JP2009294356A - Cleaning device, image forming apparatus and process cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning device, having high removing performance and restraining lowering of cleaning performance of a central part in the longitudinal direction of a plate-like elastic member on a surface moving member by the plate-like elastic member when the surface moving member moves on the surface, and an image forming apparatus and a process cartridge including the device. <P>SOLUTION: This cleaning device 30 includes a long plate-like elastic member 31, a holding member 32 holding the plate-like elastic member 31, and a warp regulating member 32A for regulating a warp of the plate-like elastic member 31 caused when one side extending in the longitudinal direction in the plate-like elastic member 31 presses the plate-like elastic member 31 to the surface of the surface moving member 10 in the direction orthogonal to the surface moving direction of the surface moving member 10, wherein the holding member 32 holds the plate-like elastic member 31 through the warp regulating member 32A, and the central part in the longitudinal direction of the above one side is projected toward the surface moving member 10 more than both end parts. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning device that removes deposits on the surface of a surface moving member, and an image forming apparatus and a process cartridge such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile machine including the same.

  As this type of image forming apparatus, various types such as an electrophotographic type and an inkjet type are known, and many include a surface moving member. For example, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a latent image carrier (image carrier) such as a photosensitive drum, an intermediate transfer body (image carrier) such as an intermediate transfer belt, a recording material conveyance member such as a paper conveyance belt, etc. The one provided with the surface moving member is known. Inkjet image forming apparatuses are known that include a surface moving member such as a recording material conveying member such as a paper conveying belt. In general, if an unnecessary deposit adheres to the surface of such a surface moving member, various problems are caused. Therefore, a cleaning means for removing the deposit from the surface of the surface moving member is required. As this cleaning means, the structure is simple and the removal performance of the adhering matter is excellent. Therefore, a long cleaning blade made of a plate-like elastic member such as polyurethane rubber is pressed against the surface of the surface moving member. A blade type that removes water is widely used.

  As a blade-type cleaning device, one using a trailing method (such as Patent Document 1) and one employing a counter method (such as Patent Document 2) are known. In this specification, the “trailing method” is a method of a contact portion on the surface of the surface moving member on which the support portion of the holding member for holding the cleaning blade with respect to the apparatus main body abuts the contact side of the cleaning blade. The surface moving member is located on the upstream side of the surface moving direction with respect to the line. In addition, the “counter method” means that the support portion of the holding member that holds the cleaning blade with respect to the apparatus main body is closer to the surface than the normal of the contact portion on the surface of the surface moving member that the contact side of the cleaning blade contacts. It shall mean what is located downstream in the moving direction of the moving member surface.

In general, the counter method has an advantage of higher removal performance than the trailing method because the contact pressure can be increased as compared with the trailing method.
More specifically, in the case of the trailing method, when the cleaning blade is pressed with a large force to increase the contact pressure, the cleaning blade is greatly warped, and the surface moving member is moved upstream in the surface movement direction with respect to the contact side of the cleaning blade. An anti-abnormal phenomenon occurs in which the upstream side surface of the cleaning blade located on the side contacts the surface of the surface moving member. When the stomach contact phenomenon occurs, the contact area between the cleaning blade and the surface moving member surface increases abruptly. Therefore, even if the surface moving member is pressed with a large force, the contact pressure is reduced and the removal performance is lowered. It will be. On the other hand, in the case of the counter method, even if the cleaning blade is pressed with a large force to increase the contact pressure, the frictional force works against the warping of the cleaning blade, and therefore the warping of the cleaning blade is small. For this reason, even when the cleaning blade is pressed with a large force, the anti-abdomen phenomenon hardly occurs, and a large pressing force can be applied to a small contact area. Therefore, high contact pressure can be realized and high removal performance can be obtained.

Therefore, when high removal performance is required, a counter type cleaning device is adopted. In particular, in recent electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, a toner having a spherical shape with a small particle diameter, particularly a polymerized toner, is often used, and high removal performance is required to remove such toner. . For this reason, the trailing cleaning device has insufficient removal performance, and a counter cleaning device is often employed.
However, in the conventional counter type cleaning apparatus, if the cleaning blade is excessively pressed to increase the contact pressure in order to obtain a high removal performance, the following problems occur. That is, even if it is a counter type cleaning device, if the cleaning blade is pressed too much with a large force, warping of the cleaning blade, deformation of the cleaning blade itself, and the like increase. As the warp or deformation of the cleaning blade increases in this way, the contact area between the cleaning blade and the surface moving member surface increases, and even if the cleaning blade is pressed against the surface moving member with a large force, the contact pressure is reversed. As a result, the removal performance is degraded.

  In the cleaning device described in Patent Document 3, the cleaning blade is moved via a warp regulating member that regulates the warping of the cleaning blade that occurs when a cleaning blade that is long in the width direction of the surface moving member is pressed against the surface of the surface moving member. It is held by a blade holder. Thereby, the warpage of the cleaning blade is restricted, and the contact area between the cleaning blade and the surface moving member surface can be reduced as compared with the case where the cleaning blade is not restricted. That is, in the counter system in which the warping of the cleaning blade is not regulated, the cleaning blade is warped and the cleaning blade itself is deformed by pressing the contact side of the cleaning blade against the surface of the surface moving member. The contact area increases as the warp of the cleaning blade increases, and increases as the deformation of the cleaning blade itself increases. In the cleaning device described in Patent Document 3, since the warpage of the cleaning blade is regulated by the warpage regulating member, the contact area is mainly determined only by the deformation of the cleaning blade itself. Therefore, in the cleaning device described in Patent Document 3, the contact area when the cleaning blade is pressed with the same amount of force is reduced as compared with the conventional counter method in which the warping of the cleaning blade is not regulated. Can do. Therefore, in the cleaning device described in Patent Document 3, the contact pressure when the cleaning blade is pressed with the same magnitude of force is increased and the removal performance is improved as compared with the counter method in which the warping of the cleaning blade is not regulated. Can be made.

JP-A-60-198574 JP 2006-11375 A JP 2008-96965 A

  Further, in the cleaning device described in Patent Document 3, the cleaning blade is held by a holding member that is long in the width direction of the surface moving member, and both ends in the long direction of the holding member are pivotally supported with respect to the apparatus main body. Yes. In such a configuration, when the surface of the surface moving member that comes into contact with the cleaning blade moves, the holding member receives a force from the surface moving member via the cleaning blade, and the central portion is located at both ends of the holding member in the longitudinal direction. May be bent into a concave state. When the holding member bends in this way, the cleaning blade held by the holding member also bends with the center portion recessed relative to both ends in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning blade. When this bending occurs in the cleaning blade, the amount of biting in the central portion of the cleaning blade in the longitudinal direction with respect to the surface moving member becomes smaller than the amount of biting in both ends in the lengthwise direction. Is smaller than the contact pressure at both ends in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, there arises a problem that the cleaning blade cannot sufficiently clean the central portion in the longitudinal direction on the surface moving member.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to obtain a high removal performance and the length of the plate-like elastic member on the surface moving member by the plate-like elastic member during surface movement of the surface moving member. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device capable of suppressing deterioration in cleaning performance at the central portion in the scale direction, and an image forming apparatus and a process cartridge including the same.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is directed to a long plate-like elastic member, a holding member for holding the plate-like elastic member, and one side extending in the longitudinal direction of the plate-like elastic member. A warpage restricting member for restraining warpage of the plate-like elastic member caused by pressing the plate-like elastic member against the surface of the surface-moving member so as to be orthogonal to the surface movement direction of the moving member, and the holding member includes the warpage In the cleaning device that holds the plate-like elastic member via a regulating member, the center portion of the one-side plate-like elastic member in the longitudinal direction is configured to protrude to the surface moving member side from both ends. To do.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning apparatus of the first aspect, the holding member is pivotally supported with respect to the apparatus main body.
Further, the invention of claim 3 is the cleaning device of claim 1 or 2, wherein the holding member has a shape in which the central portion protrudes to the surface moving member side from both ends in the longitudinal direction of the plate-like elastic member. It is characterized by.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device of the first or second aspect, the plate-like elastic member has a shape in which the central portion protrudes toward the surface moving member side from both ends in the longitudinal direction of the plate-like elastic member. It is characterized by being.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to the first, second, third, or fourth aspect, the plate-like elastic member moves the surface of the surface moving member among two surfaces adjacent to the one side. The warp regulating member has a longer length in the direction orthogonal to the one side than the downstream side surface located on the downstream side in the surface movement direction of the surface moving member. Controls the warpage of the plate-like elastic member such that the upstream side surface extends in the direction orthogonal to the one side and the opposing surface of the upstream side surface shrinks. It is characterized by adhering to the opposing surface of the upstream side surface of the member.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device of the fifth aspect, the warpage restricting member is fixed to the entire facing surface of the upstream side surface of the plate-like elastic member. .
The invention of claim 7 is the cleaning device of claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, wherein at least one of the regions where the opposing surface of the plate-like elastic member and the warp restricting member overlap each other. It is characterized in that the end region on the side close to the surface of the surface moving member is subjected to a fixing process.
The invention of claim 8 is the cleaning device of claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, wherein the holding member is in contact with one side of the plate-like elastic member on the surface of the surface moving member. A cleaning device that is supported with respect to the apparatus main body on the downstream side in the surface movement direction of the surface moving member with respect to the normal line of the abutting contact portion.
The invention of claim 9 is the cleaning device according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8, wherein the angle of the ridge line portion formed by the two surfaces adjacent to the one side is the boundary. It is an obtuse angle.
The invention according to claim 10 is the cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9, wherein the warpage restricting member is provided on a side close to the surface of the surface moving member. The end portion is configured to be at the same position or substantially the same position as the boundary side with the downstream side surface of the plate-like elastic member facing the upstream side surface.
Further, the invention of claim 11 is the cleaning device of claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 on the surface of the surface moving member applied by the plate-like elastic member. And a biasing means for increasing the pressing force in the normal direction of the contact portion.
The invention according to claim 12 is the cleaning device according to claim 11, wherein the surface of the surface moving member on the downstream side surface of the plate-like elastic member in a state where the plate-like elastic member is not pressed against the surface moving member. In an attitude in which the angle formed by the upstream portion in the moving direction and the downstream portion in the surface moving direction of the tangent line of the contact portion on the surface of the surface moving member is 5 [°] or more and 50 [°] or less, In this configuration, the elastic member is pressed against the surface moving member.
According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in an image forming apparatus that finally transfers an image formed on an image carrier, which is a surface moving member, to a recording material, unnecessary deposits attached to the image carrier are removed. As a cleaning means, the cleaning device according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 is used.
According to a fourteenth aspect of the invention, there is provided the image forming apparatus according to the thirteenth aspect, further comprising a process cartridge that integrally supports the image carrier and the cleaning device and is detachably provided on the main body of the image forming apparatus. It is what.
The invention of claim 15 is an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material carried on the surface of a recording material conveying member which is a surface moving member. The cleaning device of claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 is used as a cleaning means for removing water.
According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the fifteenth aspect, the image forming apparatus further includes a process cartridge that integrally supports the recording material conveying member and the cleaning device and is detachably provided on the main body of the image forming apparatus. It is a feature.
According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth or sixteenth aspect, the toner constituting the image has a volume average particle size of 3 [μm] or more and 7 [μm] or less. And a toner satisfying any one of an average circularity of 0.940 to 0.998 and shape factors SF-1 and SF-2 of 100 to 160, respectively. Is.
The invention according to claim 18 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17, wherein the toner constituting the image is a polyester prepolymer having a functional group containing a nitrogen atom, polyester, or colorant. And a toner composition containing a release agent is dissolved and / or dispersed in an organic solvent to prepare an organic solvent composition, and the organic solvent composition is dispersed in an aqueous medium in which resin fine particles are present, and crosslinking and / or elongation reaction is performed. It is characterized by using the toner obtained by making it.
According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, the image carrier formed on the image carrier, which is a surface moving member, is finally detachably attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus for transferring the image to the recording material. A process cartridge integrally supporting a cleaning unit for removing unnecessary deposits adhered on the carrier, wherein the cleaning unit is the claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 cleaning device is used.

  In a cleaning blade used in a conventional cleaning device, one side that contacts the surface moving member is on the same straight line at the central portion and both ends of the cleaning blade in the longitudinal direction. For this reason, if the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning blade is recessed from both ends, the amount of biting in the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning blade with respect to the surface moving member becomes smaller than the amount of biting in both ends.

