JP2008238034A - Elastic-roller production apparatus and production method of elastic roller - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an elastic-roller production apparatus which can uniformly coat an elastic-layer forming material on the peripheral surface of an axial body and also can adopt the elastic-layer forming material with a high viscosity without generating a thickness deviation, a joint stitch, etc. and to provide a production method of an elastic roller without generating the thickness deviation, the joint stitch, etc. <P>SOLUTION: The elastic-roller production apparatus has a coating head and a coating-head moving means which can move the coating head in the axial direction of the axial body of the elastic roller, wherein the coating head has a concentric annular gap between the head and the axial body of the elastic roller, a slit-like discharge opening opened for the axial body of the elastic roller is formed, and also the coating head has a receiving part for receiving an uncured elastic-layer forming material discharged from the slit-like discharge opening and an elastic-layer forming material supplying openings of three or more, arranged for rotation focusing on the central axial line of the coating head, for supplying the elastic-layer forming material to the receiving part. The production method of the elastic roller is provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an elastic roller manufacturing apparatus and an elastic roller manufacturing method. More specifically, for example, an elastic layer forming material can be uniformly applied to the peripheral surface of a shaft body, and uneven thickness and seams are generated. In particular, the present invention relates to an elastic roller manufacturing apparatus and an elastic roller manufacturing method that can employ a highly viscous elastic layer forming material.

  The core metal coating method disclosed in Patent Document 1 is “Coating having a coating liquid outlet that opens the coating liquid to the substrate side while moving the core metal having a continuous peripheral surface formed endlessly. Through the liquid distribution slit, it flows out on the slide surface on the hopper application surface from the endless coating liquid outlet provided on the hopper application surface formed in the vicinity of the entire circumference of the substrate so as to surround the substrate peripheral surface, In the method of coating by continuously supplying the substrate and the tip of the hopper coating surface, the viscosity of the coating solution is 10 or more and less than 600 millipascals / second, and the gap between the substrate surface and the tip of the hopper is 50. The core metal coating method, wherein the coating liquid distribution slit gap is 50 to 500 μm ”(refer to claim 1).

  In the coating apparatus for carrying out this core metal coating method, “as shown in FIG. 1, the core bars 1A and 1B superimposed vertically along the center line XX are continuously moved upward in the direction of the arrow. The coating liquid L is applied by a portion (abbreviated as application head) 10 that directly surrounds the periphery of the substrate 1 and is directly related to the application of the slide hopper type application device. For example, a base material of a seamless belt type may be used in addition to an aluminum drum, a plastic drum, etc. The coating head 10 has a narrow coating liquid distribution slit (abbreviated as a slit) having a coating liquid outlet 11 opened to the base 1 side. ) 12 is formed in the horizontal direction, and the slit 12 communicates with the annular coating liquid distribution chamber 13, and the photosensitive liquid L in the storage tank 4 is pumped into the annular coating liquid distribution chamber 13. It is supplied via the supply pipe 14 by the pump 5. On the other hand, below the coating liquid outlet 11 of the slit 12, it is continuously inclined downward and slightly larger than the outer dimension of the substrate. The slide surface 15 is formed so as to end at the end of the slide surface 15. Further, a lip 16 extending downward from the end of the slide surface 15 is formed. When the coating liquid L is pushed out from the slit 12 and is caused to flow down along the slide surface 15 in the process of pulling up, the photosensitive solution that has reached the end of the slide surface is beaded between the end of the slide surface and the outer peripheral surface of the substrate 1. Is applied to the substrate surface "(see paragraph number 0004 of Patent Document 1).

  Claim 1 of Patent Document 2 states that “in a coating apparatus that uniformly applies a coating liquid onto a cylindrical substrate surface by a cylindrical coating mechanism (coating head) surrounding the outer periphery of the cylindrical substrate, the ring shape of the coating head The application head is characterized in that the diameter of the discharge port is variable, and the ring coating method using the same is described. Two claims of the application head and the ring coating method are described in one claim. Are listed. FIG. 2 of Patent Document 2 discloses two coating liquid supply ports provided at positions opposed to each other indicated by 13 for this coating head.

  In Patent Document 3, “in the method of manufacturing an elastic roller in which a thin film is formed on an elastic layer provided on a metal core, a slit-like shape that is opened to the entire circumference at a distance that forms a predetermined interval with respect to the surface of the elastic layer. Disclosed is an elastic roller manufacturing method using a ring coating head having a plurality of discharge ports, and forming a thin film by discharging a solvent-based coating liquid from the discharge ports and applying the solution onto the elastic layer. (Refer to claim 1).

  Regarding the ring coating head used in the manufacturing method in Patent Document 3, “Patent Document 3 shows that a metering pump (in the figure, a syringe pump is shown on the way from the coating liquid storage tank 13 to the ring coating head 12). ) 19 ”, and referring to the text before and after this description and FIG. 2, the coating liquid is applied to the ring coating head 12 from the coating liquid storage tank 13 by one line. It can be seen that the head 12 is supplied. According to the description of this Patent Document 3, the contribution that “a roller that can be applied at a high speed and in a stable state and has excellent uniformity in roughness and uniformity in thin film thickness” is claimed. Yes.

  Patent Document 4 states that “the entire circumference of the surface of the cylindrical base material is surrounded by a coaxial cylinder, and the discharge port and the coating liquid that are open at a predetermined distance with respect to the surface of the cylindrical base material are provided. A liquid distribution chamber provided as a circumferential groove for distribution in the circumferential direction, and a liquid throttle channel that increases the liquid pressure in the liquid distribution chamber by a desired pressure and gives a force to flow in the circumferential direction. Using a cylindrical coating head (ring coating head), the cylindrical member and the ring coating head are moved relative to each other at a predetermined speed to uniformly apply to the surface of the cylindrical substrate according to the desired coating film thickness. In a coating apparatus for supplying a liquid and coating the surface of a cylindrical substrate, a plurality of liquid supply ports to the liquid distribution chamber are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the upstream side of the liquid distribution chamber, and the liquid supply port The flow path up to is provided in the ring application head to be diverted by tournament method Ring coating apparatus ", wherein has been disclosed (see claim 1).

