JP2018156033A - Cleaning blade, image forming apparatus, and process cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning blade which prevents occurrence of abnormal noise by rubbing with a cleaned member, obtains good cleaning property, and can suppress filming to the cleaned member.SOLUTION: A cleaning blade has an elastic member 622 which abuts on a surface of a cleaned member and removes a residue on the surface of the cleaned member, where the elastic member has a plate surface including an abutting side abutting on the cleaned member, the elastic member includes a cured product of a curable composition on the tip including the abutting side, a groove in a direction parallel to a travel direction of the cleaned member with the upper abutting side one end is arranged on the outermost surface of the plate surface, a width of the groove is 2 μm or more and 10 μm or less, a depth of the groove is 0.5 μm or more and 3.0 μm or less, and five grooves are arranged in arbitrary 100 μm in the direction of the abutting side.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2B

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning blade, an image forming apparatus, and a process cartridge.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, unnecessary transfer residual toner adhering to a surface after transferring a toner image to a transfer paper or an intermediate transfer member is cleaned as a cleaning unit. Removed by device.

  As a cleaning member of the cleaning device, a cleaning blade having an elastic member such as urethane rubber is known from the viewpoint that an excellent cleaning property can be obtained with a simple configuration. The cleaning blade is often provided with a support member that fixes a part of the elastic member, and a contact portion on the free end side of the elastic member is brought into contact with the surface of the image carrier, so that the image The toner remaining on the surface of the carrier is scraped off and removed.

In addition, in order to meet the recent demand for higher image quality, there is known an image forming apparatus using a toner having a small particle diameter and a nearly spherical shape (hereinafter also referred to as “polymerized toner”) formed by a polymerization method or the like. ing. However, the polymerized toner slips through a slight gap formed between the cleaning blade and the image carrier, so that it is difficult to remove the polymer toner sufficiently, resulting in a defective cleaning. doing.
In order to solve this problem, a cleaning blade in which the contact portion is cured with a curable compound has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4).

  These cleaning blades are provided with a harder surface layer than the elastic blades to increase the hardness of the tip ridge line, filling with a low friction material, making the surface rugged structure, etc. Can be prevented from being deformed in the direction of surface movement of the image carrier and turning over. Further, depending on the configuration, even when the surface layer is worn over time and the tip ridge portion of the elastic blade is exposed, the filling portion into the elastic blade continuously contacts the surface of the image carrier, so that the elastic blade The frictional force generated between the image carrier and the image carrier is reduced, and the ridge line portion can be prevented from being deformed. Thereby, it is said that the turning of the tip ridge line portion can be suppressed and the wear resistance of the cleaning blade can be improved, thereby preventing the cleaning failure with time.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning blade capable of preventing the generation of noise due to friction with a member to be cleaned, obtaining good cleaning properties, and suppressing filming on the member to be cleaned. To do.

The cleaning blade of the present invention as means for solving the above problems is
A cleaning blade having an elastic member that contacts the surface of the member to be cleaned and removes residue on the surface of the member to be cleaned,
The elastic member has a plate surface including a contact side that contacts the member to be cleaned;
The elastic member includes a cured product of a curable composition at a tip including the contact side,
On the outermost surface of the plate surface, a groove in the direction parallel to the traveling direction of the member to be cleaned is disposed, with the contact side being one end,
The width of the groove is 2 μm or more and 10 μm or less,
The depth of the groove is 0.5 μm or more and 3.0 μm or less,
5 or more of the grooves are arranged in an arbitrary 100 μm in the direction of the contact side.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a cleaning blade capable of preventing abnormal noise due to friction with a member to be cleaned, obtaining good cleaning properties, and suppressing filming on the member to be cleaned. it can.

FIG. 1A is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state in which the contact portion of the cleaning blade is turned up. FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state in which local wear has occurred on the tip surface of the cleaning blade. FIG. 1C is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state where the contact portion of the cleaning blade is missing. FIG. 2A is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state where the cleaning blade of the present invention is in contact with the surface of the image carrier. FIG. 2B is an enlarged schematic view of the vicinity of the contact portion in the cleaning blade of FIG. 2A. FIG. 2C is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state where the cured product of the curable composition is impregnated in the cleaning blade of FIG. 2A. FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view showing an example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an image forming unit in the image forming apparatus of FIG.

(Cleaning blade)
The cleaning blade of the present invention has at least an elastic member that comes into contact with the surface of the member to be cleaned and removes residue on the surface of the member to be cleaned, and further includes other members as necessary.
The portion that contacts the surface of the member to be cleaned is referred to as a contact portion (tip ridge line portion). Further, when the member to be cleaned and the cleaning blade come into contact with each other in a line state, the contacted portion is referred to as a “contact side”.
Here, when the contact portion contacts the surface of the member to be cleaned, not only the contact portion but also the plate surface including the contact portion and the end surface including the contact portion are the member to be cleaned. Therefore, the plate surface including the contact portion and the end surface including the contact portion in the vicinity of the contact portion may be collectively referred to as a “contact portion”. In addition, the end surface including the contact portion may be referred to as a “tip surface”.
The elastic member has a plate surface including a contact side that contacts the member to be cleaned.
The elastic member includes a cured product of the curable composition at a tip including the contact side.
Grooves are arranged on the outermost surface of the plate surface in a direction parallel to the traveling direction of the member to be cleaned.
In addition, in this specification, the location where the said elastic member contains the said hardened | cured material of the said curable composition may be called an "impregnation layer."

In a conventional cleaning blade, when forming an image using an image forming apparatus, a small particle diameter toner having a small particle diameter and excellent circularity is used. Then, a cleaning blade and an image carrier (hereinafter referred to as “photoreceptor”) are used. In some cases, toner particles having a small particle size slip through the gap between the toner and a defective cleaning. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the cleaning pressure by increasing the contact pressure between the cleaning blade elastic member and the image carrier.
In Japanese Patent No. 4227909, a hardened layer made of a reaction product of a urethane resin and an isocyanate compound is provided at a contact portion with an image carrier in order to increase the cleaning capability, and the ten-point average roughness RzJIS of the corresponding contact portion. (JIS B0601) is 5 [μm] or less. However, when the slippage is greatly suppressed and the contact pressure of the cleaning blade is increased in this way, the frictional force between the removal member 622, which is a cleaning blade elastic member, and the image carrier 123 is increased as shown in FIG. 1A. The removal member 622 wears out early. Further, the removal member 622 is pulled in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1A of the image carrier 123, and the contact portion including the contact side 62c is turned up. When the turned-up contact portion is restored to its original shape against the turning-up, abnormal noise may occur. Further, if the cleaning operation is continued with the contact portion turned up, as shown in FIG. 1B, local wear occurs at a location several μm away from the contact side 62c of the tip surface 62a of the removal member 622. Resulting in.
The cause of this local wear is that the contact portion of the removing member 622 is deformed when the toner particles slip through, and the toner particles continuously slip through the deformed portion, so that the slipping portion is locally localized. It is thought that it becomes easy to wear. If the cleaning operation is continued in such a state, the local wear increases, and eventually, as shown in FIG. 1C, the contact portion is lost, so that the toner is removed from the image carrier. There is a problem that cannot be cleaned properly.

Japanese Patent No. 4722680 describes a cleaning blade (also abbreviated as “blade”) that has the following characteristics to remove toner by a so-called stick-slip operation.
・ A fluorine resin layer is formed on the contact portion (also referred to as an “edge portion”) that contacts the member to be cleaned to reduce the frictional force. ・ The resin material forming the fluorine resin layer is smooth on the blade body. Filled with uneven portions on the surface. The ten-point average roughness Rz, which is the surface roughness of the edge portion, is set to 0.1 to 10 [.mu.m]. The rebound resilience of the blade and the contact pressure to the image bearing pair. In this case, the contact angle is set within a predetermined range. This is a high-speed machine, and even if the toner used is a small-sized toner having no corners, the life of the photosensitive member is extended without deteriorating the cleaning property. It is said that we can plan.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2015-230443 proposes a cleaning blade in which an abutting portion of the cleaning blade (hereinafter also referred to as “tip ridge line portion”) is impregnated with an ultraviolet curable resin containing acrylate or methacrylate. By this impregnation treatment, minute irregularities are formed on the surface of the cleaning blade, and the arithmetic average roughness Ra due to the irregularities is set to 0.1 to 0.3 [μm], whereby the frictional force between the image carrier and the cleaning blade is obtained. This is to reduce the above.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-021982 discloses a surface layer harder than an elastic blade that can effectively suppress wear due to an external toner additive by holding specific silica particles in the vicinity of the contact edge of the blade tip surface. A cleaning blade provided with improved wear resistance has been proposed. This is because, among the silica particles added as an external toner additive, those released over time cause wear when passing through the cleaning blade.

  These cleaning blades are provided with a harder surface layer than the elastic blade to increase the hardness of the contact portion, filling the low friction material, and making the surface uneven structure, etc. Deformation in the surface moving direction of the image carrier and turning over can be suppressed. Depending on the configuration, even when the surface layer wears over time and the contact portion of the elastic blade is exposed, the filling portion into the elastic blade continuously contacts the surface of the image carrier, The frictional force generated between the blade and the image carrier is reduced, and deformation of the contact portion can be suppressed. Thereby, it is said that turning-up of the contact portion can be suppressed and the wear resistance of the cleaning blade can be improved, thereby preventing the cleaning failure with time.

  However, these cleaning blades may increase the driving torque of the image carrier as the cleaning blade wears over time. As a result, the output of high-definition images is adversely affected, and therefore further improvement in wear resistance and driving stability and suppression of defective cleaning are desired.

Therefore, the present inventors have conducted extensive research, and that the cleaning blade having the following characteristics is less likely to cause a reduction in cleaning when used over time, has excellent wear resistance, and suppresses an increase in driving torque. It was found that filming on the surface can be suppressed.
An impregnated layer made of an ultraviolet curable resin exists at the tip portion including the tip ridge line portion of the blade that comes into contact with the member to be cleaned.Specified in parallel with the traveling direction of the member to be cleaned on the lower surface of the blade facing the member to be cleaned. Forming a groove

Here, an example of the cleaning blade in the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In addition, in each drawing, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same component and the overlapping description may be abbreviate | omitted. In addition, the number, position, shape, and the like of the following constituent members are not limited to the present embodiment, and can be set to a preferable number, position, shape, and the like in carrying out the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state where the cleaning blade of the present invention is in contact with the surface of the image carrier.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the cleaning blade 62 includes a flat support member 621 made of a rigid material such as metal or hard plastic, and a flat elastic member 622. The elastic member 622 is fixed to one end side of the support member 621 with an adhesive or the like, and the other end side of the support member 621 is cantilevered by the case of the cleaning device.