  In this invention, the center part protrudes rather than both ends in the plate-shaped elastic member longitudinal direction of the said one side of a plate-shaped elastic member. As a result, even if the plate-like elastic member is bent so that the center part is recessed from both ends in the longitudinal direction during the surface movement of the surface moving member, the one side in the lengthwise direction protrudes, However, the amount of biting in the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the plate-like elastic member with respect to the surface moving member is larger than in the case where the central portion and the both end portions are on the same straight line. Therefore, compared to the case where the one side is on the same straight line at the longitudinal center and the both ends, the lowering of the contact pressure at the center in the longitudinal direction of the plate-like elastic member with respect to the surface moving member is suppressed, and the plate shape It is possible to suppress the deterioration of the cleaning property at the central portion in the longitudinal direction on the surface moving member due to the elastic member.

  As described above, according to the present invention, high removal performance can be obtained, and deterioration of the cleaning property at the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the plate-like elastic member on the surface moving member by the plate-like elastic member when the surface moving member moves can be suppressed. There is an excellent effect.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a printer as an image forming apparatus will be described.
FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating the printer according to the present embodiment.
The printer 100 forms a full-color image, and mainly includes an image forming unit 120 and a paper feeding unit 130. In the following description, the subscripts Y, C, M, and Bk indicate members for yellow, cyan, magenta, and black, respectively.

  The image forming unit 120 is provided with a yellow toner process cartridge 121Y, a cyan toner process cartridge 121C, a magenta toner process cartridge 121M, and a black toner process cartridge 121Bk in order from the left side in the drawing. These process cartridges 121Y, 121C, 121M, and 121Bk are arranged side by side in a substantially horizontal direction.

  The secondary transfer device 160 includes an endless intermediate transfer belt 162 that is an intermediate transfer member that is stretched around a plurality of support rollers, primary transfer rollers 161Y, 161C, 161M, and 161Bk, and a secondary transfer roller 165. It is mainly composed. The intermediate transfer belt 162 is provided above the process cartridges 121Y, 121C, 121M, and 121Bk, and is a drum-like photoconductor 10Y, 10C as a latent image carrier that is an image carrier as a surface moving member provided in each process cartridge. It is arranged along the surface movement direction of 10M and 10Bk. The intermediate transfer belt 162 moves on the surface in synchronization with the surface movement of the photoreceptors 10Y, 10C, 10M, and 10Bk. Each primary transfer roller 161Y, 161C, 161M, 161Bk is arranged on the inner peripheral surface side of the intermediate transfer belt 162, and an outer peripheral surface (surface) positioned below the intermediate transfer belt 162 by these primary transfer rollers. ) Are in weak pressure contact with the outer peripheral surfaces (surfaces) of the photoreceptors 10Y, 10C, 10M, and 10Bk.

  The configuration and operation of forming a toner image on each of the photoconductors 10Y, 10C, 10M, and 10Bk and transferring the toner image to the intermediate transfer belt 162 are substantially the same for each of the process cartridges 121Y, 121C, 121M, and 121Bk. is there. However, the primary transfer rollers 161Y, 161C, 161M corresponding to the three color process cartridges 121Y, 121C, 121M are provided with a swing mechanism (not shown) that swings them up and down. The swing mechanism operates so that the intermediate transfer belt 162 does not contact the photoconductors 10Y, 10C, and 10M when a color image is not formed.

The secondary transfer device 160 is configured to be detachable from the main body of the printer 100. Specifically, the front cover (not shown) on the front side in FIG. 2 covering the image forming unit 120 of the printer 100 is opened, and the secondary transfer device 160 is moved from the back side to the front side in FIG. By sliding, the secondary transfer device 160 can be detached from the main body of the printer 100. When the secondary transfer device 160 is attached to the main body of the printer 100, an operation opposite to the removal operation may be performed.
A cleaning device for removing adhered matters such as residual toner after the secondary transfer is provided downstream of the secondary transfer roller 165 in the intermediate transfer belt 162 in the surface moving direction and upstream of the process cartridge 121Y. It may be provided. In this case, the cleaning device may have the same configuration as that of a photoconductor cleaning device described later. This cleaning device is preferably provided in the secondary transfer device 160 in a state of being supported integrally with the intermediate transfer belt 162. Accordingly, since the cleaning device can be exchanged integrally with the intermediate transfer belt 162, the user can easily perform maintenance such that the user can easily exchange it while maintaining the positional accuracy.

Above the secondary transfer device 160, toner cartridges 159Y, 159C, 159M, and 159Bk corresponding to the process cartridges 121Y, 121C, 121M, and 121Bk are arranged in a substantially horizontal direction.
Further, an exposure device 140 that forms an electrostatic latent image by irradiating the surface of the charged photoreceptors 10Y, 10C, 10M, and 10Bk with laser light is disposed below the process cartridges 121Y, 121C, 121M, and 121Bk. ing.
A paper feeding unit 130 is disposed below the exposure device 140. The paper feed unit 130 is provided with a paper feed cassette 131 and a paper feed roller 132 for accommodating transfer paper as a recording material, and is provided between the intermediate transfer belt 162 and the secondary transfer roller 165 via a registration roller pair 133. The transfer paper is fed to the secondary transfer nip portion at a predetermined timing.
Further, a fixing device 90 is disposed on the exit side of the secondary transfer nip portion, and on the downstream side of the fixing device 90 in the transfer paper conveyance direction, a discharge roller and a discharge paper for storing the discharged transfer paper are stored. A paper storage unit 135 is disposed.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a process cartridge provided in the printer.
Since the configuration of each process cartridge is substantially the same, in the following description, the configuration and operation of the process cartridge will be described with the subscripts Y, C, M, and Bk for color coding omitted.
The process cartridge 121 includes the photoconductor 10 and a cleaning device 30, a charging device 40, and a developing device 50 arranged around the photoconductor 10.

  The cleaning device 30 has one side (contact side) extending in the longitudinal direction of a cleaning blade (hereinafter simply referred to as “blade”) 31 that is an elastic member elongated in the direction of the rotation axis of the photoconductor 10. Then, unnecessary deposits such as transfer residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive member are separated and removed, and the brush roller 29 discharges them from the front of the blade 31 to the outside. In the present embodiment, polyurethane rubber is used as the material of the blade 31 because it is superior in wearability to the photoreceptor 10 and its own wear resistance compared to other elastic materials. The fiber material of the brush roller uses conductive PET. A detailed description of the cleaning device 30 will be described later.

  The cleaning device 30 may be provided with a lubricant application device. The lubricant application device includes a solid lubricant, a lubricant support member that supports the solid lubricant, and a brush roller 29 that rotates in contact with both the solid lubricant and the photoreceptor 10. Available. In such a lubricant application device, the powdery lubricant scraped from the solid lubricant by the brush roller 29 is applied to the surface of the photoreceptor 10 by the brush roller. In addition, an application blade may be disposed on the downstream side of the brush roller 29 in the movement direction of the photosensitive member so as to contact the surface of the photosensitive member 10. The coating blade is supported by the coating blade holder in a state in which the tip portion is in contact with the surface of the photoconductor 10, and the lubricant applied to the surface of the photoconductor 10 is leveled to make the thickness uniform. Is.

  The charging device 40 is mainly composed of a charging roller 41 disposed so as to contact the photoreceptor 10 and a charging roller cleaner 42 rotating in contact with the charging roller 41. The developing device 50 supplies toner to the surface of the photoconductor 10 to visualize the electrostatic latent image, and includes a developing roller 51 as a developer carrying member that carries the developer on the surface, and a developer. A stirring screw 52 that stirs the developer stored in the storage portion and a supply screw 53 that supplies the stirred developer to the developing roller 51 are mainly configured.

  The four process cartridges 121 having the above-described configuration can be detached and replaced independently by a service person or a user. Further, with respect to the process cartridge 121 removed from the printer 100, the photoconductor 10, the charging device 40, the developing device 50, and the cleaning device 30 are each configured to be replaceable with a new device. The process cartridge 121 may include a waste toner tank that collects the transfer residual toner collected by the cleaning device 30. In this case, if the configuration is such that the waste toner tank can be detached and replaced independently in the process cartridge 121, the convenience is improved.

Next, the operation of the printer 100 will be described.
When a print command is received, first, the photosensitive member 10 is rotated in the direction of arrow A in the figure, and the surface of the photosensitive member 10 is uniformly charged to a predetermined polarity by the charging roller 41 of the charging device 40. The exposure device 140 irradiates, for example, a laser beam light, which is light-modulated in accordance with the input color image data, on the surface of the photoreceptor 10 after charging. The electrostatic latent image is formed. For each electrostatic latent image, each color developer is supplied from the developing roller 51 of the developing device 50, and each color electrostatic latent image is developed with each color developer to form a toner image corresponding to each color. Visualize. Next, a transfer electric field is formed by applying a transfer voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner image to the primary transfer roller 161, and a primary transfer nip is formed by weakly pressing the intermediate transfer belt 162 with the primary transfer roller 161. By these actions, the toner image on each photoconductor 10 is efficiently primary-transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 162. On the intermediate transfer belt 162, the toner images of the respective colors formed on the respective photoconductors 10 are transferred so as to overlap each other, thereby forming a laminated toner image.

  The laminated toner image primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 162 is fed at a predetermined timing via a paper feed roller 132 and a registration roller pair 133 to transfer paper stored in the paper feed cassette 131, and is subjected to secondary transfer. By applying a transfer voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner image to the roller 165, a transfer electric field is formed and transferred onto the transfer paper. The laminated toner image secondarily transferred onto the transfer paper is sent to the fixing device 90 and fixed by heat and pressure. The fixed transfer sheet is discharged and placed in the discharge storage unit 135 by the discharge roller. On the other hand, the transfer residual toner remaining on each photoconductor 10 after the primary transfer is scraped and removed by the blade 31 of the cleaning device 30.

Next, the cleaning device 30 which is a characteristic part of the present invention will be described in detail.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram when the main part of the cleaning device 30 is viewed from the rotation axis direction (Y direction) of the photoconductor 10. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the main part of the cleaning device 30.

  In the present embodiment, the cleaning device 30 includes a blade holder 32 formed of a rigid material that holds the blade 31. The blade holder 32 has a substantially U-shaped cross-section when cut along a cross-section orthogonal to the rotational axis direction of the photoconductor 10, and has a horizontal portion 32A extending in a substantially horizontal direction (left-right direction in FIG. 3). A blade 31 is fixed to the upper surface (the surface facing the upstream side in the movement direction of the photoreceptor surface). The fixing method may be adhesion, hot melt, or other methods. In the present embodiment, the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32 functions as a warpage restricting member that restricts the blade 31 from warping.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the blade holder 32 can hold the blade and function as a warp regulating member. In this case, compared with the configuration of FIG. 4, when the photosensitive member rotates, the blade is pulled more and the contact width of the blade contact portion with the photosensitive member is slightly increased, so that the surface pressure is reduced and the cleaning performance is slightly reduced. However, a sufficient surface pressure can still be applied for cleaning.

  The blade holder 32 has a vertical portion 32B extending in a substantially vertical direction (vertical direction in FIG. 3). A lower end portion (an end portion on the downstream side in the moving direction of the photoreceptor surface) of the vertical portion 32B is pivotally supported by a bearing 60 attached to the frame body 33 via a support shaft 34 attached to the blade holder 32. Here, the blade holder 32 is pivotally supported by the bearing 60, but it is needless to say that the blade holder 32 may be pivotally supported by using another member that holds the blade holder 32. Since the blade holder 32 is pivotally supported with respect to the frame 33, partial adhesion failure between the edge of the blade 31 and the photosensitive member 10 in the blade longitudinal direction can be suppressed.

  At this time, the blade 31 is disposed so as to be closer to the photoconductor than the end portion in the vicinity of the center in the longitudinal direction at the time of initial contact (a state immediately before the photoconductor and the blade are brought into contact with each other). This is for the following reason. Since the blade holder 32 is pivotally supported by the frame 33, when the photosensitive member 10 rotates, the blade holder 32 and the blade 31 are deflected by receiving a force from the photosensitive member and cause elastic deformation. At this time, the end portions of the blade holder 32 and the blade 31 that are pivotally supported are not easily deformed, and the center portion is greatly deformed as compared with the end portions. For this reason, the amount of biting of the blade 31 with respect to the photoconductor 10 is reduced in the central portion with respect to the end portion, and the cleaning property is deteriorated.

  In this embodiment, when the blade 31 is in initial contact (a state immediately before the photosensitive member 10 and the blade 31 are brought into contact with each other), the blade 31 is arranged so as to be closer to the photosensitive member 10 than the end portion at the center in the longitudinal direction. As a result, when the photosensitive member 10 is stationary, the amount of biting of the blade 31 is greater at the center in the longitudinal direction than at the end. However, when the photosensitive member 10 is operating, when the blade 31 and the blade holder 32 are elastically deformed so as to escape from the photosensitive member 10, the blade 31 is located at the central portion of the blade in the longitudinal direction. It is greatly deformed, and the difference in the amount of biting in the longitudinal direction of the blade 31 is reduced. Therefore, a uniform cleaning property by the blade 31 is maintained in the longitudinal direction during the operation of the photosensitive member 10.