  In the ring coating head disclosed in Patent Document 4, the coating liquid 10 supplied from one injection port 15 is branched by the tournament method and distributed to the liquid distribution chamber 12 (see FIG. 1). A complicated flow path is formed inside the ring application head.

JP 2004-74159 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-97896 JP 2005-321749 A JP 2006-106571 A

  On the other hand, according to the study by the present inventors, when an elastic roller is manufactured using a ring application head, occurrence of unevenness and / or streak on the surface of the elastic roller is often observed.

  The present invention provides an elastic roller manufacturing apparatus and an elastic roller with high production efficiency capable of manufacturing an elastic roller that can employ an elastic layer forming material having high viscosity without occurrence of uneven thickness and streaking. It is to provide a method.

As means for solving the problems,
Claim 1 is an elastic roller manufacturing apparatus having a coating head and a coating head moving means capable of moving the coating head in the axial direction of the shaft body of the elastic roller,
The coating head has a concentric annular gap with the shaft body of the elastic roller, and is formed with a slit-like discharge port that is open to the shaft body of the elastic roller,
The coating head includes a housing part that houses an uncured elastic layer forming material ejected from the slit-shaped ejection port, and three or more disposed on a rotation target around the central axis of the coating head. An elastic roller manufacturing apparatus having an elastic layer forming material supply port for supplying the elastic layer forming material to the housing portion;
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the gap is 0.1 to 10 mm, the uncured elastic layer forming material has a viscosity of 10 to 4000 Pa · s, and a discharge speed of 0.01 to 500 g / min. The elastic roller manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1,
Claim 3 is the elastic roller manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the slit-shaped discharge port has a width of 0.1 to 10 mm.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the elastic roller manufacturing method, the elastic layer is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft body after the uncured elastic layer forming material is applied to the outer surface of the shaft body.
Using the elastic roller manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, while moving the coating head moving means along the axis of the shaft body, the outer surface of the shaft body from the slit-like discharge port A method for producing an elastic roller, characterized in that an uncured elastic layer forming material is discharged and applied.
A fifth aspect of the present invention is the method for producing an elastic roller according to the fourth aspect, wherein the elastic layer forming material has a viscosity of 10 to 4000 Pa · s.

  In the present invention, the coating head moves from one end to the other end of the shaft body by the coating head moving means. In addition, a shaft body may be arrange | positioned vertically and may be arrange | positioned horizontally. The initial position of the coating head with respect to the shaft body may be one end or the other end of the shaft body, and may be closer to one end or the other end of the shaft body.

  The accommodating portion formed inside the coating head is supplied and filled with the elastic layer forming material. The elastic layer forming material is discharged from the slit-shaped discharge port of the coating head and applied to the outer peripheral surface of the shaft body.

  Since the coating head moves along the axial direction of the shaft body by the coating head moving means, the elastic layer forming material is coated on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft body in the region where the coating head has moved.

  In the case of an application head having only one or two elastic layer forming material supply ports, the fluid of the elastic layer forming material discharged from the slit-shaped discharge port close to one or two elastic layer forming material supply ports The pressure and / or discharge amount differs from the fluid pressure and / or discharge amount of the elastic layer forming material discharged from the slit-like discharge port located far from the elastic layer forming material supply port. In the present invention, three or more elastic layer forming material supply ports provided in the coating head are provided on the coating head. Therefore, the fluid pressure and / or the discharge amount of the elastic layer forming material discharged from the slit-shaped discharge port is almost uniform, and therefore, the outer peripheral surface of the shaft body is placed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft body. Bullet formed There are no possibility that uneven thickness is generated in the layers, small enough no practical problem even occurs. In addition, according to the present invention, since the elastic layer forming material is supplied into the housing portion from three or more elastic layer forming material supply ports, the elastic layer forming material discharged from the slit-shaped discharge port may be interrupted. The elastic roller can be manufactured with high production efficiency.

  Further, in the case of an application head having only one or two elastic layer forming material supply ports, the elastic layer forming material supplied from the one or two elastic layer forming material supply ports into the accommodating portion is contained in the accommodating portion. The elastic layer forming material that has been divided into two hands finally merges, and as a result, streaks are formed in the elastic layer formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft body, and there is a risk of formation. However, in this invention, since the elastic layer forming material is supplied into the housing portion from three or more elastic layer forming material supply ports, the elastic layer supplied from one elastic layer forming material supply port Since the forming material and the elastic layer forming material supplied from the other elastic layer forming material supply port are immediately merged and integrated, there is a streak in the elastic layer formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft body as a result. If it is not formed and may be formed And a degree no practical problem. Therefore, according to this invention, an elastic roller can be manufactured with a high yield.

  In the case of an application head having only one or two elastic layer forming material supply ports, if the elastic layer forming material has a high viscosity, the elastic layer forming material must be supplied into the housing portion with a high discharge pressure. Even if the elastic layer forming material could not be filled into the accommodating portion, and even if it could be filled, the supply amount of the elastic layer forming material discharged from the slit-like discharge port to the surface of the shaft body is The supply amount of the elastic layer forming material supplied from the elastic layer forming material supply port to the housing portion cannot catch up, and as a result, the supply of the elastic layer forming material supplied from the slit-shaped discharge port is intermittent. Thus, the elastic layer cannot be formed on the surface of the shaft body. In the present invention, the elastic layer forming material supply port supplies three or more elastic layers into the accommodating portion. Two elastic layer forming materials There is no need to increase the deliberately no need to increase the deliberately, and the extrusion rate at the time of molding the elastic layer forming material supply port as compared with the case of only the sheet outlet without coating head.

