JP2017134320A - Production method of silicone rubber molding and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a production method of a silicon rubber molding in which fine particles such as a siloxane molecular are removed from a silicone molded article.SOLUTION: The production method of a silicone rubber molding is a production method for producing a silicone rubber molding from a silicone molded article, and includes: a first step of performing heat treatment of a silicone rubber molded article at 200°C or more; and a second step of performing heat treatment of the silicone rubber molded article at 100°C or more and at 200°C or less after the first step over a duration of 10 minutes or more. A first pressurizing roller 65 includes: a cylindrical core bar 65a; a solid rubber layer 65b provided so as to cover an outer circumferential surface of the core bar 65a; and a sponge rubber layer 65c provided so as to cover the outer circumferential surface of the solid rubber layer 65b. The solid rubber layer 65b and the sponge rubber layer 65c correspond to the silicone rubber molding.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for producing a silicone rubber molded body and an image forming apparatus having a silicone rubber molded body produced by the production method.

  In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, for example, a latent image formed on an electrostatic latent image carrier is developed with toner, and the obtained toner image is temporarily held on an endless belt-shaped intermediate transfer member, The toner image on the intermediate transfer member is transferred onto a recording medium such as paper. Then, the recording medium onto which the toner image has been transferred is introduced into a fixing device, and the toner image is heated and heated by passing through a region sandwiched between a pair of fixing members (a heating member and a pressure member). Pressed and fixed on the recording medium.

  It is known that volatile organic compounds (VOC) and fine particles are likely to be generated from a fixing member such as a roller in a fixing process using an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. In particular, the fixing member has an elastic layer for uniform pressurization. When the elastic layer contains silicone rubber, siloxane molecules are likely to be generated by thermal decomposition of the silicone rubber. For this reason, in many image forming apparatuses, generated fine particles such as siloxane molecules are collected by a filter or the like.

  Also known is a method of removing siloxane molecules from a fixing member containing silicone rubber in advance so that fine particles are not released from the fixing member during use of the image forming apparatus (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  In the method described in Patent Document 1, a silicone molded product (a fixing member containing silicone rubber) is heat-treated at 100 to 200 ° C. in a vacuum atmosphere. Thus, the low molecular weight siloxane component is removed from the silicone molded product without being deformed or discolored by heat-treating the silicone molded product within a predetermined temperature range.

  In the method described in Patent Document 2, a conductive roller (a fixing member containing silicone rubber) is brought into contact with a supercritical fluid. As described above, the siloxane oligomer is removed from the conductive roller by extracting the siloxane oligomer contained in the silicone rubber with the supercritical fluid by bringing the conductive roller into contact with the supercritical fluid.

JP 2004-009391 A JP 2008-233565 A

  However, it is difficult to completely remove the fine particles only by collecting with a filter or the like.

  Moreover, in the method described in Patent Document 1, since it is necessary to perform heat treatment in a vacuum atmosphere, there is a problem that the processing apparatus becomes complicated and the processing method becomes complicated. Further, the method described in the cited document 2 also has a problem that the processing apparatus becomes complicated and the processing method becomes complicated because it is necessary to bring the conductive roller into contact with the supercritical fluid.

  Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a silicone rubber molded article in which fine particles such as siloxane molecules are removed from a silicone molded article without requiring a complicated apparatus. The second object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having a silicone rubber molded product obtained by the method for producing a silicone rubber molded product.

  In order to solve the first problem, a method for producing a silicone rubber molded product according to an embodiment of the present invention is a method for producing a silicone rubber molded product from a silicone rubber molded product, wherein the silicone rubber molded product A first step of heat-treating the product at 200 ° C. or higher, and a second step of heat-treating the silicone rubber molded product at 100 ° C. or higher and lower than 200 ° C. for 10 minutes or longer after the first step.