  In the present invention, the “plate surface including the abutting side that abuts the member to be cleaned” (hereinafter also referred to as “blade lower surface”) is opposed to the downstream side B in the traveling direction of the member to be cleaned in FIG. 2A. 2 (referred to as “blade front end surface” hereinafter) is indicated by 62a in FIG. 2A. The surface facing the upstream side A in the traveling direction of the member to be cleaned is said. The “tip portion including the contact side” refers to a region including the contact side 62c, the plate surface in the vicinity of the contact side 62c, and the tip surface 62a.

The plate surface including the abutting side that abuts against the member to be cleaned has a groove. The groove is formed in parallel with the traveling direction of the member to be cleaned on the lower surface of the blade facing the member to be cleaned, with one end on the contact side.
By forming the groove, it is possible to obtain a state in which a portion where the blade contact portion and the member to be cleaned are in close contact (contact region) and a portion having a slight gap (non-contact region) are mixed. By providing such a close contact region and a non-contact region, a certain amount of the external additive component (free external additive) released from the toner can be passed through without causing defective cleaning. The slight slippage of the free external additive not only reduces the frictional force between the blade ridge line portion (contact portion) and the member to be cleaned, but also is caused by pushing the free external additive into the member to be cleaned. Ming phenomenon can be suppressed. Both the reduction of the frictional force and the suppression of the reduction of filming contribute to stable operation of the cleaning blade.

  Note that the above-described slipping through the groove is more effective in a portion where a surface layer is further formed on an elastic member having an impregnation layer described later. Such a groove cannot be formed on the surface of a mere elastic blade that does not have a cured product of the curable composition at the tip, and the above-mentioned thing can be achieved even if a similar groove forming method is applied. could not. This is presumably because a groove having a controlled shape in which the deformation is suppressed and the width and depth of the groove are in a desired range can be formed during the groove forming process.

As an example of the groove | channel in this invention, what is shown to FIG. 2B is mentioned, for example. The groove is formed in parallel with the image carrier traveling direction, with one end on the contact side.
As the length of the groove, the contact width (contact nip) between the cleaning blade and the image carrier is about 10 μm, and is preferably 10 μm to 100 μm starting from the contact side. The length of the groove is within the numerical range. The following problems can be prevented.
・ Deterioration of cleaning performance ・ Induction of toner adhesion

  The width of the groove is 2 μm or more and 10 μm or less, and preferably 2 μm or more and 6 μm or less from the viewpoint of cleaning properties. If the width of the groove is less than 2 μm, the free external additive does not slip through effectively, and cleaning failure may occur. If the width exceeds 10 μm, cleaning failure may occur due to slipping of the toner itself. There is.

  The depth of the groove is from 0.5 μm to 3.0 μm, preferably from 0.5 μm to 2.0 μm, from the viewpoint of cleaning properties. If the depth of the groove is less than 0.5 μm, the free external additive may not slip through effectively and may cause a cleaning failure. If the depth exceeds 3.0 μm, the cleaning failure due to the toner passing through may occur. May occur.

The number of grooves is 5 or more and preferably 10 or more in any 100 μm in the direction of the contact side. If the number is less than 5, the free external additive does not slip through effectively, and the cleaning property may deteriorate.
If the width and depth of the groove are 2 μm or more and 10 μm or less and the depth is 0.5 μm or more and 3 μm or less, the groove may be formed on the entire outermost surface of the plate surface.
Further, it is particularly preferable that the groove has a width of 2 μm or more and 4 μm or less, a depth of 0.5 μm or more and 1.5 μm or less, and the number of grooves is 10 or more.

As a method for adjusting the width, depth, and number of the grooves, for example, it can be adjusted by a groove forming process described later.
The width, depth, and number of the grooves can be measured using, for example, a laser microscope VK9500 manufactured by Keyence Corporation.

The impregnation layer is disposed on a tip including the contact side and includes a cured product of the curable composition. The impregnation layer can be obtained by impregnation treatment.
By forming the impregnation layer at the tip including the contact side, the contact side 62c can be prevented from being deformed in the surface movement direction of the photoreceptor 3. Furthermore, even when the interior is exposed due to wear over time, the deformation can be similarly suppressed by the impregnation action.

  In the impregnation layer in the present invention, the impregnation depth from the blade tip surface is 100 μm to 200 μm in the impregnation layer on the blade tip surface, and the impregnation depth from the blade bottom surface in the impregnation layer on the blade bottom surface. Is preferably 50 μm or more and 150 μm or less. In other words, the elastic member has a depth of 100 μm or more and 200 μm or less in the direction from the tip surface including the contact side to the end surface facing the tip surface, and the thickness direction from the plate surface at the tip portion. Preferably, the cured product is contained in a region having a depth of 50 μm or more and 150 μm or less. Within these ranges, it is possible to reliably suppress the occurrence of the aforementioned cleaning failure. That is, if the impregnation depth is equal to or greater than the lower limit of the above range, the toner particles are not deformed, and the clogging force does not decrease to cause a cleaning failure. Further, if the impregnation depth is not more than the upper limit of the above range, the rigidity is not increased, the adhesion to the photoreceptor is not lowered, and the cleaning failure does not occur.

The depth of impregnation of the curable composition in the elastic member is determined by, for example, microscopic infrared system (Nicolet Continuum infrared microscope, manufactured by Thermo Fisher Scientific Co., Ltd.) as a cross section of the elastic member impregnated with the curable composition. ) And can be determined based on the spectrum obtained by measurement by micro infrared spectroscopy. As a determination method, in a measurement sample of a cross-sectional thin piece as shown in FIG. 2C, measurement is performed by appropriately changing the depth in the cross-section with reference to the plate surface including the tip surface and the contact side. , The value obtained by dividing the peak area in the vicinity of 710 cm ^{−1 by} the peak area of 1,415 cm ⁻¹ with the value of the non-impregnated part is determined as an index.
The peak area in the vicinity of 1,710Cm ^-1 is the baseline 1,775cm ^-1 ~1,650cm ^-1 calculated from the area 1,730cm ^-1 ~1,680cm ^-1, around 1,415Cm ^-1 peak area is calculated from the same area 1,425cm ^-1 ~1,400cm ^-1 at baseline 1,425cm ^-1 ~1,400cm ^-1.
Moreover, the measurement sample can be a cross-sectional slice obtained from the elastic member impregnated with the curable composition using a cryomicrotome (EM FCS, manufactured by Leica).

The elastic member preferably further has a surface layer on the lower surface of the blade.
The surface layer contains a cured product of the second curable composition.
The average thickness of the surface layer is preferably 1.0 μm or more and 2.5 μm or less. The surface layer is presumed to have a mutual relationship with the groove. For this reason, the following malfunction can be prevented as it exists in the said numerical range.
A problem that the toner does not effectively slip through the free external additive.
・ A problem that abnormal noise occurs due to increased frictional force.
A problem that causes filming of external additive components on the surface of the image carrier.
The average thickness of the surface layer can be adjusted by changing the composition and forming conditions of the curable composition forming the surface layer.
The average thickness of the surface layer is measured, for example, by cutting the cleaning blade of the present invention with a trimming razor for SEM sample preparation manufactured by EM Japan, and using a microscope (VHX-100, manufactured by Keyence Corporation). be able to.

  The cleaning blade of the present invention has the above-described characteristics, has the elastic member, and further has other members as necessary.

<Elastic member>
There is no restriction | limiting in particular about the shape, a material, a magnitude | size, a structure, etc. as said elastic member, According to the objective, it can select suitably. Examples of the shape of the elastic member include a flat plate shape, a strip shape, and a sheet shape. There is no restriction | limiting in particular as a magnitude | size of the said elastic member, According to the magnitude | size of the said member to be cleaned, it can select suitably.
There is no restriction | limiting in particular as a material of the said elastic member, Although it can select suitably according to the objective, Polyurethane rubber, a polyurethane elastomer, etc. are suitable from the point which is easy to obtain high elasticity.

  The elastic member is not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. For example, a polyurethane prepolymer is prepared using a polyol compound and a polyisocyanate compound, and a curing agent is added to the polyurethane prepolymer. If necessary, add a curing catalyst, crosslink in a predetermined mold, post-crosslink in a furnace, mold into a sheet by centrifugal molding, leave at room temperature, and matured in a predetermined size It is manufactured by cutting into a flat plate shape.

There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said polyol compound, According to the objective, it can select suitably, For example, a high molecular weight polyol, a low molecular weight polyol, etc. are mentioned.
Examples of the high molecular weight polyol include a polyester polyol which is a condensate of an alkylene glycol and an aliphatic dibasic acid; ethylene adipate ester polyol, butylene adipate ester polyol, hexylene adipate ester polyol, ethylene propylene adipate ester polyol, ethylene butylene Polyester polyols such as polyester polyols of alkylene glycol and adipic acid such as adipate ester polyol and ethylene neopentylene adipate ester polyol; polycaprolactone polyols such as polycaprolactone ester polyol obtained by ring-opening polymerization of caprolactone; Polyethers such as oxytetramethylene) glycol and poly (oxypropylene) glycol Polyol and the like. These may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together.

  Examples of the low molecular weight polyol include 1,4-butanediol, ethylene glycol, neopentyl glycol, hydroquinone-bis (2-hydroxyethyl) ether, and 3,3′-dichloro-4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane. Dihydric alcohols such as 4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane; 1,1,1-trimethylolpropane, glycerin, 1,2,6-hexanetriol, 1,2,4-butanetriol, trimethylolethane, 1, Examples thereof include trivalent or higher polyhydric alcohols such as 1,1-tris (hydroxyethoxymethyl) propane, diglycerin, pentaerythritol and the like. These may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together.

  There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said polyisocyanate compound, According to the objective, it can select suitably, For example, a methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), tolylene diisocyanate (TDI), xylylene diisocyanate (XDI), naphthylene 1,5 -Diisocyanate (NDI), tetramethylxylene diisocyanate (TMXDI), isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), hydrogenated xylylene diisocyanate (H6XDI), dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate (H12MDI), hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), dimer acid diisocyanate (DDI), Examples include norbornene diisocyanate (NBDI) and trimethylhexamethylene diisocyanate (TMDI). These may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together.