<Elastic roller manufacturing equipment>
The elastic roller manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is an apparatus for manufacturing an elastic roller. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the elastic roller 1 includes a shaft body 2 and an elastic layer 3 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft body 2, and if desired, as shown in FIG. 2, A coating layer 4 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the elastic layer 3, and is disposed in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the elastic roller manufacturing apparatus 10 as an example of the present invention includes a coating head 11, a coating head moving unit 12, and a shaft body mounting unit 13. The coating head moving means 12 includes a base 14, a guide rail 16 provided on a side surface of a support column 15 standing on the upper surface thereof, a traveling body 17 that travels on the guide rail 16, and a traveling body 17. The coating head mounting member 18 mounted horizontally and a drive source (not shown) for driving the traveling body 17 are provided. The shaft body mounting means 13 is means for fixing the shaft body 2 vertically, and detachably fixes the upper end portion of the shaft body 2 provided on the arm body 19 extending horizontally from the support column 15. An upper fixing means 20 and a lower fixing means 21 provided on the upper surface of the base 14 for detachably fixing the lower end portion of the shaft body 2 are provided. The elastic roller manufacturing apparatus 10 further includes an elastic layer forming material supply unit 21A for supplying an elastic layer forming material to the coating head 11, and the elastic layer forming material supply unit 21A includes the elastic layer forming material. And a supply line 23 for feeding the elastic layer forming material in the storage tank 22 to the coating head 11 and a pump (not shown).

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the coating head 11 includes an annular housing 25 having a central opening 24 through which the shaft body 2 is inserted at the center, and a housing portion formed inside the housing 25. 26, a slit-like discharge port 28 formed so as to communicate the receiving portion 26 and the central opening 24, and a rotationally symmetrical arrangement about the central axis of the central opening 24, for example 3 The elastic layer forming material supply ports 29 </ b> A, 29 </ b> B, and 29 </ b> C are provided on the coating head mounting member 18. The slit-like discharge port 28 is formed in an annular shape on the cylindrical inner surface 27 of the coating head 11 that forms the central opening 24 so as to surround the outer peripheral surface of the shaft body 2. A gap having a constant interval is formed between the inner surface 27 of the coating head 11 and the outer surface of the shaft body 2. The axis of the cylindrical inner surface 27 in the coating head 11 and the axis of the shaft body 2 coincide. As shown in FIG. 5, the three elastic layer forming material supply ports 29A, 29B, and 29C form a casing in the coating head 11 so as to form an angle of 120 degrees with respect to the central axis of the coating head 11. It is located on the outer surface of 25 and is in a position to be rotated by a 120 degree rotation. The three elastic layer forming material supply ports 29A, 29B, and 29C communicate with the supply line 23 and the accommodating portion 26, and the elastic layer forming material fed through the supply line 23 is elastic layer forming. It is injected into the accommodating portion 26 through the material supply ports 29A, 29B, 29C. In this example, the number of elastic layer forming material supply ports is three. However, in the present invention, the number of elastic layer forming material supply ports may be three or more. However, in consideration of the structure of the coating head and the ease of manufacture thereof, the number of elastic layer forming material supply ports is preferably 3 or more and 6 or less.

  The elastic layer forming material supply ports 29A, 29B, and 29C are connected to the storage tank 22 via the supply line 23 so that the elastic layer forming material in the storage tank 22 is supplied into the storage unit 26. It has become.

  It is preferable that the inner surface 27 of the central opening 24 in the coating head 11 and the outer peripheral surface of the shaft body 2 have a gap 70 of 0.1 to 10 mm. When having such a gap 70, the elastic layer coating film is formed by uniformly applying the elastic layer forming material having a viscosity of 10 to 4000 Pa · s to the outer peripheral surface of the shaft body 2 without forming streaks or the like. 71 can be formed easily.

<Elastic layer forming material>
The elastic layer forming material may be any material that can form the elastic layer 3 in the elastic roller 1. For example, a conductive rubber containing rubber, a conductivity imparting agent, and various additives as required. A composition can be mentioned.

  The said rubber | gum is not specifically limited, The viscosity should just be less than 10-4000 Pa.s. For example, silicone or silicone-modified rubber, nitrile rubber, ethylene propylene rubber (including ethylene propylene diene rubber), styrene butadiene rubber, butadiene rubber, isoprene rubber, natural rubber, acrylic rubber, chloroprene rubber, butyl rubber, epichlorohydrin rubber, urethane rubber , And rubbers such as fluororubber are mentioned. Silicone or silicone-modified rubber is preferred because it is excellent in heat resistance and charging characteristics. These rubbers may be a liquid type or a millable type, and can be appropriately selected depending on the molding method of the elastic layer 3, the characteristics required for the elastic layer 3, and the like. Examples of the rubber preferably used include liquid type silicone rubber and urethane rubber.

  The liquid type silicone rubber contains an organopolysiloxane represented by the following average composition formula (1).

R _n SiO _{(4-n) / 2} (1)
Here, R is a substituted or unsubstituted monovalent hydrocarbon group which may be the same or different, preferably a monovalent hydrocarbon group having 1 to 12 carbon atoms, more preferably 1 to 8 carbon atoms. Yes, n is a positive number from 1.95 to 2.05.

  R is, for example, an alkyl group such as a methyl group, an ethyl group, a propyl group, a butyl group, a hexyl group and a dodecyl group, a cycloalkyl group such as a cyclohexyl group, an alkenyl such as a vinyl group, an allyl group, a butenyl group and a hexenyl group. Group, aryl groups such as phenyl and tolyl groups, aralkyl groups such as β-phenylpropyl group, and part or all of hydrogen atoms bonded to carbon atoms of these groups are substituted with halogen atoms or cyano groups A chloromethyl group, a trifluoropropyl group, a cyanoethyl group, etc. are mentioned.

