JP2013050728A - Developing device and image forming apparatus mounted with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a developing device in which a toner hardly remains on a surface of a developing roller and which can be decreased in size of the device and increased in speed, and to provide an image forming apparatus mounted with the same.SOLUTION: A developing device comprises: a housing (30) which has an opening facing an image carrier (5); a magnetic roller (50) which is disposed inside the housing and forms a magnetic brush by a carrier and toner; and a developing roller (60) which has a resin coating layer on a surface and which forms a thin layer of the toner transferred from the magnetic brush in the opening. Volume resistivity value of the coating layer is 1×10Ωcm to 1×10Ωcm, arithmetic surface roughness of the coating layer is 0.4×10m to 1.5×10m and duty ratio of an AC component of a developing bias satisfies 40% to 60%.

Description

  The present invention relates to a developing device using a two-component developer having a carrier and a toner, and an image forming apparatus equipped with the developing device.

In this type of developing device, a toner image is developed on the surface of an image carrier on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, for example, a photosensitive drum, and the toner image is transferred and fixed on a sheet.
Here, this developing apparatus has a so-called hybrid development system. Specifically, this method is a combination of a two-component development method and a one-component development method, and a non-magnetic toner is charged using a magnetic carrier, and a toner thin layer is formed on the developing roller. Toner is supplied from a thin layer to the drum, and a toner image is developed on the surface.

More specifically, the developing device includes a developing roller facing the drum and a magnetic brush roller facing the roller, and the brush roller forms a magnetic brush made of a carrier and toner. A thin layer made only of toner is formed on the developing roller, and the toner layer of the developing roller is scraped off after development.
In addition, this developing roller is known to have an alumite coating layer on its surface. As another example of this coating, the technology of a developing roller having a coating layer of urethane resin or the like on its surface is also disclosed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-249414

However, as described above, when the toner supply from the developing roller to the drum and the scraping of the toner layer of the developing roller by the magnetic brush are simply repeated, there is a problem that image disturbance occurs.
Specifically, in a developing device using a two-component developer, it is difficult to adjust the toner supply to the drum (toner developability) and the toner layer scraping (toner peelability), and the developing device is small. If the toner developability is prioritized over the toner peelability, the toner tends to remain on the surface of the developing roller, and the toner layer thickness of the developing roller is reduced and the image density is reduced. This is because the above-described defect may occur and a development ghost may occur during the next development.

In particular, in the toner layer on the surface of the developing roller, toner having a particle size of, for example, about 2.0 × 10 ⁻⁶ m or less tends to remain on the surface of the developing roller. Among toners of small particle size, residual toner with a large charge amount has a strong mirror image force with the developing roller and a strong electric adhesion force. Therefore, the electric field due to the developing bias must overcome this adhesion force. This is because the toner having the small particle diameter is not supplied to the drum.

As described above, it is necessary to take measures to eliminate the adhesion of the toner having a small particle diameter to the developing roller. However, in the conventional technology, no special consideration is given to the measures.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a developing device that solves the above-described problems, makes it difficult for toner to remain on the surface of the developing roller, and that can reduce the size and speed of the device, and an image forming apparatus including the developing device. It is to be.

A first invention for achieving the above object is a developing device for developing a toner image by charging a toner using a carrier and supplying the toner to an image carrier, the toner including the toner and the carrier, And the carrier frictionally contact each other, the toner is charged to the first polarity, and the developer is charged to the second polarity different from the first polarity, and the image carrier is opposed to the developer. A housing having an opening, a magnetic roller which is disposed in the housing and forms a magnetic brush made of carrier and toner, and a resin coating layer on the surface, is transferred from the magnetic brush through the opening. A first electric field for transferring toner from the magnetic roller to the developing roller by forming a first electric field between the developing roller for forming a thin layer of toner and the magnetic roller and the developing roller. A second electric field is formed between the developing means and the developing roller and the image carrier, and the electrostatic latent image is developed by transferring toner from the developing roller to the electrostatic latent image on the image carrier. The first electric field includes at least an alternating electric field, and the coating layer is charged to the same polarity as the first polarity charged to the toner by frictional contact with the carrier. In addition, the volume resistance value is 1 × 10 ⁵ Ωcm to 1 × 10 ⁹ Ωcm.

  According to the first invention, a two-component developer comprising a carrier and a toner is used, and a magnetic brush is formed by the developer on the magnetic roller, and this brush forms a thin layer of toner on the developing roller. . The toner image is developed by supplying the toner to the image carrier. On the other hand, this brush scrapes off and collects the toner layer of the developing roller after development.

