time for the polyurethane liquid to move by rotating from point A to point E is set to 13 seconds, and the time for moving from point E to point G is set to about 40 seconds. By changing the position of point E by the approach / separation operation of the preheating roll (6) with respect to the forming drum (3), the angle between point A and point E and the angle between point C and point G are changed. The reaction and molding time can be fine-tuned.

The belt-shaped blade molding continuously formed in this way is peeled off from the forming groove (20) of the forming drum (3) at the point G and guided onto the endless conveyor belt of the cooling conveyor (10).
A cooling device (18) for blowing cool air is installed just before point G to cool the molding endless belt (4) from the outside.

  In this apparatus, it is not necessary to use a release agent. Of course, the use of a release agent is not limited for products that are inconvenient.

  Since the endless conveyor belt (10) is cooled by the cooling device (11), the belt-shaped blade molding material (s) is conveyed while being cooled to near normal temperature (around 20 ° C.) on the endless conveyor belt. As described above, depending on the type of blade, it is not necessary to actively cool the cooling conveyor. In this case, the belt-shaped blade molded product naturally dissipates heat while being conveyed on the conveyor (10).

And the cooled strip | belt-shaped blade shaping | molding raw material is guide | induced to the slack detector (12), the feed roll (13), the cutting device (14), and the conveyor (15) from the cooling conveyor (10). The slack detector (12) guides the belt-shaped developing blade molding material to the feed roll (13) through between the sensors attached to the support columns. The feed roll (13) sandwiches the belt-shaped developing blade molding material and travels faster than the cooling conveyor (10). Therefore, when the belt-shaped developing blade molding material contacts the upper sensor (16), the feeding roll (13) stops. When contacting (17), feeding is started to adjust the production speed of the belt-shaped developing blade molding material and the processing speed of the cutting device (14) (do not apply excessive tension to the belt-shaped developing blade molding material). The cutting device (14) guides the development blade molded product between the upper blade and the lower blade and cuts it into a predetermined length (length as a product). Thereby, the manufacturing process of the flat plate-like developing blade tape sheet cut to a predetermined length is completed.
The cutting device is not limited to the upper and lower blades, and can be configured by a configuration in which a blade is provided on the table and the upper side. The tape placed on the table from the feed roll can be pressed to act on the blade and cut into a predetermined length.

The elastic rubber part (33) material for the developing blade manufactured in this way has its one side edge bonded to one side edge of the metal support (32) with an adhesive as shown in FIG. Thus, the developing blade (31) as the final product is completed.
Since the groove width of the forming roll is the blade width, since the width is not cut as in the case of the centrifugal forming method, the rough surface can be formed with a mold, and it is inexpensive because it is not a roughing process in a subsequent process. A rough surface can be obtained because the mold is used to create roughness.

[Example]
As Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3, developing blades were produced under the following conditions.
<Developing blade>
As Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2, developing blades of the following sizes were manufactured.
Elastic rubber member made of polyurethane: thickness 1.25 mm, length 315.5 mm, width 14.5 mm,
Metal support: steel plate with a thickness of 1.2 mm,
Adhesion treatment: The above elastic rubber member and metal support are melt-bonded with a dimer acid-based hot melt adhesive.
Developing roller contact surface: rough side of elastic rubber member (corresponding to bottom surface side of molding groove)

<Thermosetting polyurethane>
66.1 parts by weight of polycaprolactone ester diol (average molecular weight 2000) was dehydrated by heating and stirring under reduced pressure (5 mmHg) at 70 ° C. for 3 hours, and then charged into a reaction vessel, followed by 27.8 parts by weight. 4,4 diphenylmethane diisocyanate was added to the reaction vessel and stirred at 70 ° C. for 1 to 4 hours under a nitrogen gas atmosphere to obtain a liquid urethane prepolymer having a residual isocyanate group content of 7.0%. On the other hand, 4.3 parts by weight of 1,4 butanediol, 1.8 parts by weight of trimethylolpropane and 0.07 parts by weight of 1,2 dimethylimidazole were used as a crosslinking agent component at 70 ° C. for 3 hours under reduced pressure (5 mmHg). The mixture was dehydrated by heating and stirring to obtain a crosslinking agent having a hydroxyl group equivalent of 45.