  In the (A) organopolysiloxane, the molecular chain end is preferably blocked with a trimethylsilyl group, a dimethylvinyl group, a dimethylhydroxysilyl group, a trivinylsilyl group or the like. This organopolysiloxane preferably has at least two alkenyl groups in the molecule, and specifically, 0.001 to 5 mol%, particularly 0.01 to 0.5 mol% of alkenyl groups in R. It is preferable to have a vinyl group. In particular, when a platinum catalyst and an organohydrogenpolysiloxane are used in combination as a curing agent described later, an organopolysiloxane having such an alkenyl group is usually used.

  In addition, this organopolysiloxane can be obtained by cohydrolyzing and condensing one or more selected organohalosilanes, or by converting cyclic polysiloxanes such as siloxane trimers or tetramers into alkaline or It can be obtained by ring-opening polymerization using an acidic catalyst. This organopolysiloxane is basically a linear diorganopolysiloxane, but may be partially branched. Further, it may be a mixture of two or more different molecular structures. This organopolysiloxane usually has a viscosity of 100 cSt or more at 25 ° C., preferably 100,000 to 10,000,000 cSt. The organopolysiloxane usually has a degree of polymerization of 100 or more, preferably 3,000 or more, and an upper limit of preferably 100,000, and more preferably 10,000.

  The conductivity-imparting agent is not particularly limited as long as it has conductivity, and examples thereof include conductive powder and ion conductive material. More specifically, examples of the conductive powder include carbons for rubber such as SAF, ISAF, HAF, FEF, GPF, SRF, FT, and MT in addition to conductive carbon such as ketjen black and acetylene black. In addition, metals such as titanium oxide, zinc oxide, nickel, copper, silver, germanium, and conductive polymers such as metal oxides, polyaniline, polypyrrole, polyacetylene, etc. can be mentioned. Specific examples include inorganic ionic conductive materials such as sodium perchlorate, lithium perchlorate, calcium perchlorate, and lithium chloride. The conductivity imparting agent is added in an appropriate content so that a desired electrical resistance value is exhibited when the conductive layer is used alone or in combination of two or more. For example, the content of the conductivity-imparting agent in the resin composition can be 2 to 80 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the rubber.

The resin composition contains a silica-based filler as desired. The silica-based filler is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include fumed silica or precipitated silica, and a surface having a high reinforcing effect that is surface-treated with a silane coupling agent represented by a general formula RSi (OR ′) _3. A treated silica-based filler is preferred. Here, R in the general formula is a glycidyl group, vinyl group, aminopropyl group, methacryloxy group, N-phenylaminopropyl group, mercapto group or the like, and R ′ in the general formula is a methyl group or an ethyl group. . The silane coupling agent represented by the general formula can be easily obtained, for example, as trade names “KBM1003” and “KBE402” manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. Such a silica-based filler surface-treated with a silane coupling agent can be obtained by treating the surface of the silica-based filler according to a conventional method. In addition, a commercial item may be used for the silica type filler surface-treated with the silane coupling agent. M.M. A trade name “Zeothix 95” manufactured by HUBER Co., Ltd. is available. The compounding amount of the silica-based filler is preferably 11 to 39 parts by mass, particularly preferably 15 to 35 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the resin.

  The resin composition may contain various additives usually contained in the resin composition in addition to the resin, and optionally a conductivity-imparting agent and a silica-based filler. Examples of the various additives include: Auxiliaries such as curing agents, chain extenders and crosslinking agents, catalysts, dispersants, foaming agents, anti-aging agents, antioxidants, fillers, pigments, colorants, processing aids, softeners, plasticizers, emulsifiers, Examples thereof include a heat resistance improver, a flame retardant improver, an acid acceptor, a heat conductivity improver, a release agent, and a solvent. These various additives may be commonly used additives or may be specially used additives depending on applications.

  Examples of the curing agent include a curing agent obtained by combining a known platinum-based catalyst and an organohydrogenpolysiloxane, and an organic peroxide. As the platinum-based catalyst, a known catalyst can be used, specifically, platinum element simple substance, platinum compound, platinum complex, chloroplatinic acid, chloroplatinic acid alcohol compound, aldehyde compound, ether compound, Examples include complexes with various olefins. The content of the platinum-based catalyst may be an effective amount, that is, a so-called catalytic amount. For example, it is preferably 1 to 2,000 ppm in terms of platinum group metal with respect to (A) the organopolysiloxane.

The organohydrogenpolysiloxane may be linear, branched or cyclic, and its degree of polymerization is preferably 300 or less, and a diorganopolysiloxane whose end is blocked with a dimethylhydrogensilyl group. A copolymer having a trimethylsiloxy group at its end and comprising a dimethylsiloxane unit and a methylhydrogensiloxane unit; a low-viscosity fluid comprising a dimethylhydrogensiloxane unit (H (CH ₃ ) ₂ SiO _1/2 and a SiO ₂ unit; , 3,5,7-tetrahydrogen-1,3,5,7-tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane, 1-propyl-3,5,7-trihydrogen-1,3,5,7-tetramethylcyclo Tetrasiloxane, 1,5-dihydrogen-3,7-dihexyl-1,3,5,7-tetramethylcyclotetrasi Examples of the content of the organohydrogenpolysiloxane include (A) an alkenyl group of the organopolysiloxane that is used at a ratio of 50 to 500 mol% of hydrogen atoms directly bonded to silicon atoms. Is preferred.

  Examples of the organic peroxide include di-t-butyl peroxide, alkyl peroxides such as 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-di (t-butylperoxy) hexane, dicumyl peroxide, and the like. Organic peroxides such as aralkyl peroxide can be mentioned. The content of the organic peroxide may be an effective amount, and for example, it is preferably 0.1 to 10 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of (A) organopolysiloxane.