Here, in order to reduce the size and speed of the developing device as described above, provision of toner to the image carrier (toner developability) has priority over scraping of the toner layer (toner peelability). As a result, the toner tends to remain on the surface of the developing roller, resulting in image disturbance.
However, in the developing device of the present invention, since the resin coating layer is formed on the surface of the developing roller and the releasability with respect to the toner is improved, the electrical adhesion between the developing roller and the toner is reduced. .

Further, when the coating layer is formed of a resin, the coating layer is charged, and there is a concern that the developability of the toner and the peelability of the toner may be reduced. However, the volume resistance value range of this coating layer is 1 × 10 ⁵ Ωcm to 1 × 10 ⁹ Ωcm. As a result, the toner on the developing roller can easily fly to the image carrier, and the developability of the toner can be improved. Further, the toner can be easily peeled off from the developing roller, so that the toner can be easily peeled off.

Further, it is preferred that arithmetic surface roughness in the range of the surface is ^{0.4 × 10 -6 m~1.5 × 10 -6} m. As a result, an appropriate adhesion force between the developing roller and the toner can be obtained, and it is possible to avoid image defects such as poor image density and developing ghost as compared with the conventional case.
Moreover, it is preferable that the range of the duty ratio of the AC component in the developing bias is set to 40% to 60%. The developing time of the electric field due to the developing bias is increased, and the developability of the toner can be further improved.
Further, it is possible to achieve a reduction in the size and speed of the developing device while satisfying both the developability and the peelability of the small particle size toner.

  According to a second invention, in the configuration of the first invention, the duty ratio D1 of the AC component in the developing bias for developing the electrostatic latent image on the image carrier with the toner of the developing roller, and the toner on the developing roller with a magnetic brush Among the thin layer forming biases for forming the thin layer, when the duty ratio D2 of the AC component is satisfied, D1> 100−D2 is satisfied.

According to the second invention, in addition to the action of the first invention, the bias applied to the magnetic roller is superimposed on the bias applied to the developing roller, so that the potential difference between the developing roller and the magnetic roller can be reduced. Since the bias applied to the magnetic roller is canceled and the bias is applied to the magnetic roller, the AC component duty ratio D1 in the developing bias and the AC component duty ratio D2 in the thin layer formation bias can be set to exceed 100%. Thus, the developing bias and the thin layer forming bias can be set to desired values, and both the developability of the small particle size toner and the peelability of the toner can be reliably achieved.
In addition, the AC component in the thin layer forming bias preferably has the same period as the AC component in the developing bias from the viewpoint of pressure resistance of the high-voltage power supply substrate.

The third invention is characterized in that, in the configurations of the first and second inventions, when the weight average particle diameter Dc of the carrier and the volume average particle diameter Dt of the toner are satisfied, 4 <Dc / Dt <10 is satisfied. To do.
According to the third invention, in addition to the effects of the first and second inventions, as described above, the duty ratio range of the AC component of the developing bias is set to 40% to 60%, and the carrier weight average By using a carrier and toner having a ratio Dc / Dt of 4 to 10 between the particle diameter Dc and the volume average particle diameter Dt of the toner, the magnetic brush can be formed densely, and a more uniform toner thin layer can be formed. Can be formed. The duty ratio of 40% means that the time during which the component from the developing roller toward the image carrier side is applied to the period of one cycle out of one cycle of the rectangular wave that is an AC component applied to the developing roller. In the case of a magnetic roller, the ratio of components from the magnetic roller toward the developing roller is shown.

A fourth invention is, in the configuration of the first to third inventions, which have a volume average particle diameter of the toner is ^{4.0 × 10 -6 m~6.7 × 10 -6} m, CV value in number distribution Is 22% or less.
According to the fourth aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the first to third aspects, the duty ratio range of the AC component of the developing bias is set to 40% to 60% as described above. range of volume average particle diameter of it becomes possible to use a toner to be ^{4.0 × 10 -6 m~6.7 × 10 -6} m. As a result, it contributes to higher image quality.
Further, a toner having a CV value with respect to the volume average particle diameter of 22% or less can be used. As a result, the spread of the particle diameter distribution does not increase, the toner charge amount distribution in the developing device becomes uniform, and fog and the like are prevented. A high quality image that does not occur is obtained.