  In order to solve the second problem, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is charged with an electrophotographic photosensitive member, a charging device for charging the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and An exposure apparatus for irradiating light on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member to form an electrostatic latent image, and supplying toner to the electrophotographic photosensitive member on which the electrostatic latent image is formed to form a toner image. A developing device, a transfer device for transferring the toner image on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member to a recording medium, and a fixing device for fixing the toner image transferred to the recording medium to the recording medium. The fixing device has a fixing member including a silicone rubber molded body, and the fixing member has all fine particles of 6 to 60 nm when the fine particles in the fixing member are extracted. Less than 50%

  According to the present invention, fine particles such as siloxane molecules can be easily removed from a silicone molded article without requiring a complicated apparatus. In addition, an image forming apparatus in which generation of fine particles such as siloxane molecules is suppressed can be provided.

FIG. 1 is a graph showing the relationship between the particle size of fine particles and the number of fine particles generated when a silicone rubber molded product is heat-treated. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a pressure roller to which a silicone molded body is applied. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the image forming apparatus.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Configuration of silicone rubber molding)
The silicone rubber molded body can be obtained by heat-treating a silicone rubber molded article. The silicone rubber molded article contains at least silicone rubber. The silicone rubber molded article may further contain a thermosetting elastomer other than the silicone rubber. Examples of the thermosetting elastomer include rubbers other than silicone rubber, thermosetting resin elastomers, and the like. Examples of rubbers other than silicone rubber include chloroprene rubber, nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR), ethylene / propylene / diene rubber (EPDM), butyl rubber and the like. Examples of the thermosetting resin-based elastomer include hydrogenated polybutadiene, polyurethane, chlorinated polyisoprene and the like. These thermosetting elastomers may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

  Moreover, various additives can be added to the silicone molded article within a range that does not impair the performance required of the silicone molded article. Examples of the additive include thermally expandable microcapsules and the like.

  The silicone rubber molded body is manufactured by heat-treating a molded silicone rubber molded article at a predetermined temperature. First, the relationship between the particle size of fine particles and the fine particle index, which are generated when a silicone rubber molded product is heat treated, will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a graph showing the relationship between the particle size of fine particles and the number of fine particles generated when a silicone rubber molded product is heat-treated. The horizontal axis in FIG. 1 indicates the particle size (nm) of the fine particles, and the vertical axis indicates the number of fine particles (count / sec). The solid line in FIG. 1 shows the result when the silicone molded product is left at room temperature for 1 hour, the dotted line shows the result when heat-treated at 200 ° C. for 1 hour, and the broken line shows the result at 150 ° C. for 1 hour. The result when heat-treating is shown. This experiment was performed based on RAL-UZ-171 of the German Federal Institute for Materials Testing (BAM).

  As shown in FIG. 1, it can be seen that when the silicone molded product is heat-treated at 200 ° C., particles having a relatively large particle diameter can be removed, but particles having a relatively small particle diameter are generated (dotted line (200 ° C) and solid line (room temperature)). In addition, it can be seen that when heat treatment is performed at 150 ° C., fine particles having a relatively small particle diameter can be removed (see broken line (150 ° C.) and solid line (room temperature)). Therefore, after removing fine particles having a relatively large particle size at a high temperature of 200 ° C. or higher and then removing fine particles having a relatively small particle size at a low temperature of less than 200 ° C., the fine particles can be efficiently removed from the silicone molded product. I understand.

(Method for producing silicone rubber molded body)
The method for producing a silicone rubber molded body according to the present invention includes a first step of heat-treating a silicone rubber molded product at 200 ° C. or higher, and a heat treatment of the silicone rubber molded product at 100 ° C. or higher and lower than 200 ° C. after the first step. And a second step.

  In the first step, the molded silicone rubber molded product is heated at 200 ° C. or higher. The time (first heating time) for heating the silicone rubber molded product at 200 ° C. or higher is appropriately set depending on the performance required for the silicone rubber molded product. More specifically, it can be set according to how much fine particles having a relatively large particle diameter may be generated from the silicone molded body. In addition, when applying a silicone molded object to the pressure roller in the image forming apparatus mentioned later, it is preferable that it is 1 hour or more, and it is preferable that it is 3 hours or less. Further, the temperature for heating the silicone rubber molded product (first heating temperature) is more preferably 200 ° C. or higher and 280 ° C. or lower. When the first heating temperature is higher than 280 ° C., the silicone rubber molded product may be deformed or deteriorated.

