JP2016166936A - Toner storage container and image formation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner storage container that is free of a decrease in discharge amount of toner due to clogging or blocking with toner.SOLUTION: A toner storage container comprises: toner; a spiral projection which projects into a container to carry toner in a powder storage part toward an opening part; and a powder scooping-up part which scoops up toner on an opening part side as the powder storage part rotates to supply the toner to a powder receiving port, has a toner transporting capacity of 0.3-5.0 mg/sec and a weight-average molecular weight of 5,000-35,000 by GPC of a component extracted by a soxhlet extraction method using THF. The powder scooping-up part has a scooping-up surface extending from an inner wall surface of the powder storage part toward a center axis of rotation, the scooping-up surface having an inner end part on the side of the center axis of rotation extended along the center axis of rotation of the powder storage part and being inclined at an angle of inclination within a predetermined range upstream from the center axis of rotation and a virtual straight line passing an edge of the inner end part in a rotating direction of the powder storage part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner storage container and an image forming apparatus that store toner.

  Electrophotographic image forming apparatuses such as printers, facsimiles, copiers, and multi-function machines equipped with a plurality of these functions convey toner from a toner container as a powder container that contains powdered toner. The device supplies (supplements) the developing device. The toner storage container has a powder storage section for storing toner, an opening provided at one end of the powder storage section, and an opening for receiving a transport pipe having a powder receiving port for receiving toner from the toner storage container. A conveying pipe receiving member provided in the section, a conveying means for conveying toner to the opening side of the powder container, and the toner on the opening side is pumped up by the rotation of the powder container to the powder receiving port There is a configuration having a powder pumping section that is supplied by being dropped (for example, Patent Document 1).

  In the case of a system in which toner is pumped up and supplied to the powder receiving port of the transport pipe inserted into the opening of the transport pipe receiving member, the toner is spilled from the pumping surface, and the pumping efficiency of the toner by the pumping surface is reduced. There was a thing. Also, when the pumping efficiency of the toner by the pumping surface is increased, the toner receiving port is clogged or blocked due to the characteristics of the toner, resulting in a decrease in the toner discharge amount, and a large amount of toner remains in the toner container. In some cases, the toner is not discharged and the toner container needs to be replaced.

  In recent years, from the viewpoint of further energy saving, development of technology that enables low-temperature fixing and high-speed copying has been advanced. For example, a toner having excellent low-temperature fixing property using a resin or wax having a low softening point has been developed. It has been studied. However, since the toner having excellent low-temperature fixability is thermally weak, a phenomenon that solidifies due to heat generated from the machine being used or heat during storage, that is, a blocking phenomenon is likely to occur, and heat resistant storage stability However, there is a problem that it is difficult to secure a sufficient fixing temperature width because hot offset is likely to occur.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and achieve the following objects. That is, according to the present invention, the toner can be efficiently supplied to the powder receiving port of the conveying tube inserted into the toner container, and the toner receiving port is not clogged and the amount of discharged toner is not reduced. Another object of the present invention is to provide a toner storage container in which a large amount of toner remains in the toner storage container so that the toner is not discharged and the toner storage device does not need to be replaced.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a toner container that can achieve both low-temperature fixability, hot offset resistance, and heat-resistant storage stability at good levels.

  In order to achieve the above object, a toner container according to the present invention can be fitted with a toner container that contains toner, has a powder receiving port for receiving toner from the toner container, and the powder. A toner storage container for use in an image forming apparatus that includes a transport pipe having a receiving opening that opens upward, and rotates a mounted toner storage container within a range of a predetermined number of rotations. The toner storage container stores the toner and the toner. A rotatable powder container, an opening provided at one end of the powder container, and capable of inserting the transport tube into a position serving as a rotation center of the toner container, and projecting into the container, A spiral projection for conveying toner in the powder container to the opening side, and a powder pump for pumping the toner on the opening side by rotating the powder container and supplying it to the powder inlet Part The toner transportability is 0.3 to 5.0 mg / sec, and the component of the toner extracted by the Soxhlet extraction method using tetrahydrofuran (THF) in the molecular weight distribution by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) The weight average molecular weight Mw is 5,000 or more and 35,000 or less, and the powder pumping unit has a pumping surface extending from the inner wall surface of the powder container toward the rotation center axis, and the pumping surface The inner end portion on the rotation center axis side extends in the direction of the rotation center axis of the powder container, the edge of the inner end portion is substantially parallel to the rotation center axis, and the rotation When viewed from the central axis direction, it is inclined at an inclination angle within a predetermined range from the virtual straight line passing through the edge of the rotation central axis and the inner end toward the upstream side in the rotation direction of the powder container. There, the has spiral projection is connected to the pumping surface, a toner accommodating container, wherein the portion to be the connection extends from the pumping surface in the circumferential direction.

  According to the present invention, the toner, which is powder in the toner container, is efficiently supplied to the powder receiving port of the conveyance tube inserted in the toner container, and the toner in the toner container is made of toner. Therefore, the toner remaining without being discharged from the toner container can be reduced.

Cross-sectional explanatory drawing of the powder conveyance apparatus and powder storage container before mounting | wearing with the powder storage container which concerns on this invention. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating one configuration of an image forming unit of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2. The schematic perspective view which shows the state by which the powder storage container was installed in the powder conveying apparatus. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a powder container is installed in the powder conveyance device in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 2. The perspective view explanatory drawing of the powder storage apparatus and powder storage container of the state which mounted | wore the powder storage container. The perspective explanatory view showing the composition of the powder container according to the present invention. Sectional explanatory drawing of the powder storage apparatus and the powder storage container of the state which mounted | wore the powder storage container. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a powder container of a toner container according to the present invention and a state where a nozzle receiving member is removed. The figure explaining the state which attached the nozzle receiving member to the powder accommodating part. The perspective explanatory view of the nozzle receiving member seen from the container front end side. (A)-(d) is the top view seen from the top explaining the state at the time of mounting | wearing operation | movement of an opening-and-closing member and a conveyance pipe. The enlarged view which shows the structure of the pumping surface of the powder pumping part which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a remaining amount of toner and a replenishment amount that are pumping characteristics when a pumping surface is inclined in a negative direction. (a), (b) is a toner remaining amount that becomes a pumping characteristic when the inclination angle of the pumping surface of the toner container main body and the rotation speed of the toner container main body are changed according to the mass production model of the toner container according to the present invention. Figure comparing the relationship between emissions and emissions. (a), (b) shows the remaining amount of toner and the amount of replenishment that become the pumping characteristics when the inclination angle of the pumping surface of the toner container body and the toner environmental conditions are changed according to the mass production model of the toner container according to the present invention. The figure which compares a relationship. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a toner container main body according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is a plan view and (b) is a side view. FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a configuration of an opening side of a toner container main body according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration on an opening side of a toner container main body according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. The enlarged view explaining the structure of the pumping surface of the powder pumping part in the 5th Embodiment of this invention. (A)-(c) is the operation | movement figure which demonstrated typically the change at the time of rotation of the powder pumping part which concerns on the 5th Embodiment of this invention. (A)-(c) is the operation | movement figure which demonstrated typically the change at the time of rotation of the powder pumping part following FIG.21 (c). (A) is a schematic diagram showing the diffusibility of toner when the internal space of the toner container body is small, and (b) is the diffusion of toner when the internal space of the toner container body according to the fifth embodiment is widened. FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the measuring method of the weight average molecular weight Mw in the molecular weight distribution by GPC of the component extracted by Soxhlet extraction method using THF of toner. 1 is a belt-type fixing device used for evaluation of fixability in Examples of the present invention.

(Image forming device)
Hereinafter, a plurality of embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each embodiment, the same member or a member having the same function is denoted by the same reference numeral, and description thereof is omitted in the subsequent embodiments. The following description is an example and does not limit the scope of the claims. It is easy for those skilled in the art to make other embodiments by making changes and modifications within the scope of the claims of the present invention, but these changes and modifications are naturally included in the scope of the claims. In the figure, Y, M, C, and K are subscripts attached to components corresponding to (yellow, magenta, cyan, and black), and will be omitted as appropriate.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an electrophotographic tandem color copier (hereinafter referred to as “copier 500”) as an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied. The copier 500 may be a monochrome copier. The image forming apparatus may be a printer, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine having a plurality of functions, instead of a copying machine. The copier 500 includes a copier apparatus main body (hereinafter referred to as “printer unit 100”), a paper feed table (hereinafter referred to as “paper feed unit 200”), and a document reading unit (hereinafter referred to as “scanner unit”) mounted on the printer unit 100. 400 ”).

  A toner container container 70 as a powder container container provided on the upper part of the printer unit 100 includes four toner containers 32 (four toner containers corresponding to each color (yellow, magenta, cyan, black)). Y, M, C, K) are detachably (replaceable). An intermediate transfer unit 85 is disposed below the toner container container 70.

  The intermediate transfer unit 85 includes an intermediate transfer belt 48 as an intermediate transfer member, four primary transfer bias rollers 49 (Y, M, C, and K), a secondary transfer backup roller 82, a plurality of rollers, and an intermediate transfer cleaning device. Etc. The intermediate transfer belt 48 is stretched and supported by a plurality of rollers, and moves endlessly in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 by the rotational drive of the secondary transfer backup roller 82 which is one of the plurality of rollers.

  The printer unit 100 is provided with four image forming units 46 (Y, M, C, K) corresponding to the respective colors so as to face the intermediate transfer belt 48. Below the four toner storage containers 32 (Y, M, C, and K), toner supply devices 60 (Y, M, and Y) as four powder supply (supply) devices corresponding to the respective color toner storage containers. C, K) are arranged. The toner, which is the powder developer stored in the toner storage container 32 (Y, M, C, K), is changed to each color by the corresponding toner replenishing device 60 (Y, M, C, K). The image forming unit 46 (Y, M, C, K) corresponding to the image forming unit 46 is supplied (supplied) into the developing device. In the present embodiment, an image forming unit is configured by four image forming units 46 (Y, M, C, K).

As shown in FIG. 2, the printer unit 100 includes an exposure device 47 that is a latent image forming unit below the four image forming units 46. The exposure device 47 exposes and scans the surface of a photoconductor 41 (Y, M, C, K) as an image carrier, which will be described later, based on the image information of the original image read by the scanner unit 400. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface. The image information may be image information input from an external device such as a personal computer connected to the copying machine 500 instead of reading from the scanner unit 400.
In the present embodiment, the exposure device 47 uses a laser beam scanner method using a laser diode, but the exposure means may have other configurations such as an LED array.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of the image forming unit 46Y corresponding to yellow.
The image forming unit 46Y includes a drum-shaped photoconductor 41Y. The image forming unit 46Y has a configuration in which a charging roller 44Y as a charging unit, a developing device 50Y as a developing unit, a photoconductor cleaning device 42Y, a static eliminator, and the like are disposed around the photoconductor 41Y. Then, an image forming process (charging process, exposure process, development process, transfer process, cleaning process) is performed on the photoreceptor 41Y, whereby a yellow toner image is formed on the photoreceptor 41Y.

  The other three image forming units 46 (M, C, K) have substantially the same configuration as the image forming unit 46Y corresponding to yellow except that the color of the toner used is different. A toner image corresponding to each color toner is formed on the photoreceptor 41 (M, C, K). Hereinafter, description of the other three image forming units 46 (M, C, K) will be omitted as appropriate, and only the image forming unit 46Y corresponding to yellow will be described.

  The photoreceptor 41Y is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction in FIG. 3 by a drive motor. The surface of the photoreceptor 41Y is uniformly charged at the position facing the charging roller 44Y (charging process). Thereafter, the surface of the photoreceptor 41Y reaches the irradiation position of the laser beam L emitted from the exposure device 47, and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to yellow is formed by exposure scanning at this position (exposure process). Thereafter, the surface of the photoreceptor 41Y reaches a position facing the developing device 50Y, and the electrostatic latent image is developed with yellow toner at this position to form a yellow toner image (developing step).

  The four primary transfer bias rollers 49 (Y, M, C, K) of the intermediate transfer unit 85 respectively sandwich the intermediate transfer belt 48 between the photoreceptor 41 (Y, M, C, K) and perform primary transfer. Each nip is formed. A transfer bias reverse to the polarity of the toner is applied to the primary transfer bias roller 49 (Y, M, C, K).

  The surface of the photoconductor 41Y on which the toner image is formed in the developing process reaches a primary transfer nip that faces the primary transfer bias roller 49Y with the intermediate transfer belt 48 interposed therebetween, and the toner image on the photoconductor 41Y at this primary transfer nip. Is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 48 (primary transfer step). At this time, a small amount of untransferred toner remains on the photoreceptor 41Y. The surface of the photoconductor 41Y that has transferred the toner image to the intermediate transfer belt 48 at the primary transfer nip reaches a position facing the photoconductor cleaning device 42Y. The untransferred toner remaining on the photoreceptor 41Y is mechanically collected by the cleaning blade 42a provided in the photoreceptor cleaning device 42Y at this facing position (cleaning process). Finally, the surface of the photoreceptor 41Y reaches a position facing the static eliminator, and the residual potential on the photoreceptor 41Y is removed at this position. Thus, a series of image forming processes performed on the photoreceptor 41Y is completed.

  Such an image forming process is performed in the other image forming units 46 (M, C, K) similarly to the yellow image forming unit 46Y. That is, the laser beam L based on the image information from the exposure device 47 disposed below the image forming unit 46 (M, C, K) is a photoconductor of each image forming unit 46 (M, C, K). 41 (M, C, K). Specifically, the exposure device 47 emits a laser beam L from a light source, and scans the laser beam L with a polygon mirror that is rotationally driven, and then each photoconductor 41 (M, C, K) via a plurality of optical elements. Irradiate up. Thereafter, the toner images of the respective colors formed on the photoreceptors 41 (M, C, K) through the developing process are transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 48.

  At this time, the intermediate transfer belt 48 travels in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 and sequentially passes through the primary transfer nip of each primary transfer bias roller 49 (Y, M, C, K). As a result, the toner images of the respective colors on the respective photoreceptors 41 (Y, M, C, K) are primarily transferred while being superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 48, and a color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 48.

  The intermediate transfer belt 48 on which the toner images of the respective colors are transferred in a superimposed manner and the color toner image is formed reaches a position facing the secondary transfer roller 89. At this position, the secondary transfer backup roller 82 sandwiches the intermediate transfer belt 48 between the secondary transfer roller 89 and forms a secondary transfer nip. The color toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 48 has a transfer bias applied to, for example, the secondary transfer backup roller 82 on the recording medium P such as transfer paper conveyed to the position of the secondary transfer nip. Transcribed by action. At this time, untransferred toner that has not been transferred to the recording medium P remains on the intermediate transfer belt 48. The intermediate transfer belt 48 that has passed through the secondary transfer nip reaches the position of the intermediate transfer cleaning device, untransferred toner on the surface thereof is collected, and a series of transfer processes performed on the intermediate transfer belt 48 is completed.

Next, the movement of the recording medium P will be described.
The recording medium P conveyed to the secondary transfer nip described above is fed from the paper feed tray 26 provided in the paper feed unit 200 disposed below the printer unit 100 to the paper feed roller 27, the registration roller pair 28, and the like. It is conveyed via. Specifically, a plurality of recording media P are stored in the paper feed tray 26 in an overlapping manner. When the paper feed roller 27 is driven to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 2, the uppermost recording medium P is conveyed toward a roller nip formed by the two rollers of the registration roller pair 28.

  The recording medium P transported to the registration roller pair 28 temporarily stops at the position of the roller nip of the registration roller pair 28 whose rotation drive has been stopped. The registration roller pair 28 is rotationally driven in accordance with the timing at which the color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 48 reaches the secondary transfer nip, so that the recording medium P is conveyed toward the secondary transfer nip. . As a result, a desired color toner image is transferred onto the recording medium P.