<Manufacturing equipment and manufacturing method>
The depth of the forming groove of the forming drum (3) in FIG. 3 was 1.5 mm, a far-infrared device was adopted as the external heating device, and a cold air blowing device was arranged immediately before peeling.
The urethane prepolymer and the cross-linking agent were respectively charged into a two-component quantitative mixing and casting machine, and heated and stirred so that the liquid temperature became 70 ° C. The molding drum (3) whose temperature was adjusted to 145 ° C. from the discharge port (1) of the production apparatus shown in FIG. 3 while stirring and mixing the mixture uniformly so that the equivalent ratio of OH group / NCO group was 0.95. It was discharged into the molding groove. The subsequent manufacturing method is the same as described in the manufacturing process using the manufacturing apparatus.
The flow of the polyurethane liquid material was suppressed, and unstable dents were not observed. Thus, elastic rubber members for developing blades of Examples and Comparative Examples were obtained. In addition, when the cold air just before peeling was supplied and the steel belt side was cooled, the stable peeling in the tangential direction from the outer peripheral surface of the forming drum was confirmed.

<Surface roughness measurement>
Using a surface roughness meter (SURF TEST SV400) manufactured by Mitutoyo Corporation, the measurement was performed in a direction corresponding to the width direction of the forming drum. The measurement was performed at five points at arbitrary positions. Table 1 shows the measurement conditions.

<Evaluation test>
The developing blade obtained in each example and each comparative example was charged into an integrated cartridge developing device (Ricoh's laser beam printer Ipcio NX700) using a monocomponent magnetic toner having an average particle size of 8 μm, and a 50% gray scale image. The image unevenness was confirmed. The toner charge amount was evaluated using a suction toner charge measuring device. In addition, up to 10,000 images were displayed on a character chart, and the presence or absence of character thickening was visually evaluated.
Table 2 shows the measurement results and evaluation results of the surface roughness.
FIG. 8 shows a graph relating to the toner charge amount.

As a roughening treatment of the forming groove, a suction nozzle type sand blasting apparatus is used, and the entire bottom surface and side surface of the forming groove are blasted with glass bead # 200 (particle size range 88 to 74 μm) at an air pressure of 2 kg / cm ^2. A rough surface having a ten-point average roughness Rz of 1.8 μm was formed.
In this example, no release agent is used.

As a roughening treatment of the forming groove, a suction nozzle type sand blasting device is used, and the entire bottom surface and side surface of the forming groove are blasted with glass bead # 200 (particle size range 88 to 74 μm) at an air pressure of 5 kg / cm ^2. A rough surface of 5.4 μm was formed with a ten-point average roughness Rz.
In this example, no release agent is used.

As a roughening treatment of the forming groove, a suction nozzle type sandblasting device is used, and the entire bottom surface and side surface of the forming groove are blasted with zircon bead # 120 (particle size range 76 to 52 μm) at an air pressure of 8 kg / cm ^2. A rough surface with a ten-point average roughness Rz of 9.0 μm was formed.
In this example, no release agent is used.

[Comparative Example 1]
The forming groove of the forming drum was in a mirror finished state by lapping. The ten-point average roughness Rz of the groove bottom and side surfaces was 0.1 μm.
In this comparative example, no release agent is used.

[Comparative Example 2]
Using a diamond grinding wheel # 60, the molding groove surface was polished. The groove bottom surface and side surface of the obtained forming drum were streaky rough surfaces in the circumferential direction, and the roughness in the groove width direction was 13.3 μm in terms of 10-point average roughness Rz.
In this comparative example, no release agent is used.
[Comparative Example 3]
As a roughening treatment of the forming groove, a suction nozzle type sand blasting device was used, and the entire bottom surface of the forming groove was blasted with an air pressure of 5 kg / cm ² using a glass bead # 200 (particle size range 88 to 74 μm). A rough surface having an average roughness Rz of 9.0 μm was formed. In addition, the side surface of the groove is not roughened.
In this example, no release agent is used.

