JP2016057566A - Development device and image forming apparatus including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a development device and the like for uniformly controlling an amount of developer (layer thickness of a developer layer) carried by a developer carrier.SOLUTION: A development device 32 according to the present invention comprises: a developing roller 43 that conveys toner to an opposing area T relative to a photoreceptor drum 30; and a regulation blade 44 that controls an amount of toner carried by the developing roller 43. The regulation blade 44 is configured to include: a blade base member 62 that is formed into a plate; and a regulation coating layer 63 that is formed on a surface of the blade base member 62 by immersing the blade base member 62 in a coating material in a lateral posture in which one side in a long-side direction of the blade base material 62 comes along a liquid level of the coating material, and the regulation blade 44 is provided so that one side in the long-side direction being a bottom side upon immersion contactlessly opposes the surface of the developing roller 43.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a developing device suitably used for an electrophotographic printer, a copying machine, and the like, and an image forming apparatus including the developing device.

  An electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes a developing device for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of an image carrier into a toner image. The developing device includes a developer carrier that transports the developer to a region facing the image carrier, and a regulation blade that controls the amount of developer carried on the developer carrier.

  By the way, when developing a toner image using a one-component developer, image quality defects such as density unevenness and vertical stripes have occurred due to the roughness of the end face of the regulating blade facing the developer carrier. Therefore, in order to make the end face smooth, the conventional regulating blade is configured by covering the surface of a plate-shaped substrate with a resin coating layer. This coat layer is formed by, for example, a dipping method (see Patent Document 1). That is, the coating layer is formed by immersing a base material whose longitudinal direction is in the vertical direction in a coating liquid (paint), and then pulling up and drying / heating treatment.

JP 2009-300677 A

  However, the coating layer formed by the dipping method tends to be thinner at the upper portion than the lower portion at the time of dipping. For this reason, the distance (regulation gap) between the developer carrying member and the regulation blade becomes non-uniform over the longitudinal direction (axial direction). Since the regulation gap becomes narrow in the thick part of the coat layer, the amount of developer conveyed decreases. On the other hand, since the regulation gap becomes wider in the thin part of the coat layer, the amount of developer conveyed increases. Therefore, the conventional regulating blade cannot uniformly control the amount of developer carried on the developer carrying member (layer thickness of the developer layer).

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and a developing device for uniformly controlling the amount of developer (layer thickness of the developer layer) carried on the developer carrying member, and the same. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus including the above.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the developing device of the present invention includes a developer carrier that transports the developer to a region facing the image carrier, and a regulation that controls the amount of developer carried on the developer carrier. A blade, and the regulation blade is formed by immersing the base in the paint in a lateral orientation in which a longitudinal side of the base is along the liquid surface of the paint. And a coating layer formed on the surface of the material, and is provided so that one side in the longitudinal direction which is the lower side when immersed is opposed to the surface of the developer carrying member in a non-contact manner.

  According to this structure, a base material is immersed in the horizontal attitude | position which made the one side of the longitudinal direction substantially parallel with respect to the liquid level of the coating material. That is, the entire lengthwise direction of the substrate is immersed in the paint almost simultaneously. For this reason, a coat layer is formed in the substantially uniform layer thickness over the longitudinal direction whole region of a base material. Therefore, the distance (regulation gap) between the developer carrying member and the regulating blade is substantially uniform over the entire longitudinal direction. Thereby, the regulating blade can uniformly control the amount of developer carried on the developer carrying member (layer thickness of the developer layer). In addition, since the regulating blade is not in contact with the developer carrying member, the frictional heat generated between the regulating blade and the developer carrying member can be reduced. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the fusion of the developer to the surface of the developer carrier or the regulating blade.

  In this case, each of the regulation blades preferably contains alcohol-soluble nylon in the coat layer.

  According to this configuration, the end face on one side in the longitudinal direction of the regulating blade can be made smooth (surface roughness is reduced). Thereby, it is possible to prevent image quality defects such as density unevenness and vertical stripes due to uneven developer amount.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus of the present invention includes the above developing device.

  According to this configuration, since the regulation blade can make the regulation gap substantially uniform in the entire longitudinal direction, the amount of developer carried on the developer carrier (the layer thickness of the developer layer) is uniformly controlled. can do. As a result, appropriate development processing can be performed, and good image quality can be ensured.