  The recording medium P on which the color toner image is transferred at the secondary transfer nip is conveyed to the position of the fixing device 86. In the fixing device 86, the color toner image transferred onto the surface is fixed on the recording medium P by heat and pressure generated by the fixing belt and the pressure roller. The recording medium P that has passed through the fixing device 86 is discharged to the outside of the apparatus after passing between the rollers of the discharge roller pair 29. The recording media P discharged to the outside of the apparatus by the discharge roller pair 29 are sequentially stacked on the stack unit 30 as an output image. Thus, a series of image forming processes in the copying machine 500 is completed.

  Next, the configuration and operation of the developing device 50 in the image forming unit 46 will be described in more detail. Here, the image forming unit 46Y corresponding to yellow is described as an example, but the same configuration and operation are performed in the image forming units 46 (M, C, K) of other colors.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the developing device 50Y includes a developing roller 51Y as a developer carrying member, a doctor blade 52Y as a developer regulating plate, two developer conveying screws 55Y, a toner concentration detection sensor 56Y, and the like. Has been. The developing roller 51Y faces the photoconductor 41Y, and the doctor blade 52Y faces the developing roller 51Y. The two developer conveying screws 55Y are disposed in the two developer accommodating portions (53Y, 54Y). The developing roller 51Y includes a magnet roller fixed inside, a sleeve rotating around the magnet roller, and the like. In the first developer accommodating portion 53Y and the second developer accommodating portion 54Y, a two-component developer G composed of a carrier and toner is accommodated. The second developer accommodating portion 54Y communicates with the toner dropping conveyance path 64Y through an opening formed thereabove. The toner concentration detection sensor 56Y detects the toner concentration in the developer G in the second developer container 54Y.

  The developer G in the developing device 50Y circulates between the first developer accommodating portion 53Y and the second developer accommodating portion 54Y while being stirred by the two developer conveying screws 55Y. The developer G in the first developer accommodating portion 53Y is supplied and carried on the sleeve surface of the developing roller 51Y by the magnetic field formed by the magnet roller in the developing roller 51Y while being conveyed to one of the developer conveying screws 55Y. Is done. The sleeve of the developing roller 51Y is driven to rotate counterclockwise as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 3, and the developer G carried on the developing roller 51Y moves on the developing roller 51Y as the sleeve rotates. At this time, the toner in the developer G is charged on the potential opposite to that of the carrier due to frictional charging with the carrier in the developer G, and is electrostatically attracted to the carrier, and is formed on the developing roller 51Y. Along with the carrier attracted by the magnetic field, it is carried on the developing roller 51Y.

  The developer G carried on the developing roller 51Y is conveyed in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3, and reaches the doctor portion where the doctor blade 52Y and the developing roller 51Y face each other. The amount of the developer G on the developing roller 51Y is regulated to an appropriate amount when passing through the doctor portion, and is then conveyed to the developing region that is the position facing the photoconductor 41Y. In the development area, the toner in the developer G is attracted to the latent image formed on the photoreceptor 41Y by the development electric field formed between the development roller 51Y and the photoreceptor 41Y. The developer G remaining on the surface of the developing roller 51Y that has passed through the developing region reaches above the first developer containing portion 53Y as the sleeve rotates, and is detached from the developing roller 51Y at this position.

  The developer G in the developing device 50Y is adjusted so that the toner density is within a predetermined range. Specifically, the toner stored in the toner storage container 32Y is accommodated in the second developer via a toner replenishing device 60Y described later according to the consumption amount of the toner contained in the developer G in the developing device 50Y. The portion 54Y is replenished. The toner replenished in the second developer accommodating portion 54Y is mixed and stirred together with the developer G by the two developer conveying screws 55Y, while the first developer accommodating portion 53Y, the second developer accommodating portion 54Y, Cycle between.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which four toner storage containers 32 (Y, M, C, K) are mounted in the toner storage container storage section 70. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state where the toner container 32 is mounted on the toner replenishing device 60. The toner replenishing devices 60 (Y, M, C, K) for the respective colors have the same configuration except that the toner colors are different. Therefore, in FIG. 5, (Y, M, C, K) is omitted, and the toner supply device 60 and the toner container 32 will be described. If there is a different configuration for each color, the subscripts Y, M, C, or K that indicate a specific color are used as symbols, but if the configuration is not different for each color, or if the configuration is common In some cases, (Y, M, C, K) is added, or the suffix is omitted as appropriate. In FIG. 4, an arrow Q indicates the mounting direction of each color toner container 32 to each toner supply device 60, and Q <b> 1 indicates the direction in which each color toner container 32 is detached from each toner supply device 60.

  The toner in the toner container 32 (Y, M, C, K) attached to the toner container container 70 of the printer unit 100 shown in FIG. 4 is stored in the developing device 50 for each color as shown in FIG. The developing device is appropriately replenished according to toner consumption. At this time, the toner in each toner container 32 is supplied to the developing device 50 by the toner supply device 60 for each color. The toner replenishing device 60 includes a toner container container 70, a transport nozzle 611 as a transport tube, a transport screw 614 as a transport member, a toner drop transport path 64, a drive unit (container rotation drive unit) 91, and the like. Yes. When the toner container 32 is moved in the toner container container 70 of the printer unit 100 by a mounting operation that is pushed by the user in the mounting direction Q in FIG. 5, the toner container 32 is moved in conjunction with the mounting operation. Each transport nozzle 611 of the toner replenishing device 60 is inserted into the container from the front end side of the container in the mounting direction Q. As a result, the inside of each toner container 32 and the inside of each transport nozzle 611 communicate. Details of the configuration communicating in conjunction with the mounting operation will be described later.

  Each color toner container 32 is also referred to as a toner bottle, and is a holding part that is non-rotatably held in the toner container container 70 and is a container tip side cover 34 as a container cover, and a container gear 301 as a container side gear. Is mainly composed of a toner container main body 33 having a substantially cylindrical shape as an integrally formed powder container. Each toner container main body 33 is rotatably held with respect to each container front end cover 34. A set cover 608 in FIG. 5 is a part of the container cover receiving portion 73 of the toner storage container storage portion 70.

As shown in FIG. 4, the toner storage container storage unit 70 mainly includes an insertion port forming unit 71, a container receiving unit 72, and a container cover receiving unit 73.
The insertion port forming portion 71 is a portion where the insertion port 71a is formed during the mounting operation of each toner container 32 (Y, M, C, K). The insertion port forming portion 71 of the toner container container 70 is exposed when a main body cover (not shown) installed on the front side of the copier 500 (the front side in the vertical direction in FIG. 2) is opened. Then, in the state where the longitudinal direction of each toner container 32 (Y, M, C, K) is set to the horizontal direction, each toner container 32 is attached / detached (toner container 32 (Y, 32) from the front side of the copying machine 500. An attachment / detachment operation in which the longitudinal direction of M, C, K) is the attachment / detachment direction is performed.

The container receiving portion 72 is a portion that supports the toner container main body 33 (Y, M, C, K) of each toner container 32. The container receiving portion 72 is a portion that slides and moves the toner storage container 32 (Y, M, C, K) when the toner storage container 32 (Y, M, C, K) is attached to the toner supply device 60. And is divided into four in the width direction W perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (attachment / detachment direction) of the toner container 32 (Y, M, C, K).
The container receiving part 72 is formed with a groove part as a container mounting part that extends from the insertion port forming part 71 to the container cover receiving part 73 along the longitudinal direction of the container 32. Each color toner container 32 (Y, M, C, K) is configured to be slidable in the longitudinal direction (mounting direction Q, detaching direction Q1) on the groove. The container receiving portion 72 is formed so that the length in the longitudinal direction is substantially equal to the length in the longitudinal direction of the toner storage container main body 33 (Y, M, C, K) of each color.

The container cover receiving portion 73 includes a container tip side cover 34 (Y, M, C, K) and a toner container main body 33 (Y, M, C, K) of each toner container 32 (Y, M, C, K). ). The container cover receiving portion 73 is provided on the front end side (mounting direction Q side) of the container receiving portion 72 in the longitudinal direction (attachment / detachment direction), and the insertion port forming portion 71 is one end side (detachment) of the container receiving portion 72 in the longitudinal direction. (Direction Q1 side).
Each of the four toner storage containers 32 (Y, M, C, K) is slidable on the container receiving portion 72. For this reason, as the toner storage containers (Y, M, C, K) are mounted, the container front end side cover 34 (Y, M, C, K) passes through the insertion port forming portion 71 and then remains in the container for a while. It slides on the receiving part 72, and is mounted | worn with the container cover receiving part 73 after that.

As shown in FIG. 5, each toner container main body 33 is provided with a container gear 301 as a gear. Each toner container main body 33 is connected to the main body from a drive unit (container rotation drive unit) 91 including a drive motor and a gear in a state where each container front end cover 34 is mounted on the container cover receiving unit 73. Rotational drive is input to each container gear 301 via a container drive gear 601 as a side gear. As a result, each color toner container main body 33 is rotationally driven in the rotation direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. 5 (hereinafter referred to as rotation direction A). The toner in each toner container main body 33 is rotated by the helical protrusion 302 formed in a spiral shape on the inner peripheral surface of the toner container main body 33 as the toner container main body 33 itself rotates. It is conveyed along the longitudinal direction of the main body from one end located on the left side in FIG. 5 to the other end located on the right side. That is, in this embodiment, the conveying means is the spiral protrusion 302. As a result, the inside of the transfer nozzle 611 through the nozzle opening 610 as a powder receiving port formed so as to open upward from the container tip side cover 34 provided at the other end to the transfer nozzle 611 of each color. Are supplied with toner of each color. Each nozzle opening 610 communicates with a shutter support opening 335b described later at an inner position beyond the position where the container gear 301 is provided in the longitudinal direction of each toner container main body 33. That is, each container gear 301 meshes with the container drive gear 601 on the opening 33a side from the position where each nozzle opening 610 and the shutter support opening 335b communicate with each other.
A transport screw 614 is disposed in each of the transport nozzles 611. Each conveyance screw 614 rotates when a rotation drive is input to the conveyance screw gear 605 from the drive unit (container rotation drive unit) 91, and conveys the toner supplied into the conveyance nozzle 611. The downstream end of the transport nozzle 611 in the transport direction is connected to the toner dropping transport path 64. The toner transported by each transport screw 614 falls by its own weight on the toner drop transport path 64 and is replenished into the developing device 50 (second developer accommodating portion 54).

  The toner storage containers 32 (Y, M, C, and K) are replaced with new ones when they reach the end of their lives (when almost all of the stored toner is consumed and empty). The toner container 32 (Y, M, C, K) shown in FIG. 4 has an end opposite to the container tip side cover 34 (Y, M, C, K) in the longitudinal direction, that is, a separation direction Q1. Are provided with handle portions 303 (Y, M, C, K), respectively, and when the container is replaced, the operator holds and pulls the handle portion 303 (Y, M, C, K), The toner container 32 (Y, M, C, K) attached to the toner container container 70 can be removed.

  Here, the configuration of the drive unit 91 will be supplemented with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, the color identification code is omitted. The drive unit 91 includes a container drive gear 601 for each color and a transport screw gear 605 for each color. Each container drive gear 601 is driven by a drive motor 603 fixed to each mounting substrate 602, and is rotated by rotating its output gear. Each conveying screw gear 605 is driven to rotate by transmitting the rotation of each output gear via the connecting gear 604 of each color.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the toner replenishing device 60, the toner supply amount to each developing device 50 is controlled by the number of rotations of each conveying screw 614. Therefore, the toner that has passed through each transport nozzle 611 is transported directly to each developing device 50 via the toner dropping transport path 64 without controlling the amount supplied to each developing device 50. . As in the present embodiment, the toner replenishing device 60 that inserts the transport nozzle 611 into the toner container 32 may be used, or the toner replenishing unit provided with a toner temporary storage unit such as a toner hopper.

  Next, the toner container 32 (Y, M, C, K) and the toner supply device 60 (Y, M, C, K) according to the present embodiment will be described in more detail. As described above, the toner container 32 (Y, M, C, K) and the toner replenishing device 60 (Y, M, C, K) have substantially the same configuration except that the colors of the toners used are different. It has become. For this reason, the subscripts Y, M, C, and K indicating the color of the toner are omitted, and the configuration of one toner container 32 and the toner replenishing device 60 will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the toner replenishing device 60 before mounting the toner container 32 and the end of the toner container 32 on the leading end side of the container. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the toner container 32, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the toner replenishing device 60 with the toner container 32 attached and the end of the toner container 32 on the leading end side of the container. is there.

As shown in FIG. 1, the toner replenishing device 60 includes a transport nozzle 611 having a transport screw 614 therein, and a nozzle shutter 612. The nozzle shutter 612 closes the nozzle opening 610 when not attached (the state shown in FIG. 1) before the toner containing container 32 is attached, and nozzles 612 when the toner containing container 32 is attached (the state shown in FIG. 8). It is slidably mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the transport nozzle 611 so as to open the opening 610. The nozzle shutter 612 is provided with a nozzle shutter flange 612a as a flange on the downstream side in the mounting direction with respect to the end surface of the nozzle receiving member 330 as a transfer tube receiving member, which will be described later, in contact with the transfer nozzle 611.
On the other hand, a nozzle receiving port 331 is formed in the center of the front end surface of the toner storage container 32 (toner storage container main body) as a tube insertion port into which the transport nozzle 611 is inserted during mounting. A container shutter 332 is provided as an opening / closing member that closes 331.

  The set cover 608 has a transport nozzle 611 disposed at the center thereof. The transport nozzle 611 protrudes into the container cover receiving portion 73 from the end surface 615b on the back side in the mounting direction in the container setting portion 615 on the downstream side in the mounting direction Q of the toner container 32 toward the upstream side in the mounting direction. Has been placed. A container setting section 615 as a container receiving section is erected in the protruding direction of the transport nozzle 611 toward the upstream side in the mounting direction of the toner storage container 32 so as to surround the periphery of the transport nozzle 611. That is, the container setting unit 615 is disposed at the root of the transport nozzle 611 and functions as a rotation center shaft when the transporting unit in the toner storage container 32 rotates in order to transport the toner in the toner storage container 32. This is a positioning portion for positioning the container opening 33a to the toner storage container storage section 70. That is, the container opening 33a is inserted into and fitted into the container setting portion 615, whereby the radial position of the container opening 33a is determined. The toner container 32 is fitted in the toner replenishing device 60 so that the outer peripheral surface 33b of the container opening 33a of the toner container 32 is slidable with the container set 615.

  The end inner peripheral surface 615a of the container setting portion 615 and the outer peripheral surface 33b of the container opening 33a of the toner storage container 32 are fitted to each other, so that the toner storage container 32 has a longitudinal direction (see FIG. Positioning in the radial direction perpendicular to the attachment / detachment direction) is performed. Further, when the toner container 32 is rotated, the outer peripheral surface 33b of the container opening 33a functions as a rotation center shaft portion, and the end inner peripheral surface 615a of the container setting portion 615 functions as a bearing. At this time, the outer peripheral surface 33b of the container opening 33a is slidably in contact with the end inner peripheral surface 615a of the container setting portion 615, and the position where the toner container 32 is positioned in the radial direction with respect to the toner replenishing device 60 is illustrated. In FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the toner container main body 33 has a substantially cylindrical shape and is configured to rotate about the central axis O of the cylinder. Hereinafter, in the longitudinal direction of the toner storage container 32, the side of the toner storage container 32 where the nozzle receiving port 331 is formed (the side where the container front end cover 34 is disposed) will be referred to as the “container front end side”. . In addition, the side of the toner container 32 on which the handle portion 303 is disposed (the side opposite to the container front end side) is referred to as “container rear end side”. The longitudinal direction of the toner container 32 is the direction of the rotation center axis, and when the toner container 32 is mounted on the toner supply device 60, the longitudinal direction is the horizontal direction. The container rear end side of the toner container main body 33 has a larger outer diameter than the container front end side, and a helical protrusion 302 is formed on the inner peripheral surface thereof. When the toner container main body 33 rotates in the rotation direction A in the drawing, the toner in the toner container main body 33 is moved from one end side (container rear end side) to the other end in the rotation center axis direction by the action of the spiral protrusion 302. A conveying force toward the side (container tip side) is applied.