A fifth invention is, in the configuration of the first to fourth inventions, the weight average particle diameter of the carrier is characterized in that it is a ^{25 × 10 -6 m~45 × 10 -6} m.
According to the fifth aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the first to fourth aspects, the duty ratio range of the AC component of the developing bias is set to 40% to 60% as described above. A carrier having a weight average particle size range of 25 × 10 ⁻⁶ m to 45 × 10 ⁻⁶ m can be used. As a result, a magnetic brush is formed densely, so that a thin toner layer is formed densely. As a result, a high-quality image can be obtained, and the toner peelability can be improved.

A sixth invention is characterized in that, in the configurations of the first to fifth inventions, the peripheral speed of the image carrier is set to 180 mm / sec or more.
According to the sixth invention, in addition to the effects of the first to fifth inventions, when the peripheral speed of the image carrier is set to 180 mm / sec or more and the image forming process speed is high, the development time and Although the collection time of undeveloped toner is shortened, the present invention can particularly suitably cope with such a high speed.

A seventh invention is an image forming apparatus equipped with the developing device of the first to sixth inventions.
According to the seventh invention, in addition to the effects of the first to sixth inventions, the above-described developability and peelability can be achieved and stable image quality can be maintained over a long period of time. This contributes to improving the reliability of the forming apparatus.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a developing device that makes it difficult for toner to remain on the surface of the developing roller, and that realizes a reduction in size and speed of the device, and an image forming apparatus equipped with the developing device.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus of an embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the image development apparatus of FIG. It is a power supply block diagram by the developing device of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the synthetic potential difference by the power supply block diagram of FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of development efficiency of the developing device (Example 1) of FIG. 1 and Comparative Example 1; It is the figure which showed the experimental result by the image development apparatus of FIG. 1, and a comparative example.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a tandem color printer according to the present embodiment, in which the right direction corresponds to the front of the printer 1 and the left direction corresponds to the back.
As shown in the figure, a paper cassette 3 is arranged at the lower part of the apparatus main body 2, and paper P before image formation is accommodated in the cassette 3 in a stacked state. Are separated one by one and sent from the cassette 3 toward the left.

  The paper P delivered from the cassette 3 is conveyed upward along the left side surface of the main body 2. Inside the main body 2, a feed roller 22, a registration roller 24, an image forming unit 4, and a transfer unit 71 are sequentially arranged on the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction. An exposure unit 20 is provided below the image forming unit 4, and laser light is irradiated from the unit 20 toward the photosensitive drum (image carrier) 5 of the image forming unit 4.

In addition, a fixing unit 72 and a discharge branching unit 74 are sequentially arranged on the downstream side of the transfer unit 71 as viewed in the paper transport direction. In the case of single-sided printing, the paper P discharged from the fixing unit 72 is discharged from the discharge branching unit. The sheet is discharged to the sheet discharge tray 76 through 74.
On the other hand, a duplex printing unit 78 is disposed between the discharge branching unit 74 and the cassette 3. In this unit 78, the sheet P discharged from the fixing unit 72 is returned to the registration roller 24, and the image forming unit 4. Send again towards

  Here, the image forming unit 4 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes four image forming units 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d. These units 4a to 4d are arranged in order from the front side to the back side of the printer 1, and are provided corresponding to images of four different colors (yellow, magenta, cyan and black), and are respectively charged and exposed. The yellow, magenta, cyan and black images are sequentially formed through the development and transfer processes.

Specifically, each of the units 4a to 4d is provided with drums 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d that carry visible images (toner images) of the corresponding colors. Each of the drums 5a to 5d is installed to be rotatable with respect to the main body 2, and is driven counterclockwise in the figure by a drive motor (not shown).
Further, at appropriate positions around the respective drums 5a to 5d, corresponding chargers 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, developing devices 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d, cleaning units 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d, intermediate Transfer rollers 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d are provided.

  In the chargers 6a to 6d, the surfaces of the corresponding drums 5a to 5d are uniformly charged. In the developing devices 7a to 7d, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toners are used to electrostatically adhere to the surfaces of the drums 5a to 5d, respectively. Thereby, toner images corresponding to the electrostatic latent images by the exposure unit 20 are developed on the surfaces of the drums 5a to 5d. The toner images formed on these drums 5a to 5d are sequentially transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 10 and synthesized as one page of toner images.

Specifically, the belt 10 is an endless belt in which both end portions of a dielectric resin sheet material are overlapped and joined, or a seamless belt without a seam, and includes a driving roller 12 and a conveying roller 11. And is driven clockwise by a drive motor (not shown).
The belt 10 travels between the drums 5a to 5d and the intermediate transfer rollers 9a to 9d, whereby the toner images formed on the drums 5a to 5d are primarily transferred onto the belt 10. In the cleaning units 8a to 8d, the toner remaining on the drums 5a to 5d is removed.

