JP2010002338A - Instrument and method for measuring production amount of dust and/or voc (volatile organic compound) - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a measuring instrument for measuring the amount of dust and/or VOC produced from a material under a condition near to a simpler and more actual use environment, and a measuring method using it. <P>SOLUTION: This measuring instrument, constituted to measure the amount of the dust and/or VOC of a member for becoming a factor producing dust and/or VOC (volatile organic compound) in operation of an image forming apparatus, a means containing a suction duct and an atmosphere measuring instrument and sucking the atmosphere produced by heating a sample by the suction duct and subsequently measuring the sucked atmosphere by the atmosphere measuring instrument. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for measuring dust and / or VOC (volatile organic compounds).

When printing is performed using an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer or a copying machine, dust or VOC (volatile organic compounds) is generated from the image forming unit, the fixing unit, and the like. Many image forming apparatuses are used in a sealed environment such as a room, and the generated dust and VOC accumulate in the sealed environment and may affect the human body. For this reason, efforts are being made to reduce the discharge amount of VOC and dust generated from the image forming apparatus.

The generation of dust and VOC (volatile organic compounds) is remarkable in an image forming apparatus using a method of fixing an image by heating. This is presumably because it is generated from electrostatic charge image developing toner and fixing device members during fixing heating as one of the generation sources of dust and VOC.

The method for measuring the amount of dust discharged from the image forming apparatus is to operate a laser printer, copier, etc. in a sealed space with ventilation equipment, collect the dust generated in the sealed space with a filter, There is a method for measuring the amount of dust generated. In addition, as a method for measuring the VOC emission amount, there is a method in which VOC generated in an enclosed space is adsorbed by an adsorbent as in the case of dust, and the VOC amount is measured from the weight of the adsorbent (an international standard for emission tests) 1). However, these methods require a large-sized dedicated facility having a sealed space having a ventilation facility that is not affected by humidity or the like, and the measurement location is limited. Furthermore, when analyzing using this filter or the method of collection with an adsorbent, a certain amount or more of dust and VOC is required, so it was necessary to generate high-concentration dust and VOC in the sealed space. .
Also, with this method, it is necessary to create an image device and toner to the stage where an image can be formed, and development of the device and toner requires a lot of time and effort, and many samples are required. It is difficult to evaluate.

  As a method for measuring the VOC emission, there is a method using gas chromatography in addition to a method using an adsorbent. However, this also requires a complicated method with a dedicated apparatus, which requires time and cost, and it is difficult to evaluate a large number of samples.

As a method for analyzing a material, a thermal analysis method for measuring a component and amount of a gas generated by heating the material is known. However, since the measurement value by this method is a measurement value including components finer than dust such as moisture in gas and VOC, the amount of dust cannot be specified.
ISO / ICE_28360 (ECMA-328 (2007)

  An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a measurement method that can measure the amount of dust and / or VOC generated from a material under conditions that are simpler and closer to the actual use environment.

  As a result of intensive studies, the inventors connect a heating device, a suction duct, an atmosphere measuring device, and a sucked atmosphere to the measuring device, and measure the amount of components generated from the sample heated by the heating device. The inventors have found that the above-mentioned problems can be solved by devising means, and have reached the present invention.

That is, the gist of the present invention is as follows.
(1) A device that measures the amount of dust and / or VOC of a member that can cause dust and / or VOC (volatile organic compounds) when the image forming apparatus is operated, and includes a suction duct and A measuring apparatus comprising an atmosphere measuring apparatus, comprising means for sucking an atmosphere generated by heating a sample from a suction duct and then measuring the sucked atmosphere by the atmosphere measuring apparatus.
(2) The measuring device according to (1), wherein the atmosphere measuring device measures the generation amount of dust and / or VOC (volatile organic compound).
(3) The measuring device according to (1), further including a heating device for heating the sample.
(4) The measuring apparatus according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the sample is an electrostatic image developing toner.
(5) The measuring apparatus according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the sample is a material constituting toner for developing an electrostatic image.
(6) The measuring apparatus according to (1) to (3), wherein the sample is a component constituting an image forming apparatus using a toner for developing an electrostatic image.
(7) The measuring apparatus according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the sample is a component constituting a fixing roller of an image forming apparatus that uses toner for developing an electrostatic image.
(8) The measuring device according to any one of (1) to (7), wherein the heating is performed by a toner heat fixing device in an image forming apparatus using an electrostatic charge image developing toner.
(9) The measuring method according to (8), wherein the amount of dust and / or VOC (volatile organic compound) generated by heating is continuously measured from the start of heating.
(10) The measurement method according to (8) or (9), wherein the sample is heated simultaneously with the temperature rise of the heating device.
(11) The measuring method according to (8) or (9), wherein the sample is heated by a heating device maintained at a constant temperature.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the measuring apparatus and measuring method which can measure the amount of dust (dust) and / or VOC (volatile organic compound) with a cheap and simple structure can be provided.
Further, the amount of dust and / or VOC generated from the material constituting the image forming apparatus or the electrostatic image developing toner can be measured under conditions close to the actual use environment of the image forming apparatus.

  Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, and relative arrangements of the components described in the following embodiments should be appropriately changed according to the configuration of the apparatus to which the present invention is applied and various conditions. Therefore, unless specifically stated otherwise, the scope of the present invention is not intended to be limited thereto.

[First embodiment]
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows a dust and / or VOC amount measuring device having a heating device, a suction duct, and an atmosphere measuring device.
In FIG. 1, 1 is a draft. The draft is provided with 9 inlets and 8 exhausts, and measurement can be performed while introducing outside air or inert gas into the draft. If the generated VOC concentration exceeds the measurement limit of the measuring instrument's atmosphere measurement device when the sample is heated, a constant flow of outside air or inert gas is allowed to flow through the 10 inlets, and the generated concentration is measured. It is preferable to be inside.

A sample for measuring 4 dust and / or VOC is put in 3 cups and heated on 2 heating devices. The heating device is not particularly limited, and any device that can uniformly heat the sample and control the temperature, such as a hot plate, may be used. Further, the sample may be brought into direct contact with the heating device, or may be put in a cup and brought into contact with the heating device. The cup is preferably a metal container having a high heat transfer rate, such as an aluminum cup, and preferably has a large contact surface between the container and the heating device in order to uniformly heat the sample.
The sample may be heated in a closed container instead of an open container such as a cup.

In order to avoid changes in the generation start time and generation amount of dust and VOC depending on the shape of the sample during heating, it is preferable that the sample be as fine as possible. Furthermore, it is preferable that the sample is heated to near the melting point of the sample and dissolved once.
If the dissolution temperature of the sample is too high, dust and VOC may be generated, so it is preferable to heat the sample at a temperature near the melting point in a short time.

The sample of the present invention may be any member that can cause dust and VOC when the image forming apparatus is operated. The toner, the material constituting the toner, the components constituting the image forming apparatus such as the fixing roller, etc. Can be mentioned.
As one of dust and VOC generation sources of an image forming apparatus, toner for developing an electrostatic image during fixing heating and a fixing device member are estimated. Using these members as samples, the amount of dust and VOC generated is measured with the measuring apparatus and / or measuring method of the present invention.

Dust and / or VOC generated from the 4 samples are introduced from the 10 intake ports through the 5 intake ducts to the 6 atmosphere measuring device.
The shape of the air intake 10 may be any shape that can be easily collected, such as an umbrella type or a tent type that covers all the heating devices. The dust and / or VOC collected at the 10 intake ports can be introduced into the atmosphere measuring device in the entire amount captured by passing through the intake duct.

The atmosphere measuring device 6 is preferably a dust measuring device capable of continuous measurement or a VOC measuring device. A gas containing dust and / or VOC sucked from the intake duct is sent to the atmosphere measuring device, and while passing through the atmosphere measuring device, the dust and VOC contained in the atmosphere are measured in real time. A commercially available dust measuring device can be used as the atmosphere measuring device regardless of the measurement method.
The gas containing dust and / or VOC measured in the atmosphere measuring device is exhausted from 7 to the outside of the draft.

[Second Embodiment]
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 shows a dust and / or VOC amount measuring device having an image forming apparatus, a suction duct, and an atmosphere measuring device.
In FIG. 2, 1 is a draft. As in the first embodiment, the draft is provided with nine air supply ports and eight exhaust ports, and measurement can be performed while introducing outside air or inert gas into the draft.

Reference numeral 11 denotes an image forming apparatus such as a printer. Put toner into the printer, set the image density and the fixing temperature of the printer, print a certain number of images with the same image, collect dust and / or VOC generated by printing at the 12 inlets, and collect 5 intakes It passes through the duct and is introduced into the atmosphere measuring device 6.
The fixing device portion of the image forming apparatus 11 is preferably modified so that the temperature can be controlled.

The intake port 11 preferably covers the image forming apparatus. The dust and / or VOCs collected at the 11 intake ports can be introduced into the atmosphere measuring device in the entire amount captured by passing through the intake duct from the intake port.
The atmosphere measuring apparatus 6 is preferably the same apparatus as that of the first embodiment.

[Measuring method]
The sample heating method and the measurement method can be appropriately combined depending on the measurement purpose.
The sample may be heated at the same time as the temperature of the heating device or may be determined by a heating device held at a constant temperature.
The measurement may be performed by arbitrarily setting the temperature and time, or may be continuously monitored from the start of heating the sample. The temperature of the heating device and the measured result are sent to a data processing device such as a personal computer, and the data can be analyzed.