The curing catalyst is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include 2-methylimidazole and 1,2-dimethylimidazole.
The content of the curing catalyst is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, but is preferably 0.01% by mass to 0.5% by mass, and 0.05% by mass to 0.3% by mass. Is more preferable.

There is no restriction | limiting in particular in the JIS-A hardness of the said elastic member, Although it can select suitably according to the objective, 65 degrees-83 degrees are more preferable. When the JIS-A hardness is within a preferable range, the following problems can be prevented.
・ Blade pressure is difficult to obtain, and the area of the contact portion with the image carrier is likely to increase, resulting in defective cleaning.
・ A defect that becomes too hard to easily cause chipping.
There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said elastic member, Although it can select suitably according to the objective, Using a laminated body which integrally molded two or more types of rubber | gum from which JIS-A hardness differs WHEREIN: Wear resistance and follow-up It is preferable in terms of compatibility.
Here, the JIS-A hardness of the elastic member can be measured using, for example, a micro rubber hardness meter MD-1 manufactured by Kobunshi Keiki Co., Ltd.

There is no restriction | limiting in particular as a resilience elastic modulus based on the JISK6255 specification of the said elastic member, Although it can select suitably according to the objective, 36%-73% are preferable at 23 degreeC, 52%-73% are More preferred. If the rebound resilience coefficient is within a preferred range, the following problems can be prevented.
A problem that the entire elastic member loses its flexibility and cannot follow the shake and roughness of the image carrier, resulting in poor cleaning.
・ Blade noise caused by excessive repulsion.
Here, the rebound resilience coefficient of the elastic member is, for example, No. manufactured by Toyo Seiki Seisakusho Co., Ltd. at 23 ° C. in accordance with JIS K6255 standard. It can be measured using a 221 resilience tester.

  There is no restriction | limiting in particular in the average thickness of the said elastic member, Although it can select suitably according to the objective, 1.0 mm-3.0 mm are preferable.

<Curable composition>
The said curable composition and the 2nd curable composition contain a curable compound, and contain another component as needed.
Examples of the curable compound include an ultraviolet curable compound and a thermosetting compound. These may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together.
In addition, the curable composition and the second curable composition may be the same or different.

<< UV curable compound >>
There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said ultraviolet curable compound, Although it can select suitably according to the objective, (meth) acrylate compound which has an alicyclic structure in a molecule | numerator, and functional group equivalent molecular weight 350 or less, 3 functional groups ~ 6 (meth) acrylate compounds are preferred. These may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together.

  Since the (meth) acrylate compound having an alicyclic structure in the molecule has a special bulky alicyclic structure in the molecule, a (meth) acrylate compound having a small number of functional groups and a small molecular weight should be used. Therefore, the contact portion of the elastic member is easily impregnated, and the hardness of the contact portion can be improved efficiently.

6-12 are preferable and, as for carbon number of the alicyclic structure of the (meth) acrylate compound which has the said alicyclic structure, 8-10 are more preferable. When the carbon number is within a preferable range, the following problems can be prevented.
-Failure of hardness of contact part-Failure of steric hindrance The number of functional groups of the (meth) acrylate compound having an alicyclic structure in the molecule is preferably 2 or more, more preferably 2 or more, and 6 or less. 4 or less is preferable. When the number of functional groups is within a preferable range, the following problems can be prevented.
-The problem that the hardness of the contact part becomes weak-The problem that steric hindrance occurs The molecular weight of the (meth) acrylate compound having an alicyclic structure in the molecule is preferably 450 or less. When the molecular weight is 450 or less, the molecular size increases, so that it is difficult to impregnate the elastic member, and it is possible to prevent a problem that it is difficult to increase the hardness.

  The (meth) acrylate compound having an alicyclic structure in the molecule is a (meth) acrylate having a tricyclodecane structure from the point that even if there are few functional groups, the lack of crosslinking points can be compensated by a special cyclic structure. A compound and a (meth) acrylate compound having an adamantane structure are preferred.

The (meth) acrylate compound having a tricyclodecane structure is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include tricyclodecane dimethanol diacrylate and tricyclodecane dimethanol dimethacrylate. Can be mentioned.
As the (meth) acrylate compound having the tricyclodecane structure, an appropriately synthesized compound or a commercially available product may be used. As this commercial item, brand name: A-DCP (made by Shin-Nakamura Chemical Co., Ltd.) etc. are mentioned, for example.

  The (meth) acrylate compound having an adamantane structure is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. For example, 1,3-adamantane dimethanol diacrylate, 1,3-adamantane dimethanol dimethacrylate Etc.

Examples of the (meth) acrylate compound having a functional group equivalent molecular weight of 350 or less and a functional group number of 3 to 6 include pentaerythritol triacrylate and dipentaerythritol hexaacrylate.
The number of functional groups means the number of functional groups in the molecule, and the functional group equivalent molecular weight means the molecular weight per functional group.

  In addition to these, the ultraviolet curable compound can also reduce the average thickness of the first region and the second region, suppress toner adhesion, and improve the film forming property. It is preferable to further contain a fluorine-based (meth) acrylate compound.

As the fluorine-based (meth) acrylate compound, those having a perfluoropolyether skeleton are preferable, those having a perfluoropolyether skeleton and having two or more functional groups are more preferable.
As the fluorine-based (meth) acrylate compound, a commercially available product can be used. Examples of the commercially available product include OPTOOL DAC-HP (manufactured by Daikin Industries, Ltd.) and MegaFac RS-75 (manufactured by DIC Corporation). ), Viscoat V-3F (Osaka Organic Chemical Co., Ltd.) and the like.

<< Thermosetting compound >>
There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said thermosetting compound, Although it can select suitably according to the objective, From the point which is the same compound as the said elastic member, an isocyanate compound is preferable.
Examples of the isocyanate compound include a compound having two isocyanate groups in the molecule, a compound having three or more isocyanate groups in the molecule, and derivatives, modified products, and multimers thereof. These may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together. Among these, an isocyanate compound having two isocyanate groups in the molecule is preferable.

  Examples of the isocyanate compound having two isocyanate groups in the molecule include 2,4-tolylene diisocyanate, 2,6-tolylene diisocyanate, 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI), m-phenylene diisocyanate, tetra Examples include methylene diisocyanate, hexamethylene diisocyanate, 4,4 ′, 4 ″ -triphenylmethane triisocyanate, 2,4 ′, 4 ″ -biphenyl triisocyanate, 2,4,4 ″ -diphenylmethane triisocyanate, and the like. .

<< Other ingredients >>
There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said other component, According to the objective, it can select suitably, For example, a photoinitiator, a polymerization inhibitor, a diluent etc. are mentioned. These may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together.

-Photopolymerization initiator-
The photopolymerization initiator is not particularly limited as long as it generates active species such as radicals and cations by light energy and initiates polymerization, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. A radical polymerization initiator, a photocationic polymerization initiator, etc. are mentioned. Among these, a photo radical polymerization initiator is particularly preferable.

  Examples of the radical photopolymerization initiator include aromatic ketones, acylphosphine oxide compounds, aromatic onium salt compounds, organic peroxides, thio compounds (thioxanthone compounds, thiophenyl group-containing compounds, etc.), hexaarylbiimidazoles, and the like. Examples thereof include compounds, ketoxime ester compounds, borate compounds, azinium compounds, metallocene compounds, active ester compounds, compounds having a carbon halogen bond, and alkylamine compounds.

  The radical photopolymerization initiator is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. For example, acetophenone, acetophenone benzyl ketal, 1-hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone, 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone , Xanthone, fluorenone, benzaldehyde, fluorene, anthraquinone, triphenylamine, carbazole, 3-methylacetophenone, 4-chlorobenzophenone, 4,4'-dimethoxybenzophenone, 4,4'-diaminobenzophenone, Michler's ketone, benzoin propyl ether , Benzoin ethyl ether, benzyldimethyl ketal, 1- (4-isopropylphenyl) -2-hydroxy-2-methylpropan-1-one, 2-hydroxy-2-methyl-1 Phenylpropan-1-one, thioxanthone, diethylthioxanthone, 2-isopropylthioxanthone, 2-chlorothioxanthone, 2-methyl-1- [4- (methylthio) phenyl] -2-morpholino-propan-1-one, bis (2 , 4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) -phenylphosphine oxide, 2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl-diphenyl-phosphine oxide, 2,4-diethylthioxanthone, bis- (2,6-dimethoxybenzoyl) -2,4 , 4-trimethylpentylphosphine oxide and the like. These may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together.

  Commercially available products can be used as the photoradical polymerization initiator. Examples of the commercially available products include Irgacure 651, Irgacure 184, DAROCUR 1173, Irgacure 2959, Irgacure 127, Irgacure 907, Irgacure 369, Irgacure 379, and DAROCUR. TPO, IRGACURE 819, IRGACURE 784, IRGACURE OXE 01, IRGACURE OXE 02, IRGACURE 754 (above, manufactured by BASF Japan); Speedcure TPO (manufactured by Lambson); KAYACURE DETX-S; manufactured by Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd .; L , LR8883, LR8970 (above, manufactured by BASF); Ubekrill P36 (manufactured by UCB), and the like. These may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together.

  The content of the photopolymerization initiator is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, but is preferably 1% by mass or more and 20% by mass or less with respect to the total amount of the ultraviolet curable compound.

-Polymerization inhibitor-
The polymerization inhibitor is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include p-methoxyphenol, cresol, t-butylcatechol, di-t-butylparacresol, hydroquinone monomethyl ether, α Naphthol, 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxytoluene, 2,2'-methylenebis (4-methyl-6-tert-butylphenol), 2,2'-methylenebis (4-ethyl-6-butylphenol) ), 4,4′-thiobis (3-methyl-6-t-butylphenol); p-benzoquinone, anthraquinone, naphthoquinone, phenanthraquinone, p-xyloquinone, p-toluquinone, 2,6-dichloro Quinone, 2,5-diphenyl-p-benzoquinone, 2,5-diacetoxy-p-benzox 2,5-dicaproxy-p-benzoquinone, 2,5-diacyloxy-p-benzoquinone, hydroquinone, 2,5-di-butylhydroquinone, mono-t-butylhydroquinone, monomethylhydroquinone, 2,5-di-t A quinone compound such as amylhydroquinone; an amine compound such as phenyl-β-naphthylamine, p-benzylaminophenol, di-β-naphthylparaphenylenediamine, dibenzylhydroxylamine, phenylhydroxylamine, diethylhydroxylamine; Nitro compounds such as nitrotoluene and picric acid; oxime compounds such as quinone dioxime and cyclohexanone oxime; and sulfur compounds such as phenothiazine. These may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together.