The transfer unit 71 described above is provided adjacent to the driving roller 12, and when the paper P passes between the roller of the transfer unit 71 and the belt 10, the toner image transferred onto the belt 10 is secondary to the paper P. The paper P is transferred and conveyed toward the fixing unit 72.
Here, a so-called hybrid development method is employed for each developing device 7 of the present embodiment.

  That is, non-magnetic toner is charged using a magnetic carrier, and only the charged toner is caused to fly toward each drum 5, and a toner image is developed on the drum 5 by a non-contact developing method. More specifically, the developing device 7 has a housing 30 shown in FIG. 2, and the housing 30 of the present embodiment has an opening 32 facing the drum 5 and extends downward from the opening 32. The peripheral wall 34 is provided, and a bottom wall 36 formed at the lower end portion of the peripheral wall 34.

  The bottom wall 36 accommodates the above-described carrier and toner, and an agitating mixer 40 and a paddle mixer 44 are disposed respectively. The shafts 42 and 46 of the mixers 40 and 44 are rotatably supported with respect to the housing 30. When the mixers 40 and 44 are rotated by a drive motor (not shown), the carrier and the toner are agitated to charge the toner. These carriers and toner are conveyed to a magnetic brush roller (magnetic roller) 50 via a mixer 44.

  The magnetic brush roller 50 is disposed above the mixer 44, and its shaft 52 is rotatably supported with respect to the housing 30. A tubular brush side sleeve 54 is fitted to the outer periphery of the shaft 52 of this embodiment via a flange. Thereby, when the shaft 52 is rotated by a drive motor (not shown), the sleeve 54 rotates clockwise in FIG.

  On the other hand, a holding shaft is disposed on the same line as the shaft 52 in the brush side sleeve 54. A brush-side magnet 56 is held on the outer peripheral side of the holding shaft with a predetermined main pole magnetic force and main pole angle, and a carrier and toner from the mixer 44 are attracted to form a magnetic brush. Specifically, the magnetic brush is formed in a region having the brush-side magnet 56 on the outer peripheral surface of the sleeve 54.

Further, the thickness of the magnetic brush is regulated by the ear cutting blade 38, and when a predetermined direct current (DC) bias is applied, the magnetic brush conveys the toner toward the developing roller 60. On the other hand, this magnetic brush scrapes off the developed toner layer from the developing roller 60.
As described above, in the magnetic brush, the toner layer firmly attached is peeled off from the developing roller 60 by a mechanical force, and new toner necessary for development is supplied to the developing roller 60.

  According to the magnetic brush described above, it is not necessary to provide a special device such as a scraping blade for the toner after development. This magnetic brush contacts the toner layer of the developing roller 60, and the rollers 50, 60 The toner collection and conveyance are facilitated by the brush effect due to the difference in rotational speed and the replacement of the developer of the magnetic brush by agitation in the mixers 40 and 44.

The developing roller 60 is disposed in the vicinity of the opening 32 above the brush roller 50.
The shaft 62 of the roller 60 is juxtaposed in parallel with the rotation axis of the brush roller 50, and is rotatably supported by the housing 30. Further, a tubular developing side sleeve 64 is also fitted to the outer periphery of the shaft 62 of this embodiment via a flange. Thus, when the shaft 62 is rotated by a drive motor (not shown), the sleeve 64 rotates clockwise in FIG.

  Also in the sleeve 64, a holding shaft is disposed on the same line as the shaft 62, and the developing side magnet 66 is held with a predetermined main pole magnetic force or main pole angle. Thereby, the density of the magnetic brush of the part which opposes each roller 50 and 60 is raised. A thin layer of only the toner transferred from the brush roller 50 is formed by the potential difference between the brush roller 50 and the developing roller 60.

  The shafts 52 and 62 described above are supported by a bearing (not shown), and the bearing is configured to be rotatable about the shaft 52 as a rotation center. When a developing bias, that is, an alternating current (AC) bias superimposed with a predetermined DC bias is applied, the toner on the developing roller 60 flies toward the drum 5. As a result, a toner image is developed on the surface of each drum 5.

  In this embodiment, the position of the main pole angle (magnetic force peak position) of the developing magnet 66 on the upstream side when viewed in the rotation direction of the developing roller 60 with respect to the reference line connecting the centers of the rollers 50 and 60. Is set at a position moved by about 14 °. On the other hand, the position of the main pole angle (magnetic force peak position) of the brush-side magnet 56 is set to a position moved about 5 ° downstream from the reference line as viewed in the rotation direction of the brush roller 50.