  In the first step, for example, after heating the oven to a predetermined heating temperature of 200 ° C. or higher, the silicone rubber molded product is placed in the oven and heat-treated for a certain time. At this time, the temperature of the silicone rubber molded product is monitored, and the elapsed time after the temperature of the silicone rubber molded product reaches the first heating temperature is defined as the first heating time.

  In the second step, after the first step, the silicone molded product is heated at 100 ° C. or higher and lower than 200 ° C. for 10 minutes or longer. The time (second heating time) for heating the silicone rubber molded product at 100 ° C. or higher and lower than 200 ° C. is 10 minutes or longer. When the second heating time is less than 10 minutes, particles having a relatively small particle diameter cannot be removed from the silicone molded product. On the other hand, the upper limit of the second heating time is not particularly limited, but is usually about 2 hours. When the second heating time exceeds 2 hours, the effect of removing fine particles having a relatively small particle diameter is saturated. Moreover, it is preferable that 2nd heating temperature is 150 degreeC or more and 180 degrees C or less. When the first heating temperature is less than 100 ° C., fine particles having a relatively small particle diameter cannot be removed. Furthermore, when the second heating temperature is higher than 200, it becomes the same as in the first step, and it is not possible to remove fine particles having a relatively small particle size.

  It is preferable to perform the heat treatment in the first step and the heat treatment in the second step three times or more in total. For example, after the heat treatment in the first step is performed once, the heat treatment in the second step may be performed twice. Further, after the heat treatment in the first step is performed twice, the heat treatment in the second step may be performed once. Furthermore, the heat treatment in the first step and the heat treatment in the second step may each be performed a plurality of times. Thus, the fine particles can be efficiently removed by performing the heat treatment in the first step and the heat treatment in the second step three times or more in total.

  The heat treatment in the first step and the heat treatment in the second step may be performed under atmospheric pressure or under reduced pressure. Furthermore, the heat treatment in the first step and the heat treatment in the second step may be performed in a nitrogen atmosphere.

  The method for producing a silicone rubber molded body described above can be applied to all objects including silicone rubber. In the present embodiment, an example in which a silicone rubber molded body is applied to a first pressure roller incorporated in an image forming apparatus will be described. The silicone rubber molded body can be applied to other members using silicone rubber in the image forming apparatus regardless of the material type.

(Configuration of pressure roller)
FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the first pressure roller 65. As shown in FIG. 2, the first pressure roller 65 includes a cylindrical metal core 65a, a solid rubber layer 65b provided to cover the outer peripheral surface of the metal core 65a, and an outer peripheral surface of the solid rubber layer 65b. And a sponge rubber layer 65c provided so as to cover. The solid rubber layer 65b and the sponge rubber layer 65c correspond to the silicone rubber molded body in the present invention.

  The material of the cored bar 65a is made of metal, for example. Metal types include aluminum, iron, SUS, and the like. The thickness of the cored bar 65a is about 0.1 to 5.0 mm, but it is about 0.1 to 1.5 mm from the viewpoint of reducing the weight and shortening the warm-up time of the image forming apparatus. preferable. Furthermore, the diameter of the cored bar 65a is about 10 to 50 mm.

  The solid rubber layer 65b and the sponge rubber layer 65c have heat resistance with respect to the fixing temperature in the image forming apparatus, and elasticity to ensure the size of the area where the recording medium is pressed (length of the nip portion). .

  The solid rubber layer 65b is a solid hard layer. The thickness of the solid rubber layer 65b is preferably in the range of 5 to 10 mm. In the present embodiment, the thickness of the solid rubber layer 65b is set to about 7 to 8 mm. The solid rubber layer 65b may be formed by applying and curing a first mixed liquid containing silicone rubber and a curing agent on the surface of the cored bar 65a, or paper having the same diameter as the outer diameter of the solid rubber layer 65b. You may form by putting a pipe | tube on a metal core and pouring and hardening a 1st liquid mixture between a metal core and a paper cylinder.

  The sponge rubber layer 65c is a sponge-like soft layer including an infinite number of microballoons. The thickness of the sponge rubber layer 65c is preferably in the range of 5 to 100 μm. In the present embodiment, the thickness of the sponge rubber layer 65c is set to about 80 to 90 μm. The sponge rubber layer 65c may be formed by applying and curing a second mixed liquid containing silicone rubber, a curing agent and a thermally expandable microcapsule on the solid rubber layer 65b.