-Diluent-
The diluent is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include hydrocarbon solvents such as toluene and xylene; ethyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, methyl cellosolve acetate, propylene glycol monomethyl ether Ester solvents such as acetate; ketone solvents such as methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, diisobutyl ketone, cyclohexanone, cyclopentanone; ether solvents such as ethylene glycol monomethyl ether, ethylene glycol monoethyl ether, propylene glycol monomethyl ether; ethanol, Examples include alcohol solvents such as propanol, 1-butanol, isopropyl alcohol, and isobutyl alcohol. These may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together.

<To be cleaned>
The member to be cleaned is not particularly limited with respect to its material, shape, structure, size, etc., and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. Examples of the shape of the member to be cleaned include a drum shape, a belt shape, a flat plate shape, and a sheet shape. There is no restriction | limiting in particular as a magnitude | size of the said member to be cleaned, Although it can select suitably according to the objective, The magnitude | size normally used is preferable.

There is no restriction | limiting in particular as a material of the said to-be-cleaned member, According to the objective, it can select suitably, A metal, a plastic, a ceramic, etc. are mentioned.
There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said member to be cleaned, According to the objective, it can select suitably, For example, when the said cleaning blade is applied to an image forming apparatus, an image carrier etc. are mentioned.

<Residue>
The residue is not particularly limited as long as it is attached to the surface of the member to be cleaned and is to be removed by the cleaning blade, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. For example, toner, lubricant , Inorganic fine particles, organic fine particles, dust, dust or a mixture thereof.

<Other members>
There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said other member, According to the objective, it can select suitably, For example, a support member etc. are mentioned.

<< support member >>
There is no restriction | limiting in particular about the shape, a magnitude | size, a material, etc. as said support member, According to the objective, it can select suitably. Examples of the shape of the support member include a flat plate shape, a strip shape, and a sheet shape. There is no restriction | limiting in particular as a magnitude | size of the said supporting member, According to the magnitude | size of the said member to be cleaned, it can select suitably.
Examples of the material of the support member include metals, plastics, and ceramics. Among these, a metal plate is preferable from the viewpoint of strength, and a steel plate such as stainless steel, an aluminum plate, and a phosphor bronze plate are particularly preferable.

<Manufacturing method of cleaning blade>
The method for producing the cleaning blade of the present invention is not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected depending on the purpose. For example, the elastic member is impregnated with the curable composition, and subjected to a curing treatment, thereby forming a groove. It can manufacture by performing.

There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said hardening process, According to the objective, it can select suitably, For example, the process by irradiation of an ultraviolet-ray, a heating, etc. are mentioned. Among these, the treatment by ultraviolet irradiation is preferable.
The apparatus for irradiating ultraviolet rays is not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. For example, an ultraviolet light source is provided inside the apparatus, and the object to be cured is conveyed by a conveying means such as a conveyor. An apparatus that irradiates ultraviolet rays while enumerating them.

The ultraviolet light source is not particularly limited as long as it corresponds to the polymerization initiator, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. Examples thereof include a lamp and an ultraviolet light emitting semiconductor element.
Examples of the lamp include metal halide lamps, xenon lamps, carbon arc lamps, chemical lamps, low-pressure mercury lamps, and high-pressure mercury lamps, and commercially available products can be used. Examples of the commercially available products include H valve, D valve, and V valve manufactured by Heraeus Co., Ltd.
Examples of the ultraviolet light emitting semiconductor element include an ultraviolet light emitting diode and an ultraviolet light emitting semiconductor laser.
The type of the ultraviolet ray is not particularly limited as long as it corresponds to a polymerization initiator described later to be contained in the first curable composition, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. Examples include ultraviolet rays of ˜400 nm, far ultraviolet rays, g-line, h-line, i-line, KrF excimer laser beam, ArF excimer laser beam, electron beam, X-ray, molecular beam or ion beam.

The irradiation condition of ultraviolet rays used for curing the curable composition is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, integrated light quantity 500 mJ / cm ² or more 25,000mJ / cm ² The following is preferred.
More specifically, when the curable composition contains the (meth) acrylate compound and a commercially available Irgacure (registered trademark) 184 manufactured by BASF as the polymerization initiator, the irradiated object is conveyed. Then, using a belt conveyor type ultraviolet irradiation device (ECS-1511U, manufactured by Eye Graphics Co., Ltd.) that irradiates ultraviolet light while passing through the light source disposed inside, the output of the light source is 176 W / cm, and Under the irradiation conditions where the conveyor speed is 0.8 m / min, the number of times of passing through the belt conveyor type ultraviolet irradiation device is preferably 1 pass (1 pass) or more and 5 passes (5 passes) or less.

Next, the groove forming process will be described. There is no restriction | limiting in particular as a formation processing method of a groove | channel, According to the objective, it can select suitably, For example, grind | polishing with the abrasive | polishing agent or abrasive sheet which has the abrasive grain in which the particle size was adjusted precisely. Among these, a method using a polishing sheet is preferable in that a simple and appropriate treatment can be performed.
There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said polishing sheet, According to the objective, it can select suitably, For example, the wrapping film sheet made from 3M company can be used conveniently. Examples of the grain size of the abrasive grains of the polishing sheet include 3 μm (# 4000), 5 μm (# 3000), 9 μm (# 2000), and 12 μm (# 1200). These sheets are attached to a drum base or the like alone or in combination, and the contact condition is adjusted for the sheet, and after the impregnation treatment or after the impregnation treatment, the elastic blade on which the surface layer is formed is brought into contact to form a groove. Is. The width, depth, length, and number of formations can be controlled as a groove formation state by a combination of the contact pressure, contact angle, processing time, and type of polishing sheet.

(Image forming apparatus and image forming method)
The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes at least an image carrier, a charging unit, an exposure unit, a developing unit, a transfer unit, a fixing unit, and a cleaning unit, and other components appropriately selected as necessary. It has the means. The charging unit and the exposure unit may be collectively referred to as an electrostatic latent image forming unit.

  The image forming method used in the present invention includes at least a charging step, an exposure step, a development step, a transfer step, a fixing step, and a cleaning step, and further includes other steps appropriately selected as necessary. . The charging process and the exposure process may be collectively referred to as an electrostatic latent image forming process.

  The image forming method used in the present invention can be preferably implemented by the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the charging step can be performed by the charging unit, and the exposure step can be performed by the exposing unit. The developing step can be performed by the developing unit, the transferring step can be performed by the transferring unit, the fixing step can be performed by the fixing unit, and the cleaning step is performed by the cleaning unit. The other steps can be performed by the other means.

<Image carrier>
The image carrier (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “electrophotographic photoreceptor” or “photoreceptor”) is not particularly limited in terms of material, shape, structure, size, etc., and is appropriately selected from known ones. can do. Examples of the shape of the image carrier include a drum shape and a belt shape. Examples of the material of the image carrier include inorganic photoreceptors such as amorphous silicon and selenium, and organic photoreceptors (OPC) such as polysilane and phthalopolymethine.

<Charging step and charging means>
The charging step is a step of charging the surface of the image carrier, and is performed by the charging unit.
The charging means is not particularly limited as long as it can charge the surface of the image carrier, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. For example, a conductive or semiconductive roller, Examples thereof include a contact charger known per se provided with a brush, a film, a rubber blade and the like, and a non-contact charger utilizing corona discharge such as corotron and scorotron.
The shape of the charging means may take any form, such as a roller, a magnetic brush, or a fur brush, and can be selected according to the specifications and form of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus. When using a magnetic brush, the magnetic brush is composed of, for example, various ferrite particles such as Zn-Cu ferrite as a charging means, a non-magnetic conductive sleeve for supporting it, and a magnet roll included therein. . Or when using a brush, for example, as the material of the fur brush, a fur treated with carbon, copper sulfide, metal or metal oxide is used, and this is wound around a metal or other conductive core. Make it a charger by sticking.
The charger is not limited to the contact charger as described above, but has an advantage that an image forming apparatus in which ozone generated from the charger is reduced can be obtained.
It is preferable that the charger is arranged in contact or non-contact with the image carrier and charges the surface of the image carrier by applying a direct current and an alternating voltage.
In addition, there is a charging roller in which a charging roller having a gap tape on the image carrier and arranged in a non-contact manner and charging the surface of the image carrier by applying a direct current and an alternating voltage to the charging roller in a superimposed manner. preferable.

<Exposure process and exposure means>
The exposure step is a step of exposing the charged surface of the image carrier, and is performed by the exposure unit. The exposure can be performed, for example, by exposing the surface of the image carrier imagewise using the exposure unit.
The optical system in the exposure is roughly classified into an analog optical system and a digital optical system. The analog optical system is an optical system that directly projects a document onto the surface of the image carrier by an optical system, and the digital optical system receives image information as an electrical signal and converts the electrical signal into an optical signal. An optical system that exposes an image carrier to form an image.
The exposure unit is not particularly limited as long as the charged image carrier can be exposed to form an electrostatic latent image, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. For example, a copying optical system, Examples include various exposure devices such as a rod lens array system, a laser optical system, a liquid crystal shutter optical system, and an LED optical system.
In the present invention, an optical back side system in which imagewise exposure is performed from the back side of the image carrier may be adopted.

<Development process and development means>
The developing step is a step of developing the electrostatic latent image into the toner image, and is performed by the developing unit.
The developing means is not particularly limited as long as the electrostatic latent image can be developed into a toner image, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. For example, the toner is accommodated and the electrostatic latent image is stored. A toner having at least a developing device capable of applying the toner in a contact or non-contact manner is preferably used.
The developing device may be of a dry developing method or a wet developing method, and may be a single color developing device or a multi-color developing device. For example, the stirring for charging the toner by friction stirring. Suitable examples include those having a container and a rotatable magnet roller.
In the developing unit, for example, the toner and a carrier as necessary are mixed and stirred, and the toner is charged by friction at that time, and is held on the surface of the rotating magnet roller in a raised state. A brush is formed. Since the magnet roller is disposed in the vicinity of the image carrier, a part of the toner constituting the magnetic brush formed on the surface of the magnet roller is electrically attracted to the electrostatic latent image. It moves to the surface of the image carrier by force. As a result, the electrostatic latent image is developed with the toner, and the toner image is formed on the surface of the image carrier.
The toner to be accommodated in the developing device is not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected depending on the purpose.