Incidentally, in the developing roller 60 of this embodiment, a resin coating layer is formed on the surface of the sleeve 64.
Specifically, the sleeve 64 of the present embodiment is an aluminum tube, an alumite coating layer (15 μm, 1 μm = 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ m) is formed on the surface, and a resin is formed on the upper side. The coating layer is formed. The resin of this example is a silicon-modified urethane resin, and is applied to a thickness of about 10 μm on the upper side of the alumite coating layer.

  The toner used in this embodiment is a positively charged toner. However, if a negatively charged toner is used, a fluorine resin or a phenol resin may be used instead of the silicon-modified urethane resin. . This is because the toner and the resin have the same polarity. On the other hand, if a positively chargeable toner is used in the case where this fluororesin is used, a charge having the same polarity as that of the toner can be obtained by, for example, containing a material having the same triboelectric charge polarity as the toner in the resin. What is necessary is just to use it, giving a characteristic. Also in this case, the binding property between the toner and the resin is lowered.

Further, this resin contains a conductive material such as carbon, and the range of the volume resistance value pv is increased to about 1 × 10 ⁵ Ωcm to about 1 × 10 ⁹ Ωcm. In addition, this volume resistance value pv applies a voltage (100V) between the surface of the sleeve 64, and a raw pipe, and HIRESTA UP (Mitsubishi Yuka company make: model MCP-HT450), and ULTRA HIGH RESISTANCE METER (ADVANTEST) Measured by using a

  On the other hand, the surface of the sleeve 64 is subjected to buffing or the like, and the range of the arithmetic surface roughness Ra is about 0.4 μm to about 1.5 μm. This arithmetic surface roughness Ra is measured using SURFCOM 1500DX (manufactured by Tokyo Seimitsu Co., Ltd .: corresponding to JIS B0601-1994) and measurement conditions (calculation standard: JIS-'94 standard, measurement type: roughness measurement, measurement length: 4. 0 mm, cutoff wavelength: 0.8 mm, measurement speed: 0.3 mm / s).

In the present embodiment, the above-described developing bias applied to the developing roller 60 is supplied from the first power source 68 as shown in FIG. 3, and the duty ratio D1 of the AC component Vpp1 is included in the developing bias. The range is set to about 40% to about 60%.
On the other hand, when applied to the brush roller 50, a bias for forming a thin layer of toner on the developing roller 60 by the magnetic brush, that is, a thin layer forming bias is applied to the first power source 68 in addition to the first power source 68. It is supplied from a second power supply 58 connected in series. Thereby, if the duty ratio D2 of the AC component Vpp2 of the thin layer formation bias is used, D1> 100-D2 can be satisfied.

  As a result, when the developing bias is supplied from the first power supply 68 and the thin layer forming bias is supplied only from the second power supply 58, as in the prior art, the duty ratio D2 to the brush roller 50 is set to 70%. In the present embodiment, when the supply to the roller 60 is weakly long and the toner recovery is strong and the short time is achieved, the duty ratio D1 to the developing roller 60 is limited to 30%. Then, while maintaining the duty ratio D2 to the brush roller 50, the duty ratio D1 to the developing roller 60 can be set to 55%, for example, and the setting area of the developing bias can be widened.

  Further, the AC component Vpp2 of the thin layer forming bias described above has the same period and an opposite phase as the AC component Vpp1 of the developing bias. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 4A, the voltage Vmag applied to the brush roller 50 (shown by a solid line in the drawing) and the voltage Vslv applied to the developing roller 60 (shown by a broken line in the drawing). The potential difference (Vmag−Vslv) can be a clear rectangular shape instead of a stepped shape ((b) in the figure).

In the printer 1 equipped with the developing device 7, the paper P is separated and sent from the cassette 3 one by one, and the paper P reaches the registration roller 24. The roller 24 sends the paper P to the transfer unit 71 while correcting the oblique feeding of the paper P and measuring the timing with the toner image formed by the image forming unit 4.
Further, based on image data from a controller (not shown), the printer 1 controls the irradiation of the laser beam by the exposure unit 20. As a result, an electrostatic latent image of the original image is created on each of the drums 5 a to 5 d in the image forming unit 4, and then a toner image is formed on each of the drums 5 a to 5 d from the latent image. Transcribed and synthesized. Subsequently, the toner image transferred and synthesized on the belt 10 is transferred to the paper P by the transfer unit 71.