  Thus, the 1st pressurization roller 65 containing the silicone rubber molding by which generation | occurrence | production of microparticles | fine-particles was suppressed is obtained by heat-processing with the method mentioned above the core rubber 65a and the silicone rubber molded product formed on the core metal 65a. be able to.

  Since the first pressure roller 65 including the silicone rubber molded body thus obtained has a large amount of fine particles removed, the generated fine particles are few. Specifically, the fine particles of 6 to 60 nm when the fine particles in the pressure roller are extracted are 50% or less of the total fine particles. The method of extracting the fine particles from the pressure roller is not particularly limited, and may be a method of heat treatment in a vacuum atmosphere described in Patent Document 1 described above, or the supercritical fluid described in Patent Document 2 described above. The method of making it contact may be sufficient. Then, the particle size distribution of the extracted fine particles is obtained, and the proportion of fine particles having a predetermined particle size in all the fine particles is calculated. In the present embodiment, the first pressure roller 65 is heat-treated at 200 ° C. for 2 hours to extract the fine particles. The proportion of fine particles can be determined based on RAL-UZ-171 of the German Federal Institute for Materials Testing (BAM).

  Next, an image forming apparatus incorporating a pressure roller including a silicone rubber molded body will be described.

(Configuration of image forming apparatus)
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the image forming apparatus 10.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 10 includes an image reading unit 20, an image forming unit 30, an intermediate transfer unit 40, a fixing device 60, and a recording medium transport unit 80.

  The image reading unit 20 reads an image from the document D and obtains image data for forming an electrostatic latent image. The image reading unit 20 includes a paper feeding device 21, a scanner 22, a CCD sensor 23, and an image processing unit 24.

  The image forming unit 30 includes, for example, four image forming units 31 corresponding to each color of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. The image forming unit 31 includes a photosensitive drum 32, a charging device 33, an exposure device 34, a developing device 35, and a cleaning device 36.

  The photoreceptor drum 32 is, for example, a negatively charged organic photoreceptor having photoconductivity. The charging device 33 charges the photosensitive drum 32. The charging device 33 is, for example, a corona charger. The charging device 33 may be a contact charging device that charges a contact charging member such as a charging roller, a charging brush, or a charging blade by contacting the photosensitive drum 32. The exposure device 34 irradiates the charged photosensitive drum 32 with light to form an electrostatic latent image. The exposure device 34 is, for example, a semiconductor laser. The developing device 35 supplies toner to the photosensitive drum 32 on which the electrostatic latent image is formed, and forms a toner image corresponding to the electrostatic latent image. The developing device 35 is a known developing device in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, for example. The cleaning device 36 removes residual toner on the photosensitive drum 32. Here, the “toner image” refers to a state where toner is gathered in an image form.

  As the toner, a known toner can be used. The toner may be a one-component developer or a two-component developer. The one-component developer is composed of toner particles. The two-component developer is composed of toner particles and carrier particles. The toner particles are composed of toner base particles and an external additive such as silica attached to the surface of the toner base particles. The toner base particles are composed of, for example, a binder resin, a colorant, and a wax.

  The intermediate transfer unit 40 includes a primary transfer unit 41 and a secondary transfer unit 42.

  The primary transfer unit 41 includes an intermediate transfer belt 43, a primary transfer roller 44, a backup roller 45, a plurality of first support rollers 46, and a cleaning device 47. The intermediate transfer belt 43 is an endless belt. The intermediate transfer belt (intermediate transfer member) 43 is stretched by a backup roller 45 and a first support roller 46. The intermediate transfer belt 43 travels on an endless track at a constant speed in one direction when at least one of the backup roller 45 and the first support roller 46 is rotationally driven.

  The secondary transfer unit 42 includes a secondary transfer belt 48, a secondary transfer roller 49, and a plurality of second support rollers 50. The secondary transfer belt 48 is an endless belt. The secondary transfer belt 48 is stretched by the secondary transfer roller 49 and the second support roller 50.