  As a means for bringing one side of the blade 31 in contact with the photosensitive member closer to the photosensitive member 10 in the central portion than in the longitudinal direction, the blade holder 32 is moved in the longitudinal direction as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b). There is a method of attaching the blade 31 along the blade holder 32 by bringing the central portion closer to the photoconductor 10 than the end portion. FIGS. 1A and 1B show a part of the blade holder 32, the blade 31 and the photoconductor in the XZ cross section, with the solid line portion being the end in the longitudinal direction and the dotted line portion being the center. Part.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 1C and FIG. 1D, the blade shape may be a shape in which the central portion is expanded in the longitudinal direction, and the central portion may bite into the photoconductor from the end portion. The blade 31 may be affixed to the photosensitive member side so that the central portion is closer to the photosensitive member than the end portion in the longitudinal direction with respect to the blade holder 32. FIGS. 1A and 1B show a part of the blade holder 32, the blade 31 and the photoconductor in the XZ cross section, with the solid line portion being the end in the longitudinal direction and the dotted line portion being the center. Part.

  Further, the configuration in which the central portion is closer to the photoconductor than the end portion in the blade longitudinal direction is not limited to these. That is, when the blade 31 and the blade holder 32 are subjected to a force from the photosensitive member 10 during operation and are deformed and bent more largely at the center than at the blade lengthwise end, the blade lengthwise end and the blade length. Similar effects can be obtained in other configurations as long as the central portion is closer to the photoconductor than the end portion in the blade longitudinal direction so that the difference in the amount of biting with the scale direction is small. It is done. For example, a configuration combining FIG. 1A and FIG. 1C or a configuration combining FIG. 1B and FIG. 1D may be used.

  Further, how much the central portion protrudes from the end in the longitudinal direction of the blade to the photosensitive member side may be obtained by conducting an experiment in advance. For example, 50 [μm], 100 [μm], 50 [μm], etc., such that the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32 as shown in FIG. A plurality of blade holders 32 protruding in steps of [μm], each having a blade 31 having a shape as shown in FIG. Then, the cleaning device 30 is attached to the printer 100, and the image of the same toner amount is cleaned by the cleaning device 30 in the photosensitive member axial direction (longitudinal direction) carried on the photosensitive member 10, and the blade 31 in the photosensitive member axial direction. The amount of toner passing through the blade 31 is measured at the blade longitudinal direction end and the central portion, and the measurement results are compared, so that the amount of toner passing through the blade 31 is the same at the blade longitudinal direction end and the central portion. What is necessary is just to employ | adopt the protrusion amount of the longitudinal direction center part of the blade holder 32 in the case of a case.

  Of course, it is desirable that the conditions for cleaning the toner on the photoconductor 10 by the cleaning device 30 are the same as the conditions for actually forming an image using the printer 100. Further, in order to obtain the protrusion amount, the protrusion amount may be obtained using a dedicated experimental machine.

  The printer 100 according to the present embodiment may be configured in advance so that the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the blade 31 used in the cleaning device 30 by experiment projects 50 [μm] to 200 [μm] from the end toward the photoreceptor. I found out.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the frame (apparatus) is located downstream of the normal line N of the abutting portion P where the abutting side of the blade 31 abuts on the surface of the photoreceptor 10. The horizontal portion 32A to which the blade 31 is fixed is held by the vertical portion 32B of the blade holder 32 supported by the bearing 60 attached to the main body 33). That is, the cleaning device 30 of the present embodiment employs a counter method, and the vertical portion 32B of the blade holder 32 functions as a holding member.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, it is preferable that the blade shape has an obtuse angle at the tip angle formed by two surfaces forming the ridge line of the blade that contacts the photoconductor 10. Specifically, an angle of 95 ° to 140 ° is desirable. If it is less than that, the effect of making the obtuse angle shape is lessened, and if it is more than that, the behavior of the blade contact portion becomes unstable. By making the obtuse shape, the contact width between the photoconductor 10 and the blade 31 can be reduced, and the cleaning performance is improved by increasing the surface pressure. In addition, by reducing the contact width, the blade contact surface is stabilized, fatigue failure of the blade is suppressed, and blade wear is reduced. Here, the angle is 120 °.

  In addition, the cleaning device 30 includes a spring 36 as an urging unit that increases the pressing force in the normal direction of the contact portion P on the surface of the photoreceptor 10 applied by the blade 31. In this embodiment, two springs 36 are provided, and each spring 36 is separated by 110 [mm] from the center point of the blade 31 in the longitudinal direction (photoconductor rotation axis direction) toward the end in the longitudinal direction. Provided at different positions.

Here, measurement of the pressing force of the blade 31 against the surface of the photoreceptor 10 will be described.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing an apparatus for measuring the pressing force of the blade 31. This measuring device 200 is actually a commercially available sensor conditioner “WGA-710B (manufactured by Kyowa Denki)” and a load cell “LMA-A-20N (manufactured by Kyowa Denki)” to be combined. The measuring apparatus 200 includes three load cells 201. Each load cell 201 is placed on a semi-cylindrical cell base 202 on the longitudinal center point of the blade 31 and from the center point to both ends in the longitudinal direction. Each of them is fixed at a total of three points, two points 140 [mm] away. In addition, a jig 203 having a curved surface with the same radius of curvature as the photoconductor 10 is placed on the load cell 201. Three jigs 203 are arranged side by side along the longitudinal direction of the blade 31 and set in each load cell 201 at the center of the bottom surface of each jig 203.
The blade 31 is set in the measuring apparatus 200 so that the positional relationship with the jig 203 is the same as the positional relationship with the photoreceptor 10.

  When measuring the pressing force of the blade 31 against the surface of the photoconductor 10 using the measuring device 200, the measuring device 200 is replaced with the process cartridge 121 in the state where the cleaning device 30 is assembled in the printer 100 instead of the photoconductor 10. Install. Specifically, the cell base 202 to which the three load cells are fixed and the three jigs 203 are attached to the process cartridge 121 using a support portion for supporting the drive shaft of the photosensitive member 10. At this time, the imaginary line connecting the contact side of the blade 31 of the cleaning device 30 and the load cell 201 is set to be perpendicular to the bottom surface of the jig. Then, the load applied via each jig 203 is detected by each load cell 201, and the value displayed on the sensor conditioner 204 connected to the measuring device 200 is recorded.

  In measurement, a predetermined weight is placed on each jig 203 in advance, and each value displayed on the sensor conditioner 204 is set to the same value, or the sensor conditioner 204 is set. Needless to say, it is necessary to set the value displayed in (1) to a value obtained by canceling the load applied by the jig 203.

  When the pressing force of the blade 31 is measured, the contact pressure between the blade 31 and the surface of the photoconductor 10 should be set to a target value. Since the contact width (nip width) is difficult to measure, the linear pressure is generally set to a target value. Here, the “linear pressure” means a force per unit length in the direction of the rotation axis of the photosensitive member that acts on a contact portion between the blade 31 and the surface of the photosensitive member 10. A specific method for obtaining the linear pressure is that the total load obtained by adding the values of the load cells 201 displayed on the sensor conditioner 204 is divided by the length T3 of the blade 31 in the longitudinal direction. [N / cm].

  In the present embodiment, the linear pressure is set to the same linear pressure as that set in the conventional counter method, specifically about 0.790 [N / cm]. Here, as described above, the contact width between the blade 31 and the surface of the photoconductor 10 becomes longer as the warp of the blade 31 is larger, and becomes longer as the deformation of the blade itself is larger. In the cleaning device 30 of the present embodiment, the warping of the blade 31 is regulated by the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32 as described above, and the warping of the blade 31 hardly occurs, and the conventional counter system shown in FIG. Compared with the warpage of the blade in the cleaning device employing the above, it is negligible. Therefore, in the cleaning device 30 of this embodiment, the contact width depends mainly only on the elastic deformation (compression deformation) in the moving direction of the photoreceptor surface of the blade itself. Therefore, in the cleaning device 30 of this embodiment, the contact width can be shortened as compared with the cleaning device employing the conventional counter method shown in FIG. As a result, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to suppress wear of the photoconductor 10 and the blade 31 as compared with a conventional counter type cleaning device.

Further, according to the cleaning device 30 of the present embodiment, the contact width can be shortened as described above. Therefore, even when the blade 31 is pressed with the same linear pressure as the conventional counter type cleaning device, the contact pressure is reduced. Is higher than the conventional counter type cleaning device. In other words, the pressing force of the blade 31 required to obtain a contact pressure comparable to that of the conventional counter type cleaning device may be smaller than that of the conventional counter type cleaning device. Note that the contact width in this embodiment is expected to be considerably shorter than the contact width when a conventional counter type cleaning device is used. Therefore, according to this prediction, even if the linear pressure is much smaller than the linear pressure in the conventional counter type cleaning device, it is possible to achieve the same contact pressure as that of this cleaning device and exhibit the same removal performance. it is conceivable that. This point is also effective in suppressing wear of the photoconductor 10 and the blade 31.
Further, according to the cleaning device 30 of this embodiment, it is easier to increase the contact pressure than the conventional counter type cleaning device. Therefore, sufficient removal performance can be exhibited even for a toner having a small particle size and a spherical shape, which is difficult to remove even with a conventional counter type cleaning device.

  The urging means such as the spring 36 is not necessarily provided, and the end of the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32 may be connected to the frame body 33 without using such urging means. However, in this case, the blade holder 32 cannot be displaced with respect to the frame 33. Therefore, when the positional relationship between the frame 33 and the photoconductor 10 is fixed, if the distance relationship between the frame 33 and the surface of the photoconductor 10 changes due to the eccentricity of the photoconductor 10 or the like, the blades corresponding to the change. The holder 32 cannot be displaced. Therefore, high manufacturing accuracy is required so that the distance relationship between the frame 33 and the surface of the photoconductor 10 does not change. Also, high accuracy is required for the assembly accuracy of the blade 31 to the photosensitive member 10. On the other hand, if the urging means as in the present embodiment is provided, even if the distance relationship between the frame 33 and the surface of the photoconductor 10 changes due to the eccentricity of the photoconductor 10 or the like, the blade according to the change. Since the holder 32 can be displaced, high accuracy is not required for the distance relationship between the frame 33 and the surface of the photoconductor 10, and high accuracy is not required for the assembly accuracy of the blade 31 with respect to the photoconductor 10.

  In the present embodiment, the blade 31 is a rectangular parallelepiped member that is long in the direction of the photosensitive member rotation axis (Y direction). As shown in FIG. 4, the lengths T1 and T2 (see FIG. 5) in the direction orthogonal to the contact sides of the two surfaces 31a and 31b adjacent to the contact side are the movements of the photosensitive member surface. The length T1 of the upstream side surface 31a located on the upstream side in the movement direction of the photoreceptor surface is longer than the length T2 of the downstream side surface 31b located on the downstream side in the direction. The shape of the blade 31 is a shape having two surfaces 31a and 31b adjacent to each other at the contact side, and can sufficiently remove the deposits on the surface of the photoconductor along the photoconductor rotation axis direction. Then, even if it is not such a rectangular parallelepiped shape, the thing of all solid shapes can be utilized. In addition, each outer peripheral surface of the blade 31 is not necessarily a flat surface, and may be a curved surface.

  Here, the amount of elastic deformation decreases as the blade length (the length in the compression direction) in the direction of compressive deformation when the surface of the photoconductor 10 moves is shorter. The length of the blade 31 in the compression direction is approximately equal to the length T2 of the downstream side surface 31b of the blade 31 in the direction of movement of the photoreceptor surface. Comparing T2 of the present embodiment with T2 of the cleaning device employing the conventional counter method shown in FIG. 9, the present embodiment is much shorter than the conventional counter-type cleaning device. Therefore, even if only the amount of elastic deformation is compared, the cleaning device 30 of this embodiment is less than the conventional counter type cleaning device. This also shows that the contact width in the cleaning device 30 of the present embodiment is shorter than that of the conventional counter type cleaning device.

  When the rectangular parallelepiped blade 31 is used as in the present embodiment, it is preferable that the size relationship between the lengths T1, T2, and T3 of each side satisfies T3> T1 ≧ T2. More preferably, T2 is 1 [mm] or more and 1/2 or less of T1. If it is 1 [mm] or less, abnormal noise is likely to occur. It should be noted that the use of a low-rebound resilience material that has recently been attracting attention as the material of the blade 31 or the selection of a material / material having a high JISA hardness is expected to increase the preferred range. The length of each side in the blade 31 of the present embodiment is T1 = 12 [mm], T2 = 4 [mm], and T3 = 325 [mm], but is not limited to this.