From the test results, the following can be seen mainly.
(1) Comparative Example 1: NN has a charge amount of −5.6 μc / g at the beginning, and the initial character weight is ◯, but the charge amount after passing 10,000 sheets is reduced to −4.4 μc / g and the character weight is x. Furthermore, with HH, the character becomes fat at -3.3μ c / g from the initial charge. The reason is that the electrification to be applied becomes insufficient and the toner is scattered. In the case of this evaluation, it can be said that the charge amount tends to be insufficient when the value is less than −5.0 μc / g.
(2) Comparative example 2: Both NN and HH have a good charge amount (-5.0 μc / g or less), and the character thickening is ◯, but the local protrusion with too large rough surface acts on the toner flow to generate streaks. It is thought that.
(3) Comparative Example 3: No problem with NN. The HH initial charge is -2.3μ c / g lower than the NN charge, but it remains -5.2μ c / g and the letter weight is ○. However, after passing 10000 sheets of HH, it decreased further to -4.6μ c / g, and the character was fat. The reason is the same as in Comparative Example 1.
(4) Examples 1, 2, and 3: NN, HH, initial, all after passing 10,000 sheets, the charge amount is kept at -5.0 μc / g or less, and there is no problem. Good image condition.
(5) Consideration: When the surface roughness Rz of the rubbing surface is large, the charge amount is also large. However, if it is too large, streak defects occur as in Comparative Example 2. The difference in the charge amount between NN and HH is reduced by roughening the tip surface, and it became clear that the necessary toner charge amount can be easily maintained against the thickening of characters.

In addition, about the influence of a mold release agent, the confirmation example of the following reference example is shown. About the reference example 1 and the reference comparative example 1, the evaluation test in normal temperature and normal humidity shown in Table 2 was done.
(1) As a result, in Reference Example 1, it can be confirmed that the state of the rough surface formed in the molding groove is transferred to the elastic rubber surface of the blade with high accuracy. On the other hand, in Reference Comparative Example 1 using a mold release agent, even if a molding groove having the same roughness as in Reference Example 1 is used, the blade surface has a small roughness and a large variation. I understand.
(2) In Reference Example 1, it was confirmed that no initial image abnormality occurred and a sufficient initial charge amount was obtained. On the other hand, in Comparative Example 2, the initial charge amount is small, and the initial image is uneven. This is because the residual mold release agent and uneven surface roughening have an adverse effect.
"Reference Example 1"
As a roughening treatment of the forming groove, a suction nozzle type sandblasting device was used, and the entire bottom surface of the forming groove was blasted with a glass bead particle size # 200 (particle size range 88 to 74 μm) with an air pressure of 3 kg / cm ² , and ten points were obtained. A rough surface having an average roughness Rz of 3 to 4 μm was formed.
In this example, no release agent is used.
As for the surface roughness of the obtained blade, the 10-point average roughness Rz was 3.2 to 3.7 μm as measured at 5 points.
"Reference Comparative Example 1"
Reference Example 1 was used as a condition for the forming groove, and a fluorine-based release agent was applied to the bottom surface of the groove as a release agent.
The obtained blade had a surface roughness of 0.9 to 2.8 μm in terms of a ten-point average roughness Rz measured at five points.

Example of developing device of electrophotographic apparatus Example of developing blade FIG. 1 is an overall schematic view schematically showing an embodiment of a blade manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention. Molded part schematic Diagram showing an example of a forming drum Schematic drawing of belt-shaped blade using a forming drum The figure which shows the example of the blade material which formed the rough surface Graph showing toner charge amount Schematic diagram of developing device Development blade schematic

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Polyurethane liquid discharge port 2 External heating device 3 Molding drum 4 Endless belt 5 Molding roll rotating shaft 6 Preheating roll 7 Guide roll 8 Tension roll 9 Cooling roll 10 Cooling conveyor 11 Cooling device 12 Sag detector 13 Feeding roll 14 Cutting Device 15 Conveyor 16 Upper sensor 17 Lower sensor 18 Cooling device 20 Molding groove 21 Molding groove bottom surface 22 Entirely roughened bottom surface 23 Partially roughened bottom surface 23a Roughened portion 24 Side surface 25 Entirely roughened side surface 26 Partially roughened surface Side surface 31 Developing blade 32 Support body 33 Elastic rubber member 34 Joining portion 35 Friction / rubbing surface 36 Photoconductor 37 Developing roller 38 Supply roller 39 Toner 41 Front end surface W Roughening portion N Nip portion Q Front end surface roughening portion P Nip portion downstream roughened portion s strip blade material 100 developing device 101 photosensitive drum 110拌羽 roots 111 developer container 112 developing sleeve 100 stirring blade 120 developing blade 121 developing blade elastic rubber 121a charge-providing surface (triboelectrification surface)
122 Metal support