  As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the toner container main body 33 rotates in the rotation direction A and is conveyed to the container front end side by the spiral protrusion 302 on the inner wall of the toner container main body 33 on the container front end side. A powder pumping unit 304 is formed for pumping the toner upward by the rotation of the toner container main body 33. The powder pumping unit 304 pumps the toner transported by the transporting force of the spiral protrusion 302 upward by the pumping surface 3040 according to the rotation of the toner container main body 33. As a result, the toner can be pumped up above the inserted transport nozzle 611. Further, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a pumping unit as a transport unit for feeding toner to the inner peripheral surface of the powder pumping unit 304 as well as the spiral protrusion 302 to pump the toner inside the pumping surface 3040. Is formed. Details of the powder pumping unit 304 will be described in detail later.

  A container gear 301 is formed further on the tip side of the container than the powder pumping portion 304 of the toner container main body 33. The container front end cover 34 is provided with a gear exposure opening 34a so that a part (the back side in FIG. 7) of the container gear 301 is exposed in a state of being attached to the toner container main body 33. . By mounting the toner container 32 on the toner replenishing device 60, the container gear 301 exposed from the gear exposure opening 34a meshes with the container driving gear 601 on the toner replenishing device 60 side. The container gear 301 is provided on the container opening 33 a side (near the container opening 33 a) in the longitudinal direction of the toner container main body 33 with respect to the nozzle opening 610, and is disposed so as to be able to mesh with the container driving gear 601. . The container gear 301 is meshed with the container driving gear 601 so that the conveying means can be rotated.

  A cylindrical container opening 33 a is formed coaxially with the container gear 301 on the container distal end side of the toner container main body 33 with respect to the container gear 301. As shown in FIG. 10, the nozzle receiving member 330 is pressed into the toner container main body 33 by press-fitting the receiving member fixing portion 337 of the nozzle receiving member 330 coaxially with the container opening 33 a into the container opening 33 a. Can be fixed. After the toner container 32 is filled with toner from the opening of the container opening 33a as an opening provided on one end side of the toner container main body 33, the nozzle receiving member 330 is stored in the toner as shown in FIG. It is configured to be inserted and fixed in the container opening 33 a of the container body 33. That is, the container opening 33 a allows the transport nozzle 611 to be inserted at a position that is the rotation center of the toner storage container 32.

  As shown in FIG. 10, a cover claw hook 306 as a hook is formed between the container opening 33 a of the toner container main body 33 and the container gear 301. The cover claw hooking portion 306 has a ring shape that extends in the rotational direction (circumferential direction) at the distal end in the mounting direction of the container distal end side cover 34. The cover claw hooking portion 306 is formed so as to go around the outer peripheral surface of the container opening 33a.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the container front end side cover 34 is assembled to the toner storage container 32 (toner storage container main body 33) from the front end side (lower left side in FIG. 8). As a result, the toner container main body 33 penetrates the container front end side cover 34 in the longitudinal direction, and the cover claw portion 341 as a protrusion is caught by the cover claw hook portion 306 as a hook portion. The toner container main body 33 and the container front end cover 34 are attached so as to be relatively rotatable by the cover claw portion 341 being hooked on the cover claw hook portion 306.

In a state where the toner container 32 is held in the toner container container 70 shown in FIG. 5, the toner container 32 has a reaction force (restoring force) that compresses the container shutter spring 336 as shown in FIG. , And a reaction force generated by compressing the nozzle shutter spring 613 is applied.
In the present embodiment, the toner container 32 is mounted with a toner container 32 in which toner for image formation is stored, and includes a transport nozzle 611 as a transport pipe for transporting the toner, and a powder receiver provided in the transport nozzle. A nozzle shutter 612 as a powder receiving opening / closing member that opens and closes a nozzle opening 610 as an inlet, a nozzle shutter spring 613 as an urging member that urges the nozzle shutter 612 to close the nozzle opening 610, and a driving force A container drive gear 601 as a main body side gear for transmitting the toner to the conveying means in the toner container 32 and a container receiving the toner container 32 that is coaxial with the conveying nozzle 611 and disposed around the conveying nozzle 611. A toner storage container that can be mounted on the copier 500 including a container setting unit 615 as a unit.

Next, the nozzle receiving member 330 fixed to the toner container main body 33 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 11, the nozzle receiving member 330 includes a container shutter support member 340 as a support member, a container shutter 332, a container seal 333 as a sealing member, a container shutter spring 336 as an urging means, It is comprised from the member fixing | fixed part 337. The container shutter support member 340 includes a shutter rear end support portion 335, a shutter side surface support portion 335a as a side surface portion, a shutter support opening 335b as a side surface opening portion, and a receiving member fixing portion 337, and the container shutter spring 336 includes a coil spring. . The shutter side support portion 335a and the shutter support opening 335b provided in the container shutter support member 340 are disposed adjacent to each other in the toner container rotation direction, and the two shutter side support portions 335a facing each other are part of a cylindrical shape. The cylindrical shape is largely cut off at the shutter support opening 335b (two locations). With such a shape, the container shutter 332 can be guided so as to move in the longitudinal direction in a columnar space formed inside the cylindrical shape.

  The nozzle receiving member 330 fixed to the toner container main body 33 rotates together with the toner container main body 33 when the toner container main body 33 rotates. At this time, the shutter side surface support portion 335a of the nozzle receiving member 330 is supplied with toner. It rotates around the transport nozzle 611 on the apparatus 60 side. For this reason, the rotating shutter side surface support part 335 a passes through the space immediately above the nozzle opening 610 formed in the upper part of the transport nozzle 611. As a result, even if the toner is momentarily accumulated above the nozzle opening 610, the accumulated toner is broken across the shutter side support portion 335a, so that the accumulated toner is aggregated when left, and the toner is conveyed at the time of restart. It is possible to suppress the occurrence of defects. On the other hand, at the timing when the shutter side surface support portion 335a is located on the side of the transport nozzle 611 and the nozzle opening 610 and the shutter support opening 335b face each other, as shown by the arrow β in FIG. The toner is supplied into the transport nozzle 611.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the container shutter 332 includes a tip cylindrical portion 332c, a sliding portion 332d, a guide rod 332e, and a shutter removal prevention claw 332a as a closing member. The distal end cylindrical portion 332 c is a portion on the distal end side of the container that is in close contact with the cylindrical opening (nozzle receiving port 331) of the container seal 333. The sliding portion 332d is a cylindrical portion that is formed on the container rear end side with respect to the front end cylindrical portion 332c, has a slightly larger outer diameter than the front end cylindrical portion 332c, and slides on the inner peripheral surfaces of the pair of shutter side surface support portions 335a. is there.

  The guide rod 332e is a column that stands up from the inside of the front end cylindrical portion 332c toward the rear end of the container, and is a rod that guides the container shutter spring 336 so that it does not buckle when inserted into the coil of the container shutter spring 336. Part. The shutter dropout prevention claws 332a are a pair of claw portions that are formed at the end opposite to the standing base of the guide lot 332e and prevent the container shutter 332 from falling off the container shutter support member 340.

  The front end side end of the container shutter spring 336 hits the inner wall surface of the front end cylindrical portion 332c, and the rear end side end portion of the container shutter spring 336 hits the wall surface of the shutter rear end support portion 335. At this time, since the container shutter spring 336 is in a compressed state, the container shutter 332 receives an urging force in a direction away from the shutter rear end support portion 335 (the container front end direction). However, the shutter slip-off preventing claw 332 a formed on the container rear end side of the container shutter 332 is caught on the outer wall surface of the shutter rear end support 335. Thus, the container shutter 332 is prevented from moving in a direction away from the shutter rear end support portion 335. Positioning is performed by the hook of the shutter removal preventing claw 332a with respect to the shutter rear end support portion 335 and the urging force of the container shutter spring 336.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the toner container 32 is attached to the toner replenishing device 60, the nozzle shutter collar 612 a of the nozzle shutter 612 on the toner replenishing device 60 side is urged by the nozzle shutter spring 613 and the container seal 333. Crush the protruding part. The nozzle shutter collar 612a further enters and abuts on the container distal end side end of the nozzle shutter abutment rib 337a shown in FIG. 11, covers the distal end side end surface of the container seal 333, and blocks from the outside of the container. Accordingly, it is possible to secure the sealing around the transport nozzle 611 at the nozzle receiving port 331 at the time of mounting, and to prevent toner leakage.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the back side of the nozzle shutter spring receiving surface 612f of the nozzle shutter collar 612a biased by the nozzle shutter spring 613 abuts against the nozzle shutter abutment rib 337a, so that the toner storage container 32 of the nozzle shutter 612. The longitudinal position with respect to is determined. Thereby, the end surface on the container front end side of the container seal 333 and the end surface on the container front end side of the front end opening 305 (internal space of a cylindrical receiving member fixing portion 337 disposed in a container opening 33a described later), The positional relationship in the longitudinal direction with the nozzle shutter 612 is determined.

  Next, operations of the container shutter 332 and the transport nozzle 611 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 8, and 12 (a) to 12 (d). Before the toner container 32 is attached to the toner replenishing device 60, the container shutter 332 is urged by the container shutter spring 336 toward the closed position where the nozzle receiving port 331 is closed as shown in FIG. The external appearance of the container shutter 332 and the transport nozzle 611 at this time is shown in FIG. When the toner container 32 is attached to the toner replenishing device 60, the transport nozzle 611 is inserted into the nozzle receiving port 331 as shown in FIG. When the toner container 32 is further pushed into the toner replenishing device 60, the end surface 332 h (hereinafter referred to as “container shutter end surface 332 h”) serving as the end surface of the container shutter 332 is positioned in the insertion direction of the transport nozzle 611. The end surface 611a (hereinafter referred to as “the end surface 611a of the transport nozzle”) that comes into contact. When the toner container 32 is further pushed from this state, the container shutter 332 is pushed as shown in FIG. 12C, and the conveying nozzle 611 is moved from the nozzle receiving port 331 to the shutter as shown in FIG. It is inserted into the rear end support part 335. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 8, the transport nozzle 611 is inserted into the toner container main body 33 to reach the set position. At this time, as shown in FIG. 12D, the nozzle opening 610 is in a position overlapping the shutter support opening 335b.

  Thereafter, when the toner container main body 33 rotates, the toner pumped upward from the transport nozzle 611 by the powder pumping unit 304 falls and is introduced into the transport nozzle 611 from the nozzle opening 610 opened upward. The The toner introduced into the transport nozzle 611 is transported through the transport nozzle 611 toward the toner dropping transport path 64 by the rotation of the transport screw 614, and is dropped and supplied from the toner dropping transport path 64 to the developing device 50. Is done.

  As described above, the toner is pumped up by the powder pumping unit 304 to the nozzle opening 610 of the transport nozzle 611 inserted into the tip opening 305 serving as the opening of the nozzle receiving member 330 fixed to the toner container main body 33. When supplying the toner T, the toner T may not be efficiently supplied from the powder pumping unit 304 to the nozzle opening 610 depending on the fluidity of the toner, the rotational speed of the toner container main body 33, and the like. Accordingly, the present inventors have studied the configuration of the powder pumping unit 304 (toner container main body 33) and found some effective forms. The configuration will be described in detail below.

  As shown in FIG. 13, in the present embodiment, the toner container main body 33 rotates in the powder pumping portion 304 (FIG. 9) formed on the container opening 33 a (FIG. 9) side of the toner container main body 33. By rotating to A, the toner T conveyed to the container opening 33a side is pumped up and supplied to the nozzle opening 610 (see FIG. 13). In addition, since the nozzle receiving member 330 (FIG. 9) is inserted and fixed to the container opening 33a, hereinafter, in the description of the powder pumping unit 304, the opening 33a of the main body container 33 is referred to as a nozzle receiving port 331. explain.

Hereinafter, since an evaluation model was created and evaluated for an effective range of the inclination angle θ of the pumping surface 3040, the contents thereof will be described. When the inclination angle θ (degree) of the pumping surface is minus (−), the remaining amount of toner (g) was poor and the follow-up property (%) of the toner replenishment amount was also minus (−). However, when the inclination angle θ (degree) of the pumping surface is 0 degree, 15 degrees, and 25 degrees, the remaining toner amount ( g) was good, and the follow-up ability (%) of the toner replenishment amount increased to 35%, 70%, and 100%, respectively. (Because the inclination angle θ has already reached 100% at 25 °, there is no point in continuing further evaluation of the inclination angle θ exceeding 25 °.) Here, the followability of the toner replenishment amount is predetermined. The difference between the actual replenishment amount (actual replenishment amount) and the set replenishment amount is shown as a ratio (%). The follow-up ability 100% means that the actual replenishment amount satisfies the set replenishment amount and there is no shortage of replenishment. Indicates the state.
However, for the sake of easy comparison, this evaluation result is for quantitatively indicating the effect of changing the inclination angle θ of the pumping surface 3040 for one type of toner container and one type of toner ( It is a matter of course that the numerical value is the same as the numerical result when a toner container of another shape and size targeted by the present invention and other types of toner are used. .
The evaluation is carried out by mounting toner bottles (manufactured as prototypes) as a plurality of evaluation models in which the inclination angle θ of the pumping surface is changed to the copying machine 500 which is an image forming apparatus for evaluation, and the toner container main body 33. The amount of toner remaining in the container after rotating at a constant speed for a certain time was measured.

The inclination angle θ (see FIG. 13) of the pumping surface 3040 in the present invention is 0 degree when the pumping surface 3040 is positioned substantially parallel to the virtual straight line X1 (see FIG. 13) passing through the rotation center axis O horizontally. When the position of the pumping surface 3040 is above the virtual straight line X1 (downstream in the rotation direction A), plus (+), the position of the pumping surface 3040 at this time is below the virtual straight line X1 (rotation direction A). In the case of (upstream) in FIG.

  In other words, in the positional relationship where the virtual straight lines X and X1 overlap, that is, in the state where the rotation center axis O and the edge (side) 3042 are horizontally aligned, the pumping surface 3040 is in the rotation direction A of the toner container main body 33. The case where it is inclined toward the upstream side is positive (+), and the case where the pumping surface 3040 is inclined toward the downstream side in the rotation direction A of the toner container main body 33 is negative (−).

In addition, an angle θ formed by the pumping surface 3040 with respect to the virtual straight line X is referred to as an inclination angle θ. The virtual straight line X can be drawn by drawing a straight line so as to pass through the rotation center axis O and the edge (side part) 3042 in the section of the toner container 32 in the rotation center axis direction, and the two pumping surfaces 3040 can be drawn. In the case of the toner container 32 having the toner container 32, the drawing can be performed by drawing a straight line so as to pass through two edges (side portions) 3042.
The remaining amount of toner g indicates the amount of toner T remaining in the toner container main body 33.

  The toner replenishment amount followability is a ratio (%) of a difference between an actual replenishment amount (actual replenishment amount) and a predetermined set replenishment amount. 100% follow-up indicates a state where the actual replenishment amount satisfies the set replenishment amount and there is no shortage of replenishment. This is a state in which necessary and sufficient toner T can be supplied to the developing device 50 (see FIG. 4), and is the most preferable state. As the followability value decreases, the actual supply amount becomes less than the set supply amount, and the toner supply amount to the developing device 50 (see FIG. 4) decreases.

  The amount of toner (residual toner) remaining in the toner container main body 33 is, for example, 15 g as a reference value, and is preferably less than or equal to this reference value. The reference value varies depending on the type of the toner container main body 33, and is not limited to this value.