<Transfer process and transfer means>
The transfer step is a step of transferring the toner image to a recording medium, and is performed by the transfer unit.
As the transfer process, for example, an intermediate transfer body is used, and a primary transfer process in which the toner image is transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer body to form a composite transfer image, and the composite transfer image is transferred to a recording medium. An embodiment including a secondary transfer step is preferable.
The transfer unit is not particularly limited as long as the toner image can be transferred to a recording medium, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. The toner image is transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer member to form a composite transfer image. An embodiment having a primary transfer unit that transfers the composite transfer image onto a recording medium is preferable.
The primary transfer unit and the secondary transfer unit preferably include at least a transfer unit that peels and charges the toner image formed on the surface of the image carrier onto a recording medium.
There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said transfer device, According to the objective, it can select suitably, For example, the corona transfer device by a corona discharge, a transfer belt, a transfer roller, a pressure transfer roller, an adhesive transfer device etc. are mentioned. There may be one transfer unit or two or more transfer units.

  The recording medium is not particularly limited as long as it can transfer the unfixed toner image after development, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose, and is typically plain paper. However, for example, a PET base for OHP can also be used.

<Fixing process and fixing means>
The fixing step is a step of fixing the toner image transferred to the recording medium, and is performed by the fixing unit. When two or more color toners are used, the toner may be fixed each time the toner of each color is transferred to the recording medium, or the toner of all colors may be transferred to the recording medium and fixed in a stacked state. Also good.
The fixing unit is not particularly limited as long as the toner image transferred to the recording medium can be fixed. The fixing unit can be appropriately selected according to the purpose, and a heat fixing method using a known heating and pressing unit. Can be adopted.
Examples of the heating and pressing means include a combination of a heating roller and a pressure roller, a combination of a heating roller, a pressure roller, and an endless belt. There is no restriction | limiting in particular as heating temperature, Although it can select suitably according to the objective, 80 to 200 degreeC is preferable. If necessary, for example, a known optical fixing device may be used together with the fixing unit.

<Cleaning process and cleaning means>
The cleaning step is a step of removing the toner remaining on the surface of the image carrier, and is performed by the cleaning unit.
As the cleaning means, a cleaning blade of the present invention fixed to a support member is used.

The linear pressure applied to the surface of the image carrier by the elastic member is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, but is preferably 10 N / m or more and 100 N / m or less, and is preferably 10 N / m or more. 50 N / m or less is more preferable. When the linear pressure is 10 N / m or more and 100 N / m or less, it is difficult for the toner to pass through between the contact portion and the member to be cleaned, and the elastic body is prevented from curling. It can be made easier.
In addition, the said linear pressure can be measured using the measuring apparatus incorporating the small compression type load cell made from Kyowa Denki Co., Ltd., for example.

As an angle (hereinafter referred to as “cleaning angle”) formed by a tangent line of the member to be cleaned at a position where the contact portion of the elastic member abuts and a distal end surface of the free end of the elastic member is not particularly limited, Although it can select suitably according to the objective, it is preferable that they are 65 degrees or more and 85 degrees or less.
When the cleaning angle is 65 ° or more and 85 ° or less, it is easy to suppress the turning of the elastic member, and it is possible to easily reduce the occurrence of defective cleaning.

<Other processes and other means>
As said other process, a static elimination process, a recycle process, a control process etc. are mentioned, for example.
Examples of the other means include a static elimination means, a recycling means, and a control means.

-Static elimination process and static elimination means-
The neutralization step is a step of performing neutralization by applying a neutralization bias voltage to the image carrier, and is performed by the neutralization unit.
The neutralization means is not particularly limited as long as a neutralization bias voltage can be applied to the image carrier, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. Examples thereof include a neutralization lamp.

-Recycling process and recycling means-
The recycling step is a step of recycling the toner removed in the cleaning step to the developing unit, and is performed by the recycling unit.
There is no restriction | limiting in particular as said recycling means, According to the objective, it can select suitably, A well-known conveyance means etc. are mentioned.

-Control process and control means-
The control step is a step of controlling each of the steps, and is performed by a control unit.
The control means is not particularly limited as long as the movement of each means can be controlled, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. Examples thereof include devices such as sequencers and computers.

Here, an example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of the image forming apparatus 500 of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 500 includes four image forming units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1K for yellow, magenta, cyan, and black (hereinafter sometimes referred to as Y, C, M, and K). . These use Y, C, M, and K toners of different colors as image forming substances for forming an image, but the other configurations are the same.

Above the four image forming units 1, a transfer unit 60 including an intermediate transfer belt 14 as an intermediate transfer member is disposed. The toner images of the respective colors formed on the surfaces of the photoreceptors 3Y, 3C, 3M, and 3K included in the image forming units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1K, which will be described in detail later, are superimposed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt. It is a configuration to be transferred.
Further, an optical writing unit 40 is disposed below the four image forming units 1. The optical writing unit 40 serving as a latent image forming unit irradiates the photoconductors 3Y, 3C, 3M, and 3K of the image forming units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1K with laser light L emitted based on the image information. Thereby, electrostatic latent images for Y, C, M, and K are formed on the photoreceptors 3Y, 3C, 3M, and 3K. The optical writing unit 40 polarizes the laser light L emitted from the light source by a polygon mirror 41 that is rotationally driven by a motor, and passes the photosensitive members 3Y, 3C, 3M, and 3K through a plurality of optical lenses and mirrors. Is irradiated. Instead of the configuration described above, it is also possible to employ one that performs light scanning with an LED array.

  Below the optical writing unit 40, a first paper feed cassette 151 and a second paper feed cassette 152 are arranged so as to overlap in the vertical direction. Each of these paper feed cassettes stores a plurality of recording media P in a stacked state, and the uppermost recording medium P has a first paper feed roller 151a and a second paper feed. The rollers 152a are in contact with each other. When the first paper feed roller 151a is driven to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 3 by a driving means (not shown), the uppermost recording medium P in the first paper feed cassette 151 moves vertically on the right side of the cassette in FIG. The paper is discharged toward a paper feed path 153 disposed so as to extend to the front. Further, when the second paper feed roller 152 a is driven to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 3 by a driving means (not shown), the uppermost recording medium P in the second paper feed cassette 152 is discharged toward the paper feed path 153. Is done.

  A plurality of conveying roller pairs 154 are arranged in the paper feed path 153. The recording medium P sent to the paper feed path 153 is conveyed from the lower side to the upper side in FIG. 3 while being sandwiched between the rollers of the conveyance roller pair 154.

  A registration roller pair 55 is disposed at the downstream end of the paper feed path 153 in the transport direction. The registration roller pair 55 temporarily stops the rotation of both rollers as soon as the recording medium P sent from the conveying roller pair 154 is sandwiched between the rollers. Then, the recording medium P is sent out toward a secondary transfer nip described later at an appropriate timing.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of one of the four image forming units 1.
As shown in FIG. 4, the image forming unit 1 includes a drum-shaped photosensitive member 3 as an image carrier. The photoconductor 3 has a drum shape, but may have a sheet shape or an endless belt shape.
Around the photoreceptor 3, a charging roller 4, a developing device 5, a primary transfer roller 7, a cleaning device 6, a lubricant application device 10, a static elimination lamp (not shown), and the like are disposed. The charging roller 4 is a charging member provided in a charging device as a charging unit, and the developing device 5 is a developing unit that converts a latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 3 into a toner image. The primary transfer roller 7 is a primary transfer member provided in a primary transfer device as a primary transfer unit that transfers a toner image on the surface of the photoreceptor 3 to the intermediate transfer belt 14. The cleaning device 6 is a cleaning unit that cleans the toner remaining on the photoreceptor 3 after the toner image is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 14. The lubricant application device 10 is a lubricant application unit that applies a lubricant onto the surface of the photoreceptor 3 after the cleaning device 6 performs cleaning. A neutralizing lamp (not shown) is a neutralizing unit that neutralizes the surface potential of the photoreceptor 3 after cleaning.

The charging roller 4 is arranged in a non-contact manner with a predetermined distance from the photoconductor 3, and charges the photoconductor 3 to a predetermined polarity and a predetermined potential. The surface of the photoreceptor 3 uniformly charged by the charging roller 4 is irradiated with laser light L from an optical writing unit 40 serving as a latent image forming unit based on image information, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image.
The developing device 5 has a developing roller 51 as a developer carrier. A developing bias is applied to the developing roller 51 from a power source (not shown). In the casing of the developing device 5, a supply screw 52 and a stirring screw 53 are provided for stirring the developer contained in the casing while conveying the developer in opposite directions. A doctor 54 for regulating the developer carried on the developing roller 51 is also provided. The toner in the developer stirred and conveyed by the two screws of the supply screw 52 and the stirring screw 53 is charged to a predetermined polarity. The developer is pumped up on the surface of the developing roller 51, and the developer pumped up is regulated by the doctor 54, and the toner adheres to the latent image on the photoconductor 3 in the development area facing the photoconductor 3. .

The cleaning device 6 includes a fur brush 101, a cleaning blade 62, and the like. The cleaning blade 62 is in contact with the photoconductor 3 in the counter direction with respect to the surface movement direction of the photoconductor 3. The details of the cleaning blade 62 are as described above.
The lubricant application device 10 includes a solid lubricant 103, a lubricant pressure spring 103 a, and the like, and uses a fur brush 101 as an application brush for applying the solid lubricant 103 onto the photoreceptor 3. The solid lubricant 103 is held by the bracket 103b and is pressed toward the fur brush 101 by a lubricant pressurizing spring 103a. Then, the solid lubricant 103 is scraped by the fur brush 101 that rotates in the rotational direction with respect to the rotation direction of the photoconductor 3, and the lubricant is applied onto the photoconductor 3. By applying lubricant to the photoreceptor, the friction coefficient on the surface of the photoreceptor 3 is maintained at 0.2 or less during non-image formation.