  According to the present invention, the amount of developer carried on the developer carrying member (layer thickness of the developer layer) can be controlled uniformly.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating the internal structure of the printer according to the embodiment of the invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an internal structure of a developing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is III-III sectional drawing in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the manufacturing process of the control blade by an immersion method. 6 is a graph illustrating a relationship between a position in a longitudinal direction of a developing roller and a toner conveyance amount in a developing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  With reference to FIG. 1, an overall configuration of a printer 1 as an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the internal structure of the printer 1. FIG. 2 is a sectional view schematically showing the internal structure of the developing device 32. In the following description, the direction of the printer 1 or the like is set as shown in each drawing.

  The printer 1 includes a substantially box-shaped apparatus main body 2, a paper feed cassette 3 provided at the lower part of the apparatus main body 2, and a paper discharge tray 4 provided at the upper part of the apparatus main body 2.

  The printer 1 includes a paper feeding unit 10, an image forming unit 11, a fixing device 12, a driving device 13, and a control device 14. The paper feed unit 10 is provided near the rear side of the paper feed cassette 3 in order to supply the paper S in the paper feed cassette 3 to the transport path 15. The image forming unit 11 is provided at the approximate center in the vertical direction in the apparatus main body 2. The fixing device 12 is provided on the downstream side of the conveyance path 15. The driving device 13 is disposed in the vicinity of the image forming unit 11. The control device 14 is provided for overall control of each component of the color printer 1. The paper S stored in the paper feed cassette 3 is not limited to paper but may be a resin film, an OHP sheet, or the like.

  The image forming unit 11 includes a toner container 21, a drum unit 22, and an exposure device 23.

  The toner container 21 contains, for example, a one-component developer made of black (K) magnetic toner (hereinafter also simply referred to as “toner”). The drum unit 22 includes a photosensitive drum 30 (image carrier), a charging device 31, a developing device 32, a transfer roller 33, and a cleaning device 34. The developer stored in the toner container 21 may be a two-component developer including toner and carrier.

  The photosensitive drum 30 is formed in a cylindrical shape that is long in the left-right direction, and is supported by the apparatus main body 2 so as to be rotatable about an axis. The charging device 31, the developing device 32, the transfer roller 33, and the cleaning device 34 are arranged around the photosensitive drum 30 in the order of the transfer process.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the photosensitive drum 30 includes a photosensitive layer 36 formed on the surface of the drum tube 35. The drum base tube 35 is made of, for example, aluminum and has a cylindrical shape that is long in the left-right direction. The photosensitive layer 36 is formed by applying a coating containing an inorganic photoconductive material (amorphous silicon) or an organic photoconductive material to the outer peripheral surface of the drum base tube 35. The photosensitive layer 36 is formed by an immersion method described later.

  The drive device 13 includes a gear train, a motor, and the like (all not shown). The driving device 13 rotates and rotates a roller-like member (for example, the photosensitive drum 30 or the transfer roller 33) included in the drum unit 22 around the axis.

  Here, the operation of the printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. Based on the input image data, the control device 14 of the printer 1 executes an image forming process as follows.

  The charging device 31 charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 30. The exposure unit 23 performs exposure corresponding to the image data (see the broken line arrow in FIG. 1) toward the photosensitive drum 30. As a result, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30. The developing device 32 develops the electrostatic latent image into a toner image using toner. As a result, the toner image is carried on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30.

  On the other hand, the paper S supplied from the paper feed cassette 3 is transported through the transport path 15 and passes between the photosensitive drum 30 and the transfer roller 33. The toner image is transferred onto the paper S by the transfer roller 33 to which a transfer bias is applied. The fixing device 12 fixes the toner image on the paper S. The paper S after the fixing process is discharged to the paper discharge tray 4. The cleaning device 34 removes the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 after the transfer.

  Next, the developing device 32 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the developing device 32 includes a housing 40, two stirring members 41 and 42, a developing roller 43, and a regulating blade 44.

  The housing 40 is formed, for example, in a substantially box shape that is long in the left-right direction with a synthetic resin material. The housing 40 is formed so that a developer can be accommodated therein. An opening 40 a is formed on the rear side of the housing 40. A partition wall 40 b extending in the left-right direction is erected on the inner lower portion of the housing 40 so as to partition the first transport path 46 and the second transport path 47. Both left and right end portions of the partition wall 40b are cut out so as to allow the transport paths 46 and 47 to communicate with each other.