When heating the sample simultaneously with the temperature rise of the heating device, it is possible to measure the generation amount of dust and / or VOC, the temperature at which it starts to generate, the fluctuation of the generation amount, the maximum generation amount and generation temperature, the generation convergence temperature, etc. it can.
When the sample is heated by a heating device maintained at a constant temperature, the amount of dust and / or VOC in a specific temperature environment can be measured. With this measurement method,
It becomes possible to measure the amount of dust and / or VOC generated at a specific temperature and time. In addition, it is possible to compare the generation amounts of a plurality of samples under the same temperature and time conditions, and it is possible to extract a sample suitable for the product design from a large number of samples.

  When the sample is heated by a heating device maintained at a constant temperature and the amount of dust and VOC generated for a certain period of time is measured, it is preferable to wait until the temperature of the sample becomes uniform and start the measurement. In addition, it is preferable that the time until the temperature of the sample becomes uniform is short, and the shape and amount of the sample may be selected as appropriate.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples. However, the present invention is not limited to the following examples unless it exceeds the gist.

  Using the apparatus shown in Embodiment 1, the dust of toner 1 obtained by the emulsion polymerization aggregation method containing wax 1 and 10% of wax 1 was measured.

Wax 1 Paraffin wax (manufactured by Nippon Seiwa)
Toner 1 Toner obtained by emulsion polymerization aggregation method containing 10% of wax 1
Wax 2 Carnauba wax (manufactured by Celerica Noda)
Toner 2 Toner obtained by emulsion polymerization aggregation method containing 10% of wax 2

  1 g of wax 1 was put in an aluminum cup and placed on a hot plate as a heating device. The hot plate was heated from 100 ° C. to 200 ° C. at a rate of 100 ° C./h, and the amount of dust was measured continuously. The dust generated from the sample was measured with an LD-3K2 digital dust meter manufactured by Shibata Kagaku.

  Dust was generated from the wax 1 at a hot plate surface temperature of 180 ° C. or higher.

  0.5 g of toner 1 obtained by an emulsion polymerization aggregation method containing 10% of wax 1 was measured in the same manner as wax 1. Dust was generated from toner 1 at a hot plate surface temperature of 180 ° C. or higher.

  1 g of wax 2 and 0.5 g of toner 2 obtained by the emulsion polymerization aggregation method containing 10% of wax 2 were measured in the same manner as wax 1. When the hot plate surface temperature was 180 ° C. or higher, no dust was generated from the wax 2 and the toner 2.

  ISO / ICE_28360 (ECMA-328 (2007) described in ECMA-328 (2007) was used to measure the dust emission rate of toner 1 and toner 2. The toner 1 and 8 mg / h were measured using the method of measuring the chemical substance emission rate from electronic devices. From Toner 2, 0.5 mg / h dust satisfying the German environmental label, Blue Angel standard (4 mg / h or less) was measured.

  The measurement results obtained using the measuring instrument and measurement method of the present invention coincided with the results of the measurement method described in ISO / ICE_28360 (ECMA-328 (2007). By using the method of the present invention, it is easier than the conventional method. Dust evaluation can be performed.

It is a figure which shows Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure showing the measurement result of the dust generation amount of the wax 1 and the wax 2 of an Example. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a measurement result of dust generation amount of toner 1 and toner 2 of an example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Simple draft 2 Hot plate 3 Aluminum cup 4 Sample sample 5 Intake duct 6 Atmosphere measuring device 7 Exhaust port from measuring device 8 Exhaust port from draft 9 Supply port to draft 10 Intake port 11 Laser printer evaluation machine 12 Intake duct Cover

Claims (11)

A device that measures the amount of dust and / or VOC in a member that can cause dust and / or VOC (volatile organic compounds) when an image forming apparatus is operated. A measuring apparatus comprising an apparatus, comprising means for sucking an atmosphere generated by heating a sample from a suction duct, and then measuring the sucked atmosphere with an atmosphere measuring apparatus. The measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the atmosphere measuring apparatus measures the generation amount of dust and / or VOC (volatile organic compound). The measuring device according to claim 1, further comprising a heating device for heating the sample. 4. The measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sample is an electrostatic image developing toner. The measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sample is a material constituting toner for developing an electrostatic image. 4. The measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sample is a component constituting an image forming apparatus using a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image. 4. The measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sample is a component constituting a fixing roller of an image forming apparatus using a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image. 8. The measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heating is performed by a toner heat fixing device in an image forming apparatus using toner for developing an electrostatic image. The measurement method according to claim 8, wherein the amount of dust and / or VOC (volatile organic compound) generated by heating is continuously measured from the start of heating. The measurement method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the sample is heated simultaneously with the temperature rise of the heating device. The measurement method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the sample is heated by a heating apparatus maintained at a constant temperature.

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