Thereafter, the paper P is fed toward the fixing unit 72 while carrying an unfixed toner image. Next, the paper P discharged from the fixing unit 72 is discharged to the tray 76 through the discharge branching unit 74.
When double-sided printing is performed in contrast to this single-sided printing, the paper P discharged from the fixing unit 72 is pulled back to the unit 78 side by the discharge branching unit 74, and this paper P passes through the registration roller 24 and is again transferred to the transfer unit. Sent to 71. In this case, the toner image is transferred to the surface of the paper P that has not been printed.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the two-component developer composed of the carrier and the toner is used, and the brush roller 50 forms a magnetic brush by the developer, and this brush is the sleeve of the developing roller 60. A thin layer of toner is formed on the surface of 64. The toner image is developed by supplying the toner to the drum 5. On the other hand, this brush scrapes off and collects the toner layer of the sleeve 64 after development.

Here, in order to reduce the size and speed of the developing device 7 as described above, provision of toner to the drum 5 (toner developability) has priority over scraping of the toner layer (toner peelability). As a result, the toner tends to remain on the sleeve 64 and image distortion occurs.
This is because toner tends to remain on the sleeve 64, and if the charge amount of the residual toner increases due to friction with the magnetic brush, the thickness of the toner layer of the sleeve 64 decreases, resulting in poor image density. This is because a development ghost can occur during the next development. On the other hand, if priority is given to the peelability of the toner over the developability of the toner, the toner supply period from the sleeve 64 to the drum 5 is shortened, resulting in a poor image density.

However, in this embodiment, a coating layer of silicon-modified urethane resin is formed on the surface of the sleeve 64 and the releasability with respect to the toner is improved, so that the electrical adhesion between the sleeve 64 and the toner is small. Become.
On the other hand, when the coating layer is formed of a silicon-modified urethane resin, there is a concern that the coating layer is charged with the same polarity as the toner due to friction with the carrier, and the charge is accumulated, so that it is difficult to form the toner thin layer.

However, when the volume resistance value pv of the coating layer is in the range of about 1 × 10 ⁵ Ωcm to about 1 × 10 ⁹ Ωcm, it is possible to suppress the accumulation of charge and the difficulty in forming a toner thin layer, and A leak phenomenon to the drum 5 can be suppressed.

Specifically, when the volume resistance value pv is less than 1 × 10 ⁵ Ωcm, the volume resistance is too low, and thus leakage occurs. On the other hand, when the volume resistance value pv exceeds 1 × 10 ⁹ Ωcm, since the conductivity is low, the electric charge is accumulated and the potential difference between the sleeve 64 and the brush roller 50 is reduced, and the toner thin layer is formed. This is because the image density is lowered without being sufficiently formed.

  Furthermore, since the range of the arithmetic surface roughness Ra of the surface of the sleeve 64 is about 0.4 μm to about 1.5 μm, an appropriate adhesion force between the sleeve 64 and the toner can be obtained, and the image density compared with the conventional case. And image disturbance such as a development ghost can be avoided. Specifically, when the arithmetic surface roughness Ra is less than 0.4 μm, the charge amount of the toner may be reduced due to environmental fluctuations (for example, a high temperature and high humidity environment such as 80% at 35 ° C.) or deterioration of the developer. When the voltage drops, the effect of the electric field when forming the toner thin layer described above is reduced, the toner thin layer formation becomes unstable, the contact between the sleeve 64 and the toner is small, and the adhesion force such as van der Waals force is also reduced. The toner is likely to scatter due to the decrease, and when the arithmetic surface roughness Ra exceeds 1.5 μm, the contact between the sleeve 64 and the toner increases, so that the adhesive force increases and the developability of the toner increases. This is because the peelability is reduced.

The configuration of the coating layer of the silicon-modified urethane resin as in this embodiment and the configuration of the arithmetic surface roughness Ra of the sleeve 64 are combined, and the adhesion force between the sleeve 64 and the toner is suppressed to about 30 mN or less. It is done.
In addition, among the development biases, the range of the duty ratio D1 of the AC component Vpp1 is set to about 40% to about 60% (preferably about 45% to about 55%). In other words, since the application time of the bias component from the sleeve 64 toward the drum 5 increases, the toner developability can be further improved.