  A supply port 40 c for supplying the developer from the toner container 21 to the first conveyance path 46 is formed in the housing 40. A toner replenishing motor 48 for replenishing the developer at a predetermined speed is disposed in the vicinity of the replenishing port 40c. Note that a discharge port (not shown) for discharging excess developer into a collection bottle (not shown) is formed on the bottom surface of the housing 40.

  The two stirring members 41 and 42 are arranged in parallel along the first transport path 46 and the second transport path 47, respectively. Each of the stirring members 41 and 42 is formed by fixing a helical screw blade on the peripheral surface of the rotating shaft portion. Each of the agitating members 41 and 42 is supported by the housing 40 so as to be rotatable about an axis. The two stirring members 41 and 42 have screw blades that are in opposite phases to each other.

  The developing roller 43 as a developer carrier is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape that is long in the left-right direction. The developing roller 43 is formed to have substantially the same length as the axial direction (left-right direction) of the photosensitive drum 30. The developing roller 43 is disposed opposite to the rear side of the stirring member 42 with a gap between the developing roller 43 and the stirring member 42. Further, the developing roller 43 is exposed from the opening 40a and is disposed to face the photosensitive drum 30 with a gap (developing gap G1). The developing roller 43 is disposed in parallel to the photosensitive drum 30 and the stirring members 41 and 42.

  Further, the developing roller 43 has a fixed shaft portion 50, a magnet portion 51, and a developing sleeve 52.

  The fixed shaft portion 50 is formed in a rod shape that is long in the left-right direction. Both left and right end portions of the fixed shaft portion 50 are supported by the housing 40 so as not to rotate.

  The magnet part 51 is formed in a cylindrical shape that is long in the left-right direction. The magnet portion 51 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the fixed shaft portion 50 with the fixed shaft portion 50 as an axis. The magnet unit 51 is configured by a magnet having a plurality of (for example, four) magnetic poles in the circumferential direction. Specifically, the magnet unit 51 is configured by arranging a developing magnetic pole N1, a conveying magnetic pole S1, a pumping magnetic pole N2, and a blade magnetic pole S2 counterclockwise from the region T facing the photosensitive drum 30 in FIG. ing.

  The developing sleeve 52 is formed in a cylindrical shape that is long in the left-right direction. The developing sleeve 52 is provided so as to cover the magnet unit 51 with a gap between the developing sleeve 52 and the magnet unit 51. The developing sleeve 52 is supported by the fixed shaft portion 50 so as to be rotatable about the shaft center. The developing sleeve 52 is connected to a developing bias power source (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the developing sleeve 52 is configured by covering the surface (outer peripheral surface) of the sleeve base 60 with a developing coat layer 61. The sleeve base 60 is made of, for example, aluminum and is formed in a cylindrical shape that is long in the left-right direction. The development coat layer 61 is formed by applying a paint containing alcohol-soluble nylon to the outer peripheral surface of the sleeve base 60. The development coat layer 61 is formed by an immersion method described later. In FIG. 3, the developing roller 43 in which the fixed shaft portion 50 and the magnet portion 51 are omitted is illustrated.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the regulating blade 44 is formed in a substantially rectangular plate shape that is long in the left-right direction. The regulating blade 44 is formed to have a length substantially the same as the axial length of the developing roller 43 (see FIG. 3). The regulating blade 44 is arranged in parallel to the developing roller 43 and has a gap (regulating gap G <b> 2) with the developing roller 43.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the regulation blade 44 includes a blade base material 62 and a regulation coat layer 63. The blade base material 62 is made of, for example, aluminum and has a rectangular flat plate shape (thickness of about 1 mm) that is long in the left-right direction. The regulation coat layer 63 is formed by applying a paint containing alcohol-soluble nylon to the surface of the blade base material 62 on the surface of the blade base material 62. The regulation coat layer 63 is formed by a dipping method described later. The regulating blade 44 is connected to a developing bias power source (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 2, a magnet plate 55 is fixed to the lower side of the regulation blade 44. The magnet plate 55 is disposed on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the developing roller 43. The magnet plate 55 has a magnetic force of the same polarity (S pole) as that of the blade magnetic pole S2 at a position facing the blade magnetic pole S2 of the magnet portion 51.