  FIG. 14 shows the relationship between the remaining amount of toner and the replenishment amount that are the pumping characteristics when the inclination angle θ of the pumping surface 3040 is set to the minus side. As shown in FIG. 14, when the inclination angle θ is set to the negative side, the remaining amount of toner remains largely with respect to the reference value, and the remaining amount of toner cannot satisfy the reference value.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are diagrams comparing the toner discharge amount for each inclination angle θ of the pumping surface 3040 of the toner container body 33 of the mass production model under the same conditions. FIG. 15A shows that four mass production model toner container main bodies 33 with the inclination angle θ of the pumping surface 3040 of 0 °, 15 °, 25 °, and 45 ° are mounted on an actual machine and rotated at a bottle rotation speed of 95 rpm. The evaluation result of the toner discharge amount (g) at this time is shown. In FIG. 15B, four mass production model toner container main bodies 33 with the inclination angle θ of the pumping surface 3040 of 0 °, 15 °, 25 °, and 45 ° are mounted on an actual machine and rotated at a bottle rotation speed of 120 rpm. The evaluation result of the toner discharge amount [g] at this time is shown.
In the evaluation, the higher the toner discharge amount [g] in the region where the remaining amount of toner is small, the higher the evaluation. As shown in FIG. 15A, at a low rotational speed (95 rpm), the inclination angle θ is substantially equal to 15 ° and 30 °, and the discharge amount is a peak. On the other hand, when the inclination angle θ is 0 °, the discharge amount is extremely inferior, and when the inclination angle θ is increased to 45 °, the discharge amount is reduced. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 15 (b), at a high rotational speed (120 rpm), the inclination angle θ has a peak of 15 °, and then the inclination angle θ is substantially equal to 30 ° and 45 °, and the next point, the inclination angle. It can be seen that 0 is the most inferior when θ is 0 °. Since the target value of the bottle rotation speed of the actual machine is between the above two conditions, it can be seen that the optimum inclination angle θ is in the range of 15 ° to 30 °.

  In addition, when printing on an actual machine, the larger the amount of toner discharged, the larger the image that can be printed. Therefore, the amount of discharge is lower than the required amount of discharge indicated by the broken line, which is the amount of discharge required for the machine when the remaining amount of toner is large. That also matters. Comparing the plots of each inclination angle θ based on the required emission amount, the inclination angle θ is most dominant at 15 ° and 30 °, and the target of the emission amount exceeding the required emission amount to the remaining amount of about 5 g is achieved. . The next point is that the target is achieved when the inclination angle θ is 45 ° and the discharge amount exceeds the required discharge amount up to about 15 to 25 g. The most inferior inclination angle θ is 0 ° and the discharge amount is only 60 to 90 g. However, it is understood that the optimum inclination angle θ is in the range of 15 ° to 30 ° also from this viewpoint.

  FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B are diagrams comparing the fluctuation range of the toner replenishment amount for each inclination angle of the pumping surface 3040 of the mass storage model toner container body 33 due to the environmental load. FIG. 16A shows a case where a toner production container main body 33 of one mass production model with an inclination angle θ of the pumping surface 3040 of 15 ° is mounted on an actual machine and rotated at a constant rotational speed, and the environmental conditions are changed. The evaluation result of the toner replenishment amount (g / sec) is shown. FIG. 16B shows a case where a toner production container main body 33 of one mass production model with an inclination angle θ of the pumping surface 3040 of 25 ° is mounted on an actual machine and rotated at a constant rotational speed, and the environmental conditions are changed. The evaluation result of the toner replenishment amount (g / sec) is shown.

  In the evaluation, the smaller the difference in the replenishment amount depending on the environment and conditions, the more advantageous is that stable replenishment is possible. As shown in FIGS. 16 (a) and 16 (b), the factors that affect the replenishment amount (temperature / humidity, etc.) are aligned under the most advantageous conditions, and are aligned under the N1 condition and the most disadvantageous conditions. As the N2 condition, the superiority and inferiority to environmental change were compared in the range of the bottle rotation speed of 95 to 120 rpm and the inclination angle θ of 15 ° to 30 ° determined to be superior in FIGS. 15 (a) and 15 (b). As a specific value, comparison is made with a toner container main body having a bottle rotation speed of 110 rpm, an inclination angle θ of 15 °, and an inclination angle θ of 25 °. The broken line in the figure indicates the target supply amount (target value) of the supply amount per unit time. As a result of the comparison, both the inclination angle θ of the pumping surface 3040 of 15 ° and 25 ° are achieved with respect to the target supply amount (target value) in the region where the remaining amount of toner is low, and the supply amount is almost equal. However, paying attention to the relationship between the amount of environmental fluctuation, which is the difference in the amount of replenishment between the N1 condition located above the standard condition and the N2 condition located below, the inclination angle θ is 15 °. Rather, it can be seen that the inclination angle θ of 25 ° is superior because the environmental fluctuation range is small.

  As described above, regardless of the evaluation model or the mass production model, the inclination angle θ of the pumping surface 3040 is in the rotation direction A of the toner container main body 33 with respect to the virtual straight line X passing through the rotation center axis O and the edge (side) 3042. It is desirable that the pumping surface 3040 is inclined in the range of 25 ° ± 5 ° upstream. In this case, the rotation speed range of the toner container 32 is preferably 110 rpm ± 15 rpm.

Next, the movement of the toner in the toner container main body 33 in the vicinity of the container opening 33a of the toner bottle 32 which is a toner container will be described.
The toner bottle 32 in which toner, which is a powder and is a developer, is sealed in the toner container main body 33 may be hardened when placed in the same posture for a long time. For this reason, there is a case where a preliminary operation for releasing the toner by shaking up and down or left and right is necessary before use. In addition, it is recommended that the toner bottle 32 be stored in a horizontal position in the same manner as when it is mounted on the toner replenishing device 60 (copier 500). However, because of the storage space, the toner bottle 32 may be stored in a state where the container opening 33a is set downward.

In such a case, when the toner supply device 60 (the copying machine 500) is mounted on the toner replenishing device 60 (copier 500) by swinging up and down or left and right, which corresponds to the number of reciprocations set based on the horizontal storage state, the transport nozzle 611 is sufficiently provided in the container opening 33a. In some cases, it could not be inserted. As a result of searching for the cause, as shown in FIG. 25A, the shape of the inner wall 33c ′ of the toner container main body 33 connected to the edges 3042 (3042B to D) of the pumping surfaces 3040 (3040B to D) is concave. Therefore, even if the toner bottle 32 is shaken and the preliminary operation is performed, the force is dispersed on the concave surface and the escape place of the toner in the container is restricted. It was discovered that it cannot be solved sufficiently (the force to solve cannot be applied to the toner).
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the shape of the inner wall 33c ′ of the toner container main body 33 protruding into the container in a concave shape is changed to a convex shape, that is, the shape of the powder pumping portion is changed to By concentrating the force with the convex shape and increasing the escape place of the toner in the container, the escape place of the toner is not restricted.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the toner container according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The difference from the first to fourth embodiments is that the configuration of the powder pumping unit 304E formed in the toner container main body 33 is different from the pumping unit 304 (304B to D) of other forms. Basically, it is the same as the previous embodiment. Therefore, the configuration of the powder pumping unit 304E according to this embodiment will be mainly described.

  FIG. 17A is a plan view showing the configuration of the toner container main body 33 provided with the powder pumping unit 304E, and FIG. 17B shows the configuration of the toner container main body 33 provided with the powder pumping unit 304E. FIG. FIG. 19 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of the toner container main body on the opening side. FIG. 2036 is an enlarged view for explaining the configuration of the pumping surface 3040E of the powder pumping unit 304E, and is a cross-sectional view when viewed from the container rear end side toward the container front end side. FIGS. 21A to 21C are operation diagrams schematically illustrating changes during rotation of the powder pumping unit 304E, and FIGS. 22A to 22C are continued from FIG. 21C. It is the operation figure which explained typically the change at the time of rotation of the powder pumping part 3040E. 21 and 22 show sectional views when viewed from the container rear end side toward the container front end side, as in FIG. FIG. 23A is a schematic diagram showing the diffusibility of the toner when the internal space of the toner container main body 33 is small, and FIG. 23B is a toner container provided with the powder pumping unit 304E according to this embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating toner diffusibility when the internal space of the container body 33 is widened.

  In the present embodiment, the powder pumping unit 304E formed on the container opening 33a side of the toner container main body 33 is conveyed to the container opening 33a side when the toner container main body 33 rotates in the rotation direction A. The toner T is pumped up and supplied to the nozzle opening 610 (see FIG. 15). Since the nozzle receiving member 330 is inserted and fixed to the container opening 33a, the opening 33a of the main body container 33 will be described as the nozzle receiving port 331 in the description of the powder pumping unit 304 below. That is, as shown in FIGS. 18 and 20, a powder pumping unit 304 </ b> E that pumps upward by rotation of the toner container main body 33 is formed on the inner wall of the toner container main body 33 on the container front end side. The powder pumping unit 304E pumps up the toner transported by the transporting force of the spiral protrusion 302 upward by the pumping surface 3040E according to the rotation of the toner container main body 33. As a result, the toner can be pumped up above the inserted transport nozzle 611. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 20, two powder pumping portions 304E are provided at positions where the phase is changed by 180 degrees with respect to the rotation center axis O.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, a spiral as a conveying unit for feeding the toner inside the pumping surface 3040 </ b> E to the inner peripheral surface of each powder pumping unit 304 </ b> E similarly to the spiral protrusion 302. The pumping portion spiral protrusions 304a formed in a shape are respectively formed.
In the present embodiment, each powder pumping portion 304E has a pumping surface 3040E extending from the inner wall surface 33c of the toner container main body 33 toward the rotation center axis O (however, an extension line of the pumping surface 3040E). Does not pass through the rotation center axis O).
These pumping surfaces 3040E have inner end portions 3040Ea on the rotation center axis O side extending in a direction along the rotation center axis direction of the toner container main body 33. Specifically, an edge (helical part, side part) 3042E formed on the inner end portion 3040Ea closest to the rotation center axis O extends substantially in a row with the rotation center axis O, and the inner wall surface of the toner container main body 33 A ridge line along the rotation center axis O is formed between the portion 33c ′ raised on the rotation center axis O side and the pumping surface 3040E. Further, as shown in FIG. 20, the pumping surface 3040E is closer to the toner container main body 33 than the virtual straight line X passing through the rotation center axis O and the edge (side part) 3042E of the inner end when viewed from the rotation center axis direction. Is inclined at a predetermined angular angle range toward the upstream side in the rotation direction A. Also in this embodiment, the predetermined range of each inclination angle θ is 25 ° ± 5 ° (25 ° ± 5 °).

  In the present embodiment, each powder pumping portion 304E is formed by raising the pumping surface 3040E from the inner wall 33c toward the inside of the bottle, and the edge (helical part, side portion) 3042E of the pumping surface 3040 located most inside the bottle. It became a mountain shape with the apex. Specifically, the inner wall 3043 connected from the edge (side part) 3042E has a mountain shape having the edge 3042E as the apex, and forms an angle θ2 that is a substantially acute angle together with the pumping surface 3040E.

  When the toner container main body 33 is blow-molded, it is difficult to form only the pumping surface 3040E from the inner wall portion 33c in a plate shape with respect to the pumping portion 304E. Therefore, the pumping portion 304E is configured so as to form a substantially acute angle θ2 with the edge 3042E as the apex when viewed in a cross section orthogonal to the rotation center axis (FIG. 20). In addition, the toner container main body 33 can be formed, and an internal space can be secured as shown by a dotted line in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, the end 304a1 of the spiral protrusion extends so as to be connected to the pumping surface 3040E. In the present embodiment, the end portion (terminal portion) 304a1 of the spiral protrusion is shaped to rise substantially vertically from the pumping surface 3040E to the pumping surface 3040E. In other words, the end portion (terminal portion) 304 a 1 of the spiral protrusion extends in the circumferential direction of the rotation center axis O of the toner container 32. Accordingly, the space surrounded by the end portion 304a1 of the spiral protrusion, the pumping surface 3040E, and the inner wall surface 33c of the toner container 32 can be functioned as a holding portion that can hold more toner.
In addition, the toner container 32 is connected to the image forming apparatus (toner replenishing apparatus) on the side of the opening 33a of the toner container 32 in the direction of the rotation center axis from the end part (terminal part) 304a1 of the spiral protrusion on the pumping surface 3040E. When mounted on the nozzle opening 610, the nozzle opening 610 can be opposed to the position.

With this configuration, the holding portion in which the toner conveyed by the spiral protrusion 304a is formed by the end portion 304a1 of the spiral protrusion and the pumping surface 3040E can be opposed to the nozzle opening 610, and the powder pumping portion 304E. The pumping up of the toner and the pouring into the nozzle opening 610 become efficient.
Further, since the end 304a1 of the spiral protrusion is also substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the nozzle opening 610 extends (the axial direction of the transport nozzle 611), there is also an advantage that it does not obstruct toner flow.
Of course, also in the present embodiment, the edge (side portion) 3042E of each inner end portion is mounted on the toner replenishing device 60 and the toner container main body 33 rotates in the rotation direction A to the position shown in FIG. When rotating, the nozzle opening 610 is formed so as to be positioned in the cross-sectional area W1 of the transport nozzle 611, preferably in the opening area W2 of the nozzle opening 610.

  The pumping operation by the powder pumping unit 304E having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 21A shows a state before the toner container main body 33 is mounted on the toner supply device 60 (copier 500) and rotates. This state is assumed to be an attitude of 0 °. In this attitude of 0 °, the pair of opposite shutter side surface support portions 335a and 335a of the nozzle receiving member 330 change the phase 180 degrees above and above the nozzle opening 610 of the transport nozzle 611 located above the drawing. The nozzles are respectively disposed below the conveying nozzles 611. Further, the pumping surface 3040E has an edge 3042E below the virtual straight line X passing through the rotation center axis O, and the rotation direction of the toner container main body 33 with respect to the virtual straight line X1 passing through the rotation center axis O and the edge 3042E. The posture is inclined at a predetermined angle θ upstream of A. In this way, the pair of shutter side surface support portions 335a and 335a facing each other of the nozzle receiving member 330 and the two pumping surfaces 3040E are substantially orthogonal to each other in the rotational direction A with respect to the rotation center axis O. It is an arrangement relationship.

  More specifically, the shutter side surface support portions 335a and 335a do not face the edge 3042E of the pumping surface, that is, in the rotational direction position deviated from the imaginary straight line X passing through the edge 3042E of the pumping surface and the rotation center axis O. It is arranged. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the toner falling from the pumping surface 3040E from being prevented from dropping to the nozzle opening 610 by the shutter side surface support portions 335a and 335a.

  Desirably, as shown in FIG. 20, when attention is paid to a shutter side support member 335a positioned above (on the downstream side in the rotation direction A) one pumping surface 3040E on which the toner T is already held, A distance D1 between an end portion (right side in FIG. 20) on the upstream side in the rotation direction A of the shutter side surface support member 335a and an edge 3042E of the one pumping surface 3040E is a rotation direction of the shutter side surface support member 335a. A distance wider than the distance D2 between the end portion on the downstream side (left side in FIG. 20) at A and the edge 3042E of the other pumping surface (left side in FIG. 20 than the shutter side support member 335a described above in FIG. 20). desirable. With such an arrangement relationship, it becomes easier to secure a flow path through which the toner flows.

  In the posture 0 °, the toner T is already held on one of the pumping surfaces 3040E. From this state, when the toner container main body 33 rotates counterclockwise in the drawing indicated by the arrow A, the toner T on the pumping surface 3040E is further held upward and moved as shown in FIG. . FIG. 21B shows a state in which the posture is 30 °, in which the rotation proceeds counterclockwise by 30 ° counterclockwise. Further, when the toner container main body 33 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 21, the pair of shutter side surface support portions 335a and 335a of the nozzle receiving member 330 are also rotated integrally, as shown in FIG. As described above, the toner T on the pumping surface 3040E moves while being held further upward. FIG. 21C shows a state of the posture 60 ° in which the rotation proceeds counterclockwise from the posture 30 ° to 60 °. In this state, the shutter side surface support portion 335a further moves from above the nozzle opening 610 to open the nozzle opening 610, and the pumping surface 3040E is inclined downward with respect to the rotation center axis O. The toner T on 3040E gradually slides by its own weight on the pumping surface 3040E and starts to fall into the nozzle opening 610.

  As shown in FIG. 22A, when the rotation of the toner container main body 33 advances from the posture 60 ° to the posture 90 °, all the toner T on the pumping surface 3040E falls by its own weight and is supplied to the nozzle opening 610. In addition, when the posture is 90 °, the other powder pumping portion 3040E is positioned below the toner container main body 33, and the toner T accumulated in the lower portion is captured by the pumping surface 3040E.