  The fixing device 60 includes a fixing belt 61, a heating roller, a first pressure roller (pressure roller) 65, a second pressure roller 64, a heater, a first temperature sensor, a second temperature sensor, It has an airflow separation device, a guide plate, and a guide roller.

  In the fixing belt 61, a base layer, an elastic layer, and a release layer are laminated in this order. The fixing belt 61 is pivotally supported by the heating roller and the first pressure roller 65 in a state where the base layer is the inside and the release layer is the outside. The tension of the fixing belt 61 is 43N, for example.

  The heating roller has a rotatable aluminum sleeve and a heater disposed therein. The first pressure roller 65 includes, for example, a rotatable core metal 65a, an elastic layer (solid rubber layer) 65b disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the core metal 65a, and an outer peripheral surface of the elastic layer (sponge rubber layer) 65b. And a surface layer (sponge rubber layer) 65c.

  The second pressure roller 64 is disposed to face the first pressure roller 65 through the fixing belt 61. The second pressure roller 64 includes, for example, a rotatable aluminum sleeve and a heater disposed in the sleeve. The second pressure roller 64 is disposed so as to be able to approach and separate from the first pressure roller 65. When the second pressure roller 64 approaches the first pressure roller 65, the first pressure roller 64 is interposed via the fixing belt 61. The elastic layer of the pressure roller 65 is pressed to form a fixing nip portion that is a contact portion with the fixing belt 61.

  The first temperature sensor is a device for detecting the temperature of the fixing belt 61 heated by the heating roller. The second temperature sensor is a device for detecting the temperature of the outer peripheral surface of the second pressure roller 64.

  The airflow separation device is a device for generating an airflow from the downstream side in the moving direction of the fixing belt 61 toward the fixing nip portion to promote separation of the recording medium S from the fixing belt 61.

  The guide plate is a member for guiding the recording medium S having an unfixed toner image to the fixing nip portion. The guide roller is a member for guiding the recording medium on which the toner image is fixed from the fixing nip portion to the outside of the image forming apparatus 10.

  The recording medium transport unit 80 includes three paper feed tray units 81 and a plurality of registration roller pairs 82. In the paper feed tray unit 81, recording media (standard paper, special paper, etc. in the present embodiment) identified based on basis weight, size, etc. are accommodated for each preset type. The registration roller pair 82 is arranged so as to form an intended conveyance path.

  In such an image forming apparatus 10, a toner image is applied to the recording medium S by the intermediate transfer unit 40 on the recording medium S sent by the recording medium transport unit 80 based on the image data acquired by the image reading unit 20. It is formed. The recording medium S on which the toner image is formed by the intermediate transfer unit 40 is sent to the fixing device 60. In the fixing device 60, the fixing belt 61 is in close contact with the recording medium S, whereby the unfixed toner image is quickly fixed on the recording medium S. The recording medium separated from the fixing belt 61 is guided out of the image forming apparatus 10 by a guide roller.

  The solid rubber layer 65b and the sponge rubber layer 65c of the first pressure roller 65 are made of a silicone molded body according to the present invention. Thereby, even if the image forming apparatus 10 is operated, it is difficult for fine particles to be generated. Therefore, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present invention is less likely to cause image defects due to fine particles.

1. Preparation of pressure roller (silicone rubber molding) (1) Preparation of silicone rubber molding product Two parts of room temperature curing silicone rubber (KE1602; Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) 100 parts by weight of curing agent (Cat. 1602; Shin-Etsu Chemical) 10 parts by weight) was added and mixed well with a stirrer to obtain a first mixture.

  To the first mixture, 15 parts by weight of expanded thermal expansion microcapsules (Expancel (registered trademark) 461; Nihon Philite Co., Ltd.) was added and mixed with a stirrer for 30 minutes to obtain a second mixture. Expandel 461 is a copolymer of vinylidene chloride and acrylonitrile whose outer shell melts at 110 ° C. The unexpanded spheres were 10 to 16 μm, and in the examples, the expanded spheres after heating at 100 ° C. for 10 minutes were 40 to 60 μm.