  The conductive rubber composition is prepared by using a rubber kneader such as a two-roller, a three-roller, a roll mill, a Banbury mixer, a dough mixer (kneader), a Startech mixer, a dynamic mixer, etc. It can be obtained, for example, by kneading for several minutes to several hours, preferably 5 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature or under heating until various additives are uniformly mixed as desired.

  The conductive rubber composition is suitable when the elastic roller is formed as a developing roller.

Examples of the elastic layer forming material include a rubber composition containing rubber, a foaming agent or a hollow filler, and various additives as required. Preferred examples of the rubber composition include foamed silicone rubber-based compositions and foamed urethane rubber-based compositions that can form cells in an independent cell state. In particular, the foamed silicone rubber-based composition capable of forming a cell in an independent cell state is excellent in heat resistance, durability, resistance to residual strain, etc., and is suitable for a high-speed operation of an image forming apparatus. It is. As such a foamed silicone rubber composition, an addition reaction type foamed silicone rubber composition is particularly preferred. As a hollow filler, what is necessary is just a filler which can form a cell, for example after hardening | curing a rubber composition, For example, polyorganosiloxane type spherical powder is mentioned. The polyorganosiloxane spherical powder may be a spherical powder made of polyorganosiloxane, and examples thereof include silicone powder. More specifically, a silicone rubber powder having a structure in which linear dimethylpolysiloxane is crosslinked, and having a structure in which a siloxane bond is crosslinked in a three-dimensional network represented by (CH ₃ SiO _3/2 ) _n Examples thereof include a powder of silicone resin such as so-called polymethylsilsesquioxane, and a powder of coated silicone rubber in which the surface of the silicone rubber is coated with silicone resin or the like.

  The addition reaction type foamed silicone rubber composition contains a vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber, a silica-based filler, a foaming agent, an addition reaction crosslinking agent, an addition reaction catalyst, and a reaction control agent. An organic peroxide crosslinking agent, a heat resistance improver, and various additives may be contained.

  Examples of the vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber include millable silicone rubber and heat-crosslinked silicone rubber (HTV: High Temperature Vulcanizing). These vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubbers have the property that a foaming agent and an addition reaction cross-linking agent can be easily kneaded with a roll mill or the like in a later step, and are used alone or in combination of two or more. Can be used.

Examples of the silica-based filler include a fumed silica or a precipitated silica having a reinforcing property, and a surface having a high reinforcing effect that is surface-treated with a silane coupling agent represented by a general formula RSi (OR ′) _3. A treated silica-based filler is preferred. Here, R in the general formula is a glycidyl group, vinyl group, aminopropyl group, methacryloxy group, N-phenylaminopropyl group, mercapto group or the like, and R ′ in the general formula is a methyl group or an ethyl group. . The silane coupling agent represented by the general formula can be easily obtained, for example, as trade names “KBM1003” and “KBE402” manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. Such a silica-based filler surface-treated with a silane coupling agent can be obtained by treating the surface of the silica-based filler according to a conventional method. The compounding amount of the silica-based filler is preferably 5 to 100 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber. A silica type filler can be used individually by 1 type or in mixture of 2 or more types.

  The foaming agent may be any foaming agent conventionally used for foamed rubber. Examples of the inorganic foaming agent include sodium bicarbonate and ammonium carbonate. Examples of the organic foaming agent include diazoamino derivatives, azonitrile derivatives, azo And organic azo compounds such as dicarboxylic acid derivatives. Usually, an inorganic foaming agent is used when forming continuous cells in rubber, and an organic foaming agent is used when forming independent cells. In the elastic roller 1, the foaming agent is preferably an organic foaming agent in that it can form a cell in an independent cell state. An azo compound such as ronitrile is preferably used. In particular, dimethyl-1,1'-azobis (1-cyclohexanecarboxylate) can be preferably used. The blending amount of the foaming agent varies depending on the type of the foaming agent, but it is preferable to adjust so that the Asker C hardness of the elastic layer 3 is 27 to 45. Specifically, for example, it may be 0.1 to 10 parts by mass, particularly 0.5 to 10 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber. If the blending amount of the foaming agent is less than 0.1 parts by mass, sufficient cells may not be formed in the formed elastic layer 3, while if it exceeds 10 parts by mass, the foamed silicone rubber In this case, the mechanical strength of the elastic layer 3 may be reduced. When dimethyl-1,1′-azo-bis (1-cyclohexanecarboxylate) is selected as the foaming agent, the blending amount is 0.5-5 with respect to 100 parts by mass of the vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber. The mass part is particularly good. A foaming agent can be used individually by 1 type or in mixture of 2 or more types.

  As the addition reaction crosslinking agent, for example, a known organohydrogenpolysiloxane can be used as an addition reaction type crosslinking agent having two or more SiH groups (SiH bonds) in one molecule. The organohydrogenpolysiloxane may be linear, cyclic or branched. The compounding amount of the organohydrogenpolysiloxane is preferably 0.01 to 20 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber. An addition reaction crosslinking agent can be used individually by 1 type or in mixture of 2 or more types.

  Examples of the addition reaction catalyst include group 9 or group 10 simple metals and compounds thereof, and more specifically, fine platinum particles adsorbed on a support such as silica, alumina, or silica gel. Metals, platinum chloride, chloroplatinic acid, chloroplatinic acid hexahydrate and olefin or divinyldimethylpolysiloxane complex, platinum catalyst such as chloroplatinic acid hexahydrate alcohol solution, palladium catalyst, rhodium catalyst, etc. Can be mentioned. The addition amount of these addition reaction catalysts is sufficient as the catalyst amount, and is usually 1 in terms of the total amount of addition reaction type foamed silicone rubber composition in terms of the amount of metal of Group 9 or Group 10 of the periodic table. It is good that it is -1,000 ppm, and it is especially good that it is 10-500 ppm. If the amount of addition reaction catalyst is less than 1 ppm in terms of the amount of metal in Group 9 or Group 10 of the periodic table, the crosslinking reaction of vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber does not proceed sufficiently, and vinyl group-containing silicone Curing of the raw rubber may be insufficient. On the other hand, if it exceeds 1,000 ppm, the ability to accelerate the crosslinking reaction of the vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber may not be improved, and the economic efficiency may be lowered. An addition reaction catalyst can be used individually by 1 type or in mixture of 2 or more types.