Claims (18)

  Using a molding drum with a molding groove on the outer periphery and a heating device on the inside, in a method of continuously molding a blade material using synthetic resin as a raw material for molding, roughened portions are formed on the bottom and side surfaces of the molding groove. A method of manufacturing a blade material having a frictional friction surface and a rough surface portion on a tip surface by using the formed drum.   3. The method of manufacturing a blade material having a rough surface according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the blade material is cooled from the outside immediately before peeling off the blade material from the forming drum. Molding provided with a forming groove having a roughened side surface forming a portion corresponding to the tip surface of the blade and a bottom surface forming at least a portion corresponding to the friction rubbing surface of the blade, and a heating device inside A drum,
Synthetic resin supply means in the molding groove along the outer periphery of the molding drum, and an endless belt that rotates following the rotation of the molding drum while covering the molding groove of the molding drum are sequentially arranged and supplied to the molding groove A blade material having a rough surface, wherein a blade material having a belt-like rough surface having a predetermined width and thickness is produced according to rotation of a forming drum by a forming space formed by an endless belt and a forming groove. A method of continuously manufacturing.   The method for producing a blade material having a rough surface according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the synthetic resin is a non-solvent type thermosetting polyurethane resin.   A method for producing a blade material having a rough surface according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a release agent is not used.   The blade material having a rough surface according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the blade material having a rough surface is a rough surface having a surface roughness of 10 to 10 μm in terms of a ten-point average roughness Rz. How to manufacture.   In a device for continuously forming a raw material of a blade having a rough surface using synthetic resin as a raw material for molding using a rotating molding drum having a molding groove on the outer periphery and a heating device on the inside, a bottom surface portion and side surfaces of the molding groove A blade material manufacturing apparatus characterized in that a rough surface is formed in a portion. A forming drum having a concave cross section formed on the entire outer peripheral surface and provided with an internal heating device;
A resin material quantitative casting machine that adjusts and discharges synthetic resin materials,
A metal endless belt that abuts on the outer peripheral surface of the molding drum and rotates following the molding drum;
An apparatus for manufacturing a blade material, comprising an apparatus for bringing a molded product for a charging blade close to one end of the take-out part;
The forming groove having a concave cross section has a rough surface formed on at least a bottom surface portion forming a portion corresponding to the friction rubbing surface of the blade and a side surface portion forming a portion corresponding to the tip surface of the blade,
An apparatus for producing a blade material, characterized in that a casting port of the resin material quantitative casting machine and a metal endless belt are arranged in this order along the rotation direction of the molding drum.   9. The blade material manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, wherein a cooling device is provided outside the molding drum before the take-out portion and immediately before the blade material is peeled from the molding groove.   8. A cooling or non-cooling metal carrier endless conveyor belt as a post-processing device for the forming drum, and a cutting device for cutting the strip-shaped blade material into a fixed size in a subsequent process of the conveyor. The manufacturing apparatus of the blade raw material in any one of -9.   The blade material manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein a non-solvent type thermosetting polyurethane is used as the synthetic resin.   The apparatus for producing a blade material according to any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein a release agent supply device is not provided.   A blade material characterized by having a rough surface portion on the friction rubbing surface and the tip surface   A blade material having a frictional rubbing surface to which a release agent is not attached and a rough surface portion on a tip surface.   The blade material according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the blade material is for development.   The blade material according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein the rough surface has a ten-point average roughness Rz of 1 to 10 µm.   A molding groove having a bottom surface roughened partially or entirely on the outer periphery and a side surface roughened partially or entirely, obtained by using a molding drum having a heating device inside. The blade material according to any one of claims 13 to 16.   A blade obtained by joining the blade material according to any one of claims 13 to 17 to a holder.