  In addition, the length of each side of the blade 31 described above is such that the central portion of the blade attachment surface in the horizontal direction 32A of the blade holder 32 projects in the longitudinal direction from the end toward the photosensitive member (see FIG. 1A). For example, in order to bring the side of the blade 31 in contact with the photoconductor closer to the photoconductor 10 at the central portion than the end portion in the longitudinal direction, the blade holder 32 is moved closer to the photoconductor 10 than the end portion in the long direction. Is the case. In order to bring one side of the blade 31 in contact with the photosensitive member closer to the photosensitive member 10 at the central portion than the end portion in the longitudinal direction, the blade 31 has a shape in which the central portion is closer to the photosensitive member 10 than the end portion in the longitudinal direction ( In the case of FIG.1 (c) and FIG.1 (d)), the length of T2 is set so that a center part may become longer than a blade elongate direction edge part. For example, when the blade length direction end is T2 = 4 [mm], the blade length direction center may be set to T2 = 4.05 [mm]. Instead, it may be set as appropriate based on the result of the experiment for obtaining the amount of protrusion described above.

  The blade 31 of this embodiment is made of polyurethane rubber and has a JIS hardness of approximately 75 °. Of course, the material and hardness of the blade 31 are not limited to this, and are appropriately selected.

  Further, the blade holder 32 of the present embodiment is made of a metal material mainly composed of iron. Even if the blade 31 receives a force from the photoconductor 10 during the rotation of the photoconductor 10, the blade holder 32 is distorted. It has sufficient rigidity that can be sufficiently suppressed.

  In the present embodiment, the blade 31 is not pressed against the surface of the photoconductor 10, and the tangent line N between the upstream portion of the downstream side surface 31 b of the blade 31 in the moving direction of the photoconductor surface and the contact portion P on the surface of the photoconductor 10. The blade 31 is pressed against the surface of the photoconductor 10 in a posture in which an angle (hereinafter referred to as “contact angle”) θ formed with a downstream portion in the surface moving direction is approximately 15 [°]. (See FIG. 4). The contact angle θ is appropriately set within the range of 5 [°] to 50 [°]. Setting the contact angle θ smaller than 5 [°] is difficult in terms of the layout around the photoconductor, and if the contact angle θ is set larger than 50 [°], sufficient removal performance may not be obtained. This is because the sex becomes higher. A more preferable range of the contact angle θ is 7 to 40 °.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the entire opposing surface of the upstream side surface 31 a of the blade 31 is fixed to the horizontal portion 32 </ b> A of the blade holder 32. In this embodiment, an adhesive bonding method is used as the fixing method, but other fixing methods such as a method of fixing with a double-sided tape or a hot melt method may be used. As described above, the entire opposing surface of the upstream side surface 31a of the blade 31 is fixed to the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32, and the blade holder 32 has sufficient rigidity as described above. Then, even when the photosensitive member 10 is rotationally driven in a state where the blade 31 is pressed against the surface of the photosensitive member 10, the blade 31 is not substantially warped.

Thus, since the warp of the blade 31 does not substantially occur, the following effects can be obtained.
That is, robustness against environmental fluctuations is improved. Specifically, in the configuration in which the blade warps as in the case where the free length portion of the blade is long, the force due to the warpage of the blade 31 varies particularly depending on the temperature and humidity. For example, if the blade is left warped in a high-temperature and high-humidity environment, it will be plastically deformed and a phenomenon called “sag” will occur. In this case, the contact pressure of the blade against the surface of the photoreceptor 10 is lowered, the cleaning property is lowered, and there is a possibility that cleaning failure occurs. Therefore, in this embodiment in which the warp of the blade 31 does not substantially occur, the robustness against environmental fluctuations is improved.
Further, the occurrence of warping of the blade means that the blade has a degree of freedom to warp. When the degree of freedom of the blade is large, in the case of the counter method, a serious problem of turning the blade is likely to occur when the frictional force between the blade and the photosensitive member is increased. According to the present embodiment in which the warping of the blade 31 does not substantially occur, the blade is prevented from turning.

  Furthermore, the starting torque of the photoconductor can be reduced. Specifically, as described above, the occurrence of warping of the blade means that the blade has a degree of freedom to warp. Since the frictional force is large at the start of driving of the photosensitive member, if the degree of freedom of the blade is large, it is greatly deformed instantaneously to increase the torque. According to this embodiment in which the warp of the blade 31 does not substantially occur, an increase in torque at the start of driving of the photosensitive member can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, the end of the horizontal portion 32A on the side close to the surface of the photoconductor 10, that is, the end of the horizontal portion 32A connected to the vertical portion 32B is formed on the upstream side surface 31a of the blade 31 as shown in FIG. The opposite surface (adhesive surface) is located at the same position as the boundary side with the downstream side surface 31b, but the end of the horizontal portion 32A is closer to the surface of the photoconductor 10 than the boundary side of the blade 31. Even if it extends, the substantial curvature of the blade 31 does not occur similarly.

  Further, the end portion of the horizontal portion 32A does not necessarily extend to the boundary side of the blade 31, and only extends to a position that does not reach the boundary side as long as warpage of the blade 31 can be substantially restricted. May be. That is, as long as the warpage of the blade 31 can be substantially restricted, the end portion of the horizontal portion 32A may be separated from the surface of the photoreceptor rather than the boundary side. In this case, the extent to which the end portion of the horizontal portion 32A is allowed to be separated from the surface of the photoreceptor rather than the boundary side depends on the hardness of the blade 31 and between the blade 31 and the surface of the photoreceptor 10. It depends on the friction coefficient. The allowable range is, for example, the length (contact width) of the photosensitive member surface moving direction at the contact portion when the blade 31 is pressed against the surface of the photosensitive member 10 so that the linear pressure becomes 0.790 [N / cm]. ) Is 50 [μm] or less. It is estimated that the distance between the end of the horizontal portion 32A and the boundary side is allowed up to about 1/4 of the length T2 of the downstream side surface 31b of the blade 31. If further confirmation is made, there is a possibility that 1/2 to T2 or the like is acceptable.

  In this embodiment, an adhesive is applied to the entire bonding surface of the blade 31 to bond the blade 31 to the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32. However, the adhesive is applied only to a part of the bonding surface of the blade 31. The blade 31 may be bonded to the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32. However, among the regions where the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32 and the opposing surface (adhesive surface) of the upstream side surface 31a of the blade 31 overlap each other, at least the end region on the side close to the surface of the photoreceptor 10 is subjected to the fixing process. It is desirable to apply. If the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32 and the blade 31 are firmly fixed in this end region, the frictional force between the blade 31 and the surface of the photoconductor changes for some reason during the rotation of the photoconductor 10. However, the fluttering of the blade 31 can be stably prevented. The same applies to other fixing methods.

Next, the toner used in the printer of this embodiment will be described.
According to the cleaning device 30 of the present embodiment, since high removal performance can be realized, it can be put to practical use for removing toner having an average circularity of 0.940 or more, and further 0.960 or more and 0.998 or less. . Furthermore, removing the toner having an average circularity of 0.96 or more and 0.998 or less can sufficiently exhibit the effects of the present invention.

  The toner having the above average circularity can be obtained by thermally or mechanically spheroidizing a toner produced by dry pulverization. Examples of the thermal spheronization treatment include a method of spraying toner particles together with a hot air stream on an atomizer or the like. Moreover, as a mechanical spheroidization process, what is thrown into a mixer, such as a ball mill, with a mixed medium, such as glass with a low specific gravity, is stirred. However, in the thermal spheronization process, toner particles are aggregated to generate toner particles having a large particle size, and in the mechanical spheronization process, fine powder is generated, so that a classification process is required again. In addition, in a toner manufactured in an aqueous solvent, the shape can be controlled by applying strong stirring in the process of removing the solvent.

  The circularity of the toner is a value obtained by optically detecting particles and dividing by the circumference of an equivalent circle having the same projected area. Specifically, the measurement is performed using a flow type particle image analyzer “FPIA-2000 (manufactured by Sysmex Corporation)”. 100 to 150 [mL] of water excluding impure fixed substances in advance is put in a predetermined container, surfactant 0.1 to 0.5 [mL] is added as a dispersant, and measurement sample 0.1 to 9.5 is further added. [G] Add a degree. The suspension in which the sample is dispersed is subjected to dispersion treatment with an ultrasonic disperser for about 1 to 3 minutes, and the shape and distribution of the toner are measured with a dispersion concentration of 3000 to 10,000 [pieces / μL]. The circularity is defined by the circularity SR = (peripheral length of a circle having the same area as the particle projection area / perimeter length of the particle projection image), and becomes closer to “1” as the toner is closer to a true sphere.

The toner having a high degree of circularity is easily affected by the lines of electric force on the surface of the carrier or the developing roller 51 and is faithfully developed along the lines of electric force of the electrostatic latent image. Therefore, when reproducing minute latent image dots, fine line reproducibility is enhanced because it is easy to obtain a dense and uniform toner arrangement. In addition, toner with a high degree of circularity has a smooth and moderate fluidity, so it is easily affected by the lines of electric force and easily transfers faithfully along the lines of electric force. A quality image can be obtained. Further, a primary transfer nip is formed by pressing the intermediate transfer belt 162 with the primary transfer roller 161, and a transfer electric field is formed by applying a transfer voltage having a reverse polarity to the toner image to the primary transfer roller 161. Even when each toner image on the photoconductor 10 is primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 162 by the action, the toner with high circularity uniformly contacts the intermediate transfer belt 162, and the contact area of the toner becomes uniform. This contributes to improving the transfer rate.
However, if the average circularity of the toner is less than 0.93, faithful development and transfer with a high transfer rate cannot be performed. This is because when the toner is irregularly shaped, the toner surface is non-uniformly charged, and the center of gravity and the center of the charge are shifted, making it difficult to move faithfully to the electric field.

  Further, since a toner having a smaller volume average particle diameter can improve fine line reproducibility, it is preferable to use a toner of 7 [μm] or less at most. However, since the development characteristics deteriorate when the particle size is small, at least 3 [μm] is preferable. Further, when the thickness is less than 3 [μm], the toner having a small particle diameter which is difficult to be developed on the surface of the carrier or the developing roller 51 is increased. This is not preferable because the amount of the toner increases and an abnormal image such as fogging is formed. In the cleaning device 30 of the present embodiment, if the volume average particle diameter is 2 [μm] or more, sufficient removal performance can be exhibited, and particularly if the volume average particle diameter is 3 [μm] or more, more preferable removal performance. Can be demonstrated. The ratio of the volume average particle diameter Dv to the number average particle diameter Dn is preferably about 1.0 to 1.4.

The volume average particle diameter of the toner is measured as follows.
First, 0.1 to 5 [mL] of a surfactant (preferably alkylbenzene sulfonate) is added as a dispersant to 100 to 150 [mL] of the electrolytic aqueous solution. Here, the electrolytic solution was prepared by preparing about 1% NaCl aqueous solution using first grade sodium chloride, and ISOTON R-II type (manufactured by Coulter Scientific Japan) was used. Further, 2 to 20 [mg] of a measurement sample was added thereto, suspended in an electrolytic solution, and subjected to a dispersion treatment with an ultrasonic disperser for about 1 to 3 minutes. Using the measuring device, the volume and number of toner particles in the sample are measured for each channel using a 100 μm aperture as the aperture, and the volume distribution and number distribution of the toner are calculated.

  As channels, 2.00 to 2.52 [μm]; 2.52 to 3.17 [μm]; 3.1 7 to 4.00 [μm]; 4.00 to 5.04 [μm]; 5 0.04 to 6.35 [μm]; 6.35 to 8.00 [μm]; 8.00 to 10.08 [μm]; 10.08 to 12.70 [μm]; 12.70 to 16.00 [Μm]; 13.00 to 20.20 [μm]; 20.20 to 25.40 [μm]; 25.40 to 32.00 [μm]; 32.00 to 40.30 [μm] 13 channels Was used.

Among the toners satisfying the above average circularity, those having a shape factor SF-1 in the range of 100 to 160 and a shape factor SF-2 in the range of 100 to 160 are preferable.
FIGS. 10A and 10B are diagrams schematically showing the shape of the toner. FIG. 10A is an explanatory diagram for explaining the shape factor SF-1, and FIG. These are explanatory drawings for explaining the shape factor SF-2.
The shape factor SF-1 indicates the ratio of the roundness of the toner shape and is expressed by the following formula 1. This is a value obtained by dividing the square of the maximum length MXLNG of the shape formed by projecting the toner on a two-dimensional plane by the figure area AREA and multiplying by 100π / 4. When the value of SF-1 is 100, the shape of the toner becomes a true sphere, and becomes larger as the value of SF-1 increases.