  When the rotation of the toner container main body 33 progresses and the posture is changed from 90 ° to 120 ° as shown in FIG. 22B, the pumping surface 3040E starts a new pumping of the toner T accumulated in the lower portion. At the same time, the other shutter side surface support portion 335 a covers a part above the nozzle opening 610.

Then, as shown in FIG. 22C, when the rotation of the toner container main body 33 advances from the posture 120 ° to the posture 150 °, the pumping of the toner by the pumping surface 3040E proceeds and the other shutter side surface support portion 335a. Is moved further upwardly from the nozzle opening 610 so that the toner cannot be replenished.
Thus, when the toner container main body 33 rotates in the rotation direction A, the toner T pumped up by the pumping surface 3040E can be supplied into the transport nozzle 611 from the upper part of the nozzle opening 610.

  In the present embodiment, each powder pumping portion 304E is formed by raising the pumping surface 3040E from the inner wall 33c toward the inside of the bottle, and the edge (heli, side) of the pumping surface 3040 located most inside the bottle. It became a mountain shape with 3042E as the apex. Specifically, the inner wall 3043 connected from the edge (side part) 3042E has a mountain shape having the edge 3042E as the apex, and forms an angle θ2 that is a substantially acute angle together with the pumping surface 3040E. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 23B, the internal space in the toner container main body 33 can be secured as much as the area indicated by the broken line ○ with respect to FIG. Since the space S2 between them (see FIGS. 20 and 21) also increases, the escape place of the toner T during the preliminary operation increases, and the toner T is easily released.

In the configuration of the apparatus of the present invention, the toner pumping surface is inclined by a predetermined range toward the upstream side in the rotation direction of the powder container from the virtual straight line passing through the rotation center axis of the container and the edge of the inner end of the pumping surface. Since it is inclined at the corner, the pumping capacity is improved.
Furthermore, the spiral protrusion is connected to the pumping surface, and the connected portion extends in the circumferential direction from the pumping surface. Accordingly, the space surrounded by the end portion 304a1 of the spiral protrusion, the pumping surface 3040E, and the inner wall surface 33c of the toner container 32 can be functioned as a holding portion that can hold more toner.
The container of the present invention is capable of efficiently pumping a large amount of toner and flowing it into the powder receiving port of the transport pipe by the above-described configuration.

However, as a result of examination by the inventors, it has been found that the following situation occurs depending on the characteristics of the toner.
(1) A large amount of toner is held by the pumping surface (without spilling from the pumping surface) and pumped up.
(2) A large amount of toner is agglomerated and falls to the powder inlet at once.
(3) In a state where a part of the toner covers the powder receiving port, the toner remains without being collapsed. (4) As a result, the powder receiving port is blocked and the toner cannot be discharged.

Further, the following problems have been confirmed depending on the characteristics of the toner.
That is, when the toner that has fallen to the powder receiving port is transported by the screw in the transport pipe, it remains attached to the screw without being discharged (not dropped) from the transport pipe on the downstream side of the screw.
Once this condition occurs, the toner on the downstream side is pressed against the toner conveyed from the upstream side of the screw by the force of the screw, the toner is pressed and solidified, the toner is clogged from the downstream side, and the toner is discharged. Becomes impossible.
As a result of studying the above problem by paying attention to the transportability which is one of the toner fluidity indexes, the present inventors have obtained the following knowledge.

(toner)
The toner of the present invention contains at least toner base particles containing a binder resin and an external additive, and further contains other components as necessary.

<Toner transportability>
Next, the toner stored in the toner storage container of the present invention will be described.

“Transportability” of toner is an index determined by the following method.
For the measurement, an oscillating transfer type fluidity measuring device (DI Corporation) is used.
The toner is sieved with a mesh having an opening of 90 μm and a wire diameter of 63 μm, and the humidity is adjusted at 25 ° C. and 50% for 1 hour. After adding 1g of conditioned toner to the device, the amplitude is 25% (about 125μm), the frequency is started in the auto tuning mode according to the manual of this device, and the time t (sec) until the toner is discharged 750mg taking measurement. From the obtained t (sec), the toner transportability is calculated based on the following formula (1).
Transportability = 750 / t (mg / sec) (1)
This device is based on the principle of the parts feeder, and it is a mechanism that causes the sample to rise and be discharged by vibrating the bowl along a spiral path from the bottom of the aluminum bowl to the bowl's bowl. Measure the time and amount of emission since the vibration.
A sample having a high frictional force between toner particles and between toner and aluminum is discharged early and has good transportability, but a sample having too high transportability also has high cohesion. In addition, a sample with a low frictional force has a low speed of climbing a path formed in an aluminum bowl, and the transportability is low.

The toner transportability is 0.3 to 5.0 mg / sec, more preferably 0.3 to 4.0 mg / sec.
When the toner transportability exceeds 5.0 mg / sec, the powder receiving port of the toner container as described above is blocked, and the toner cannot be discharged, and the toner has dropped to the powder receiving port. When the toner is transported by the screw in the transport pipe, it adheres to the screw without being discharged (not dropped) from the transport pipe on the downstream side of the screw, the toner is pressed and solidified, and the toner is clogged from the downstream side. The trouble that it goes away occurs.
When the toner transportability is 0.3 to 5.0 mg / sec, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a problem that the toner cannot be discharged. In addition, it is possible to prevent the toner container from being replaced because the toner is not discharged while a large amount of toner remains in the toner container.
If the toner transportability is less than 0.3 mg / sec, the adhesion between the toners decreases and the fluidity decreases, so that the toner cannot be ejected from the toner container and toner replenishment is not possible.

  The method for adjusting the toner transportability is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the purpose. For example, the shape of the toner base particles, the type of the external additive, the content of the external additive in the toner, In addition, it can be adjusted according to the addition conditions of the external additive to the toner base particles.

Further, by setting the weight average molecular weight Mw in the molecular weight distribution by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) of the toner component extracted by Soxhlet extraction method using tetrahydrofuran (THF) to 5,000 or more and 50,000 or less, Preferably, it is 5,000 or more and 35,000 or less, more preferably 8,000 or more and 18,000 or less, and particularly preferably 14,000 or more and 18,000 or less, so that the low-temperature fixability. In addition, the hot offset resistance and the heat resistant storage stability can be achieved at a good level.
In the toner used in the present invention, the resin component in the insoluble content with respect to tetrahydrofuran (THF) is 0.5% by mass or more and 20% by mass or less, more preferably 0.5% by mass or more and 5% by mass or less with respect to the toner. Preferably there is.
The main component of the insoluble matter is resin, and other pigments may be included. The insoluble resin is not particularly limited, but in many cases, the molecular weight is very large, the solubility in THF is poor, or the structure is crosslinked. Regarding cross-linking, for example, in addition to chemical cross-linking through a chemical bond such as a covalent bond, physical cross-linking through a hydrogen bond, a coordinate bond through a metal, an ionic bond, a hydrophobic interaction, or the like is conceivable. When there is no or too little insoluble matter, the viscosity of the toner at the time of fixing is too low, causing hot offset. On the other hand, if it is too high, the viscosity of the toner at the time of fixing is too high, so that cold offset is likely to occur, and low-temperature fixing becomes difficult.

<< Measurement of Weight Average Molecular Weight Mw in Molecular Weight Distribution by Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) of Components Extracted by Soxhlet Extraction Method Using Toner Tetrahydrofuran (THF) >>
The weight average molecular weight Mw is measured by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) as follows.

<Soxhlet extraction (sample pretreatment)>
0.3 g of toner is weighed and put in a cylindrical filter paper (“No. 86R”; manufactured by Toyo Filter Paper) that has been weighed (g) in advance, and applied to a Soxhlet extractor. The heater temperature was set at 85 ° C., and the total reflux extraction (Soxhlet extraction) was performed over 7 hours using 200 mL of tetrahydrofuran THF (made by Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd., stabilizer) in a round bottom flask for Soxhlet as an extraction solvent. THF is distilled off with an evaporator to obtain an extract. The extract is dissolved in THF (stabilizer-containing Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.) at 0.15% by mass, filtered through a solvent-resistant membrane filter having a pore diameter of 0.45 μm, and the filtrate is used as a sample. 100 μL of the THF sample solution is injected and measured.

The resin component in the insoluble component in the present invention is a component obtained by removing the colorant, magnetic material, and external additive from the insoluble component.
The calculation method of the insoluble resin component in the present invention is as follows.
Place the toner in an electric furnace and treat it at a temperature at which the resin, mold release agent decomposes, but the colorant, magnetic material, and external additive do not decompose, while nitrogen gas is supplied and replaced with nitrogen gas. . After confirming weight reduction, weigh insolubles other than resin components when weight reduction stops.
As a method for measuring the mass of the insoluble matter other than the resin component, the chemical structure of each of the colorant, magnetic material, and external additive is specified and included in each of the colorant, magnetic material, and external additive materials. Focusing on elements that are elements and not included in other components, the mass can also be calculated using a calibration curve obtained from changes in the energy intensity of fluorescent X-rays when the mass of the material is changed. .
The cylindrical filter paper after Soxhlet extraction is air-dried and further dried under reduced pressure, and the total amount (g) of insoluble matter on the filter paper and the weight of the filter paper is weighed. Then, the mass of the resin component in the insoluble component can be determined by subtracting the insoluble component other than the resin component weighed in advance and the filter paper mass (g). By dividing the mass of the resin component in the insoluble content by the toner charge amount of 0.3 g and multiplying by 100, the ratio of the resin component in the insoluble content to the toner mass is calculated in mass percent.

(Measurement of weight average molecular weight Mw)
Measuring device: GPC-8220GPC (manufactured by Tosoh Corporation)
Column: TSKgel SuperHZM-H 15 cm triple (manufactured by Tosoh Corporation)
Temperature: 40 ° C
Solvent: THF
Flow rate: 0.35 mL / min
Sample: A dry solid or standard sample of the above-mentioned Soxhlet extract is dissolved in THF to prepare a 0.15 mass percent sample, and 0.1 mL is injected.
Calibration curve: In measuring the molecular weight of a sample, the molecular weight distribution of the sample is calculated from the relationship between the logarithmic value of a calibration curve prepared from several monodisperse polystyrene standard samples and the number of counts. As a standard polystyrene sample for preparing a calibration curve, Showd STANDARD Std. No. S-7300, S-210, S-390, S-875, S-1980, S-10.9, S-629, S-3.0, S-0.580 are dissolved in THF. A 15 mass percent concentration solution is prepared, and an RI (refractive index) detector is used as a detector.
Among the detected peaks, the largest peak is set as the main peak. When a plurality of peaks are detected, as shown in FIG. 24, vertical division is performed at the lower end of the peak, the main peak is analyzed, and Mw is calculated.

  The toner contains, for example, toner base particles containing a binder resin and a colorant and an external additive, and further contains other components as necessary. Further, the charging of the toner is not particularly limited, whether it is positive or negative.

<< External additive >>
The external additive is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. For example, silica fine particles, hydrophobized silica fine particles, fatty acid metal salts (for example, zinc stearate, aluminum stearate, etc.) , Metal oxide particles (for example, titania, alumina, tin oxide, antimony oxide, etc.) or their hydrophobized products, fluoropolymers, and the like. Among these, hydrophobized silica fine particles, titania fine particles, and hydrophobized titania fine particles are preferable.

  Examples of the hydrophobized silica fine particles include R-972, R-974, RX-200, RY-200, R-202, R-805, R-812, RX-50, NAX-50, and NX-. 90G, R-8200, RX-300 (all manufactured by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd.); H2000 / 4, H2000T, H05TM, H13TM, H20TM, H30TM (all manufactured by Clariant); X-24-9163A (Shin-Etsu Chemical) Industrial Corp.); UFP-30, UFP-35 (both manufactured by Denki Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd.) and the like.

  Examples of the titania fine particles include P-25 (manufactured by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd.); STT-30, STT-65C-S (both manufactured by Titanium Industry Co., Ltd.); TAF-140 (manufactured by Fuji Titanium Industry Co., Ltd.). MT-150W, MT-500B, MT-600B, MT-150A (all manufactured by Teika Co., Ltd.) and the like can be mentioned.

  Examples of the hydrophobic titania fine particles include T-805 (manufactured by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd.); STT-30A, STT-65S-S (both manufactured by Titanium Industry Co., Ltd.); TAF-500T, TAF-1500T. (Both manufactured by Fuji Titanium Industry Co., Ltd.), IT-S (made by Ishihara Sangyo Co., Ltd.) and the like.

There is no restriction | limiting in particular as a particle size and a shape of the said external additive, According to the objective, it can select suitably.
The fluidity of the toner can be controlled by the shape and particle size of the external additive.
For example, in terms of particle size, normally, an external additive having a larger particle size is more easily fixed to the toner base particles when mixed with an external additive having a smaller particle size, and therefore the fluidity as a toner is smaller. Become. On the contrary, the external additive having a small particle diameter is not fixed to the toner base particles and is easy to flow, so that the fluidity of the toner itself is improved.
In terms of shape, the closer to a perfect circle, the easier it is to flow and the toner fluidity is improved. Titanium oxide used as an external additive is acicular, but silica is known to have a spherical shape and an irregular shape. Among these, spherical silica is most easily fluidized, and the fluidity of the toner is improved. The fluidity can be particularly improved by using small-diameter silica.

  There is no restriction | limiting in particular as content of the said external additive in the said toner, According to the objective, it can select suitably.

In the toner, the fluidity of the toner can be controlled by changing the content of the external additive with respect to the toner base particles. If the amount of the external additive in the toner is increased, the amount of the external additive covering the surface of the toner base particles is increased. Therefore, the fluidity of the toner can usually be increased, and the fluidity is decreased when the amount is decreased. Can do. At that time, the fluidity of the toner can be effectively controlled, particularly by increasing or decreasing the amount of the small particle size spherical silica.
On the other hand, if the coating ratio of the toner base particles with the external additive is increased too much, the surface is covered with an inorganic material, so that fixing becomes difficult. On the other hand, if the coating ratio of the external additive is reduced too much, the fluidity of the toner is lost and the toner cannot be replenished, or the toner aggregates and an abnormal image is likely to occur.

<< Toner Base Particles >>
The toner base particles contain at least a binder resin and a colorant, and further contain a release agent, a charge control agent and the like as necessary.

-Binder resin-
The binder resin is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. For example, polyester resin, silicone resin, styrene / acryl resin, styrene resin, acrylic resin, epoxy resin, diene resin, phenol Resins, terpene resins, coumarin resins, amideimide resins, butyral resins, urethane resins, ethylene vinyl acetate resins and the like can be mentioned. These may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together. Among these, polyester resin, polyester resin and the above-mentioned other binder resins are combined in that they have excellent low-temperature fixability, can smooth the image surface, and have sufficient flexibility even when the molecular weight is lowered. Resins are preferred.

--- Polyester resin--
There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said polyester resin, According to the objective, it can select suitably. The polyester resin may be a modified polyester resin in which various reactive functional groups are introduced into the side chain of the polyester, or may be an unmodified polyester resin that has not been introduced. These may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together.
The polyester resin may be a crystalline polyester resin or an amorphous polyester resin.

--- Crystalline polyester resin ---
As the binder resin, a crystalline polyester resin can be contained.
The crystalline polyester resin refers to a polyester resin that has a particularly high ratio of taking a crystal structure in which the main chain is regularly oriented, and the viscosity of the resin changes greatly in the vicinity of the melting point.
Examples of the crystalline polyester resin include, as an alcohol component, a saturated aliphatic diol compound having 2 to 12 carbon atoms (particularly 1,4-butanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, 1,8-octanediol, 1, 10-decanediol, 1,12-dodecanediol, and derivatives thereof) and at least an acid component acidic component, a C2-C12 dicarboxylic acid having a double bond (C = C bond), or a carbon number 2-12 saturated dicarboxylic acids (especially fumaric acid, 1,4-butanedioic acid, 1,6-hexanedioic acid, 1, -8-octanedioic acid, 1,10-decanedioic acid, 1,12-dodecane Crystalline polyester resins synthesized using diacids and their derivatives) are preferred.