  The stirring members 41 and 42 and the developing roller 43 are rotationally driven by a driving device 13 connected via a gear train (not shown). A magnetic permeability sensor (not shown) that detects the magnetic permeability of the magnetic toner is provided at the bottom of the housing 40. The driving device 13 and the magnetic permeability sensor are connected to the control device 14 and are appropriately controlled by the control device 14.

  Next, the developing process of the developing device 32 will be described with reference to FIG. The control device 14 performs toner supply control based on the detection result of the magnetic permeability sensor. Specifically, the toner replenishment motor 48 is controlled by the control device 14 to replenish toner from the toner container 21 into the housing 40. The driving device 13 is controlled by the control device 14 to rotate the stirring members 41 and 42 and the developing roller 43 (see the arrow in FIG. 2). The developing bias power source is controlled by the control device 14 to apply a developing bias in which a DC voltage and an AC voltage are superimposed on the developing sleeve 52 and the regulating blade 44.

  The two stirring members 41 and 42 rotate around the axis and convey the toner in the housing 40 while stirring. The toner is charged to a predetermined level in the process of circulating between the first conveyance path 46 and the second conveyance path 47.

  The developing sleeve 52 pumps up the charged toner from the second transport path 47 (stirring member 42) by the magnetic force of the pumping magnetic pole N2. The developing roller 43 (developing sleeve 52) carries the pumped toner, rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2, and conveys the toner to a region T facing the photosensitive drum 30. At this time, a toner layer is formed on the surface of the developing sleeve 52 by a repulsive magnetic field acting between the blade magnetic pole S <b> 2 of the magnet unit 51 and the magnet plate 55.

  In the process in which the developing sleeve 52 transports toner to the facing region T, the regulating blade 44 controls (regulates) the amount of toner carried on the developing roller 43. The amount of toner conveyed to the facing area T (hereinafter also referred to as “toner conveyance amount”) is adjusted by the size of the gap (regulation gap G2) between the developing roller 43 and the regulation blade 44. That is, the toner conveyance amount increases when the regulation gap G2 is increased, and decreases when the regulation gap G2 is decreased.

  The toner conveyed to the facing area T flies toward the photosensitive drum 30 due to a potential difference between the developing sleeve 52 and the photosensitive drum 30. Thereby, the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 30 is developed into a toner image.

  Thereafter, the developing roller 43 (developing sleeve 52) conveys the remaining toner without being developed into the housing 40 by the magnetic force of the conveying magnetic pole S1. When the developing sleeve 52 further rotates, the toner is peeled off from the developing sleeve 52 and falls into the second conveyance path 47. The peeled toner is circulated and conveyed again by the agitating members 41 and 42 and used again for the development processing.

  Next, an immersion method for forming the photosensitive layer 36 of the photosensitive drum 30, the development coat layer 61 of the development roller 43, and the regulation coat layer 63 of the regulation blade 44 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view schematically showing a manufacturing process of the regulating blade 44 by the dipping method. Here, as an example, the manufacturing process of the regulating blade 44 will be described. The manufacturing process of the developing roller 43 and the photosensitive drum 30 is substantially the same as the manufacturing process of the regulating blade 44, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  First, an alumite treatment is performed on the outer peripheral surface of the blade base material 62 to form an alumite layer (oxide layer) having a thickness of 10 μm. By forming the alumite layer on the blade base material 62, the adhesion force of the regulation coat layer 63 to the blade base material 62 increases. As a result, peeling of the regulation coat layer 63 is suppressed. Thereafter, the surface of the alumite layer is heat-treated at 120 ° C. for 10 minutes or more. This heat treatment is performed in order to intentionally cause cracks in the alumite layer. Thus, by generating a crack in an alumite layer beforehand, it can suppress that a crack arises in the regulation coat layer 63 in the subsequent drying process of the regulation coat layer 63. The heat treatment is always performed at a constant temperature for a certain time. For example, the heat treatment time is set to be longer than the time required for the drying process. Thereby, a fixed amount of cracks are generated in the alumite layer on the blade base material 62.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4, a process for forming a regulation coat layer 63 on the alumite layer where the crack is generated is performed. Specifically, an alcohol-soluble nylon resin as a binder resin, titanium oxide as a conductive agent, and methanol 800 (parts by weight) as a dispersion medium are mixed with a zirconia bead having a diameter of 1.0 mm in a ball mill for about 48 hours. Thus, a paint (mixed liquid) is prepared.