The shape factor SF-2 indicates the ratio of unevenness in the toner shape, and is expressed by the following formula 2. A value obtained by dividing the square of the perimeter PERI of the figure formed by projecting the toner on the two-dimensional plane by the figure area AREA and multiplying by 100π / 4. When the value of SF-2 is 100, there is no unevenness on the toner surface, and as the value of SF-2 increases, the unevenness of the toner surface becomes more prominent.

  Specifically, the shape factor is measured by taking a photograph of the toner with a scanning electron microscope (S-800: manufactured by Hitachi, Ltd.), introducing it into an image analyzer (LUSEX 3: manufactured by Nireco) and analyzing it. Calculated.

  When the shape of the toner is close to a sphere, the contact with the toner becomes a point contact, so that the attractive force between the toners is weakened. As a result, the fluidity is increased, and the attractive force between the toner and the photoreceptor 10 is increased. It becomes weaker, the transfer rate becomes higher, and the residual toner on the surface of the photoreceptor 10 can be easily cleaned. When SF-1 and SF-2 become larger, the shape becomes indefinite, the toner charge amount distribution becomes wider, the development becomes less faithful to the latent image, and the transfer becomes less faithful to the transfer electric field. The quality is degraded. For this reason, SF-1 preferably does not exceed 180, and SF-2 preferably does not exceed 180.

  As the toner having a substantially spherical shape as described above, a toner composition containing a polyester prepolymer having a functional group containing a nitrogen atom, a polyester, a colorant, and a release agent is crosslinked in an aqueous medium in the presence of resin fine particles. A toner obtained by an extension reaction is preferred. In the conventional pulverized toner manufacturing method, it is not possible to manufacture the pulverized toner by any of the values of circularity, average particle diameter, shape factor SF-1, and SF-2, and the polymerization method is obtained in terms of manufacturing cost and yield. Toner is dominant. However, among the toners obtained by the polymerization method, the toner shape obtained by the suspension polymerization method or the emulsion polymerization method can obtain a true spherical toner in the circularity and the shape factors SF-1 and SF-2. difficult. In particular, although the toner obtained by the dissolution suspension method is spherical, it is an irregularly shaped toner having no regularity, so that satisfactory quality in terms of image quality and the like cannot be obtained.

  Next, a toner composition containing the above-mentioned polyester prepolymer having a functional group containing a nitrogen atom, polyester, a colorant, and a release agent is obtained by crosslinking and / or elongation reaction in the presence of resin fine particles in an aqueous medium. The constituent material of the toner to be manufactured and a suitable manufacturing method will be described in detail.

(polyester)
The polyester is obtained by a polycondensation reaction between a polyhydric alcohol compound and a polycarboxylic acid compound.
Examples of the polyhydric alcohol compound (PO) include dihydric alcohol (DIO) and trihydric or higher polyhydric alcohol (TO). (DIO) alone or a mixture of (DIO) and a small amount of (TO) preferable.
Preferred as dihydric alcohols (DIO) are alkylene glycols having 2 to 12 carbon atoms and alkylene oxide adducts of bisphenols, and particularly preferred are alkylene oxide adducts of bisphenols and those having 2 to 12 carbon atoms. In combination with an alkylene glycol.

The trihydric or higher polyhydric alcohol (TO) includes 3 to 8 or higher polyhydric aliphatic alcohols (glycerin, trimethylolethane, trimethylolpropane, pentaerythritol, sorbitol, etc.); trihydric or higher phenols (Trisphenol PA, phenol novolak, cresol novolak, etc.); and alkylene oxide adducts of the above trivalent or higher polyphenols.
Examples of the polyvalent carboxylic acid (PC) include divalent carboxylic acid (DIC) and trivalent or higher polyvalent carboxylic acid (TC). (DIC) alone and (DIC) with a small amount of (TC) Mixtures are preferred. Examples of the divalent carboxylic acid (DIC) include alkenylene dicarboxylic acids having 4 to 20 carbon atoms and aromatic dicarboxylic acids having 8 to 20 carbon atoms. Examples of the trivalent or higher polyvalent carboxylic acid (TC) include aromatic polycarboxylic acids having 9 to 20 carbon atoms (such as trimellitic acid and pyromellitic acid).

The ratio of the polyhydric alcohol (PO) to the polycarboxylic acid (PC) is usually 2/1 to 1/1, preferably as the equivalent ratio [OH] / [COOH] of the hydroxyl group [OH] and the carboxyl group [COOH]. Is 1.5 / 1 to 1/1, more preferably 1.3 / 1 to 1.02 / 1.
The polycondensation reaction between polyhydric alcohol (PO) and polycarboxylic acid (PC) is heated to 150 to 280 [° C.] in the presence of a known esterification catalyst such as tetrabutoxy titanate or dibutyltin oxide, and reduced in pressure as necessary. The produced water is distilled off while obtaining a polyester having a hydroxyl group.

In addition to the unmodified polyester obtained by the above polycondensation reaction, the polyester preferably contains a urea-modified polyester. The urea-modified polyester is obtained by reacting a terminal carboxyl group or hydroxyl group of the polyester obtained by the above polycondensation reaction with a polyvalent isocyanate compound (PIC) to obtain a polyester prepolymer (A) having an isocyanate group. It is obtained by cross-linking and / or extending the molecular chain by the reaction of the amine with amines.
As the polyvalent isocyanate compound (PIC), aliphatic polyisocyanate, alicyclic polyisocyanate, aromatic diisocyanate, araliphatic diisocyanate, isocyanates and those obtained by blocking the above polyisocyanate with a phenol derivative, oxime, caprolactam, etc .; And a combination of two or more of these.
The ratio of the polyvalent isocyanate compound (PIC) is usually 5/1 to 1/1, preferably as an equivalent ratio [NCO] / [OH] of the isocyanate group [NCO] and the hydroxyl group [OH] of the polyester having a hydroxyl group. 4/1 to 1.2 / 1, more preferably 2.5 / 1 to 1.5 / 1.

The content of the polyisocyanate compound (PIC) component in the polyester prepolymer (A) having an isocyanate group is usually 0.5 to 40 [wt%], preferably 1 to 30 [wt%], more preferably 2 to 20 [wt%].
The number of isocyanate groups contained per molecule in the polyester prepolymer (A) having an isocyanate group is usually 1 or more, preferably 1.5 to 3 on average, more preferably 1.8 to 2 on average. Five.

Next, as amines (B) to be reacted with the polyester prepolymer (A), a divalent amine compound (B1), a trivalent or higher polyvalent amine compound (B2), an amino alcohol (B3), an amino mercaptan (B4) ), Amino acid (B5), and amino acid block of B1 to B5 (B6).
Examples of the divalent amine compound (B1) include aromatic diamines, alicyclic diamines, and aliphatic diamines.
Examples of the trivalent or higher polyvalent amine compound (B2) include diethylenetriamine and triethylenetetramine.
Examples of amino alcohol (B3) include ethanolamine and hydroxyethylaniline.
Examples of amino mercaptan (B4) include aminoethyl mercaptan and aminopropyl mercaptan.
Among these amines (B), preferred are B1 and a mixture of B1 and a small amount of B2.

  The ratio of amines (B) is equivalent to the equivalent ratio [NCO] / [NHx] of isocyanate groups [NCO] in the polyester prepolymer (A) having isocyanate groups and amino groups [NHx] in amines (B). Is usually 1/2 to 2/1, preferably 1.5 / 1 to 1 / 1.5, more preferably 1.2 / 1 to 1 / 1.2.

  The urea-modified polyester is produced by a one-shot method or the like. Polyhydric alcohol (PO) and polyhydric carboxylic acid (PC) are produced in the presence of a known esterification catalyst such as tetrabutoxy titanate and dibutyltin oxide at 150 to 280 [° C.] and, if necessary, reduced pressure. Water is distilled off to obtain a polyester having a hydroxyl group. Next, at 40 to 140 [° C.], this is reacted with polyvalent isocyanate (PIC) to obtain a polyester prepolymer (A) having an isocyanate group. Further, this (A) is reacted with amines (B) at 0 to 140 [° C.] to obtain a urea-modified polyester.

  When reacting (PIC) and when reacting (A) and (B), a solvent may be used if necessary. Usable solvents include those inert to isocyanates (PIC) such as aromatic solvents, ketones and esters.

  In addition, in the crosslinking and / or extension reaction between the polyester prepolymer (A) and the amines (B), a reaction terminator can be used as necessary to adjust the molecular weight of the resulting urea-modified polyester. Examples of the reaction terminator include monoamines (for example, diethylamine, dibutylamine, butylamine, laurylamine, etc.) and ketimine compounds that block them.

  The weight average molecular weight of the urea-modified polyester is usually 10,000 or more, preferably 20,000 to 10,000,000, and more preferably 30,000 to 1,000,000. The number average molecular weight of the urea-modified polyester is not particularly limited when the above-mentioned unmodified polyester is used, and may be a number average molecular weight that can be easily obtained to obtain the above weight average molecular weight. When the urea-modified polyester is used alone, its number average molecular weight is usually 2000-15000, preferably 2000-10000, more preferably 2000-8000.

  The weight ratio of unmodified polyester to urea-modified polyester is usually 20/80 to 95/5, preferably 70/30 to 95/5, more preferably 75/25 to 95/5, and particularly preferably 80/20 to 93/7. The glass transition point (Tg) of the binder resin containing unmodified polyester and urea-modified polyester is usually 45 to 65 [° C.], preferably 45 to 60 [° C.].

(Coloring agent)
As the colorant, all known dyes and pigments can be used. For example, carbon black, nigrosine dye, naphthol yellow S, cadmium yellow, yellow iron oxide, yellow lead, red lead, lead red, cadmium red, Resor Fast Scarlet G, Benzidine Orange, Oil Orange, Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue, Alkaline Blue Lake, Fast Sky Blue, Indigo, Ultramarine Blue, Bituminous, Manganese Purple, Dioxane Violet, Chrome Green, Pyridian, Emerald Green, Pigment Green B, Phthalocyanine Green and mixtures thereof can be used. The content of the colorant is usually 1 to 15 [wt%], preferably 3 to 10 [wt%] based on the toner.

  The colorant can also be used as a master batch combined with a resin. As a binder resin to be kneaded together with the production of the master batch or the master batch, a polymer of styrene such as polystyrene, poly-p-chlorostyrene, polyvinyl toluene or the like, or a copolymer of these and a vinyl compound, Examples thereof include polymethyl methacrylate, polyvinyl acetate, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, epoxy resin, chlorinated paraffin, and paraffin wax, which can be used alone or in combination.

(Charge control agent)
Known charge control agents can be used, such as nigrosine dyes, triphenylmethane dyes, chromium-containing metal complex dyes, phosphorus simple substances or compounds, tungsten simple substances or compounds, fluorine activators, salicylic acid metal salts and And metal salts of salicylic acid derivatives. Specifically, Nigrosine dye Bontron 03, Salicylic acid metal complex E-84, Phenol condensate E-89 (above, manufactured by Orient Chemical Industries), quaternary ammonium salt molybdenum complex TP-302, TP -415 (manufactured by Hodogaya Chemical Co., Ltd.), quaternary ammonium salt copy charge PSY VP2038, triphenylmethane derivative copy blue PR, LRA-901, boron complex LR-147 (manufactured by Nippon Carlit), Examples thereof include copper phthalocyanine, perylene, quinacridone, azo pigments, and other polymer compounds having a functional group such as a sulfonic acid group, a carboxyl group, and a quaternary ammonium salt. Of these, substances that control the negative polarity of the toner are particularly preferably used.

  The amount of charge control agent used is determined by the type of binder resin, the presence or absence of additives used as necessary, and the toner production method including the dispersion method, and is not uniquely limited. Preferably, it is used in the range of 0.1 to 10 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the binder resin. The range of 0.2 to 5 parts by weight is preferable.

(Release agent)
As the release agent, a low melting point wax having a melting point of 50 to 120 [° C.] works more effectively as a release agent in the dispersion with the binder resin. Such wax components include waxes and waxes, plant waxes such as carnauba wax and cotton wax, animal waxes such as beeswax and lanolin, mineral waxes such as ozokerite and cercin, and paraffin, microcrystalline, And petroleum waxes such as petrolatum.
In addition to these natural waxes, synthetic hydrocarbon waxes such as Fischer-Tropsch wax and polyethylene wax, and synthetic waxes such as esters, ketones, and ethers can be used.