  Separately from the preparation of the first mixture and the second mixture, an adhesive is applied to an aluminum core (length: 370 mm, diameter: 25 mm), and the core is centered on a paper tube that is 15 mm thicker than the core. In this way, a bottom lid was installed. Next, the first mixture (without the microballoon) was poured between the paper tube and the cored bar, and the mixture was allowed to stand overnight at room temperature to complete the curing. Thereafter, the paper tube was removed and a solid rubber layer was formed. Next, a second mixture (including microballoons) is applied to the solid rubber layer to a thickness of 100 μm, and allowed to stand overnight, and then the surface is polished by a polishing machine, so that about 40 to 60 μm microballoons are innumerable. An embedded sponge rubber layer was formed. Through the above steps, a two-layer pressure roller (copier roll, rubber layer surface length 340 mm, see FIG. 2) in which the inner layer is made of solid rubber and the outer layer is made of sponge rubber was obtained.

(2) Preparation of Silicone Rubber Molded Body The obtained silicone rubber molded article was put in an oven kept at 300 ° C. and placed for 5 hours after the silicone rubber molded article reached 300 ° C. (first time) . Then, it was put in an oven maintained at 180 ° C., and after the silicone rubber molded product reached 180 ° C., it was placed for 2 hours (second time). By the above process, No. A pressure roller having 1 silicone rubber molding was obtained.

  No. 2-No. Silicone rubber molded bodies up to 17 (pressure roller) are No. only in heating temperature and heating time. 1 is different from the method for producing a silicone rubber molded body (pressure roller).

<No. 2 Silicone rubber molding>
No. 1 except that the first heating temperature was 280 ° C. No. 1 in the same manner as in the silicone rubber molded article. 2 silicone rubber moldings were obtained.

<No. 3 Silicone Rubber Molded Body>
No. 1 except that the first heating temperature was 200 ° C. No. 1 in the same manner as in the silicone rubber molded article. 3 silicone rubber moldings were obtained.

<No. 4 Silicone rubber molding>
No. 1 except that the heating temperature of the first heat treatment was 280 ° C. and the heating time was 2 hours. No. 1 in the same manner as in the silicone rubber molded article. 4 silicone rubber moldings were obtained.

<No. 5 Silicone rubber molding>
The heating temperature of the first heat treatment is 280 ° C., the heating time is 2 hours, the heating temperature of the second heat treatment is 180 ° C., the heating time is 2 hours, the heating temperature of the third heat treatment is 160 ° C., and the heating time is Except for 2 hours, no. No. 1 in the same manner as in the silicone rubber molded article. 5 was obtained.

<No. 6 Silicone Rubber Molded Body>
No. 2 except that the heating temperature of the second heat treatment was 100 ° C. and the heating time was 2 hours. In the same manner as the silicone rubber molded product of No. 2, 6 was obtained.

<No. 7 Silicone Rubber Molded Body>
No. 1 except that the heating temperature of the second heat treatment was 195 ° C. and the heating time was 2 hours. In the same manner as the silicone rubber molded product of No. 2, 7 was obtained.

<No. 8 Silicone Rubber Molded Body>
No. 1 except that the heating temperature of the first heat treatment was 280 ° C. and the heating time was 1 hour. No. 1 in the same manner as in the silicone rubber molded article. 8 silicone rubber moldings were obtained.

<No. 9 Silicone Rubber Molded Body>
No. 1 except that the heating temperature of the first heat treatment was 280 ° C. and the heating time was 3 hours. No. 1 in the same manner as in the silicone rubber molded article. 9 silicone rubber moldings were obtained.

<No. 10 silicone rubber moldings>
The heating temperature of the first heat treatment is 300 ° C., the heating time is 1 hour, the heating temperature of the second heat treatment is 180 ° C., the heating time is 1 hour, the heating temperature of the third heat treatment is 180 ° C., and the heating time is Except for 2 hours, no. No. 1 in the same manner as in the silicone rubber molded article. Ten silicone rubber moldings were obtained.

<No. 11 Silicone Rubber Molded Body>
The heating temperature of the first heat treatment is 300 ° C., the heating time is 1 hour, the heating temperature of the second heat treatment is 280 ° C., the heating time is 1 hour, the heating temperature of the third heat treatment is 180 ° C., and the heating time is No. 2 except that the heating temperature of the fourth heat treatment was 160 ° C. and the heating time was 1 hour. No. 1 in the same manner as in the silicone rubber molded article. 11 silicone rubber moldings were obtained.