  The anodized blade base 62 is dipped in the paint stored in the coating solution tank 70 for a predetermined time, then lifted, and dried at 130 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. At this time, the blade base material 62 is immersed in the paint and pulled up in a posture in which the one side 62a in the longitudinal direction is along the liquid surface L of the paint. Specifically, the blade base material 62 is immersed in the coating material in a lateral orientation in which the short side is oriented in a substantially vertical direction and the long side is oriented in a substantially horizontal direction. As a result, the regulation blade 44 in which the regulation coating layer 63 having a thickness of 2 μm to 11 μm (average layer thickness) is coated on the surface of the blade base 62 is manufactured. Note that the horizontal posture includes a posture in which the blade base material 62 is horizontal and a posture slightly inclined from the horizontal.

  As described above, by generating cracks in the alumite layer before the formation of the regulation coat layer 63, the conductive agent contained in the paint is unevenly distributed due to the influence of convection generated inside the regulation coat layer 63 during drying. This can be prevented. Thereby, the regulation coat layer 63 in which the conductive material is uniformly dispersed can be formed.

  The developing coat layer 61 of the developing sleeve 52 and the photosensitive layer 36 of the photosensitive drum 30 are substantially the same as the manufacturing process of the regulating blade 44, but the immersion directions of the sleeve base 60 and the drum base tube 35 are different. ing. More specifically, the development coat layer 61 of the development sleeve 52 is formed by immersing the sleeve base material 60 in the paint in an upright posture with one end in the longitudinal direction facing downward. Similarly, the photosensitive layer 36 of the photosensitive drum 30 is formed by immersing the drum base tube 35 in the paint in a standing posture with one end in the longitudinal direction facing downward. In addition, the coating material of the photosensitive layer 36 is different from the coating material of each of the coat layers 61 and 63, and includes an inorganic photoconductive material and an organic photoconductive material. The anodizing process for the blade base material 62 and the drum base tube 35 may be omitted.

  The development coat layer 61 of the development sleeve 52 and the photosensitive layer 36 of the photosensitive drum 30 manufactured by the above-described immersion method each have a slight change in layer thickness at both ends in the longitudinal direction (thickness on the lower side during immersion and upper side). However, most of the other portions (intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction) have a substantially uniform layer thickness.

  Since the blade base material 62 is immersed in the paint in a lateral orientation, the entire longitudinal direction of the blade base material 62 is substantially simultaneously immersed in the paint. For this reason, the regulation coat layer 63 having no layer thickness change is formed over the entire longitudinal direction of the blade base material 62. The regulating blade 44 is provided so that the lower side 62a on the lower side when immersed is opposed to the surface of the developing roller 43 in a non-contact manner. Thereby, the developing roller 43 and the regulation blade 44 are arranged so that the regulation gap G2 is uniform over the entire longitudinal direction (left-right direction).

  According to the developing device 32 according to the present embodiment described above, the regulation coat layer 63 is formed on the surface of the blade base material 62 by immersing the blade base material 62 in the paint in a lateral orientation. The blade base material 62 is immersed in a horizontal posture with the longitudinal side 62a substantially parallel to the liquid level L of the paint. By immersing the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the blade base 62 in the coating material, the regulation coat layer 63 is formed with a substantially uniform layer thickness over the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the blade base 62. Therefore, the distance between the developing roller 43 and the regulation blade 44 (regulation gap G2) is substantially uniform over the entire length direction. Thereby, the regulation blade 44 can uniformly control the amount of toner (layer thickness of the toner layer) carried on the developing roller 43. Since the regulating blade 44 is not in contact with the developing roller 43, friction heat generated between the regulating blade 44 and the developing roller 43 can be reduced. Thereby, the fusion of the developer to the surfaces of the developing roller 43 and the regulating blade 44 can be suppressed.

  Further, as described above, the regulation blade 44 includes alcohol-soluble nylon in the regulation coat layer 63. According to this configuration, the end surface of the regulating blade 44 on the side in the longitudinal direction 62a can be made smooth (the surface roughness can be reduced). Thereby, it is possible to prevent image quality defects such as density unevenness and vertical stripes due to uneven toner amount.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 5, a verification experiment performed to confirm the effect of the developing device 32 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the position of the developing roller 43 in the longitudinal direction and the toner conveyance amount.

  This verification experiment verifies the relationship between the posture (standing posture or horizontal posture) of the blade base material 62 and the toner conveyance amount. The conditions of this verification experiment are as follows.