(External additive)
Inorganic fine particles are preferably used as an external additive for assisting the fluidity, developability and chargeability of the toner particles. The primary particle diameter of the inorganic fine particles is preferably 5 × 10 ⁻³ to 2 [μm], particularly preferably 5 × 10 ^{−3 to} 0.5 [μm].
Moreover, it is preferable that the specific surface area by BET method is 20-500 [m < ² > / g]. The use ratio of the inorganic fine particles is preferably 0.01 to 5 [wt%] of the toner, and particularly preferably 0.01 to 2.0 [wt%].
Specific examples of the inorganic fine particles include silica, alumina, titanium oxide, barium titanate, zinc oxide, calcium carbonate, silicon carbide, and silicon nitride. Among these, as the fluidity imparting agent, it is preferable to use hydrophobic silica fine particles and hydrophobic titanium oxide fine particles in combination.

(Toner production method)
Next, the toner manufacturing method will be described in detail. Here, although a preferable method is shown, it is not restricted to this.
A toner material liquid is prepared by dispersing a colorant, unmodified polyester, a polyester prepolymer having an isocyanate group, and a release agent in an organic solvent. The organic solvent is preferably volatile with a boiling point of less than 100 [° C.] because it is easy to remove after forming the toner base particles. Specifically, aromatic solvents such as toluene and xylene and halogenated hydrocarbons such as methylene chloride, 1,2-dichloroethane, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride can be used alone or in combination of two or more. The usage-amount of an organic solvent is 0-300 weight part normally with respect to 100 weight part of polyester prepolymers, Preferably it is 0-100 weight part, More preferably, it is 25-70 weight part.
The toner material liquid is emulsified in an aqueous medium in the presence of a surfactant and resin fine particles. The aqueous medium may be water alone, or may contain an organic solvent such as alcohol such as methanol, dimethylformamide, tetrahydrofuran, cellosolves, or lower ketones. The amount of the aqueous medium used relative to 100 parts by weight of the toner material liquid is usually 50 to 2000 parts by weight, preferably 100 to 1000 parts by weight. If the amount is less than 50 parts by weight, the dispersion state of the toner material liquid is poor, and toner particles having a predetermined particle diameter cannot be obtained. If it exceeds 20000 parts by weight, it is not economical.
Further, in order to improve the dispersion in the aqueous medium, a dispersant such as a surfactant and resin fine particles is appropriately added. Surfactants include anionic surfactants such as alkylbenzene sulfonates, alkylamine salts, aminoalcohol fatty acid derivatives, polyamine fatty acid derivatives, and quaternary ammonium salt type cationic surfactants such as alkyltrimethylammonium salts. Etc. Further, by using a surfactant having a fluoroalkyl group, the effect can be obtained in a very small amount.
As the resin fine particles, the aforementioned substances can be used. In addition, inorganic compound dispersants such as tricalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, titanium oxide, colloidal silica, and hydroxyapatite can also be used. As a dispersant that can be used in combination with resin fine particles and an inorganic compound dispersant, the dispersed droplets may be stabilized by a polymer protective colloid. For example, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, α-cyanoacrylic acid, α-cyanomethacrylic acid, itaconic acid, crotonic acid, fumaric acid, maleic acid or maleic anhydride and other (meth) acrylic monomers containing hydroxyl groups For example, acrylic acid-β-hydroxyethyl, methacrylic acid-β-hydroxyethyl, acrylic acid-β-hydroxypropyl, methacrylic acid-β-hydroxypropyl, acrylic acid-γ-hydroxypropyl and the like can be used.

  The dispersion method is not particularly limited, and known equipment such as a low-speed shear method, a high-speed shear method, a friction method, a high-pressure jet method, and an ultrasonic wave can be applied. Among these, in order to make the particle size of the dispersion 2 to 20 [μm], a high-speed shearing method is preferable. When a high-speed shearing disperser is used, the number of rotations is not particularly limited, but is usually 1000 to 30000 [rpm], preferably 5000 to 20000 [rpm]. The dispersion time is not particularly limited, but in the case of a batch method, it is usually 0.1 to 5 minutes. The temperature during dispersion is usually 0 to 150 [° C.] (under pressure), preferably 40 to 98 [° C.].

  Simultaneously with the preparation of the emulsion, the amines (B) are added to cause a reaction with the polyester prepolymer (A) having an isocyanate group. This reaction involves molecular chain crosslinking and / or elongation. The reaction time is selected depending on the reactivity between the isocyanate group structure of the polyester prepolymer (A) and the amines (B), but is usually 10 minutes to 40 hours, preferably 2 to 24 hours. The reaction temperature is generally 0 to 150 [° C.], preferably 40 to 98 [° C.]. Moreover, a well-known catalyst can be used as needed. Specific examples include dibutyltin laurate and dioctyltin laurate.

After completion of the reaction, the organic solvent is removed from the emulsified dispersion (reactant), washed and dried to obtain toner base particles. In order to remove the organic solvent, the temperature of the entire system is gradually raised in a laminar stirring state, and after applying strong stirring in a certain temperature range, desolvation is performed to produce substantially spherical toner base particles. it can. Here, for example, the shape from a spherical shape to a spindle shape can be controlled. Furthermore, the surface morphology can be controlled from a smooth one to, for example, a pickled plum shape. Further, when an acid such as calcium phosphate salt or an alkali-soluble material is used as the dispersion stabilizer, the calcium phosphate salt is dissolved from the toner base particles by a method such as dissolving the calcium phosphate salt with an acid such as hydrochloric acid and washing with water. Remove. It can also be removed by operations such as enzymatic degradation.
Either before or after the washing and solvent-removing steps, a step can be provided in which the emulsified dispersion is allowed to stand at a certain temperature for a certain period of time and the produced toner particles are aged. Thereby, toner particles having a desired particle diameter can be produced. The temperature of the aging step is preferably 25 to 50 [° C.], and the time is preferably 10 minutes to 23 hours.

A toner is obtained by implanting a charge control agent into the toner base particles obtained above and then externally adding inorganic fine particles such as silica fine particles and titanium oxide fine particles.
The injection of the charge control agent and the external addition of the inorganic fine particles are performed by a known method using a mixer or the like.
Thereby, a toner having a small particle size and a sharp particle size distribution can be easily obtained.

The toner of this embodiment is mixed with a magnetic carrier and used as a two-component developer, but can also be used as a one-component magnetic toner or a non-magnetic toner that does not use a carrier.
As the magnetic carrier as the two-component developer, conventionally known ones such as iron powder, ferrite powder, magnetite powder, magnetic resin carrier having a particle diameter of about 20 to 200 [μm] can be used. Examples of the coating material include amino resins such as urea-formaldehyde resin, melamine resin, benzoguanamine resin, urea resin, polyamide resin, and epoxy resin. Polyvinyl and polyvinylidene resins such as acrylic resin, polymethyl methacrylate resin, polyacrylonitrile resin, polyvinyl acetate resin, polyvinyl alcohol resin, polyvinyl butyral resin, polycarbonate resin, polyethylene resin, and silicone resin can be used. Moreover, you may make conductive powder etc. contain in coating resin as needed. As the conductive powder, metal powder, carbon black, titanium oxide, tin oxide, zinc oxide or the like can be used.
These conductive powders preferably have an average particle diameter of 1 [μm] or less. When the average particle diameter is larger than 1 [μm], it becomes difficult to control electric resistance.

  In the present embodiment, spherical ferrite particles having an average particle diameter of about 50 [μm] are employed as the core material, and an aminosilane coupling agent and a silicone resin are dispersed in toluene as the coating material constituent material. The material was put into a coating apparatus for coating while forming a swirling flow having a rotating bottom plate disk and a stirring blade provided in a fluidized bed, and this dispersion was applied onto the core material. The obtained coated product was baked in an electric furnace at 250 [° C.] for 2 hours, and carrier particles coated with a silicon resin with an average thickness of 0.5 [μm] were produced. With respect to 100 parts by weight of the carrier, 7 parts by weight of toner shown in the following examples were uniformly mixed and charged using a type of tumbler mixer in which the container was rolled and stirred to obtain an initial developer.

  Examples of toner will be described below. In addition, although the toner of each Example is produced as follows, this invention is not limited to this. “Part” means part by weight.

[Toner 1]
(Synthesis of resin fine particle emulsion)
In a reaction vessel in which a stir bar and a thermometer were set, 683 parts of water, 11 parts of a sodium salt of ethylene oxide methacrylate adduct sulfate (Eleminol RS-30, manufactured by Sanyo Chemical Industries), 83 parts of styrene, 83 parts of methacrylic acid, When 110 parts of butyl acrylate and 1 part of ammonium persulfate were added and stirred at 3800 rpm for 30 minutes, a white emulsion was obtained. The system was heated to raise the system temperature to 75 [° C.] and reacted for 4 hours. Further, 30 parts of a 1% ammonium persulfate aqueous solution was added, and the mixture was aged at 75 [° C.] for 6 hours to be a vinyl resin (a copolymer of styrene-methacrylic acid-butyl acrylate-methacrylic acid ethylene oxide adduct sulfate sodium salt). An aqueous dispersion fine particle dispersion 1 was obtained. The volume average particle size of the fine particle dispersion 1 measured with a laser diffraction / scattering particle size distribution analyzer (LA-920: manufactured by Horiba Seisakusho) was 110 [nm]. A part of the fine particle dispersion 1 was dried to isolate the resin component. The shape of the resin fine particles was spherical. The Tg of the resin was 58 [° C.] and the weight average molecular weight was 130,000.

(Adjustment of aqueous phase)
990 parts of water, 83 parts of [fine particle dispersion 1], 37 parts of a 48.3% aqueous solution of sodium dodecyl diphenyl ether disulfonate (Eleminol MON-7: manufactured by Sanyo Chemical Industries) and 90 parts of ethyl acetate were mixed and stirred to give a milky white liquid. Got. This is designated as aqueous phase 1.

(Synthesis of low molecular weight polyester)
Into a reaction vessel equipped with a cooling tube, a stirrer and a nitrogen introducing tube, 724 parts of bisphenol A ethylene oxide 2-mole adduct and 276 parts of terephthalic acid were placed, and the reaction was performed at 230 [° C.] under normal pressure.
The polycondensation was performed for a period of time, and the reaction was further performed under reduced pressure of 10 to 15 [mmHg] for 5 hours to obtain a low molecular weight polyester 1. The low molecular weight polyester 1 has a number average molecular weight of 2300 and a weight average molecular weight of 670.
The molecular weight was 0, the peak molecular weight was 3800, Tg43 [° C.], and the acid value was 4.

(Synthesis of intermediate polyester)
In a reaction vessel equipped with a condenser, a stirrer, and a nitrogen introduction pipe, 682 parts of bisphenol A ethylene oxide 2-mole adduct, 81 parts of bisphenol A propylene oxide 2-mole adduct, 283 parts of terephthalic acid, trimellitic anhydride 22 Part and dibutyltin oxide 2 parts were added, reacted at 230 [° C.] under normal pressure for 7 hours, and further reacted for 5 hours under reduced pressure of 10-15 [mmHg] to obtain an intermediate polyester 1. The intermediate polyester 1 had a number average molecular weight of 2200, a weight average molecular weight of 9700, a peak molecular weight of 3000, a Tg of 54 [° C.], an acid value of 0.5, and a hydroxyl value of 52. Next, 410 parts of intermediate polyester 1, 89 parts of isophorone diisocyanate, and 500 parts of ethyl acetate are placed in a reaction vessel equipped with a cooling pipe, a stirrer, and a nitrogen introduction pipe, and reacted at 100 [° C.] for 5 hours. Polymer 1 was obtained. The weight percent free isocyanate of Prepolymer 1 was 1.53 [%].

(Synthesis of ketimine)
A reaction vessel equipped with a stir bar and a thermometer was charged with 170 parts of isophoronediamine and 75 parts of methyl ethyl ketone, and reacted at 50 [° C.] for 4 and a half hours to obtain ketimine compound 1. The amine value of ketimine compound 1 was 417.

(Synthesis of master batch)
Add 1200 parts of water, 540 parts of carbon black (Printex35: manufactured by Dexa) (DBP oil absorption = 42 [ml] / 100 [mg], pH = 9.5), 1200 parts of polyester resin, and add Henschel mixer (Mitsui Mining Co., Ltd.). ), And the mixture was kneaded at 130 [° C.] for 1 hour using two rolls, rolled and cooled, and pulverized with a pulverizer to obtain a master batch 1.

(Production of oil phase)
378 parts of low molecular weight polyester 1, 100 parts of carnauba wax, and 947 parts of ethyl acetate are charged into a container equipped with a stirring bar and a thermometer, and the temperature is raised to 80 [° C.] with stirring, and the temperature is kept at 80 [° C.] for 5 hours. After being held, it was cooled to 30 [° C.] in 1 hour.