  As the reaction control agent, known reaction control agents can be used without limitation, and examples thereof include methylvinylcyclotetrasiloxane, acetylene alcohols, siloxane-modified acetylene alcohol, and hydroperoxide. The compounding amount of the reaction control agent is preferably 0.1 to 2 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber. The reaction control agents can be used alone or in combination of two or more.

  The organic peroxide cross-linking agent can be used alone to cross-link vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber, but if used in combination as an auxiliary cross-linking agent for an addition reaction cross-linking agent, the physical properties of the silicone rubber, such as strength and strain, can be improved. improves. Examples of the organic peroxide crosslinking agent include benzoyl peroxide, bis-2,4-dichlorobenzoyl peroxide, dicumyl peroxide, di-t-butyl peroxide, and 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-bis. (T-butylperoxy) hexane and the like. The compounding amount of the organic peroxide crosslinking agent is preferably 0.3 to 10 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber. An organic peroxide crosslinking agent can be used individually by 1 type or in mixture of 2 or more types.

  The heat resistance improver may be any compound that improves the heat resistance of the elastic layer 3, and examples thereof include carbon black, iron oxide (also referred to as bengara), cerium oxide, and cerium hydroxide. These can be used individually by 1 type or in mixture of 2 or more types.

The carbon black can be generally classified into furnace black, channel black, acetylene black, thermal black, etc. depending on the production method. However, if the content of sulfur, amine, etc. is large, the addition reaction type foamed silicone rubber composition Since the addition reaction may be inhibited, carbon black having a low content of sulfur, amine, etc., for example, acetylene black is preferably used. Preferred examples of the iron oxide include black bengara (Fe ₃ O ₄ ) and red bengara (Fe ₂ O ₃ ). The cerium oxide and the cerium hydroxide may be used alone, but it is preferable that the cerium oxide and the cerium hydroxide are used together with the carbon black and / or the iron oxide because the change in hardness of the elastic layer 3 can be suppressed. .

  The total amount of the heat resistance improver is preferably 0.1 to 35 parts by mass, and particularly preferably 1 to 10 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber. If the total blending amount of the heat resistance improver is within the above range, the blending amounts of carbon black, iron oxide, cerium oxide and cerium hydroxide are not particularly limited. For example, the compounding amount of the carbon black is preferably 0 to 15 parts by mass, more preferably 0.2 to 15 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber. The mass part is particularly good. The blending amount of Bengala is preferably 0 to 30 parts by mass, more preferably 0.2 to 30 parts by mass, and 2 to 20 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber. There is especially good. The blending amounts of cerium oxide and cerium hydroxide are preferably 0.1 to 5 parts by weight, particularly 0.2 to 2 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber. Good.

  The various additives include, for example, fillers such as calcium carbonate, colorants, flame retardant improvers, thermal conductivity improvers, release agents, alkoxy silanes, diphenyl silane diols, carbon functional silanes, Examples thereof include dispersants such as both-end silanol-blocked low-molecular siloxanes, and non-reinforcing silica such as pulverized quartz and diatomaceous earth that can adjust the hardness of the resulting rubber. These various additives are blended in a desired blending amount.

  As the silicone rubber composition containing the vinyl group-containing silicone raw rubber, the silica filler, and the various additives, for example, trade names “KE series” and “KEG series” manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. can be easily used. It can be obtained.

  The specific gravity of the rubber composition is not particularly limited, but the specific gravity of the rubber composition also affects the density of the elastic layer 3 to some extent. Adjusted. The specific gravity of the rubber composition is usually preferably 1.00 to 2.00, more preferably 1.05 to 1.50.

  Until the rubber composition is uniformly mixed using a rubber kneader such as a two-roll, three-roll, roll mill, Banbury mixer, dough mixer (kneader), Startec mixer, dynamic mixer, etc., for example, several It is obtained by kneading at room temperature or under heating for a period of minutes to several hours, preferably 5 minutes to 1 hour.

  The rubber composition is suitable when this elastic roller is used as a fixing roller.

<Manufacture of elastic rollers>
When the elastic roller 1 is manufactured, the shaft body 2 is electrically conductive to, for example, a metal such as iron, aluminum, stainless steel, brass, or an alloy thereof, a resin such as a thermoplastic resin or a thermosetting resin, and the resin. Using a material such as a conductive resin blended with carbon black or metal powder as a property imparting agent, it is prepared in a desired shape by a known method. When the shaft body 2 is required to have conductivity, in addition to the metal and the conductive resin, the surface of the insulating core formed of the resin or the like is plated by a regular method to form the shaft body 2. be able to. Among the above materials, a metal is preferable and aluminum or stainless steel is particularly preferable from the viewpoint that conductivity can be easily imparted.

  The shaft body 2 may be coated with a primer on its outer peripheral surface as desired. A primer is melt | dissolved in a solvent etc. as needed, and is apply | coated to the outer peripheral surface of the shaft body 2 according to a usual method, for example, a dip method, a spray method, etc. The primer is not particularly limited. For example, alkyd resin, phenol-modified silicone modified alkyd resin, oil-free alkyd resin, acrylic resin, silicone resin, epoxy resin, fluororesin, phenol resin, polyamide resin, Examples thereof include urethane resins and mixtures thereof. If desired, a crosslinking agent for curing and / or crosslinking the resin can be used. Examples of such a crosslinking agent include isocyanate compounds, melamine compounds, epoxy compounds, peroxides, phenol compounds, and hydrogen siloxane compounds. Etc. The primer layer is formed with a thickness of 0.1 to 10 μm, for example.