These points will be described in detail. 5 and 6 are experimental results obtained by examining the relationship between the type of the coating layer formed on the sleeve 64, the volume resistance value pv, the arithmetic surface roughness Ra, the duty ratio D1, and the image disturbance.
The experimental conditions are as image forming conditions: the peripheral speed of the drum 5 is 180 mm / sec, the surface potential of the drum 5 is 300 V, and the toner used is a positively charged toner whose charge amount is 25 μC / sec. g, the particle diameter (volume average particle diameter Dt) of the toner is 6.7 μm, and the CV value in the number particle size distribution of the toner is 20%. The Dt and CV values were measured with a Multisizer III (Beckman Coulter, Inc.) aperture diameter of 100 μm and a measurement range of 2 to 60 μm.

On the other hand, the carrier used has a particle size (weight average particle size Dc) of 40 μm and Dc / Dt of about 6. Further, the saturation magnetization of the carrier is 60 emu / g, and the volume resistivity of the carrier is 1 × 10 ¹⁰ Ωcm. The developing bias AC component Vpp1 for the developing roller 60 is 1.6 kV, the frequency f is 2.7 kHz, and the duty ratio D1 is 45%. In contrast, the DC component of the thin layer forming bias for the brush roller 50 is 200 V, the AC component Vpp2 during development is 300 V, the frequency f is 2.7 kHz, and the duty ratio D2 is 70% in reverse phase.

  The magnetic force of the developing magnet 66 is 400 G, and the position of the main pole angle is set to a position moved about 14 ° upstream as viewed in the rotation direction of the developing roller 60, while the magnetic force of the brush magnet 56 is set. The position of the main pole angle is set to a position moved about 5 ° downstream as viewed in the rotation direction of the brush roller 50. Further, the diameter of the drum 5 is 30 mm, the diameter of the developing roller 60 is 20 mm, the diameter of the brush roller 50 is 25 mm, and the distance between the developing roller 60 and the brush roller 50 is 0.35 mm.

Here, the image density (ID) of the image patch transferred from the drum 5 to the belt 10 by performing continuous output of 1000 sheets in A4 size using the sleeve 64 on which the coating layer of the silicon-modified urethane resin described above is formed. Was detected by an ID sensor disposed opposite to the belt 10.
More specifically, Examples 1 to 3 shown in FIG. 6 have a coating layer of silicon-modified urethane resin, and the volume resistance value pv, the arithmetic surface roughness Ra, and the duty ratio D1 are all described above. This is an example corresponding to the range of the example.

On the other hand, in Comparative Examples 1 to 7 shown in FIG. 6, the type of the coating layer, or any one of the volume resistance value pv, the arithmetic surface roughness Ra, and the duty ratio D1 is out of the range of the present embodiment described above. This is an example.
First, in Comparative Example 1 having only the alumite coating layer, the image density at the time of reaching the 1000th sheet was the smallest, and the overall judgment of quality was unacceptable. In terms of development efficiency, the comparative example 1 requires a larger applied voltage than that of the first embodiment, and the efficiency does not reach 100% (FIG. 5).

  Next, Comparative Examples 3 and 4 in which only the above-described volume resistance value pv is out of the range of this embodiment, and Comparative Examples 5 and 6 in which only the above-described arithmetic surface roughness Ra is out of the range of this embodiment. Further, in Comparative Examples 2 and 7 in which only the duty ratio D1 is out of the range of the present embodiment, the image density at the time of reaching the 1000th sheet is greatly reduced, and the overall quality judgment is rejected.

On the other hand, in the first to third embodiments, the image density at the time of reaching the 1000th sheet shows a high value, and the overall quality judgment is acceptable without causing image density defects or development ghosts. I understand that.
Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to achieve a reduction in the size and speed of the developing device while satisfying both the developability and the peelability of the small particle size toner.

  If a positively chargeable toner is used, the silicone-modified urethane resin and the positively chargeable toner repel each other because they have the same polarity, and even if residual toner exists, the charge amount is reduced and image disturbance is caused. It can be avoided even more. In addition, the toner can be supplied to the drum 5 at a low voltage, and the durability of the developing roller 60 is improved.

Furthermore, by adopting a configuration in which the sum of the duty ratio D1 of the AC component Vpp1 in the development bias and the duty ratio D2 of the AC component Vpp2 in the thin layer formation bias can be set to exceed 100%, the development bias and the thin layer can be set. Each of the formation biases can be set to a desired value, and both the developability of the small particle size toner and the toner peeling property can be surely achieved.
The AC component Vpp2 of the thin layer forming bias is preferably in the same cycle as the AC component Vpp1 of the developing bias from the viewpoint of the pressure resistance of the high-voltage power supply substrate.