  Next, 500 parts of master batch 1 and 500 parts of ethyl acetate were charged in a container and mixed for 1 hour to obtain a raw material solution 1. 1324 parts of the raw material solution 1 was transferred to a container, and using a bead mill (Ultra Visco Mill: manufactured by Imex Corporation), the liquid feeding speed was 1 [kg / hr], the disk peripheral speed was 6 [m / sec], and 0.5 mm zirconia. Filling with 80% by volume of beads, carbon black and wax were dispersed under conditions of 3 passes. Next, 1324 parts of a 65% ethyl acetate solution of low molecular weight polyester 1 was added, and two passes were performed with the bead mill under the above conditions to obtain Pigment / Wax Dispersion Liquid 1. The solid content concentration of the pigment / wax dispersion 1 was 50 [%].

(Emulsification to solvent removal)
749 parts of pigment / wax dispersion 1, 115 parts of prepolymer 1 and 2.9 parts of ketimine compound 1 are placed in a container and mixed for 2 minutes at 5,000 [rpm] with a TK homomixer (made by Tokushu Kika). Then, 1200 parts of the aqueous phase 1 was added to the container, and the mixture was mixed with a TK homomixer at a rotation speed of 13000 [rpm] for 10 minutes to obtain an emulsified slurry 1.
The emulsified slurry 1 was put into a container equipped with a stirrer and a thermometer, and after removing the solvent at 30 [° C.] for 6 hours, aging was performed at 45 [° C.] for 5 hours to obtain a dispersion slurry 1.

(Washing-drying)
After 100 parts of the dispersion slurry 1 is filtered under reduced pressure,
A) 100 parts of ion-exchanged water was added to the filter cake, mixed with a TK homomixer (rotation speed: 12000 [rpm] for 10 minutes), and then filtered.
B) 1% hydrochloric acid was added to the filter cake of a) while controlling the pH to 3.5 to 4.5, and the mixture was mixed with a TK homomixer (rotation speed: 12,000 [rpm] for 15 minutes), followed by filtration. did.
C) 300 parts of ion-exchanged water was added to the filter cake of b), mixed with a TK homomixer (10 minutes at a rotation speed of 12000 [rpm]) and then filtered twice to obtain filter cake 1.
D) The filter cake 1 was dried at 40 [° C.] for 40 hours with a circulating drier, and sieved with a mesh having a mesh size of 75 μm to obtain toner base particles 1. Thereafter, 1.5 parts of hydrophobic silica and 0.5 parts of hydrophobic titanium oxide were added to 1100 parts of the toner base particles, mixed with a Henschel mixer, and sieved with a mesh of 35 μm to obtain toner 1. The physical properties of the obtained toner 1 are shown in Table 1 below.

[Experiment]
After the toner of the above example is prepared as a developer, it is put into the printer 100 according to the present embodiment, and the following initial running test is performed. The cleaning device 30 (FIG. 4) of the present embodiment and the conventional device are performed. A comparative experiment was conducted. An organic photoreceptor is used as the photoreceptor 10 of the printer 100.

  The cleaning device 30 of the embodiment is a counter type cleaning device shown in FIG. 4, and the length of the horizontal portion 32 </ b> A is such that the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the horizontal portion 32 </ b> A of the blade holder 32 is closer to the photoconductor side than the end portion. The central portion in the direction of the scale protrudes 50 [μm] from the end toward the photosensitive side (see FIG. 1A). The blade is a polyurethane rubber material having a JISA hardness of 75 °, and the blade dimensions are T1 = 12 [mm], T2 = 4 [mm], and T3 = 325 [mm]. As shown in FIG. 4, the blade is attached to the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32 with an adhesive along the attachment surface. The linear pressure was 0.788 [N / cm].

  For comparison with the cleaning device 30 of the embodiment, the conditions of the conventional device are performed under two conditions. The conventional apparatus 1 is a counter type cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 9, and the blade material is polyurethane rubber material having a JISA hardness of 70 °, the blade dimensions are T1 = 2.0 [mm], and T3 = 326 [ mm] rectangular parallelepiped shape. This blade is affixed to the blade holder with double-sided tape, and the blade length (free length; L) extending from the blade holder to the surface of the photoreceptor is 7.6 [mm]. The contact angle θ was set to 21.6 °, and the amount of biting was set to 1.0 [mm].

  In the cleaning device 30 of the embodiment, the conventional apparatus 2 is not in a condition in which the central portion in the blade length direction is closer to the photoconductor side than the end portion when stationary (not convex toward the photoconductor side). And the central portion are uniformly in contact with the photosensitive member at the same distance (the central portion and the end portion in the longitudinal direction of the blade attachment surface of the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32 are on the same plane) Except for this, the configuration is the same as that of the cleaning device 30 of the embodiment.

  The running test was performed by replacing only the cleaning device 30 according to the present embodiment and the conventional device with respect to the printer 100 described above. In the running test, an A4 size image area ratio 5 [%] pattern was continuously printed, and the following removal performance evaluation (cleaning performance evaluation) was performed at the start (1 sheet), 7500 sheets, and 15000 sheets respectively. An evaluation test was performed under the test conditions to evaluate removal performance (cleaning performance). However, the initial running test with the toner was completed when it was evaluated as “x” in the visual comprehensive evaluation.

  The evaluation of the cleaning performance is performed at the start (single sheet), 7500 sheets, and 15000 sheets under the running test conditions, and then the image area ratio 75 [%], which is a test condition for the cleaning performance evaluation. The toner on the photoconductor after passing through the cleaning device after printing 100 sheets in a pattern is transferred with a printerac C tape (manufactured by Nitto Denko), and the tape is affixed to a blank sheet. Then, with a Macbeth reflection densitometer RD514 type When the difference from the blank density is less than 0.005, “◎”, 0.005-0.010 “◯”, 0.011-0.02 “△” The value exceeding 0.02 was evaluated as “x”.

Moreover, visual comprehensive evaluation was performed as follows.
A: Actual use is possible. No abnormal noise such as flapping. There is no slip-through toner. Even if it exists, it cannot be observed by the method of discriminating the degree of contamination of the tape with the naked eye by transferring the tape as shown in the following “◯ level” and pasting it on a blank sheet.
〇: Actual use is possible. No abnormal noise. There are no streaks or weak lines to some extent. Generation of toner that slips through is observed.
Δ: There is a possibility that actual use is impossible. There are signs of abnormal noise. About 1 to 10 streaks with a width of 1 mm or less are generated on an A4 horizontal size image.
×: Unusable. There are signs of anomalies and signs of photoconductor damage. Full lines appear.

  The results of the running test are as shown in Table 2 below.

The conventional apparatus 1 has poor cleaning performance. In the conventional apparatus 2 as well, no abnormal noise from the blades or signs of damage to the photosensitive member are observed, but the occurrence of streaks is recognized. Therefore, if the running test is further extended, the blade and the photosensitive member are expected to be worn.
On the other hand, when the apparatus of the example is used, there is no sign of deterioration in cleaning performance, abnormal noise from the blade, or damage to the photoreceptor.

  The running test described here was conducted during the initial running test. Furthermore, there is a possibility that further performance difference will appear by executing the running mode with long-term deterioration mode and environmental fluctuation.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the blade 31 that is a long plate-like elastic member, the blade holder 32 that is a holding member that holds the blade 31, and one side of the blade 31 that extends in the longitudinal direction is the surface moving member. A warpage regulating member such as a horizontal portion 32A of a blade holder 32 that regulates warpage of the blade 31 caused by pressing the blade 31 against the surface of the photoreceptor 10 so as to be orthogonal to the surface movement direction of the photoconductor 10. In the cleaning device 30 in which the holder 32 holds the blade 31 via the warp regulating member, the blade 31 is configured such that the central portion protrudes toward the photoconductor 10 from both ends in the blade length direction of the one side. The central portion of the blade ridge line that contacts the photoconductor 10 at the time of initial contact is closer to the photoconductor 10 than the longitudinal end. It is arranged as. By doing so, even when the blade holder 32 and the blade 31 receive a force from the photoconductor 10 due to the surface movement of the photoconductor 10 and the blade central portion is greatly bent, the contact pressure of the blade central portion is reduced. Therefore, the difference in contact pressure in the blade length direction can be suppressed, and the cleaning performance can be maintained.
Further, according to the present embodiment, the blade holder 32 is pivotally supported with respect to the apparatus main body, so that a partial adhesion failure between the edge of the blade 31 and the photoconductor 10 in the blade longitudinal direction can be prevented. Can be suppressed.
Further, according to the present embodiment, the blade holder 32 has a shape in which the central portion protrudes toward the photoconductor 10 from both ends in the blade length direction. Thus, by attaching the blade 31 along the blade holder 32, the central portion of the blade 31 in the longitudinal direction of the blade 31 can be closer to the photoconductor 10 side than both ends when the photoconductor 10 is stationary.
Further, according to the present embodiment, the blade 31 has a shape in which the central portion protrudes toward the photoconductor 10 from both ends in the blade length direction. Thereby, when the photoconductor 10 is stationary, the blade longitudinal center portion of the blade 31 can be closer to the photoconductor 10 side than both ends.
In addition, according to the present embodiment, the blade 31 has the upstream surface 31a positioned on the upstream side in the movement direction of the photoreceptor surface, of the two surfaces 31a and 31b adjacent to the contact side. The length in the direction orthogonal to the contact side is longer than the downstream side surface 31b located on the downstream side in the movement direction, and the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32 that is a warpage restricting member is The horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32 is fixed to the opposing surface of the upstream side 31a of the blade 31 so that the upstream side 31a extends in the direction orthogonal to the opposite side and the opposing surface contracts. ing. Then, the vertical of the blade holder 32 which is a holding member supported by the frame 33 on the downstream side in the moving direction of the photoconductor surface with respect to the normal line N of the contact portion P where the contact side contacts the surface of the photoconductor 10. The blade 31 is held by the portion 32B via the horizontal portion 32A. According to such a cleaning device, as described above, the contact width can be shortened while maintaining the contact pressure comparable to that of the conventional counter type cleaning device. Wear can be suppressed. In addition, the blade 31 is less likely to flutter.
In particular, in the present embodiment, the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32 is such that the end portion on the side close to the surface of the photoreceptor 10 has a boundary side with the downstream side surface 31b on the facing surface (fixing surface) of the blade 31. It is comprised so that it may extend to the same position. Thereby, since the free length part of the blade 31 is eliminated, the warp of the blade 31 can be effectively controlled.
In this embodiment, since the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32 is fixed to the entire surface of the blade 31 facing the surface, the adhesion between the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32 and the blade 31 is high. Can be effectively suppressed.
Further, according to the present embodiment, among the regions where the horizontal portion 32A of the blade holder 32 and the facing surface of the blade 31 overlap with each other, at least the end region on the side close to the surface of the photoreceptor 10 is subjected to the fixing process. Thus, fluttering of the blade 31 can be effectively suppressed.
Further, according to the present embodiment, the contact area between the blade 31 and the photoconductor 10 is reduced because the angle of the ridge line portion formed by the two surfaces adjacent to the one side is the obtuse angle, and the high surface Since the blade 31 can be pressed against the photoconductor 10 with pressure, the cleaning property is improved. In addition, since unstable stick-slip motion of the blade 31 can be suppressed, fatigue failure of the blade 31 can be suppressed and blade wear can be reduced.
In addition, according to the present embodiment, the end of the warpage regulating member on the side close to the surface of the photoreceptor 10 is the same as the boundary side with the downstream side surface 31 b on the surface facing the upstream side surface 31 a of the blade 31. It is comprised so that it may become a position or substantially the same position. Thereby, since the free length of the blade 31 is eliminated, the warp of the blade 31 can be effectively controlled.
In the present embodiment, a spring 36 is provided as a biasing means for increasing the pressing force in the normal direction of the contact portion P on the surface of the photosensitive member applied by the blade 31. As a result, the pressing force can be applied in a state where the pressing force is increased without causing a loss on the one side of the blade 31. Further, even if the distance relationship between the frame 33 and the surface of the photoconductor 10 changes due to the eccentricity of the photoconductor 10 or the like, the blade holder 32 can be displaced according to the change, so the frame 33 and the photoconductor 10. A high accuracy is not required for the distance relationship with the surface of the image sensor, and a high accuracy is not required for the assembly accuracy of the blade 31 with respect to the photoreceptor 10.
Further, according to the present embodiment, the upstream portion of the downstream side surface 31 b of the blade 31 in the moving direction of the photosensitive member surface and the contact portion P on the surface of the photosensitive member 10 with the blade 31 not pressed against the photosensitive member 10. The blade 31 is pressed against the photoconductor 10 in such a posture that an angle (contact angle) θ formed between the tangent and the downstream portion in the surface movement direction is 5 ° or more and 50 ° or less. Thereby, as described above, sufficient removal performance (cleaning performance) can be easily realized.
Further, according to the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus such as a printer that finally transfers an image formed on the photoconductor 10 to a recording material is configured to be detachable from the main body. By using a process cartridge that integrally supports the cleaning device 30 of the present invention, which is a cleaning means for removing unnecessary deposits that have adhered to the body 10, in addition to the effects described above, The positional accuracy between the blade 31 and the photoconductor 10 can be kept good during assembly, and the cleaning device 30 can be replaced integrally with the photoconductor 10, so that the user can easily maintain the positional accuracy. Maintenance can be performed easily, such as being able to replace it as it is.
In addition, according to the present embodiment, in an image forming apparatus such as a printer that finally transfers an image formed on the photoconductor 10 to a recording material, the cleaning apparatus 30 of the present invention is individually or as the process cartridge. Since the above-described effects can be obtained, the photoconductor 10 can be cleaned well and a high-quality image can be formed.
According to this embodiment, the toner constituting the image has a volume average particle size of 3 [μm] or more and 7 [μm] or less, and an average circularity of 0.940 or more and 0.998 or less. In other words, toner satisfying any one of shape factors SF-1 and SF-2 of 100 or more and 160 or less is used. Even if the toner having such a shape is used, the cleaning device 30 of the present invention can be used to obtain the above-described effects, so that the cleaning performance can be maintained well. Further, by using the toner having the above shape, high image quality can be achieved.
Further, according to this embodiment, as a toner constituting the image, a toner composition containing a polyester prepolymer having a functional group containing a nitrogen atom, a polyester, a colorant, and a release material is dissolved and / or dispersed in an organic solvent. To produce a high-quality image by using a toner obtained by dispersing the organic solvent composition in an aqueous medium in which resin fine particles are present, and crosslinking and / or stretching reaction. Can do.