<No. 12 silicone rubber moldings>
The heating temperature of the first heat treatment is 280 ° C., the heating time is 2 hours, the heating temperature of the second heat treatment is 180 ° C., the heating time is 2 hours, the heating temperature of the third heat treatment is 170 ° C., and the heating time is 1 No. 4 except that the heating temperature of the fourth heat treatment was 160 ° C. and the heating time was 1 hour. No. 1 in the same manner as in the silicone rubber molded article. 12 silicone rubber moldings were obtained.

<No. 13 silicone rubber moldings>
No. 1 except that the heat treatment was performed only once, the heating temperature of the one heat treatment was 180 ° C., and the heating time was 2 hours. No. 1 in the same manner as in the silicone rubber molded article. 13 silicone rubber moldings were obtained.

<No. 14 silicone rubber moldings>
No. 1 except that the heat treatment was performed only once, the heating temperature of the one heat treatment was 280 ° C., and the heating time was 5 hours. No. 1 in the same manner as in the silicone rubber molded article. 14 silicone rubber moldings were obtained.

<No. 15 silicone rubber moldings>
No. 1 except that the heat treatment was performed only once, the heating temperature of the one heat treatment was 280 ° C., and the heating time was 2 hours. No. 1 in the same manner as in the silicone rubber molded article. 15 silicone rubber moldings were obtained.

<No. 16 silicone rubber moldings>
No. 1 except that the heating temperature of the first heat treatment was 280 ° C., the heating time was 5 hours, the heating temperature of the second heat treatment was 80 ° C., and the heating time was 2 hours. No. 1 in the same manner as in the silicone rubber molded article. Sixteen silicone rubber moldings were obtained.

<No. 17 silicone rubber moldings>
No. 1 except that the heating temperature of the first heat treatment was 180 ° C., the heating time was 1 hour, the heating temperature of the second heat treatment was 280 ° C., and the heating time was 5 hours. No. 1 in the same manner as in the silicone rubber molded article. 17 silicone rubber moldings were obtained.

  In Table 1, no. The heating time and heating temperature when producing 1 to 17 silicone rubber moldings are shown.

  In addition, No. About the 1-10 silicone rubber molded object, the particle size distribution of the microparticles | fine-particles produced by the heat processing for 2 hours at 200 degreeC was calculated | required. As a result, no. When the fine particles in 1 to 10 silicone rubber moldings were extracted, all the fine particles of 6 to 60 nm were 50% or less of the total fine particles. On the other hand, no. The particle size distribution of fine particles generated by heat treatment at 200 ° C. for 2 hours was determined for the 13 to 17 silicone rubber molded bodies. As a result, no. When the fine particles in 1 to 10 silicone rubber moldings were extracted, all the fine particles of 6 to 60 nm were more than 50% of the total fine particles.

2. Evaluation No. produced The following evaluation tests were performed on 1 to 17 silicone rubber molded bodies (pressure rollers).

The fixing roller (pressure roller) of the image forming apparatus (bizhub (registered trademark) C754; Konica Minolta Co., Ltd.) is replaced with the pressure roller prepared above, and this is installed in a stainless steel chamber having a volume of 1 m ^3. The inside was set to ventilate 67 L / min. After ventilating the chamber for about 1 hour, a printing operation was performed for 10 minutes, and the fine particles discharged from the apparatus during the printing operation were sampled. A toner having a volume average particle diameter of 8 μm was used.

(1) Number of fine particles The fine particles discharged into the chamber were continuously measured with a fine particle measuring instrument (CPC3007; Tokyo Direc Co., Ltd.). The total number of fine particles within a range of 10 to 1000 nm in particle diameter observed during the time corresponding to 3 ventilation after the start of printing was measured. When the number of fine particles was less than 1 × 10 ⁷ particles / mL, it was determined that the particles could be used.

(2) Number of image stains After printing 100,000 sheets, image stains that can be observed like spots when the solid images were output on J paper (A4) were counted. It was determined that the image could be used when the image contamination per sheet was less than 100.