<Experimental conditions>
Print speed: 30 sheets / min
The peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum (30): 180 mm / sec
Speed of developing roller (43): Peripheral speed ratio with respect to photosensitive drum 1.8 (trail rotation)
Development gap (G1): 0.30 mm
Regulation gap (G2): 0.30mm
Potential of the photosensitive drum (30): white background portion V0 = + 430V, image portion VL = + 100V
Development bias: (AC component) 3.7 kHz, duty = 50%, Vpp = 1500 V
(DC component) Vdc = 190V
Magnetic toner: 6.8 μm, positive chargeability

  As a comparative example, when the blade base material 62 is immersed in an upright posture (a posture in which one end portion in the longitudinal direction is directed downward), the toner conveyance amount corresponds to the layer thickness change of the regulation coating layer of the regulation blade. It changes (see the broken line in FIG. 5). Specifically, the regulation gap G2 is substantially uniform because the regulation coat layer has a substantially uniform thickness at the longitudinal intermediate portion of the regulation blade. As a result, the toner conveyance amount becomes substantially uniform in the middle portion in the longitudinal direction of the regulating blade. On the other hand, at one end portion in the longitudinal direction of the regulating blade (lower side when immersed), the regulating coating layer is thick, so that the regulating gap G2 becomes small (narrow). As a result, the toner conveyance amount is smaller than the intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction. On the other hand, at the other end in the longitudinal direction of the regulation blade (upper side when immersed), the regulation coat layer is thinned, so that the regulation gap G2 becomes large (wide). As a result, the toner conveyance amount increases more than the intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction.

  As described above, the regulation blade in which the regulation substrate is formed by immersing the blade base material 62 in an upright posture cannot uniformly control the toner conveyance amount over the entire longitudinal direction of the developing roller 43. Therefore, there is a large difference in the toner transport amount (the thickness of the toner layer) in the longitudinal direction of the developing roller 43 (see the broken line in FIG. 5). In the case of the comparative example, when the inside of the apparatus main body 2 was confirmed after printing 10,000 sheets, the other end portion of the developing roller 43 was contaminated with toner.

  On the other hand, when the blade base material 62 is immersed in the horizontal orientation, the regulation coat layer 63 is formed with a substantially uniform layer thickness over the entire longitudinal direction. Therefore, as described above, the regulation gap G2 is formed substantially uniformly over the entire longitudinal direction. Thereby, the toner conveyance amount becomes substantially uniform over the entire longitudinal direction of the developing roller 43 (see the solid line in FIG. 5).

  According to the printer 1 including the developing device 32 according to the present embodiment described above, the regulating blade 44 can make the regulating gap G2 substantially uniform in the entire longitudinal direction thereof, and therefore the toner carried on the developing roller 43. The amount (layer thickness of the toner layer) can be controlled uniformly. As a result, appropriate development processing can be performed, and good image quality can be ensured.

  In the printer 1 according to this embodiment, the photosensitive layer 36 of the photosensitive drum 30 and the development coat layer 61 of the development sleeve 52 are formed by the dipping method, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the photosensitive layer 36 and the development coat layer 61 may be formed by spraying (spraying) a mist-like paint onto the drum base tube 35 and the sleeve base 60.

  The description of the above embodiment shows one aspect of the developing device according to the present invention and an image forming apparatus including the same, and the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The components in the above embodiment can be appropriately replaced or combined with existing components and the like, and the description of the above embodiment does not limit the content of the invention described in the claims. .

1 Printer (image forming device)
30 Photosensitive drum (image carrier)
32 Developing Device 43 Developing Roller (Developer Carrier)
44 Regulating blade 62 Blade base material (base material)
63 Regulated coat layer (coat layer)
T opposite area

Claims (3)

A developer carrier for conveying the developer to a region facing the image carrier;
A regulation blade for controlling the amount of developer carried on the developer carrying body,
The regulation blade is
A base material having a plate shape;
A coating layer formed on the surface of the base material by immersing the base material in the paint in a lateral orientation along the liquid surface of the paint with one side in the longitudinal direction of the base material,
A developing device, characterized in that one side in the longitudinal direction, which is the lower side when immersed, is provided so as to face the surface of the developer carrying member in a non-contact manner.   The developing device according to claim 1, wherein each of the regulating blades includes alcohol-soluble nylon in the coating layer.   An image forming apparatus comprising the developing device according to claim 1.

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