  The charging device is a non-contact proximity arrangement system in which the charging roller 4 is brought close to the photosensitive member 3, and as the charging device, known devices such as a corotron, a scorotron, and a solid state charger (solid state charger) are known. A configuration can be used. Among these charging methods, the contact charging method or the non-contact proximity arrangement method is more desirable, and has advantages such as high charging efficiency, a small amount of ozone generation, and miniaturization of the apparatus.

The light source of the laser light L of the optical writing unit 40 and the light source such as a static elimination lamp include a fluorescent lamp, a tungsten lamp, a halogen lamp, a mercury lamp, a sodium lamp, a light emitting diode (LED), a semiconductor laser (LD), and an electroluminescence (EL). ) And other luminescent materials can be used.
In addition, various types of filters such as a sharp cut filter, a band pass filter, a near infrared cut filter, a dichroic filter, an interference filter, and a color temperature conversion filter can be used to irradiate only light in a desired wavelength range.
Among these light sources, light emitting diodes and semiconductor lasers are used favorably because they have high irradiation energy and have long wavelength light of 600 nm to 800 nm.

  3 includes a belt cleaning unit 162, a first bracket 63, a second bracket 64, and the like in addition to the intermediate transfer belt 14. In addition, four primary transfer rollers 7Y, 7C, 7M, and 7K, a secondary transfer backup roller 66, a driving roller 67, an auxiliary roller 68, a tension roller 69, and the like are also provided. The intermediate transfer belt 14 is endlessly moved counterclockwise in FIG. 3 by the rotational driving of the driving roller 67 while being stretched around these eight roller members. The four primary transfer rollers 7Y, 7C, 7M, and 7K sandwich the intermediate transfer belt 14 that is moved endlessly in this manner from the photoreceptors 3Y, 3C, 3M, and 3K to form primary transfer nips. . Then, a transfer bias having a polarity opposite to that of the toner (for example, plus) is applied to the back surface (loop inner peripheral surface) of the intermediate transfer belt 14. The intermediate transfer belt 14 sequentially passes through the primary transfer nips for Y, C, M, and K along with its endless movement, and on the front surface thereof, the intermediate transfer belt 14 is on the photoreceptors 3Y, 3C, 3M, and 3K. Y, C, M, and K toner images are superimposed and primarily transferred. As a result, a four-color superimposed toner image (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a four-color toner image) is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 14.

  The secondary transfer backup roller 66 sandwiches the intermediate transfer belt 14 with the secondary transfer roller 70 disposed outside the loop of the intermediate transfer belt 14 to form a secondary transfer nip. The registration roller pair 55 described above feeds the recording medium P sandwiched between the rollers toward the secondary transfer nip at a timing at which the recording medium P can be synchronized with the four-color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 14. The four-color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 14 is affected by the secondary transfer electric field formed between the secondary transfer roller 70 to which the secondary transfer bias is applied and the secondary transfer backup roller 66, and the influence of the nip pressure. Then, the secondary transfer is batch-transferred onto the recording medium P in the secondary transfer nip. Then, combined with the white color of the recording medium P, a full color toner image is obtained.

  Untransferred toner that has not been transferred to the recording medium P adheres to the intermediate transfer belt 14 after passing through the secondary transfer nip. This is cleaned by the belt cleaning unit 162. The belt cleaning unit 162 has a belt cleaning blade 162a in contact with the front surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14, thereby scraping off and removing the transfer residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt 14.

  The first bracket 63 of the transfer unit 60 swings at a predetermined rotation angle about the rotation axis of the auxiliary roller 68 as the solenoid (not shown) is turned on / off. When forming a monochrome image, the image forming apparatus 500 slightly rotates the first bracket 63 counterclockwise in FIG. 3 by driving the solenoid described above. By this rotation, the primary transfer rollers 7Y, 7C, and 7M for Y, C, and M are revolved counterclockwise in FIG. , Separated from the photoconductors 3Y, 3C, and 3M for M. Of the four image forming units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1K, only the K image forming unit 1K is driven to form a monochrome image. Accordingly, it is possible to avoid wear of each member constituting the image forming unit 1 due to wasteful driving of the Y, C, and M image forming units 1 during monochrome image formation.

  A fixing unit 80 is disposed above the secondary transfer nip in FIG. The fixing unit 80 includes a pressure heating roller 81 that contains a heat source such as a halogen lamp, and a fixing belt unit 82. The fixing belt unit 82 includes a fixing belt 84 as a fixing member, a heating roller 83 containing a heat source such as a halogen lamp, a tension roller 85, a driving roller 86, a temperature sensor (not shown), and the like. Then, the endless fixing belt 84 is endlessly moved in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 3 while being stretched by the heating roller 83, the tension roller 85, and the driving roller 86. In the process of endless movement, the fixing belt 84 is heated from the back side by the heating roller 83. A pressure heating roller 81 that is driven to rotate in the clockwise direction in FIG. 3 is in contact with the surface of the fixing belt 84 that is heated in this manner. Thus, a fixing nip where the pressure heating roller 81 and the fixing belt 84 abut is formed.

  A temperature sensor (not shown) is disposed outside the loop of the fixing belt 84 so as to face the front surface of the fixing belt 84 with a predetermined gap, and the fixing belt 84 just before entering the fixing nip. Detect surface temperature. This detection result is sent to a fixing power supply circuit (not shown). The fixing power supply circuit performs on / off control of power supply to the heat generation source included in the heating roller 83 and the heat generation source included in the pressure heating roller 81 based on the detection result of the temperature sensor.

  The recording medium P that has passed through the secondary transfer nip described above is separated from the intermediate transfer belt 14 and then sent into the fixing unit 80. Then, in the process of being conveyed from the lower side to the upper side in FIG. 3 while being sandwiched by the fixing nip in the fixing unit 80, the full-color toner image is fixed on the recording medium P by being heated and pressed by the fixing belt 84. The

  The recording medium P on which the fixing process has been performed in this manner is discharged to the outside of the image forming apparatus after passing between the rollers of the paper discharge roller pair 87. A stack unit 88 is formed on the upper surface of the casing of the image forming apparatus 500 main body, and the recording media P discharged to the outside of the image forming apparatus by the discharge roller pair 87 are sequentially stacked on the stack unit 88.

  Above the transfer unit 60, four toner cartridges 100Y, 100C, 100M, and 100K that store Y, C, M, and K toners are disposed. The Y, C, M, and K toners in the toner cartridges 100Y, 100C, 100M, and 100K are appropriately supplied to the developing devices 5Y, 5C, 5M, and 5K of the image forming units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1K. These toner cartridges 100Y, 100C, 100M, and 100K are detachable from the image forming apparatus main body independently of the image forming units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1K.

Next, an image forming operation in the image forming apparatus 500 will be described.
First, when a print execution signal is received from an operation unit (not shown) or the like, a predetermined voltage or current is sequentially applied to the charging roller 4 and the developing roller 51 at predetermined timings. Similarly, a predetermined voltage or current is sequentially applied to the optical writing unit 40 and a light source such as a static elimination lamp at a predetermined timing. In synchronism with this, the photosensitive member 3 is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3 by a photosensitive member driving motor (not shown) as driving means.

When the photoreceptor 3 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3, first, the surface of the photoreceptor 3 is uniformly charged to a predetermined potential by the charging roller 4. Then, the laser beam L corresponding to the image information is irradiated onto the photoconductor 3 from the optical writing unit 40, and the portion irradiated with the laser light L on the surface of the photoconductor 3 is neutralized to form an electrostatic latent image. .
The surface of the photoreceptor 3 on which the electrostatic latent image is formed is rubbed by a developer magnetic brush formed on the developing roller 51 at a portion facing the developing device 5. At this time, the negatively charged toner on the developing roller 51 is moved to the electrostatic latent image side by a predetermined developing bias applied to the developing roller 51 to be converted into a toner image (development). In each image forming unit 1, the same image forming process is executed, and a toner image of each color is formed on the surface of each photoconductor 3Y, 3C, 3M, 3K of each image forming unit 1Y, 1C, 1M, 1K. .
As described above, in the image forming apparatus 500, the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor 3 is reversely developed by the developing device 5 with the negatively charged toner. In this embodiment, an example using a non-contact charging roller system of N / P (negative positive: toner adheres to a place where the potential is low) has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this.

The toner images of the respective colors formed on the surfaces of the photoreceptors 3Y, 3C, 3M, and 3K are sequentially primary-transferred so as to overlap on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14. As a result, a four-color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 14.
The four-color toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 14 is fed from the first paper feed cassette 151 or the second paper feed cassette 152, passed between the rollers of the registration roller pair 55, and fed to the secondary transfer nip. To the recording medium P to be transferred. At this time, the recording medium P is temporarily stopped while being sandwiched between the registration roller pair 55, and is supplied to the secondary transfer nip in synchronization with the leading edge of the image on the intermediate transfer belt 14. The recording medium P to which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the intermediate transfer belt 14 and conveyed to the fixing unit 80. Then, the recording medium P to which the toner image is transferred passes through the fixing unit 80, whereby the toner image is fixed on the recording medium P by the action of heat and pressure, and the recording medium P on which the toner image is fixed is an image. It is discharged out of the forming apparatus 500 and stacked on the stack unit 88.

On the other hand, the transfer residual toner on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 that has transferred the toner image onto the recording medium P at the secondary transfer nip is removed by the belt cleaning unit 162.
Further, the surface of the photoreceptor 3 on which the toner images of the respective colors are transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 14 at the primary transfer nip, the residual toner after the transfer is removed by the cleaning device 6, and the lubricant is applied by the lubricant applying device 10. Thereafter, the charge is removed by a charge removal lamp.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming unit 1 of the image forming apparatus 500 includes a photosensitive member 3 and a charging roller 4, a developing device 5, a cleaning device 6, and a lubricant applying device 10 as process means. It has been. The image forming unit 1 can be integrally attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus 500 as a process cartridge. In the image forming apparatus 500, the image forming unit 1 integrally replaces the photosensitive member 3 as a process cartridge and the process means, but the photosensitive member 3, the charging roller 4, the developing device 5, and the cleaning device 6. Alternatively, the lubricant application device 10 may be replaced with a new one in units.

(Process cartridge)
The process cartridge of the present invention comprises at least an image carrier and cleaning means for removing toner remaining on the image carrier, and further comprises other means as necessary.
As the cleaning means, the cleaning blade of the present invention is used.
The process cartridge includes an image carrier and the cleaning blade of the present invention, and further includes at least one of a charging unit, an exposure unit, a developing unit, a transfer unit, a cleaning unit, and a charge eliminating unit. An apparatus (part) that is detachable from the image forming apparatus.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. However, “part” means “part by mass” unless otherwise specified.