  Table 2 shows the measurement results of the fine particles and the number of image stains.

  As shown in Table 2, No. 2 in which the second heat treatment was not performed. The silicone rubber moldings 13 to 15 were unusable from the viewpoints of the number of fine particles and the number of image stains. In addition, the heat treatment temperature (first heating temperature) in the first step is 200 ° C. or higher, the heat treatment temperature (second heat treatment temperature) in the second step is 100 or higher, and is not less than 200 ° C. The silicone rubber moldings 16 and 17 were also unusable from the viewpoints of the number of fine particles and the number of image stains.

  On the other hand, when the first heating temperature was 200 ° C. or more, the second heat treatment temperature was 100 or more, and less than 200 ° C., the No. 2 was heat-treated for 10 minutes or more. The silicone rubber moldings 1 to 12 could be used from either viewpoint of the number of fine particles and the number of image stains. In particular, the first heating temperature is 200 ° C. or higher and 280 ° C. or lower, and the second heating temperature is 150 ° C. or higher and 180 ° C. or lower. The silicone rubber molded bodies of 1 to 5, 8, 9, and 12 tend to be able to remove fine particles from both viewpoints of the number of fine particles and the number of image stains. Furthermore, the heat treatment in the first step and the heat treatment in the second step are No. 3 performed three times or more in total. In the silicone rubber moldings of 5 and 10 to 12, there is a tendency that the fine particles can be removed more remarkably from both viewpoints of the number of fine particles and the number of image stains.

  The silicone rubber molded body obtained by the method for producing a silicone rubber molded body according to the present invention can suppress the generation of fine particles. Therefore, according to the present invention, further improvement in quality and further spread in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus are expected.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 20 Image reading part 21 Paper feeding apparatus 22 Scanner 23 CCD sensor 24 Image processing part 30 Image forming part 31 Image forming unit 32 Photosensitive drum 33 Charging apparatus 34 Exposure apparatus 35 Developing apparatus 36 Cleaning apparatus 40 Intermediate transfer part 41 Primary transfer unit 42 Secondary transfer unit 43 Intermediate transfer belt 44 Primary transfer roller 45 Backup roller 46 First support roller 47 Cleaning device 48 Secondary transfer belt 49 Secondary transfer roller 50 Second support roller 60 Fixing device 61 Fixing belt 64 First 2 pressure roller 65 first pressure roller 65a core metal 65b solid rubber layer 65c sponge rubber layer 80 recording medium transport unit 81 paper feed tray unit 82 registration roller pair D original S paper (recording medium)

Claims (5)

A production method for producing a silicone rubber molded article from a silicone rubber molded article,
A first step of heat-treating the silicone rubber molded article at 200 ° C. or higher;
After the first step, the second step of heat-treating the silicone rubber molded article at 100 ° C. or more and less than 200 ° C. for 10 minutes or more;
A method for producing a silicone rubber molded body, comprising: The temperature of the heat treatment in the first step is 200 ° C. or more and 280 ° C. or less,
The heat treatment temperature in the second step is 150 ° C. or higher and 180 ° C. or lower.
The manufacturing method of the silicone rubber molded object of Claim 1.   The method for producing a silicone rubber molded body according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the heat treatment time in the first step is 1 hour or more and 3 hours or less.   The manufacturing method of the silicone rubber molded object as described in any one of Claims 1-3 which performs the heat processing in the said 1st process and the heat processing in the said 2nd process 3 times or more in total. An electrophotographic photosensitive member, a charging device for charging the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and an exposure device for irradiating light on the surface of the charged electrophotographic photosensitive member to form an electrostatic latent image; A developing device for supplying toner to the electrophotographic photosensitive member on which an electrostatic latent image is formed to form a toner image, and a transfer for transferring the toner image on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member to a recording medium An image forming apparatus comprising: an apparatus; and a fixing device that fixes the toner image transferred to the recording medium to the recording medium,
The fixing device has a fixing member including a silicone rubber molded body,
In the fixing member, the fine particles of 6 to 60 nm when the fine particles in the fixing member are extracted are 50% or less of the total fine particles.
Image forming apparatus.

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