  In the above-described embodiment, the cleaning device 30 for the photoconductor has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to the printer 100 according to the present embodiment, and the cleaning for the surface moving member in all image forming apparatuses. It can be used as a device. Therefore, for example, it has one photoconductor and a plurality of (for example, four color) developing devices, and by sequentially rotating each developing device, a toner image of each color is formed on the photoconductor, and the toner image is finally obtained. In addition, the present invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus that forms an image by transferring to a transfer paper, and can also be applied to a monochrome image forming apparatus. Further, the present invention is not limited to a printer, and can be used as a cleaning device for a copying machine, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine having a plurality of functions. It should be noted that the image forming apparatus is an electrophotographic system, an ink jet system, or another system. In short, if it is an image forming apparatus provided with a surface moving member that needs to remove deposits attached to the surface, the image forming apparatus It can be applied as a cleaning device for a surface moving member. Further, the present invention can be similarly applied even if the deposit to be removed is any powder such as toner, paper dust, metal powder, or liquid such as developer.

  The present invention is not limited to a cleaning device for a photoconductor, but also to a cleaning device for removing a surface transfer member other than the photoconductor, such as a transfer residual toner adhering to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 162. Applicable. Also, not only image bearing members such as photoreceptors and intermediate transfer belts, but also deposits such as toner and paper dust adhered to the surface of a recording material conveying member that carries and conveys a recording material on the surface are removed. It can also be applied to a cleaning device. In addition, the present invention can be applied to a cleaning device for any surface moving member that needs to remove deposits attached to the surface. Of course, the surface moving member may be in the form of a drum or a belt, and may be any member as long as the surface moves. However, in the case of a cleaning device for a belt-shaped surface moving member, the cleaning device is generally arranged so that the belt is sandwiched between a support roller and a blade for supporting the belt. A backup member such as a flat plate member may be disposed on the side, and the cleaning device may be disposed such that the belt is sandwiched between the backup member and the blade. Further, as a process cartridge that integrally supports the intermediate transfer belt 162 and the recording paper conveyance member, and removes the adhering matter adhering to the surface such as the intermediate transfer belt 162 and the recording paper conveyance member, and is detachable from the printer main body. By configuring, in addition to the effects as described above, it is possible to maintain good positional accuracy between the blade 31 and the intermediate transfer belt 162 or the recording paper conveying member when assembled to the printer body. In addition, since the cleaning device can be replaced integrally with the intermediate transfer belt 162 or the recording paper conveying member, the user can easily perform maintenance such as replacement with the positional accuracy maintained.

  Further, when the object to be cleaned is the photoreceptor 10 as in this embodiment, the photoreceptor is an organic photoreceptor, an amorphous silicon photoreceptor, or a protection made of a binder resin having a crosslinked structure on the surface of the organic photoreceptor. A photoreceptor provided with a layer may be used, and the present invention can be applied as a cleaning device for any photoreceptor. When the intermediate transfer belt 162 is to be cleaned, the intermediate transfer belt may be a polyimide-based intermediate transfer belt considering heat resistance and stretchability, an intermediate transfer belt using a polyethylene-based material, or a fluorine-based / rubber-based intermediate belt. The transfer belt may be used, and the present invention can be applied as a cleaning device for any intermediate transfer belt.

  In the various application examples described here, the configuration of the photoconductor cleaning device 30 described in the above embodiment can be used almost as it is, or can be appropriately modified according to the application example.

  Further, the counter type cleaning device has been described so far. However, as in the cleaning device 30 of the present embodiment, the blade holder 32 has the photosensitive member 10 in a configuration in which the warpage of the blade 31 is regulated by the warpage regulating member. A so-called tray supported on the support shaft of the frame (device main body) of the cleaning device on the upstream side of the normal line N of the contact portion P with which the contact side of the blade 31 contacts on the surface of the surface. Even when applied to a ring type cleaning device, the cleaning performance is improved over the conventional cleaning type cleaning device in which the warping of the cleaning blade 231 is not restricted due to the same reason as the above-described counter type cleaning device. And wear of the blade 31 can be suppressed. Further, in the trailing type cleaning device in which the warping of the blade 31 is regulated, the blade 31 is configured such that the central portion protrudes toward the photoconductor 10 from both ends in the blade length direction of the one side. At the time of initial contact, the central portion of the blade ridge line in contact with the photoconductor 10 is closer to the photoconductor 10 than the end in the longitudinal direction, and the blade holder 32 and the blade 31 are exposed by the movement of the surface of the photoconductor 10. Even when the center of the blade is greatly deflected by receiving a force from the body 10, a decrease in the contact pressure at the center of the blade can be suppressed as in the counter type cleaning device of the present embodiment described above, and the lengthwise direction of the blade Thus, the difference in contact pressure can be suppressed, and the cleaning property can be maintained.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram when a main part of the cleaning device is viewed from the direction of the photosensitive member rotation axis when a blade longitudinal center part of the blade is protruded from an end part. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating the printer. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a process cartridge provided in the printer. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram when a main part of the printer cleaning device according to the embodiment is viewed from the direction of the photosensitive member rotation axis. The perspective view which shows the principal part of the cleaning apparatus. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram when a main part of the printer cleaning device according to the embodiment is viewed from the direction of the photosensitive member rotation axis. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram when a main part of the cleaning device for a printer according to the embodiment is viewed from the direction of the photosensitive member rotation axis when using a blade having an obtuse angle at the tip edge line part. Explanatory drawing which shows the measuring apparatus of the pressing force of the braid | blade provided in the cleaning apparatus. Explanatory drawing which shows the conventional counter type cleaning apparatus. (A) Explanatory drawing of the parameter used for calculation of the shape factor SF-1 of toner. (B) Explanatory drawing of the parameter used for calculation of the shape factor SF-2 of toner.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Photosensitive body 29 Brush roller 30 Cleaning device 31 Blade 31a Upstream side surface 31b Downstream side surface 32 Blade holder 32A Horizontal part 32B Vertical part 33 Frame 34 Support shaft 36 Spring 37 Adjustment screw 38 Blade bracket 39 Pressure holder 40 Charging device 45 Flicker member 50 Developing device 60 Bearing 120 Image forming unit 121 Process cartridge 130 Paper feeding unit 140 Exposure device 160 Secondary transfer device 162 Intermediate transfer belt 165 Secondary transfer roller 200 Measuring device 201 Load cell 202 Cell base 203 Jig 204 Sensor conditioner 231 Cleaning blade 232 Blade holder

Claims (19)

A long plate-like elastic member;
A holding member for holding the plate-like elastic member;
The warpage of the plate-like elastic member caused by pressing the plate-like elastic member against the surface of the surface moving member is regulated so that one side extending in the longitudinal direction of the plate-like elastic member is orthogonal to the surface moving direction of the surface moving member A warping restricting member that
In the cleaning device in which the holding member holds the plate-like elastic member via the warp regulating member,
A cleaning device, characterized in that the central portion projects in the longitudinal direction of the plate-like elastic member on one side from the both end portions to the surface moving member side. The cleaning device according to claim 1.
A cleaning apparatus, wherein the holding member is pivotally supported with respect to the apparatus main body. The cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2,
The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the holding member has a shape in which the central portion protrudes toward the surface moving member from both ends in the longitudinal direction of the plate-like elastic member. The cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2,
The said plate-shaped elastic member is a cleaning apparatus characterized by the shape which the center part protruded to the surface moving member side rather than both ends in the plate-shaped elastic member elongate direction. The cleaning device according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4.
The plate-like elastic member has an upstream side surface located on the upstream side in the surface movement direction of the surface moving member, of the two surfaces adjacent to the one side, on the downstream side in the surface movement direction of the surface moving member. The length in the direction perpendicular to the one side is longer than the downstream side surface,
The warpage restricting member restricts warpage of the elastic plate member such that the upstream side surface extends in a direction perpendicular to the one side and the opposing surface of the upstream side surface contracts. A cleaning device, wherein the plate-like elastic member is fixed to an opposite surface of the upstream side surface. The cleaning device according to claim 5.
The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the warpage restricting member is fixed to the entire facing surface of the upstream side surface of the plate-like elastic member. The cleaning device according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6.
Among the regions where the opposing surface of the plate-like elastic member and the warp regulating member overlap each other, at least an end region on the side close to the surface of the surface moving member is subjected to a fixing process. Cleaning device. The cleaning device according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7.
The holding member is supported by the apparatus main body on the downstream side of the surface moving direction of the surface moving member with respect to the normal line of the contact portion where one side of the plate-like elastic member contacts the surface of the surface moving member. apparatus. The cleaning device according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8.
The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an angle of a ridge line portion formed by two surfaces adjacent to one side of the boundary is an obtuse angle. The cleaning device according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9.
In the warpage restricting member, the end portion on the side close to the surface of the surface moving member is at the same position or substantially the same position as the boundary side with the downstream side surface of the plate-like elastic member facing the upstream side surface. A cleaning device configured as described above. The cleaning device according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10.
A cleaning apparatus comprising biasing means for increasing a pressing force in a normal direction of the contact portion on the surface of the surface moving member applied by the plate-like elastic member. The cleaning device according to claim 11.
In the state where the plate-like elastic member is not pressed against the surface moving member, the upstream portion in the surface moving direction of the surface moving member on the downstream side surface of the plate-like elastic member and the contact on the surface of the surface moving member It is characterized in that the plate-like elastic member is pressed against the surface moving member in an attitude where the angle formed by the tangent of the portion and the downstream side portion in the surface moving direction is 5 [°] or more and 50 [°] or less. Cleaning device to do. In an image forming apparatus that finally transfers an image formed on an image carrier that is a surface moving member to a recording material,
The cleaning device according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12 is used as a cleaning unit for removing unnecessary deposits adhered to the image carrier. An image forming apparatus characterized by being used. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13.
An image forming apparatus comprising: a process cartridge that integrally supports the image carrier and the cleaning device and is detachably provided on the main body of the image forming apparatus. In an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material carried on the surface of a recording material conveying member which is a surface moving member,
13. The cleaning device according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 as a cleaning means for removing unnecessary deposits adhered on the recording material conveying member. An image forming apparatus using the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 15.
An image forming apparatus comprising: a process cartridge that integrally supports the recording material conveying member and the cleaning device and is detachably provided on the main body of the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13, 14, 15, or 16.
The toner constituting the image has a volume average particle size of 3 [μm] to 7 [μm], an average circularity of 0.940 to 0.998, shape factors SF-1 and SF. An image forming apparatus using a toner satisfying any one of −2 to 100 or less and 160 or less. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13, 14, 15, 16, or 17.
As a toner constituting the image, an organic solvent composition is prepared by dissolving and / or dispersing a toner composition containing a polyester prepolymer having a functional group containing a nitrogen atom, polyester, a colorant, and a release agent in an organic solvent. An image forming apparatus comprising: a toner obtained by dispersing the organic solvent composition in an aqueous medium in which resin fine particles are present and performing a crosslinking and / or elongation reaction.   An image forming apparatus that finally transfers an image formed on an image carrier, which is a surface moving member, to a recording material, is detachably attached to the image carrier and an unnecessary attachment attached to the image carrier. A process cartridge integrally supporting a cleaning means for removing kimono, wherein the cleaning means is the cleaning according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12. A process cartridge using an apparatus.

Images