  The shaft body 2 is mounted on the elastic roller manufacturing apparatus 10 by the shaft body mounting means 13. That is, the upper end portion of the shaft body 2 inserted through the central opening 24 in the coating head 11 is fixed by the upper fixing means 20, and the lower end portion of the shaft body 2 is fixed by the lower fixing means 21.

  In the initial state, the coating head 11 is located near the upper end of the shaft body 2. In the coating head 11, the uncured elastic layer forming material is supplied from the storage tank 22 through the three supply lines 23 into the accommodating portion 26 through the three elastic layer forming material supply ports 29 </ b> A, 29 </ b> B, 29 </ b> C. The housing portion 26 is filled with an uncured elastic layer forming material.

  When the gap 70 between the inner surface 27 of the central opening 24 and the outer peripheral surface of the shaft body 2 in the coating head 11 is, for example, 0.1 to 10 mm, the viscosity of the uncured elastic layer forming material is When the pressure is 10 to 4000 Pa · s, the discharge rate of the uncured elastic layer forming material supplied to the outer surface of the shaft body 2 from the inside of the accommodating portion 26 through the slit-like discharge port 28 is 0.01 to 500 g / min. The lowering speed of the coating head 11 is preferably adjusted appropriately so that the uncured elastic layer forming material on the shaft body is not interrupted and does not overflow too much around the shaft body. Such a discharge speed is preferable because it is easy to form a roller with less uneven thickness, no joints, and a high outer diameter and high deflection accuracy.

  In particular, when uncured elastic layer forming material is supplied into the accommodating portion 26 from the three elastic layer forming material supply ports 29A, 29B, 29C, one elastic layer forming material is contained in the accommodating portion 26. The flow of the uncured elastic layer forming material supplied into the housing portion 26 from the supply port, and the uncured elastic layer forming material supplied into the housing portion 26 from the adjacent elastic layer forming material supply port. The flow merges into a uniform flow and pressure, and a uniform discharge speed is provided over the entire circumference of the slit-shaped discharge port 28, and the uncured elastic layer forming material is supplied to the outer surface of the shaft body 2.

  The coating head 11 located in the vicinity of the upper end portion of the shaft body 2 is lowered along the shaft body by driving means (not shown). As the coating head 11 is lowered, the uncured elastic layer forming material discharged from the slit-shaped discharge port 28 is applied to the outer surface of the shaft body 2.

  When the coating head 11 is lowered to the vicinity of the lower end portion of the shaft body 2, a coarse elastic layer coating 71 made of an uncured elastic layer forming material is formed on the outer surface of the shaft body 2.

  Thereafter, the shaft body 2 having the coarse elastic layer coating film 71 is removed from the elastic roller manufacturing apparatus 10 and heated and cured, and if necessary, polished and surface coated, etc., an elastic roller such as a developing roller, a fixing roller, etc. Get.

  The elastic roller manufactured by the method of the present invention can be suitably incorporated in an image forming apparatus. Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular as an image forming apparatus, The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 3 can be mentioned as an example. In FIG. 3, 30 is an image forming apparatus, 31 is an image carrier, 32 is a charging unit, 33 is an exposure unit, 34 is a transfer unit, 35 is a fixing unit, 36 is a transfer target, 37 is a cleaning unit, and 40 is a development unit. Means 41, developer container 42, developer 43, developer supply means 44, development roller 44, developer control member 45, housing 50, opening 52, fixing roller 53, 54 Endless belt support rollers 55 are endless belts.

(Examples 1-20)
An electroless nickel-plated shaft (SUM22, diameter 15 mm, length 275 mm) was washed with toluene, and a silicone primer (trade name “Primer No. 16”, manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) was formed on the surface. ) Was applied. The shaft body subjected to the primer treatment was fired at a temperature of 150 ° C. for 10 minutes using a gear oven, and then cooled at room temperature for 30 minutes or more to form a primer layer on the surface of the shaft body.
On the other hand, 100 parts by mass of liquid conductive silicone rubber (trade name “KE-1334”, manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) and 10 parts by mass of carbon black (trade name “Asahi Thermal”, manufactured by Asahi Carbon Co., Ltd.) were stirred. The mixture was mixed with a mixer and vacuum degassed to obtain a conductive silicone rubber for molding. The viscosity was 35 Pa · s.

  Next, by mixing silicone oil (trade name “KF-96”, manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) and silica (trade name “RS-150”, manufactured by Tosoh Silica Co., Ltd.), the viscosity of Table 1 Thus, an uncured elastic layer forming material was prepared.

    Next, the coating head 11 having three elastic layer forming material supply ports 29A to 29C was selected and adjusted so as to have the ejection speed and gap shown in Table 1.

(Comparative Examples 1-3)
The coating head 11 having two elastic layer forming material supply ports (not shown) arranged so as to form an angle of 180 degrees with respect to the central axis of the coating head 11 is selected, and the ejection speed shown in Table 1 is selected. And it adjusted so that it might become a gap.

<Measurement of outer diameter and runout accuracy of elastic roller>
Each elastic roller molded based on the conditions shown in Table 1 was measured for the outer diameter accuracy and runout accuracy of each elastic roller with a laser measuring device LSM-6000 manufactured by Mitutoyo Corporation.

The outer diameter accuracy is at least the average outer diameter (r _av ) of the elastic layer 3 determined from the measured outer diameter by measuring the outer diameter at three points of the central portion and the vicinity of both ends of the elastic layer 3. It is a value indicating the difference in outer diameter (r _x −r _av ) between the outer diameter (r _x ) and the average outer diameter (r _av ) at each measurement point, specifically, at each measurement point, It is calculated by [(r _x −r _av ) / r _av ] × 100 (%). Here, the outer diameter accuracy of the elastic layer 3 is determined by measuring the outer diameter at the measurement point of the elastic layer 3 with the laser measuring instrument according to a conventional method, and calculating from the measured outer diameters by the above formula. Judgment based on criteria.