  Among them, in particular, 1,4-butanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, 1, -8-8octanediol, 1,10-decanediol, in that the difference between the endothermic peak temperature and the endothermic shoulder temperature is made smaller. And 1,12-dodecanediol, fumaric acid, 1,4-butanedioic acid, 1,6-hexanedioic acid, 1, -8-octanedioic acid, 1,10-decane It is preferably composed of only one kind of dicarboxylic acid component of diacid and 1,12-dodecanedioic acid.

  In addition, as a method for controlling the crystallinity and softening point of the crystalline polyester resin, trivalent or higher polyhydric alcohol such as glycerin as an alcohol component and trivalent or higher valency such as trimellitic anhydride as an acid component at the time of polyester synthesis. And a method of designing and using a non-linear polyester subjected to condensation polymerization by adding a polyvalent carboxylic acid.

  The molecular structure of the crystalline polyester resin of the present invention can be confirmed by X-ray diffraction, GC / MS, LC / MS, IR measurement, etc. in addition to NMR measurement by solution or solid.

  There is no restriction | limiting in particular as content in the said toner of the said crystalline polyester resin, Although it can select suitably according to the objective, 0 mass%-15 mass% are preferable, and 5 mass%-15 mass are preferable. Weight percent is more preferred. When the content is less than 5% by weight, the effect on the low-temperature fixability may not be sufficiently obtained. In addition, since the crystalline polyester resin has a relatively low stress resistance, if the content exceeds 15% by mass, the external additive is buried in the crystalline polyester resin portion on the surface of the toner base, so that the storage stability is deteriorated. This is not preferable.

  There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said modified polyester resin, According to the objective, it can select suitably, For example, polyester (henceforth "polyester prepolymer" which can react with an active hydrogen group containing compound and the said active hydrogen group containing compound) And a resin obtained by an extension reaction and / or a crosslinking reaction. The extension reaction and / or the cross-linking reaction may be stopped by a reaction terminator (blocked monoamine such as diethylamine, dibutylamine, butylamine, laurylamine, ketimine compound, etc.) as necessary.

In the pulverization method, the weight average molecular weight Mw of the Soxhlet extraction and the resin component in the insoluble matter can be controlled by appropriately changing the type and molecular weight of the binder resin as a raw material. In this case, there is a correlation between the weight average molecular weight of the raw material binder resin and the weight average molecular weight Mw of toner Soxhlet extraction. A plurality of resins may be used. For example, a resin having a Mw of around 10,000 and a resin having a Mw of around 50,000 may be mixed and used at an arbitrary ratio.
The resin component in the insoluble content of the toner in tetrahydrofuran (THF) is preferably 0.5% by mass or more and 20% by mass or less, and more preferably 0.5% by mass or more and 5% by mass or less. If the resin component in the insoluble content is small, it tends to be soft when heated, so that it is advantageous for fixing properties but disadvantageous for heat resistance. If the resin component in the insoluble component is less than 0.5% by mass, the viscosity when the toner is melted at the time of fixing is too low, so that hot offset is easily placed and it is difficult to secure a sufficient fixing width. On the other hand, when the resin component in the insoluble component is large, hot offset does not easily occur and securing of fixing is easy and heat resistance is improved, but the fixing minimum temperature is increased. If the resin component in the insoluble component exceeds 20% by mass, a temperature is necessary to obtain a viscosity until fixing occurs even if the toner is melted.
On the other hand, in the dissolution suspension method, the toner composition is dissolved in a solvent or the dispersion is emulsified / dispersed in an aqueous medium, the solvent is removed from the obtained emulsion / dispersion, and then the prepolymer is subjected to a heat crosslinking reaction ( For example, there is a method under stirring at 45 ° C. for 10 hours. The reaction can be controlled by changing the aging temperature and time. In this case, the prepolymer after the crosslinking reaction becomes an insoluble matter that cannot be extracted by Soxhlet because of its high molecular weight, but if this crosslinking reaction does not proceed sufficiently, it becomes a component that can be extracted by Soxhlet. It is presumed that the molecular weight tends to be large. When the crosslinking reaction does not proceed in this manner, the melt viscosity of the toner at the time of fixing is too low and hot offset occurs.
As for the insoluble matter, since the main component is the prepolymer after the crosslinking reaction, it is possible to increase or decrease the amount of insoluble matter by increasing or decreasing the amount of prepolymer in the binder resin. is there.

-Colorant-
There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said colorant, According to the objective, it can select suitably, For example, a black pigment, a yellow pigment, a magenta pigment, a cyan pigment etc. are mentioned. Among these, it is preferable to contain any of a yellow pigment, a magenta pigment, and a cyan pigment.
The black pigment is used for black toner, for example. Examples of the black pigment include carbon black, copper oxide, manganese dioxide, aniline black, activated carbon, nonmagnetic ferrite, magnetite, nigrosine dye, and iron black.
The yellow pigment is used for yellow toner, for example. Examples of the yellow pigment include CI Pigment Yellow (CI Pigment Yellow) 74, 93, 97, 109, 128, 151, 154, 155, 166, 168, 180, 185, naphthol yellow S, Hansa yellow (10G, 5G, G), cadmium yellow, yellow iron oxide, ocher, yellow lead, titanium yellow, polyazo yellow and the like can be mentioned.
The magenta pigment is used for magenta toner, for example. Examples of the magenta pigment include quinacridone pigments, CI Pigment Red 48: 2, 57: 1, 58: 2, 5, 31, 146, 147, 150, 176, And monoazo pigments such as 184 and 269. Further, the quinacridone pigment may be used in combination with the monoazo pigment.
The cyan pigment is used for cyan toner, for example. Examples of the cyan pigment include a Cu-phthalocyanine pigment, a Zn-phthalocyanine pigment, and an Al-phthalocyanine pigment.

  There is no restriction | limiting in particular as content of the said coloring agent in the said toner, Although it can select suitably according to the objective, 1 mass part-15 mass parts are preferable with respect to 100 mass parts of said toner, and 3 masses. Part to 10 parts by mass is more preferable.

  The colorant may be used as a master batch combined with a resin. Such a resin is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to use the binder resin or a resin having a structure similar to the binder resin from the viewpoint of compatibility with the binder resin.

-Release agent-
There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said mold release agent, According to the objective, it can select suitably, For example, waxes, waxes, etc. are mentioned.
Examples of the waxes and waxes include plant waxes, mineral waxes, and petroleum waxes. Examples of the plant wax include carnauba wax, cotton wax, wood wax, and rice wax. Examples of the animal wax include beeswax and lanolin. Examples of the mineral wax include ozokerite and cercin. Examples of the petroleum wax include paraffin, microcrystalline, and petrolatum.

  There is no restriction | limiting in particular as melting | fusing point of the said mold release agent, Although it can select suitably according to the objective, 50 to 120 degreeC is preferable and 60 to 90 degreeC is more preferable. If the melting point is less than 50 ° C., the wax may adversely affect storage stability. If the melting point exceeds 120 ° C., cold offset may easily occur during fixing at a low temperature. The melting point of the release agent is determined by measuring the maximum endothermic peak using a differential scanning calorimeter (TG-DSC system, TAS-100, manufactured by Rigaku Corporation).

  The release agent is preferably present in a dispersed state in the toner base particles, and for this purpose, the release agent and the binder resin are preferably incompatible with each other. The method for finely dispersing the release agent in the toner base particles is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the purpose. For example, the release agent is dispersed by applying a kneading shear force during toner production. The method etc. are mentioned.

  The dispersion state of the release agent can be confirmed by observing a thin film slice of toner particles with a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The dispersion diameter of the release agent is preferably small, but if it is too small, there are cases where bleeding during fixing is insufficient. Therefore, if the release agent can be confirmed at a magnification of 10,000, the release agent is present in a dispersed state. When the release agent cannot be confirmed at 10,000 times, even when finely dispersed, the dyeing at the time of fixing becomes insufficient.

  There is no restriction | limiting in particular as content in the said toner of the said mold release agent, Although it can select suitably according to the objective, 1 mass%-20 mass% are preferable, and 3 mass%-10 mass% are more preferable. . When the content is less than 1% by mass, the resistance to hot offset deteriorates due to insufficient releasability, and therefore it is necessary to take measures such as oil application fixing. If the amount exceeds 20% by mass, a large amount of the release agent is deposited on the surface of the toner base particles. However, the release agent itself is soft and inferior in stress resistance. This is not preferable because abnormalities such as filming occur.

-Charge control agent-
Further, in order to impart an appropriate charging ability to the toner, a charge control agent can be contained in the toner as necessary.
Any known charge control agent can be used as the charge control agent. Since the color tone may change when a colored material is used, a colorless or nearly white material is preferable. For example, a triphenylmethane dye, a molybdate chelate pigment, a rhodamine dye, an alkoxyamine, a quaternary ammonium salt (fluorine) Modified quaternary ammonium salts), alkylamides, phosphorus alone or compounds thereof, tungsten alone or compounds thereof, fluorine-based activators, metal salts of salicylic acid, metal salts of salicylic acid derivatives, and the like. These may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together.

  The content of the charge control agent in the toner is determined by the toner production method including the type of the binder resin and the dispersion method, and is not limited to a specific one. On the other hand, 0.01 mass%-5 mass% are preferable, and 0.02 mass%-2 mass% are more preferable. When the content exceeds 5% by mass, the chargeability of the toner is too high, the effect of the charge control agent is diminished, the electrostatic attraction with the developing roller is increased, the flowability of the developer is reduced, and the image The density may be lowered, and if it is less than 0.01% by mass, the charge start-up property and the charge amount are not sufficient, and the toner image may be easily affected.

<< Toner Production Method >>
There is no restriction | limiting in particular as a manufacturing method of the said toner, According to the objective, it can select suitably, For example, a grinding method, a chemical construction method, etc. are mentioned. By using these methods, toner base particles can be obtained.
Examples of the chemical method include a suspension polymerization method using a monomer as a starting material, an emulsion polymerization aggregation method, a seed polymerization method, a dissolution suspension method, a dissolution suspension polymerization method, a phase inversion emulsification method, and these methods. Examples include an agglomeration method in which the obtained resin particles are aggregated in a state of being dispersed in an aqueous medium and granulated into particles of a desired size by heating and melting.
The dissolution suspension method is a method in which a resin or a resin precursor is dissolved in an organic solvent and dispersed or emulsified in an aqueous medium.
In the dissolution suspension polymerization method, an oil phase composition containing a binder resin precursor (reactive group-containing prepolymer) having a functional group capable of reacting with an active hydrogen group in the dissolution suspension method is used. In this method, the active hydrogen group-containing compound and the reactive group-containing prepolymer are reacted with each other by emulsifying or dispersing in the aqueous medium.
The phase inversion emulsification method is a method in which water is added to a solution comprising a resin or resin precursor and an appropriate emulsifier to cause phase inversion.
Below, these manufacturing methods are demonstrated in detail.

-Grinding method-
The pulverization method is, for example, a method of producing the toner base particles by pulverizing and classifying a toner material having at least a colorant, a binder resin, and a release agent.

  In the melt kneading, the toner materials are mixed, and the resulting mixture is charged into a melt kneader and melt kneaded. As the melt kneader, for example, a uniaxial or biaxial continuous kneader, a batch kneader using a roll mill, or the like can be used.

  In the pulverization, the kneaded product obtained by the kneading is pulverized. In this pulverization, it is preferable that the kneaded material is first coarsely pulverized and then finely pulverized. At this time, a method of pulverizing by colliding with a collision plate in a jet stream, pulverizing particles by colliding with each other in a jet stream, or pulverizing with a narrow gap between a mechanically rotating rotor and a stator is preferably used.

In the classification, the pulverized product obtained by the pulverization is classified and adjusted to particles having a predetermined particle diameter. The classification can be performed, for example, by removing the fine particle portion with a cyclone, a decanter, a centrifuge, or the like.
After the pulverization and classification are completed, the pulverized product is classified into an air stream by centrifugal force or the like, and toner base particles having a predetermined particle diameter can be produced.

-Dissolution suspension method-
In the dissolution suspension method, for example, an oil phase composition in which a toner composition containing at least a binder resin or a resin precursor, a colorant, and a release agent is dissolved or dispersed in an organic solvent is used. In this method, toner base particles are produced by dispersing or emulsifying in a medium.

  The organic solvent used for dissolving or dispersing the toner composition is preferably volatile with a boiling point of less than 100 ° C. from the viewpoint of easy removal of the solvent later.

  In the dissolution suspension method, when the oil phase composition is dispersed or emulsified in an aqueous medium, an emulsifier or a dispersant may be used as necessary.

-Dissolution suspension polymerization method-
In the dissolution suspension polymerization method, an oil phase including at least a binder resin, a reactive group-containing binder resin precursor (reactive group-containing prepolymer), a colorant, and a release agent in the dissolution suspension method. It is preferable to obtain the toner base particles by dispersing or emulsifying the composition in an aqueous medium containing resin fine particles.
As the reactive group-containing binder resin precursor, a reactive group-containing prepolymer having a functional group capable of reacting with an active hydrogen group is known, and in production using this, an emulsified and granulated matrix is used. A method of reacting a prepolymer with an active hydrogen group-containing compound contained in the oil phase composition and / or the aqueous medium in the particles is preferable.

The resin fine particles can be formed using a known polymerization method, but is preferably obtained as an aqueous dispersion of resin fine particles.
The volume average particle diameter of the resin fine particles is preferably 10 nm to 300 nm, and more preferably 30 nm to 120 nm. When the volume average particle size of the resin fine particles is less than 10 nm or more than 300 nm, the particle size distribution of the toner may be deteriorated.

  The solid content concentration of the oil phase composition is preferably 40% by mass to 80% by mass. If the solid content concentration is too high, dissolution or dispersion may be difficult, and the viscosity may be high and difficult to handle. If the solid content concentration is too low, the productivity of the toner may be reduced.

  The toner composition other than the binder resin such as the colorant and the release agent, and the masterbatch thereof are individually dissolved or dispersed in an organic solvent, and then mixed with the binder resin solution or dispersion. May be.

  As the aqueous medium, water alone may be used, but a solvent miscible with water may be used in combination. Examples of solvents miscible with water include alcohols (methanol, isopropanol, ethylene glycol, etc.), dimethylformamide, tetrahydrofuran, cellosolves (methyl cellosolve, etc.), lower ketones (acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, etc.), and the like.

  The dispersion or emulsification method in the aqueous medium is not particularly limited, and known equipment such as a low-speed shearing type, a high-speed shearing type, a friction type, a high-pressure jet type, and an ultrasonic wave can be applied. Among these, the high-speed shearing method is preferable from the viewpoint of reducing the particle size of the particles. When a high-speed shearing disperser is used, the number of rotations is not particularly limited, but is usually 1,000 rpm to 30,000 rpm, preferably 5,000 to 20,000 rpm. As temperature at the time of dispersion | distribution, it is 0 to 150 degreeC (under pressure) normally, and 20 to 80 degreeC is preferable.

  The method for removing the organic solvent from the obtained emulsified dispersion is not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected depending on the purpose. For example, the organic system is gradually stirred while stirring the whole system under normal pressure or reduced pressure. A method in which the temperature is raised and the organic solvent in the droplets is completely removed by evaporation can be employed.

  As a method of washing and drying the toner base particles dispersed in the aqueous medium, a known technique is used. That is, after solid-liquid separation with a centrifuge, a filter press, etc., the obtained toner cake is redispersed in ion exchange water at about room temperature to about 40 ° C., and after adjusting the pH with acid or alkali as necessary, After removing the impurities and surfactants by repeating the process of solid-liquid separation again and again, the toner powder is obtained by drying with an air dryer, circulating dryer, vacuum dryer, vibration fluid dryer, etc. . At this time, the fine particle component of the toner may be removed by centrifugation or the like, and a desired particle size distribution can be obtained using a known classifier after drying, if necessary.