<Production of elastic body>
Elastic bodies 1 to 6 having a size of 11.5 mm × 326 mm with an average thickness of 1.8 mm as shown in Table 1 with the structure and physical properties at 25 ° C. were obtained. The elastic bodies 5 and 6 having a two-layer structure have an average thickness (first layer) on the contact side of 0.5 mm and an average thickness (second layer) on the non-contact side of 1.3 mm. The sheets thus obtained were overlapped to obtain an average thickness of 1.8 mm.

-Hardness measurement-
The hardness of the elastic bodies 1 to 6 was measured according to JIS K6253 using a micro rubber hardness meter MD-1 manufactured by Kobunshi Keiki Co., Ltd. The two-layer blade was measured from each side. The results are shown in Table 1.
As the measurement sample, the elastic bodies 1 to 4 having a single-layer structure were cut into a size of 10 mm × 20 mm with an average thickness of 1.8 mm. In the two-layered elastic bodies 5 and 6, sheets having an average thickness on the abutting side of 0.5 mm and an average thickness on the non-abutting side of 1.3 mm are overlapped to obtain an average thickness. Each layer was measured from the front surface (abutting side) and the back surface (the side not the abutting side) of a sheet cut to a size of 1.8 mm and 10 mm × 20 mm.

-Rebound resilience measurement-
The rebound resilience of the elastic bodies 1 to 6 was measured at 25 ° C. according to JIS K6255 using a Tori Seiki Seisakusho Co., Ltd. Resilient Tester (No. 221).
As the measurement sample, the elastic bodies 1 to 4 having a single layer structure were used by overlapping ones cut into a size of 10 mm × 20 mm so that the average thickness was 4 mm or more. In the elastic bodies 5 and 6 having a two-layer structure, sheets cut into a size of 10 mm × 20 mm so as to have an average thickness of 4 mm or more were used in an overlapping manner.

(Preparation example)
For forming the impregnation layer and the surface layer, the following curable materials (curable compositions) 1 to 8 were prepared by a conventional method.
<Curing material 1>
Monomer 1: PETIA 8.0 parts manufactured by Daicel Ornex Co., Ltd. Monomer 2: 2.0 parts ODA-N manufactured by Daicel Ornex Co., Ltd. Monomer 3: OPTOOL DAC-HP 0.1 parts manufactured by Daikin Co., Ltd. Polymerization initiator: manufactured by BASF Japan Irgacure 184 0.5 part Solvent: Cyclohexanone 89.4 parts

<Curing material 2>
Monomer 1: PETIA 7.0 parts manufactured by Daicel Ornex Co., Ltd. Monomer 2: HDDA 3.0 parts manufactured by Daicel Ornex Co., Ltd. Polymerization initiator: Irgacure 184 0.5 parts manufactured by BASF Japan Ltd. Solvent: Cyclohexanone 89.5 parts

<Curing material 3>
Monomer 1: PETIA 10.0 parts manufactured by Daicel Ornex Co., Ltd. Monomer 2: OPTOOL DAC-HP 0.1 parts manufactured by Daikin Corporation Polymerization initiator: Irgacure 184 0.5 parts manufactured by BASF Japan Ltd. Solvent: Cyclohexanone 89.4 parts

<Curing material 4>
Monomer 1: PETIA 8.0 parts manufactured by Daicel Ornex Co., Ltd. Monomer 2: IBOA 2.0 parts manufactured by Daicel Ornex Co., Ltd. Monomer 3: OPTOOL DAC-HP 0.1 parts manufactured by Daikin Co., Ltd. Polymerization initiator: Irgacure 184 manufactured by BASF Japan 0.5 part Solvent: 89.4 parts of cyclohexanone

<Curing material 5>
Monomer 1: PETIA 7.0 parts manufactured by Daicel Ornex Co., Ltd. Monomer 2: EBECRYL11 3.0 parts manufactured by Daicel Ornex Co., Ltd. Monomer 3: OPTOOL DAC-HP 0.1 parts manufactured by Daikin Co., Ltd. Irgacure 184 manufactured by BASF Japan 0.5 part Solvent: 89.4 parts of cyclohexanone

<Curing material 6>
Monomer 1: DPHA 10.0 parts manufactured by Daicel Ornex Co., Ltd. Polymerization initiator: Irgacure 184 1.0 parts manufactured by BASF Japan Ltd. Solvent: Cyclohexanone 89.0 parts

<Curing material 7>
Monomer 1: DPCA-120 manufactured by Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd. 8.0 parts Monomer 2: IBOA 2.0 parts manufactured by Daicel Ornex Co., Ltd. Monomer 3: RS-75 0.1 parts manufactured by DIC Corporation Polymerization initiator: Irgacure manufactured by BASF Japan 184 0.5 parts Solvent: Cyclohexanone 89.4 parts

<Curing material 8>
Monomer 1: PETIA 5.0 parts manufactured by Daicel Ornex Co., Ltd. Monomer 2: UN-2700 5.0 parts manufactured by Negami Kogyo Co., Ltd. Monomer 3: RS-75 0.1 parts manufactured by DIC Corporation Polymerization initiator: Irgacure 184 manufactured by BASF Japan 0.5 part Solvent: 89.4 parts of cyclohexanone

  Among the above monomers, OPTOOL DAC-HP manufactured by Daikin and RS-75 manufactured by DIC are fluorinated acrylic monomers, have an perfluoropolyether skeleton, and are acrylates having two or more functional groups. That is, the curable materials 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 are ultraviolet curable resin monomer mixtures containing a fluorinated acrylic monomer.

  Table 2 shows the acrylic monomers used for the curable materials 1 to 8, their main skeleton, the number of functional groups, and the functional group equivalent molecular weight.

As shown in Table 2 above, Daicel Ornex Co., Ltd .: PETIA, DPHA and Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd .: DPCA-120 are mainly composed of pentaerythritol triacrylate having a functional group equivalent molecular weight of 350 or less and a functional group number of 3-6. An acrylic monomer having a skeleton.
Further, Daicel Ornex Co., Ltd .: ODA-N, HDDA, IBOA, EBECRYL11 and Negami Kogyo Co., Ltd .: UN-2700 are acrylic monomers having functional group equivalent molecular weights of 100 to 1,000 and functional groups of 1 to 2.
Therefore, the curable materials 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8 are curable materials obtained by mixing the two types of acrylic monomers.

(Polishing example)
The vicinity of the contact side of the cleaning blade was polished under the following conditions.
<Polishing process 1>
Polishing sheet: 3M wrapping film sheet particle size 1 [μm]
Contact cleaning angle: 78 degrees
Contact line pressure: 20 [g / cm]
Processing distance (processing machine linear speed x processing time): 10 [m]

<Polishing process 2>
Polishing sheet: 3M wrapping film sheet particle size 3 [μm]
Contact cleaning angle: 77 degrees
Contact line pressure: 15 [g / cm]
Processing distance (Processing machine linear speed x Processing time): 3 [m]

<Polishing process 3>
Polishing sheet: Lapping film sheet particle size 9 [μm] manufactured by 3M
Contact cleaning angle: 79 degrees
Contact line pressure: 25 [g / cm]
Processing distance (Processing machine linear speed x Processing time): 2 [m]

<Polishing process 4>
Polishing sheet: Lapping film sheet particle size 30 [μm] manufactured by 3M
Contact cleaning angle: 78 degrees
Contact line pressure: 20 [g / cm]
Processing distance (Processing machine linear speed x Processing time): 0.5 [m]

(Examples 1-7, Comparative Examples 1-7)
Using an elastic body and a cured material (impregnated material and surface layer material) as shown in each column of Examples 1 to 7 and Comparative Examples 1 to 7 in Table 3 below, the polishing treatment as shown in each column is advanced. Each cleaning blade was made by changing the groove on the surface.
A verification experiment was performed for each of these cleaning blades as follows. The results are shown in Table 3.

<Production of image forming apparatus for which verification experiment was performed>
Each elastic blade in the shape of a strip having an average thickness of 1.8 mm was produced using urethane rubber. Next, first, the impregnation layer is formed by immersing the blade tip in an impregnation treatment liquid (curing material) so that the impregnation depth described in Table 3 is achieved using the curing material described in Table 3. went. Thereafter, it was air-dried for 3 minutes.
Then, about what forms a surface layer, the surface layer was formed as follows. Masking was performed so as to cover a portion (blade holder side) where the surface layer was not formed on the lower surface of the blade. Masking was performed by applying a masking tape (3M PTFE tape 5490). Thereafter, a surface layer was formed on the lower surface of the blade masked with the curing material shown in Table 3 by spray coating. The surface layer was formed by the following method. First, spray coating was performed so that the thickness of the surface layer on the lower surface of the blade was the average thickness shown in Table 3 at a spray gun moving speed of 10 mm / s, and then touch-dried for 3 minutes. Thereafter, ultraviolet exposure (2,000 mJ / cm ² × 3 passes) was performed.
Next, polishing treatment was performed under the conditions described in Table 3. The polishing process was performed by separately using a processing machine capable of changing the contact condition of the blade. The processing machine reproduced the structure around the blade with the same configuration as the Ricoh color composite machine imageio MP C5000 used in the verification experiment described below. A polishing sheet was wound around a portion corresponding to the photosensitive drum, and a process was performed by rotating at a linear speed of 125 [mm / s] for a predetermined time while contacting the blade under a predetermined contact condition.
The polished state was measured using a laser microscope VK9500 manufactured by Keyence Corporation.
In Examples 1 to 7, the Martens hardness of the surface layer and the impregnation layer was higher than the Martens hardness of the elastic blade.

  The thickness of the surface layer was measured by a cross section of the elastic blade using a microscope VHX-100 manufactured by Keyence Corporation. The measurement sample was a cross-section cut using a trimming razor for SEM sample preparation manufactured by Nisshin EM.