○: ± 0.14%
Δ: ± 0.25% (excluding the range of ± 0.14%)
X: Less than −0.25% or more than 0.25% (excluding 0.25%)
The deflection accuracy of the elastic layer 3 is affected by the distance between the center point 3C of the elastic layer 3 and the center point 2C of the shaft body 2. For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, the elastic roller 1 has an elastic layer 3 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft body 2 with the axis 2 </ b> C of the shaft body 2 being shifted in the axial direction. FIG. 7B shows a cross section taken along line AA of the elastic roller 1. Referring to FIG. 7, the deflection accuracy of the elastic layer 3 is the difference (t _max −t _min ) between the maximum thickness (t _max ) and the minimum thickness (t _min ) of the elastic layer 3, in other words, the shaft body 2. The difference (L ₂ −L ₁ ) between the longest distance L ₂ and the shortest distance L ₁ from the center point 2 C of the elastic layer 3 to the outer peripheral surface of the elastic layer 3 is expressed as a percentage with respect to the average outer diameter (r _av ) of the elastic layer 3. Is calculated as a value.

That is, the deflection accuracy of the elastic layer 3 is such that the maximum thickness (t of the elastic layer 3 at the three points of the central portion and the vicinity of both ends of the elastic layer 3 with respect to the average outer diameter (r _av ) of the elastic layer 3 _max )) and the minimum thickness (t _min ) is a value (t _max −t _min ) expressed as a percentage. More specifically, at each measurement point, the equation [(t _max −t _min ) / R _av ] × 100 (%).

  Here, the runout accuracy of the elastic roller is measured by measuring the distance from the center point of the elastic roller to the outer peripheral surface of the elastic roller at each measurement point with a laser length measuring machine while rotating the elastic roller. From the distance and the shortest distance, it was calculated by the above formula, and the result was judged based on the following criteria.

○: 0.5% or less Δ: Over 0.5%, 0.8% or less ×: Over 0.8%

  In order to form a high-quality image in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 3, it is usually preferable that the outer diameter accuracy is within a range of ± 0.25% and the shake accuracy is 0.8% or less. .

<Measurement of electrical resistance of roller>
The electrical resistance of the molded roller is measured by using a resistance measuring instrument such as a product name “R8340A” (manufactured by Advantest Co., Ltd.). Was measured.

  The variation in the electrical resistance value was determined according to the following criteria.

○: (maximum value of electrical resistance value / minimum value of electrical resistance value) is 10 or less △: (maximum value of electrical resistance value / minimum value of electrical resistance value) is over 10 and less than 100 ×: (of electrical resistance value (Maximum value / minimum value of electrical resistance value) exceeds 100.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an elastic roller as an example manufactured by the elastic roller manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an elastic roller as another example manufactured by the elastic roller manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an example of an image forming apparatus incorporating an elastic roller as an example manufactured by the elastic roller manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a coating head in an elastic roller manufacturing apparatus which is an example of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the coating head. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing an elastic roller manufacturing apparatus as an example of the present invention. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the principle of measuring the deflection accuracy of the elastic roller in the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Elastic roller 2 Shaft body 2C Shaft body center point 3 Elastic layer 3C Elastic layer center point 4 Coat layer 10 Elastic roller manufacturing apparatus 11 Coating head 12 Coating head moving means 13 Shaft body mounting means 14 Shaft body mounting means 15 Strut 16 Guide rail 17 Traveling body 18 Coating head mounting member 19 Arm body 20 Upper fixing means 21 Lower fixing means 21A Elastic layer forming material supply means 22 Reservoir tank 23 Supply line 24 Center opening 25 Housing 26 Storage part 27 Inner surface 28 Slit Ejection ports 29A, 29B, 29C Elastic layer forming material supply port 30 Image forming apparatus 31 Image carrier 32 Charging means 33 Exposure means 34 Transfer means 35 Fixing means 36 Transfer target 37 Cleaning means 40 Developing means 41 Developer container 42 Developer 43 Developer Supply Means 44 Developing Roller 45 Developer Restricting Member 50 Housing 52 Opening 5 Fixing roller 54 the endless belt supporting roller 55 the endless belt 70 gap 71 rough elastic layer coating film 80 laser measuring instrument

Claims (5)

An elastic roller manufacturing apparatus having a coating head and a coating head moving means capable of moving the coating head in the axial direction of the shaft body of the elastic roller,
The coating head has a concentric annular gap with the shaft body of the elastic roller, and is formed with a slit-like discharge port that is open to the shaft body of the elastic roller,
The coating head includes a housing part that houses an uncured elastic layer forming material ejected from the slit-shaped ejection port, and three or more disposed on a rotation target around the central axis of the coating head. An elastic roller manufacturing apparatus having an elastic layer forming material supply port for supplying the elastic layer forming material to the housing portion.   The gap is 0.1 to 10 mm, the uncured elastic layer forming material has a viscosity of 10 to 4000 Pa · s, and a discharge speed of 0.01 to 500 g / min. The elastic roller manufacturing apparatus as described.   The elastic roller manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the slit-shaped discharge port has a width of 0.1 to 10 mm. In an elastic roller manufacturing method of forming an elastic layer on the outer peripheral surface of a shaft body after applying an uncured elastic layer forming material on the outer surface of the shaft body,
Using the elastic roller manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, while moving the coating head moving means along the axis of the shaft body, the outer surface of the shaft body from the slit-like discharge port A method for producing an elastic roller, characterized in that an uncured elastic layer forming material is discharged and applied to the surface.   The elastic roller manufacturing method according to claim 4, wherein the elastic layer forming material has a viscosity of 10 to 4000 Pa · s.

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