  Furthermore, as described above, the range of the duty ratio D1 of the AC component Vpp1 is set to about 40% to about 60%, and the ratio (Dc) between the weight average particle diameter Dc of the carrier and the volume average particle diameter Dt of the toner By using a carrier and toner having a / Dt) of 4 to 10, the magnetic brush can be formed densely, and a more uniform toner thin layer can be formed.

In addition, it is possible to use toner whose volume average particle diameter Dt is in the range of about 4.0 μm to about 6.7 μm. As a result, it contributes to higher image quality.
More specifically, when the volume average particle diameter Dt is less than 4 μm, the influence of adhesion force other than electrical adhesion force (for example, van der Waals force) becomes large, and both the developability and the peelability are good. It is not. On the other hand, when the volume average particle diameter Dt exceeds 6.7 μm, the reproducibility of one dot is lowered.

In addition, toner having a CV value of 22% or less in this number distribution can be used. As a result, the spread of the particle size distribution does not increase, the toner charge amount distribution in the developing device 7 becomes uniform, and fogging occurs. No high quality images are obtained.
Further, as the carrier, a carrier having a weight average particle diameter Dc in the range of about 25 μm to about 45 μm can be used. As a result, a thin layer of toner can be formed densely and a high quality image can be obtained. , Carrier scattering can also be suppressed.

More specifically, if the weight average particle diameter Dc is less than 25 μm, carrier scattering is likely to occur. On the other hand, if the weight average particle diameter Dc exceeds 45 μm, it is difficult to form a thin toner layer densely. .
Furthermore, when the peripheral speed of the drum 5 is set to about 180 mm / sec or more and the image forming process speed is high, the development time and the undeveloped toner collection time are shortened. It is particularly suitable for speeding up.

Further, the compatibility of the developability and peelability is achieved, and stable image quality can be maintained over a long period of time, which contributes to improving the reliability of the printer 1.
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, a part of the configurations of the above embodiments can be omitted or arbitrarily combined so as to be different from the above.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which a printer is embodied as an image forming apparatus is shown. However, the image forming apparatus of the present invention can naturally be applied to a multifunction machine, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and the like.

1 Printer (image forming device)
5 Photosensitive drum (image carrier)
7 Developing Device 30 Housing 32 Opening 50 Magnetic Brush Roller (Magnetic Roller)
58 Second power supply 60 Developing roller 64 Sleeve 68 First power supply

Claims (7)

A developing device for charging a toner using a carrier and supplying the toner to an image carrier to develop a toner image;
The toner and the carrier are included, and when the toner and the carrier are in frictional contact with each other, the toner is charged to the first polarity, and the carrier has a second polarity different from the first polarity. A developer charged to
A housing having an opening facing the image carrier;
A magnetic roller disposed in the housing and forming a magnetic brush with the carrier and the toner;
A developing roller having a resin coating layer on the surface, and forming a thin layer of toner transferred from the magnetic brush at the opening;
First electric field forming means for forming a first electric field between the magnetic roller and the developing roller, and transferring the toner from the magnetic roller to the developing roller;
A second electric field is formed between the developing roller and the image carrier, and the toner is transferred from the developing roller to the electrostatic latent image on the image carrier to develop the electrostatic latent image. 2 electric field forming means,
The first electric field includes at least an alternating electric field,
The coating layer is charged to the same polarity as the first polarity charged to the toner by frictional contact with the carrier, and has a volume resistance value of 1 × 10 ⁵ Ωcm to 1 × 10 ⁹ Ωcm. A developing device. The developing device according to claim 1,
Of the developing bias for developing the electrostatic latent image on the image carrier with the toner of the developing roller, the duty ratio D1 of the alternating current component and the magnetic brush for forming a thin layer of toner on the developing roller When the duty ratio D2 of the AC component of the thin layer forming bias is
D1> 100-D2
A developing device satisfying the requirements. The developing device according to claim 1 or 2,
When the weight average particle diameter Dc of the carrier and the volume average particle diameter Dt of the toner are set,
4 <Dc / Dt <10
A developing device characterized by satisfying the above. The developing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The volume average particle size of the toner is 4.0 × 10 ⁻⁶ m to 6.7 × 10 ⁻⁶ m, and the CV value in the number distribution = (standard deviation / number average particle size) × 100 is 22% or less. A developing device characterized by satisfying the above. The developing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein
Developing device weight average particle size of the carrier is characterized in that it is a ^{25 × 10 -6 m~45 × 10 -6} m. The developing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The developing device according to claim 1, wherein a peripheral speed of the image carrier is set to 180 mm / sec or more.   An image forming apparatus comprising the developing device according to claim 1.

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