Impregnation material (cured material of the cured material) is detected in the vicinity of the tip ridge line portion of the elastic blade by the impregnation treatment, and this is a so-called that the detection intensity decreases from the surface side where the impregnation treatment is performed. It is formed with a concentration gradient. Therefore, the impregnation depth is a distance from the surface side where the impregnated material is hardly detected.
Specifically, the measurement of the impregnation depth (impregnation treatment region) was performed as follows.
A cross-sectional slice of the edge portion of the target sample was prepared with a cryomicrotome (EM / FCS, manufactured by Leica) and measured with a transmission microscope FT-IR (Continuum infrared microscope, manufactured by Thermo Electron). As shown in FIG. 2C, changes in the cross section were measured as appropriate with reference to the blade tip surface 62a and the blade lower surface 62b. The impregnation depth of the acrylic compound was measured using an index obtained by normalizing the peak area near 1,710 cm ^{−1 by} the peak area of 1,415 cm ⁻¹ with the value of the non-impregnated part.

<Assembly of image forming apparatus>
The obtained cleaning blade can be mounted on a color composite machine (image MP C5000, manufactured by Ricoh Co., Ltd.) having the same configuration as the image forming apparatus (printer 500) shown in FIG. And the contact side of the cleaning blade was brought into contact with the image carrier. At this time, the contact when the support member is moved toward the center of the image carrier from a state where the contact side of the cleaning blade is in contact with the image carrier to a state where the cleaning blade is bent. When the moving distance of the side is “tip bite amount”, the tip bite amount is 0.95 mm. In addition, the cleaning angle, which is an angle formed by the tangent line of the member to be cleaned at the position where the contact portion of the elastic body comes into contact with the tip surface of the elastic body, is attached to be 79 °.

<Example of toner preparation>
By the polymerization method, toner base particles having an average circularity of 0.98 and a volume average particle size of 4.9 μm were prepared. With respect to 100 parts of the obtained toner base particles, 1.5 parts of small particle size silica (H1303, manufactured by Clariant Japan Co., Ltd.), 0.5 part of small particle size titanium oxide (MT-150AI, manufactured by Teika Co., Ltd.), and Toner was prepared by stirring and mixing 1.0 part of large particle size silica (UFP-35HH, manufactured by Denki Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd.) with a Henschel mixer.

<Conditions for paper passing experiment>
The conditions of the paper passing experiment performed with the color multifunction machine using the toner are as follows: the usage environment is 65% RH at 20 ° C., the image area ratio 5% chart is 3 prints / job, and A4 size plain paper is 10,000 sheets Was printed in the direction of conveyance in the long side direction of the paper.

<Evaluation of cleaning properties>
After the paper passing test, 20 evaluation images of three charts in which three lines of 43 mm width are drawn at equal intervals in a direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction with the usage environment at 20 ° C. and 60% RH. The evaluation image was visually observed and evaluated according to the following criteria. The results are shown in Table 3.
[Evaluation criteria]
◎: Abnormal image with streaks or strips could not be confirmed ○: Abnormal image with one streak was confirmed (level that is not a problem in actual use)
X: An abnormal image containing two or more streaks or one or more strips was confirmed.

<Filming evaluation>
After the paper passing test, the surface of the image carrier of the image forming apparatus was observed with a digital microscope VHX-100 manufactured by Keyence Corporation, and the degree of toner adhesion (filming) was evaluated according to the following criteria. The results are shown in Table 3.
[Evaluation criteria]
A: No toner adhesion B: A small amount of toner adhesion (a level that causes no problem in actual use)
×: Toner adhered

<Anti-noise evaluation>
During the paper passing test, the presence or absence of abnormal noise (vibration) in the audible range was evaluated by the tester's own hearing according to the following criteria. The results are shown in Table 3.
If the elasticity of the cleaning blade is too high, high-frequency (several kHz) noise is likely to occur, and if the elasticity is too low, chatter vibration at low frequency (several hundred Hz) is likely to occur.
[Evaluation criteria]
○: No abnormal noise ×: Abnormal noise Note that when the cleaning blade is worn over time, the driving torque of the photosensitive member increases and abnormal noise is generated. Abnormal noise is also an evaluation of suppression of increase in driving torque and wear resistance.

The “number of grooves” in the table refers to the number of grooves having a width of 100 μm.

As an aspect of this invention, it is as follows, for example.
<1> A cleaning blade having an elastic member that comes into contact with the surface of the member to be cleaned and removes residues on the surface of the member to be cleaned,
The elastic member has a plate surface including a contact side that contacts the member to be cleaned;
The elastic member includes a cured product of a curable composition at a tip including the contact side,
On the outermost surface of the plate surface, a groove in the direction parallel to the traveling direction of the member to be cleaned is disposed, with the contact side being one end,
The width of the groove is 2 μm or more and 10 μm or less,
The depth of the groove is 0.5 μm or more and 3.0 μm or less,
The cleaning blade is characterized in that five or more grooves are arranged in an arbitrary 100 μm in the direction of the contact side.
<2> The cleaning blade according to <1>, further including a surface layer containing a cured product of the second curable composition on the plate surface.
<3> The elastic member has a depth direction of 100 μm or more and 200 μm or less in a direction from the tip surface including the contact side to the end surface facing the tip surface in the tip portion, and the thickness direction from the plate surface The cleaning blade according to any one of <1> to <2>, wherein a cured product of the curable composition is contained in a region having a depth of 50 μm to 150 μm.
<4> The cleaning blade according to any one of <2> to <3>, wherein an average thickness of the surface layer is 1.0 μm or more and 2.5 μm or less.
<5> The curable composition has a functional group equivalent molecular weight of 350 or less, an acrylic monomer having a functional group number of 3 to 6 pentaerythritol acrylate as a main skeleton, a functional group equivalent molecular weight of 100 to 1,000, and a functional group number of 1 to 2. It is a cleaning blade as described in said <1> containing the acrylic monomer of.
<6> The second curable composition has a functional group equivalent molecular weight of 350 or less, an acrylic monomer having pentaerythritol acrylate having 3 to 6 functional groups as a main skeleton, and a functional group equivalent molecular weight of 100 to 1,000, the number of functional groups. The cleaning blade according to any one of <2> to <4>, wherein the cleaning blade contains 1-2 acrylic monomers.
<7> The cleaning blade according to <6>, wherein the second curable composition further includes an acrylate having a perfluoroether skeleton and having two or more functional groups.
<8> An image carrier, a charging unit that charges the surface of the image carrier, an exposure unit that exposes the charged image carrier to form an electrostatic latent image, and the electrostatic latent image as a toner A developing means for developing an image; a transfer means for transferring the toner image to a recording medium; a fixing means for fixing the toner image transferred to the recording medium; and a surface of the image carrier, A cleaning blade for removing residues on the surface of the image carrier,
An image forming apparatus, wherein the cleaning blade is the cleaning blade according to any one of <1> to <7>.
<9> An image carrier, charging means for charging the surface of the image carrier, exposure means for exposing the charged surface of the image carrier to form an electrostatic latent image, and the electrostatic latent image as a toner At least one of developing means for developing an image and transfer means for transferring the toner image onto a recording medium and the surface of the image carrier are removed to remove residues on the surface of the image carrier. A cleaning blade,
A process cartridge according to any one of <1> to <7>, wherein the cleaning blade is the cleaning blade according to any one of <1> to <7>.

  The cleaning blade according to any one of <1> to <7>, the image forming apparatus according to <8>, and the process cartridge according to <9> solve the conventional problems, and The object of the present invention can be achieved.

3 Photoconductor 14 Intermediate transfer belt 60 Transfer unit 62 Cleaning blade 62a Blade tip surface 62b Blade lower surface 62c Abutting side 62d First region 62e Second region 80 Fixing unit 500 Printer 621 Support member 622 Elastic member

Japanese Patent No. 4227909 Japanese Patent No. 4722680 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2015-230443 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2015-021982

Claims (9)

A cleaning blade having an elastic member that contacts the surface of the member to be cleaned and removes residue on the surface of the member to be cleaned,
The elastic member has a plate surface including a contact side that contacts the member to be cleaned;
The elastic member includes a cured product of a curable composition at a tip including the contact side,
On the outermost surface of the plate surface, a groove in the direction parallel to the traveling direction of the member to be cleaned is disposed, with the contact side being one end,
The width of the groove is 2 μm or more and 10 μm or less,
The depth of the groove is 0.5 μm or more and 3.0 μm or less,
5 or more of the grooves are arranged in an arbitrary 100 μm in the direction of the contact side.   The cleaning blade according to claim 1, further comprising a surface layer containing a cured product of the second curable composition on the plate surface.   The elastic member has a depth of 100 μm or more and 200 μm or less in the direction from the tip surface including the contact side to the end surface facing the tip surface, and a depth in the thickness direction from the plate surface at the tip portion. The cleaning blade according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein a cured product of the curable composition is contained in a region of 50 µm or more and 150 µm or less.   The cleaning blade according to claim 2, wherein an average thickness of the surface layer is 1.0 μm or more and 2.5 μm or less.   The curable composition is an acrylic monomer having a functional group equivalent molecular weight of 350 or less and a pentaerythritol acrylate having 3 to 6 functional groups as a main skeleton, and an acrylic monomer having a functional group equivalent molecular weight of 100 to 1,000 and 1 to 2 functional groups. The cleaning blade according to claim 1, comprising:   The second curable composition comprises an acrylic monomer having a functional group equivalent molecular weight of 350 or less and a pentaerythritol acrylate having 3 to 6 functional groups as a main skeleton, a functional group equivalent molecular weight of 100 to 1,000, and functional groups of 1 to 2 The cleaning blade according to any one of claims 2 to 4, comprising an acrylic monomer.   The cleaning blade according to claim 6, wherein the second curable composition further contains an acrylate having a perfluoroether skeleton and having two or more functional groups. An image carrier, a charging unit for charging the surface of the image carrier, an exposure unit for exposing the charged image carrier to form an electrostatic latent image, and developing the electrostatic latent image into a toner image Developing means, transfer means for transferring the toner image to a recording medium, fixing means for fixing the toner image transferred to the recording medium, and the image carrier in contact with the surface of the image carrier A cleaning blade for removing residues on the surface of
8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning blade is the cleaning blade according to claim 1. An image carrier, a charging unit for charging the surface of the image carrier, an exposure unit for exposing the charged surface of the image carrier to form an electrostatic latent image, and developing the electrostatic latent image into a toner image At least one of a developing unit that transfers the toner image to a recording medium, and a cleaning blade that contacts the surface of the image carrier and removes the residue on the surface of the image carrier. Have
The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning blade is the cleaning blade according to claim 1.