The toner base particles may be mixed with particles such as the external additive and the charge control agent. At this time, by applying a mechanical impact force, it is possible to prevent the particles such as the external additive from being detached from the surface of the toner base particles.
The method for applying the mechanical impact force is not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected depending on the purpose. For example, a method for applying the impact force to the mixture using blades rotating at high speed, For example, a method may be used in which the mixture is charged and accelerated to cause the particles or particles to collide with an appropriate collision plate.
The apparatus used in the above method is not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. For example, an ang mill (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Co., Ltd.), an I-type mill (manufactured by Nippon Pneumatic Co., Ltd.) is modified and pulverized air is used. Examples include an apparatus for reducing pressure, a hybridization system (manufactured by Nara Machinery Co., Ltd.), a kryptron system (manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.), and an automatic mortar.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples. “Part” represents “part by mass” unless otherwise specified. “%” Represents “% by mass” unless otherwise specified.

<Measurement of toner transportability>
“Transportability” of toner is an index determined by the following method.
For the measurement, an oscillating transfer type fluidity measuring device (DI Corporation) is used.
The toner is sieved with a mesh having an opening of 90 μm and a wire diameter of 63 μm, and the humidity is adjusted at 25 ° C. and 50% for 1 hour. After adding 1g of conditioned toner to the device, the amplitude is 25% (about 125μm), the frequency is started in the auto tuning mode according to the manual of this device, and the time t (sec) until the toner is discharged 750mg taking measurement. From the obtained t (sec), the toner transportability is calculated based on the following formula (1).
Transportability = 750 / t (mg / sec) (1)
This device is based on the principle of the parts feeder, and it is a mechanism that causes the sample to rise and be discharged by vibrating the bowl along a spiral path from the bottom of the aluminum bowl to the bowl's bowl. Measure the time and amount of emission since the vibration.

<Soxhlet extraction and THF insoluble content calculation>
0.3 g of toner was weighed and placed in a cylindrical filter paper (“No. 86R”; manufactured by Toyo Filter Paper) that had been weighed (g) in advance, and passed through a Soxhlet extractor. The heater temperature was set at 85 ° C., and the total reflux extraction (Soxhlet extraction) was performed over 7 hours using 200 mL of tetrahydrofuran THF (made by Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd., stabilizer) in a round bottom flask for Soxhlet as an extraction solvent. The THF was distilled off with an evaporator to obtain an extract. The extract was dissolved in THF (stabilizer-containing Wako Pure Chemical Industries) at 0.15% by mass, filtered through a solvent resistant membrane filter having a pore diameter of 0.45 μm, and the filtrate was used as a sample. Measurement was performed by injecting 100 μL of the THF sample solution.

The calculation method of the insoluble resin component is as follows.
The toner was placed in an electric furnace, and it was processed at a temperature at which the resin, mold release agent decomposes, but the colorant, magnetic material, and external additive do not decompose, while nitrogen gas is supplied and replaced with nitrogen gas. . The weight reduction was confirmed, and insoluble matters other than the resin component were weighed when the weight reduction stopped.
The cylindrical filter paper after Soxhlet extraction was air-dried and further dried under reduced pressure, and the total amount (g) of insoluble matter on the filter paper and the weight of the filter paper was weighed. Then, the mass of the resin component in the insoluble content was determined by subtracting the insoluble content other than the resin component weighed in advance and the filter paper mass (g). By dividing the mass of the resin component in the insoluble content by the amount of toner charged 0.3 g and multiplying by 100, the ratio of the resin component in the insoluble content to the toner mass was calculated in terms of mass percent. The results are shown in Tables 2-1 and 2-2.

<Measurement of Weight Average Molecular Weight Mw of Toner Extraction Component>
Measuring device: GPC-8220GPC (manufactured by Tosoh Corporation)
Column: TSKgel SuperHZM-H 15 cm triple (manufactured by Tosoh Corporation)
Temperature: 40 ° C
Solvent: THF
Flow rate: 0.35 mL / min
Sample: A dry solid of the above-mentioned Soxhlet extract or a standard sample was dissolved in THF to prepare a 0.15 mass percent sample, and 0.1 mL was injected.
Calibration curve: In measuring the molecular weight of a sample, the molecular weight distribution of the sample was calculated from the relationship between the logarithmic value of a calibration curve prepared from several monodisperse polystyrene standard samples and the number of counts. As a standard polystyrene sample for preparing a calibration curve, Showd STANDARD Std. No. S-7300, S-210, S-390, S-875, S-1980, S-10.9, S-629, S-3.0, S-0.580 are dissolved in THF. A 15 mass percent concentration solution was prepared, and an RI (refractive index) detector was used as a detector.
Among the detected peaks, the largest peak was taken as the main peak. When multiple peaks were detected, as shown in FIG. 24, vertical division was performed at the lower end of the peak, analysis was performed on the main peak, and Mw was calculated.

(Production Example 1)
-Binder resin production process-
Using polyester (1) as a binder resin, toner base particles were produced as follows.
--Synthesis of polyester--
In a reaction vessel equipped with a cooling tube, a stirrer and a nitrogen introduction tube, 70 parts by mass of bisphenol ethylene oxide 2 mol adduct, 568 parts by mass of bisphenol A propion oxide 2 mol adduct, 44 parts by mass of terephthalic acid, and 211 parts by mass of isophthalic acid And the condensation reaction was carried out at 210 ° C. for 13 hours under a normal pressure nitrogen stream. Further, the reaction was continued for 5 hours while dehydrating under reduced pressure of 0 mmHg to 15 mmHg, followed by cooling to obtain polyester (1). The weight average molecular weight Mw of the polyester (1) was 5,700.

--Synthesis of intermediate polyester (1)-
In a reaction vessel equipped with a cooling tube, a stirrer, and a nitrogen introduction tube, 650 parts by weight of prepylene glycol, 90 parts by weight of bisphenol A propylene oxide 2 mole adduct, 290 parts by weight of terephthalic acid, 22 parts by weight of trimellitic anhydride, And 2 parts by mass of dibutyltin oxide were charged and reacted at 230 ° C. for 8 hours under normal pressure. Subsequently, it was made to react under reduced pressure of 10 mmHg-15 mmHg for 7 hours, and the intermediate polyester (1) was synthesize | combined.
The resulting intermediate polyester (1) has a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 5,900, a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of 22,500, a glass transition temperature (Tg) of 43 ° C., and an acid value of 0.5 mgKOH / g, The hydroxyl value was 22 mgKOH / g.

--Synthesis of polyester prepolymer (1)-
Next, 410 parts by mass of the intermediate polyester (1), 89 parts by mass of isophorone diisocyanate, and 500 parts by mass of ethyl acetate were charged in a reaction vessel equipped with a cooling tube, a stirrer, and a nitrogen introduction tube at 100 ° C. By reacting for 5 hours, a polyester prepolymer (1) (polymer capable of reacting with the active hydrogen group-containing compound) was synthesized.
The free isocyanate content of the obtained polyester prepolymer was 1.53% by mass.

<Manufacture of crystalline polyester resin 1>
In a reaction vessel equipped with a cooling tube, a stirrer and a nitrogen introducing tube, 202 parts (1.00 mol) of sebacic acid, 154 parts (1.30 mol) of 1,6-hexanediol, and tetrabutoxy titanate 0. 5 parts were added and reacted for 8 hours at 180 ° C. while distilling off the water produced under a nitrogen stream. Next, while gradually raising the temperature to 220 ° C., the reaction was carried out for 4 hours while distilling off the water and 1,6-hexanediol produced under a nitrogen stream, and the Mw was about 15 under a reduced pressure of 5 mmHg to 20 mmHg. The reaction was continued until it reached 1,000, and [Crystalline Polyester Resin 1] was obtained. The obtained [Crystalline Polyester Resin 1] had a Mw of 14,000 and a melting point of 66 ° C.

<Manufacture of toner base particles 1>
<Dissolution suspension polymerization method>
-Preparation of release agent dispersion 1-
50 parts of paraffin wax (HNP-9, manufactured by Nippon Seiwa Co., Ltd., melting point 75 ° C.), 30 parts of [graft polymer], and 420 parts of ethyl acetate are placed in a container in which a stirring bar and a thermometer are set. The temperature was raised to 0 ° C. and held at 80 ° C. for 5 hours, then cooled to 30 ° C. in 1 hour, and using a bead mill (Ultra Visco Mill, manufactured by IMEX), the liquid feeding speed was 1 kg / hr, and the disk peripheral speed was 6 m. / Sec., Filled with 80% by volume of zirconia beads having a diameter of 0.5 mm, and dispersed under the conditions of 3 passes to obtain [Partitioner Dispersion Liquid 1].

-Preparation of crystalline polyester resin dispersion 1-
Place 100 parts of [Crystalline Polyester Resin 1] and 400 parts of ethyl acetate in a container equipped with a stir bar and thermometer, heat and dissolve at 75 ° C. with stirring, cool to 10 ° C. or less in 1 hour, and bead mill (Ultraviscomil, manufactured by IMEX Co., Ltd.) was used for dispersion for 5 hours under conditions of a liquid feeding speed of 1 kg / hr, a disk peripheral speed of 6 m / sec, and filling with 80% by volume of 0.5 mm diameter zirconia beads. A polyester resin dispersion 1] was obtained.

-Preparation of master batch 1-
Non-crystalline polyester resin 1 100 parts Carbon black (Printtex 35, manufactured by Degussa) 100 parts (DBP oil absorption: 42 mL / 100 g, pH: 9.5)
-Ion exchange water 50 parts Said raw material was mixed using the Henschel mixer (made by Nippon Coke Industries Co., Ltd.). The obtained mixture was kneaded using two rolls. The kneading temperature started kneading from 90 ° C., and then gradually cooled to 50 ° C. The obtained kneaded material was pulverized with a pulverizer (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation) to prepare [Masterbatch 1].

-Production of oil phase 1-
In a container equipped with a thermometer and a stirrer, 93 parts of [Amorphous Polyester Resin 1], 68 parts of [Crystalline Polyester Resin Dispersion 1], 75 parts of [Releasing Agent Dispersion 1], [Masterbatch 1] 18 parts and 19 parts of ethyl acetate were added and pre-dispersed with a stirrer, and then stirred with a TK homomixer (manufactured by Primix Co., Ltd.) at a rotational speed of 5,000 rpm, and uniformly dissolved and dispersed. [Oil phase 1] was obtained.

-Production of aqueous dispersion of resin fine particles-
In a reaction vessel equipped with a stirring bar and a thermometer, 600 parts of water, 120 parts of styrene, 100 parts of methacrylic acid, 45 parts of butyl acrylate, sodium salt of alkylallylsulfosuccinate (Eleminol JS-2, manufactured by Sanyo Chemical Industries, Ltd.) When 10 parts and 1 part of ammonium persulfate were charged and stirred at 400 rpm for 20 minutes, a white emulsion was obtained. This emulsion was heated to raise the system temperature to 75 ° C. and reacted for 6 hours. Further, 30 parts of a 1% ammonium persulfate aqueous solution was added and aged at 75 ° C. for 6 hours to obtain [Aqueous dispersion of resin fine particles]. The volume average particle diameter of the particles contained in this [resin fine particle aqueous dispersion] was 60 nm, the weight average molecular weight of the resin component was 140,000, and Tg was 73 ° C.

-Preparation of aqueous phase 1-
990 parts of water, 83 parts of an aqueous dispersion of resin fine particles, 37 parts of a 48.5% aqueous solution of sodium dodecyl diphenyl ether disulfonate (Eleminol MON-7, Sanyo Chemical Industries, Ltd.) and 90 parts of ethyl acetate are mixed and stirred. [Aqueous phase 1] was obtained.

-Emulsification or dispersion (emulsification / dispersion process)-
45 parts of a 50% ethyl acetate solution of [Polyester Prepolymer 1] and 3 parts of a 50% ethyl acetate solution of isophoronediamine are added to 273 parts of [Oil Phase 1] and added to a TK homomixer (manufactured by PRIMIX Corporation). The mixture was stirred at a rotational speed of 5,000 rpm, and uniformly dissolved and dispersed to obtain [Oil Phase 1 ′]. Next, 400 parts of [Aqueous Phase 1] is put into another container in which a stirrer and a thermometer are set, and while stirring at 13,000 rpm with a TK type homomixer (manufactured by PRIMIX Corporation), [Oil Phase 1 ′ And then emulsified for 1 minute to obtain [Emulsified slurry 1].

-Solvent removal-Washing-Drying-
[Emulsion slurry 1] was put into a container equipped with a stirrer and a thermometer, and after removing the solvent at 30 ° C. for 8 hours, aging was carried out at 45 ° C. for 10 hours to obtain [Slurry 1]. The obtained [Slurry 1] was filtered under reduced pressure, and then the following washing treatment was performed.
(1) 100 parts of ion-exchanged water was added to the filter cake, mixed with a TK homomixer (5 minutes at a rotation speed of 6,000 rpm), and then filtered.
(2) 100 parts of a 10% aqueous sodium hydroxide solution was added to the filter cake of (1), mixed with a TK homomixer (rotation speed: 6,000 rpm for 10 minutes), and then filtered under reduced pressure.
(3) 100 parts of 10% hydrochloric acid was added to the filter cake of (2), mixed with a TK homomixer (rotation speed: 6,000 rpm for 5 minutes), and then filtered.
(4) 300 parts of ion-exchanged water was added to the filter cake of (3), mixed with a TK homomixer (5 minutes at a rotation speed of 6,000 rpm), and then filtered twice to obtain a filter cake 1 .
The obtained filter cake 1 was dried at 45 ° C. for 48 hours with a circulating dryer. Thereafter, the toner base particles 1 were prepared by sieving with a mesh having an opening of 75 μm. When the particle diameter of the toner base particles 1 was measured, the volume average particle diameter (Dv) was 5.5 μm.

(Production Example 2)
Toner base particles 2 of Production Example 2 were obtained in the same manner as in Production Example 1 except that the aging time after solvent removal was changed from 10 hours to 5 hours in Production Example 1.

(Production Example 3)
Toner base particles 3 of Production Example 3 were produced in the same manner as in Production Example 1 except that the aging time after solvent removal was changed from 10 hours to 15 hours in Production Example 1.

--Synthesis of intermediate polyester (2)-
In a reaction vessel equipped with a cooling tube, a stirrer and a nitrogen introduction tube, 682 parts by mass of prepylene glycol, 81 parts by mass of bisphenol A propylene oxide 2 mol adduct, 283 parts by mass of terephthalic acid, 22 parts by mass of trimellitic anhydride, And 2 parts by mass of dibutyltin oxide were charged and reacted at 230 ° C. for 5 hours under normal pressure. Subsequently, it was made to react under reduced pressure of 10 mmHg-15 mmHg for 4 hours, and the intermediate polyester (2) was synthesize | combined.
The obtained intermediate polyester (2) has a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 2,900, a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of 11,500, a glass transition temperature (Tg) of 45 ° C., and an acid value of 0.5 mgKOH / g, The hydroxyl value was 32 mgKOH / g.

--Synthesis of prepolymer (2)-
Next, 410 parts by mass of the intermediate polyester (2), 89 parts by mass of isophorone diisocyanate, and 500 parts by mass of ethyl acetate were charged into a reaction vessel equipped with a cooling pipe, a stirrer, and a nitrogen introduction pipe at 100 ° C. By reacting for 5 hours, a prepolymer (2) (polymer capable of reacting with the active hydrogen group-containing compound) was synthesized.
The free isocyanate content of the obtained prepolymer was 1.46% by mass.

(Production Example 4)
Toner base particles 4 of Production Example 4 were obtained in the same manner as Production Example 1, except that the prepolymer (1) was changed to the prepolymer (2) in the emulsification / dispersion step of Production Example 1.

(Production Example 5)
Toner base particles 5 of Production Example 5 were obtained in the same manner as in Production Example 1 except that the aging time after solvent removal was changed from 10 hours to 0 hour (no aging step) in Production Example 1.

(Production Example 6)
In the emulsification / dispersion step of Production Example 1, toner base particles 6 of Production Example 6 were obtained in the same manner as Production Example 1 except that the prepolymer (1) was not used.

(Production Example 7)
In the emulsification / dispersion step of Production Example 1, toner base particles 7 of Production Example 7 were obtained in the same manner as Production Example 1 except that 20 parts by mass of the prepolymer (1) was used.

(Production Example 8)
In the emulsification / dispersion step of Production Example 1, toner base particles 8 of Production Example 8 were obtained in the same manner as Production Example 1 except that 75 parts by mass of the prepolymer (1) was used.

(Production Example 9)
In the emulsification / dispersion step of Production Example 1, toner base particles 9 of Production Example 9 were obtained in the same manner as Production Example 1 except that 90 parts by mass of the prepolymer (1) was used.

(Production Example 10)
In the emulsification / dispersion step of Production Example 1, toner base particles 10 of Production Example 10 were obtained in the same manner as Production Example 1 except that the amorphous polyester resin 3 was used instead of polyester (1).

(Production Example 11)
[Amorphous polyester resin 2] 27 parts, [Amorphous polyester resin 3] 54 parts, [Crystalline polyester resin 1] 8 parts, Paraffin wax (HNP-9, Nippon Seiwa Co., Ltd., melting point 75 ° C.) 6 parts and 12 parts of [Masterbatch 2] were premixed at 1,500 rpm for 3 minutes using a Henschel mixer (Henschel 20B, manufactured by Nippon Coke Kogyo Co., Ltd.). -Melting and kneading with a kneader (manufactured by Buss) under the conditions of a set temperature (inlet part 90 ° C.), outlet part (60 ° C.) and feed amount (10 kg / hr). The obtained kneaded product was rolled and cooled, and coarsely pulverized with a pulperizer (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation). Next, in a type I mill (made by Nippon Pneumatic Co., Ltd., IDS-2 type), using a flat collision plate, under conditions of air pressure (6.0 atm / cm 2) and feed amount (0.5 kg / hr) Fine pulverization was performed, and further classification was performed with a classifier (manufactured by Alpine Co., 132MP) to obtain toner base particles 11 of Production Example 11. When the particle diameter of the toner base particles 11 was measured, the volume average particle diameter (Dv) was 7.0 μm.

(Production Example 12)
Toner in the same manner as in Production Example 11, except that [Non-crystalline polyester resin 2] was changed from 27 parts to 57 parts and [Amorphous polyester resin 3] was changed from 54 parts to 24 parts in Production Example 11. Base particles 12 were obtained.

<Soxhlet extraction>
As a sample, 0.3 g of the produced toner was weighed, placed in a cylindrical filter paper (“No. 86R”; manufactured by Toyo Filter Paper), and passed through a Soxhlet extractor. The heater temperature was set at 85 ° C., and the total reflux extraction (Soxhlet extraction) was performed over 7 hours using 200 mL of tetrahydrofuran THF (made by Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd., stabilizer) in a round bottom flask for Soxhlet as an extraction solvent. The THF was distilled off with an evaporator to obtain an extract. A solution obtained by dissolving the extract in THF was filtered through a solvent-resistant membrane filter having a pore diameter of 0.45 μm, and then molecular weight was measured by GPC.

[Toner 1 to Toner 72, Developer 1 to Developer 72]
<Preparation of Toner 1 to 72>
A predetermined amount of a predetermined external additive was added to 100 parts of the obtained [toner base particles 1] to [toner base particles 12] according to Tables 1 to 3. A Henschel mixer was used for mixing, and after mixing, the mixture was passed through a sieve having an opening of 500 mesh to obtain toner 1 to toner 72.
Further, a two-component developer having a toner concentration of 10% by mass is prepared by mixing with a carrier, and the fixability (fixing lower limit temperature, offset non-occurrence upper limit temperature) according to the evaluation contents shown below using the obtained developers. And fixing width) and heat resistant storage stability (penetration). The results are also shown in Tables 1 to 3.
In the table, the types of silica are as follows.
RX-200 (primary particle size 12 nm, manufactured by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd.)
RX-50 (primary particle size 40 nm, manufactured by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd.)
X-24 (primary particle size 120 nm, manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.)
<Toner container>
The toner container shown in FIG. 9 (the cross section of the container opening is shown in FIG. 20) was used. The toner container body was filled with the toner produced in the toner production example.
The toner container shown in FIG. 10 has a pumping unit formed integrally with the toner container main body, a protrusion is fixed to the toner container main body, and the toner container main body rotates so that the pumping unit The unit lifts the toner from below to above.

<< Evaluation >>
The evaluation results of Examples 1 to 50 and Comparative Examples 1 to 22 evaluated by the following methods are shown in Tables 1 to 3.

<Bottle discharge>
The above toner container was evaluated by the following evaluation method.
The toner dischargeability from the toner container main body at that time was evaluated according to the following evaluation criteria. The results are shown in Tables 1-3.

〔Evaluation method〕
120 g of toner was filled in the toner container described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 15 (the capacity of the toner container was 1,200 mL). The toner container was shaken to sufficiently stir the toner. The toner container was attached to the replenishing device provided with the transport nozzle described in this example (see FIG. 9). The amount of toner discharged from the replenishing device was measured by rotating the toner container and operating the replenishing device.
Condition: Toner container rotation speed: 110 rpm
Transfer screw pitch in transfer nozzle of replenishing device: 12.5mm
Conveying screw outer diameter: 10mm
Conveying screw shaft diameter: 4mm
Conveying screw rotation speed: 460rpm
Inclination angle of raised surface 25 °

〔Evaluation criteria〕
(Bottle discharge)
○: The toner is discharged even when the toner remaining amount in the container becomes 70 g.
Δ: The toner cannot be discharged before the remaining amount of toner in the container reaches 70 g only under the condition of high temperature and high humidity (50 ° C., 70%).
X: The toner cannot be discharged before the toner remaining amount in the container reaches 70 g.
In this experiment, assuming that the filling amount of toner when not used (filling amount at the time of product shipment) is 200 g or more, the remaining amount of toner is 70 g as an evaluation standard as described above in order to verify the discharge performance.
○ △ was accepted and × was rejected.

<Fixing to toner receiving port>
The above toner container was evaluated by the same evaluation method as the above discharge property evaluation method.
The toner replenishability from the toner container main body at that time was evaluated according to the following evaluation criteria. The results are shown in Tables 1-3.

〔Evaluation criteria〕
○: Good (when the toner is not driven until the toner can no longer be discharged, the toner receiving port in the toner container does not block the route by the toner)
Δ: Permissible level (when driving is continued until the toner can no longer be discharged, a part of the toner receiving port in the toner container is blocked by the toner)
X: Level that cannot be used practically (when the toner continues to be driven until the toner cannot be discharged, the toner receiving port in the toner container is completely blocked by the toner)
○ △ was accepted and × was rejected.

<Fixability (offset non-occurrence upper limit temperature, fixing lower limit temperature and fixing width)>
The image forming apparatus provided with the belt-type fixing device 110 shown in FIG. 25 was used to evaluate the fixability (offset non-occurrence temperature and fixing lower limit temperature).
The belt-type fixing device 110 includes a heating roller 121, a fixing roller 122, a pressure roller 124, and a fixing belt 123.
The fixing belt 123 is stretched by a heating roller 121 and a fixing roller 122 that are rotatably arranged inside, and is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heating roller 121. The heating roller 121 has a built-in heating source 125 and is designed such that the temperature can be adjusted by a temperature sensor 127 attached in the vicinity of the heating roller 121. The fixing roller 122 is rotatably disposed inside the fixing belt 123 and in contact with the inner surface of the fixing belt 123. The pressure roller 124 is in contact with the outer side of the fixing belt 123 and the outer surface of the fixing belt 123 so as to press the fixing roller 122 so as to be rotatable.
In the belt-type fixing device 110, first, a recording medium (sheet) P on which a toner image to be fixed is formed is conveyed to the heating roller 121. Then, the toner T on the sheet P is heated and melted by the heating roller 121 and the fixing belt 123 heated to a predetermined temperature by the action of the built-in heating source 125. In this state, the sheet P is inserted into a nip portion formed between the fixing roller 122 and the pressure roller 124. The sheet P inserted into the nip is brought into contact with the surface of the fixing belt 123 that rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the fixing roller 122 and the pressure roller 124, and passes through the nip by the pressing force of the pressure roller 124. When pressed, the toner T is fixed on the sheet P. Next, the sheet P on which the toner T is fixed passes between the fixing roller 122 and the pressure roller 124, is peeled off from the fixing belt 123, and is conveyed to a tray (not shown) through a guide G. The fixing belt 123 is cleaned by the cleaning roller 126.

In the belt-type fixing device shown in FIG. 25, fixing conditions of a belt tension of 1.5 kg / piece, a belt speed of 350 mm / sec, and a nip width of 13 mm are obtained by the fixing roller 122, the pressure roller 124, the heating roller 121, and the fixing belt 123. Fixing was done at
The fixing roller 122 is a roller made of silicone foam having a diameter of 38 mm and an Asker C hardness of about 30 degrees. The pressure roller 124 has a diameter of 50 mm and a Asker C hardness of about 48 mm in diameter, in which a PFA tube is coated on a core metal (made of iron, thickness 1 mm) having a diameter of 48 mm, and a silicone rubber layer having a thickness of 1 mm is coated on the surface of the PFA layer. It is a 75 degree roller. The heating roller 121 is an aluminum roller having a diameter of 30 mm and a wall thickness of 2 mm. The fixing belt 123 has a belt diameter of 6
It is stretched on a roller having a release layer made of silicone rubber having a thickness of about 150 μm on the surface of a nickel belt base having a thickness of about 40 μm, and having a belt width of 0 mm and a width of 310 mm.

<Hot offset non-occurrence upper limit temperature>
An offset non-occurrence temperature was measured using an image forming apparatus provided with a belt-type fixing device shown in FIG. That is, for image formation, using a color copying machine ("Pretail 550"; manufactured by Ricoh Co., Ltd.), a solid image is transferred to 1.0 ± 0 on transfer paper ("Type 6000-70W"; manufactured by Ricoh Co., Ltd.). The toner was adjusted so that 1 mg / cm @ 2 of toner was developed. The obtained image was fixed using the belt-type fixing device shown in FIG. 25 while changing the temperature of the fixing belt (heating roller), and the fixing temperature at which no offset occurred (temperature where no offset occurred) was measured.

<Fixing temperature limit>
An image is formed using a color copying machine (“Pretail 550”; manufactured by Ricoh Co., Ltd.) using an image forming apparatus equipped with a belt-type fixing device shown in FIG. 25, and the transfer paper (“Type 6200”; Ricoh Co., Ltd.) is used. And made a copy test. The fixing roll temperature at which the residual ratio of the image density after rubbing the obtained fixed image with a pad was 70% or more was determined as the minimum fixing temperature. A toner having a fixing lower limit temperature lower than 150 ° C. is preferable, and a toner having a fixing lower limit temperature lower than 130 ° C. is more preferable.

<Fixing width>
The difference between the lower limit of the fixing temperature and the upper limit of the offset offset occurrence temperature was defined as the fixing width. The fixing width is preferably 20 ° C. or more, and more preferably 50 ° C. or more.

<Heat resistant storage stability (Penetration)>
A 50 mL glass container was filled with 10 g of each toner and left in a constant temperature bath at 50 ° C. for 20 hours. The toner was cooled to room temperature, and the penetration was measured by a penetration test (JIS K2235-1991). In addition, it shows that heat resistance preservability is excellent, so that the value of the said penetration is large.

32Y, 32M, 32C, 32K Toner container 33 Toner container body (powder container)
33a Opening 33c Inner wall surface of powder container 34 Container tip side cover (container cover)
41 photoconductor (image carrier)
46Y, 46M, 34C, 46K Image forming unit 50 Developing device 60 Toner supply device (powder supply (supply) device)
100 Printer (Copier body)
200 Paper feed table (paper feed unit)
301 container gear 302 spiral projection (conveying means)
304, 304 (B to E) Powder pumping portion 304a Pumping portion spiral projection 304a1 End portion (terminal portion) of spiral projection
304a2 End portions 3040 and 3040 (B to E) on the side away from the opening portion Pumping surfaces 3040a and 3040 (Ba to Ea) Inner end portion 3041 of the pumping surface Wall portion (container tip side wall portion)
3042, 3042 (B to E) Edge (Helicopter, Side)
3043 Inner wall 330 Nozzle receiving member (conveying pipe receiving member)
331 Nozzle receiving port (pipe insertion port)
332 Container shutter (opening / closing member)
335 Shutter rear end support part 335a Shutter side support part 335b Shutter support opening 340 Container shutter support member 500 Copying machine (image forming apparatus)
608 Set cover 610 Nozzle opening (powder receiving port)
611 Conveying nozzle (conveying pipe)
615 Container setting part (container receiving part)
θ Inclination angle of pumping surface θ1 Angle formed by protrusion and pumping surface θ2 Angle between two surfaces of pumping part O Rotation center axis h1 Height of pumping surface h2 Height of protrusion S Space S7 Start position (starting point)
T toner (powder for image formation)
W Opening range in the rotational direction of the powder inlet W1 Opening range X, X1 in the axial direction of the powder inlet Virtual line P Recording medium G Developer Q Mounting direction Q1 Detaching direction

JP 2012-133349 A

Claims (11)

A toner container containing toner can be attached,
A powder receiving port for receiving toner from the toner container;
The powder receiving port is provided with a transfer pipe that opens upward,
A toner storage container used in an image forming apparatus for rotating a mounted toner storage container within a range of a predetermined number of rotations,
The toner;
A rotatable powder container for containing the toner;
An opening that is provided at one end of the powder container and into which the transport tube can be inserted into a position that is a rotation center of the toner container;
A spiral protrusion that protrudes into the container and conveys the toner in the powder container to the opening side;
A powder pumping unit that pumps the toner on the opening side by rotating the powder container and supplies the toner to the powder inlet;
The toner transportability is 0.3 to 5.0 mg / sec,
The weight average molecular weight Mw in the molecular weight distribution by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) of the component extracted by Soxhlet extraction method using tetrahydrofuran (THF) of the toner is 5,000 or more and 35,000 or less,
The powder pumping unit has a pumping surface extending from the inner wall surface of the powder container to the rotation center axis side,
The pumping surface is
The inner end portion on the rotation center axis side extends in the direction of the rotation center axis of the powder container, the edge of the inner end portion is substantially parallel to the rotation center axis, and
When viewed from the direction of the rotation center axis, it is inclined at an inclination angle within a predetermined range from the virtual straight line passing through the edge of the rotation center axis and the inner end toward the upstream side in the rotation direction of the powder container. And
The toner storage container, wherein the spiral protrusion is connected to a pumping surface, and the connected portion extends in a circumferential direction from the pumping surface.   The toner container according to claim 1, wherein the toner transportability is 0.3 to 4.0 mg / sec.   The weight average molecular weight Mw in the molecular weight distribution by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) of a component extracted by Soxhlet extraction method using tetrahydrofuran (THF) of the toner is 8,000 or more and 18,000 or less. Or a toner container according to 2;   The weight average molecular weight Mw in the molecular weight distribution by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) of a component extracted by Soxhlet extraction method using tetrahydrofuran (THF) of the toner is 14,000 or more and 18,000 or less. 4. The toner container according to any one of items 1 to 3.   The toner container according to claim 1, wherein the toner binder resin includes a crystalline polyester resin.   When viewed from the direction of the rotation center axis, the angle of inclination of the pumping surface is directed toward the upstream side in the rotation direction of the powder container from a virtual straight line passing through the edge of the rotation center axis and the inner end. The toner container according to claim 1, wherein the toner container is in a range of 25 degrees ± 5 degrees.   The pumping surface is characterized in that, when the powder container rotates, the edge of the inner end is located within the opening range in the rotation direction of the powder receiving port above the powder receiving port. The toner container according to any one of claims 1 to 6.   The position of the spiral protrusion on the pumping surface is within an opening range in the axial direction of the powder receiving port when the transport pipe is inserted into the opening. The toner container as described.   9. The toner according to claim 1, wherein an inner wall surface of the bottle forming the pumping surface has a mountain shape with an end portion of the pumping surface located most inside the bottle as a vertex. Containment container.   The toner container according to claim 9, wherein an angle of two surfaces forming a convex portion having a mountain shape with an end portion of the pumping surface as an apex is substantially an acute angle. 11. An image forming apparatus comprising: the toner container according to claim 1; and an image forming unit that forms an image on an image carrier using the toner conveyed from the toner container.