JP2537885Y2 - Supply device for supplying electrophotographic developer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an electrophotographic supply device which stores an electrophotographic developer and supplies it to a developing section of a copying apparatus.

[Related Art] Conventionally, an electrophotographic liquid developer supply device is filled in a polyethylene bottle or the like used for a cartridge, and a developer and a carrier liquid are supplied by a feeder cap method. In the feeder method, a developer or a carrier liquid is discharged by pushing up a nozzle of a feeder cap.

The outlet of the developer in the feeder cap could not be made large due to leakage from the natural fall and reliability, and the amount of the developer supplied at one time was 5 to 10 g. Therefore, if an attempt is made to increase the toner viscosity by increasing the solid content in the developer, the developer is not sufficiently supplied from the feeder cap.
As described above, when the replenishment amount of the developer or the carrier liquid is large due to the increase in the speed of the copying machine, there is a disadvantage that the replenishment is insufficient in the conventional method.

Further, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-125457 discloses an electrophotographic developer injection supply device, and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-153561 proposes a method in which an electrophotographic developer is filled and supplied. According to the use of these pressurized cans, it has become possible to cleanly handle the developer, and it is possible to mechanically replenish the developer with a high solid content, a high viscosity and a thixotropic property. However, although the problem does not usually occur depending on the operating conditions of the copying material, unlike the normal condition, when the temperature in the copying machine suddenly rises, the generated gas and the developer in the electrophotographic developer supply device are not changed. The solvent is heated, the vapor pressure becomes abnormally high, and there is a risk of explosion and burning inside the copying machine.

In a state where such an abnormality has occurred, it is necessary to leak the solvent and gas used as the electrophotographic developer carrier included in the electrophotographic developer supply device before exploding in response to the abnormal state. .

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The purpose of this invention is to supply a high-viscosity or thixotropic developer containing a high solid content in a fixed amount at a time, and to quickly and uniformly disperse the developer in a developing section of an electrophotographic copying machine. An object of the present invention is to provide an electrophotographic developer supply apparatus capable of coping with an abnormal temperature in a copying apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrophotographic developer supply apparatus in which the entire copier does not explode by expelling gas from the supply apparatus when the supply apparatus is heated to a certain high temperature. Things.

[Means for solving the problem]

This invention contains a sufficient amount of material to allow the necessary expansion by generating a gas, and is arranged in contact with the expansion section which expands by the generation of the gas and the expansion section. In an electrophotographic supply apparatus provided with an electrophotographic developer supply unit arranged so that the electrophotographic developer is discharged by expansion of gas generation, a part of an outer wall of the apparatus is an olefin resin or an ionomer resin. An electrophotographic developer supply device comprising an epoxy resin or a shape memory resin.

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

FIG. 1 shows an electrophotographic developer supply device developed by Emvalo Spray Systems. This apparatus has an inflating section for generating gas and an electrophotographic developer supplying section. The former is constituted by a pressure-resistant bag indicated by 3 in FIG.
The latter is shown at 8 in FIG. The swelling portion is composed of a citric acid aqueous solution containing bag 7, a sodium bicarbonate containing bag 6, and an internal pressure holding bag 4, and a divided citric acid aqueous solution containing small bag 5 is contained in the internal pressure holding bag. The electrophotographic developer supply section 8 is filled with a developer, and the developer is pushed out by an expansion section which expands due to the action of carbon dioxide gas generated by a chemical reaction between citric acid and sodium bicarbonate, and is ejected by a nozzle. It is injected more. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an outer wall of the electrophotographic developer supply device.

The outer wall portion of the electrophotographic developer supply device is mainly made of tinplate steel, and can withstand an internal pressure of up to 15 kg / cm ² . However, when the heated internal pressure of the electrophotographic developer supply device becomes 15 kg / cm ² or more, the gaseous substance in a sealed state blows out, and the high temperature at the time of abnormality of the copier acts on the gaseous substance, so that the copier Risk of burning.

Therefore, in the present invention, a part of the outer wall of the electrophotographic developer supply device is made of an olefin resin, an ionomer resin, an epoxy resin or a shape memory resin. By discharging the developer and solvent of the product, the flame of the copying machine is prevented.

In this invention, a hole is made in a part of the outer wall of the electrophotographic developer supply device, and the hole is sealed with the resin to form a pressure can. Alternatively, the bottom of the can and the side of the can may be joined by melting, hot-melting or bonding the resin.

Specific examples of the olefin-based resin (polyolefin or polyolefin copolymer) include the following Nos. 1 to 9 and the like.

No. 1) Polyethylene (Molecular weight 12,000) No. 2) Polyethylene (Molecular weight 102,000) No. 3) Polypropylene (Molecular weight 32,000) No. 4) Polypropylene (Molecular weight 180,000) No. 5) Ethylene-propylene copolymer (50/50) , Molecular weight 1
08,000) No.6) Ethylene-methacrylic acid copolymer (98/2, molecular weight
158,000) No.7) Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (80/20, molecular weight 5
6,200) No. 8) Ethylene-methyl methacrylate-methacrylic acid (80/15/5, molecular weight 185,000) No. 9) Ethylene-propylene-maleic acid copolymer (50
/ 48/2, molecular weight 48,000) Specific examples of ionomer resins include the following No. 10 to No.
There are up to 15 things.

No. 10) Ethylene-maleic acid copolymer (92/8) Ca ionomer No. 11) Propylene-maleic acid copolymer (60/40) Ca ionomer No. 12) Ethylene-propylene-butadiene-methacrylic acid (30 / 30/20/20) Zn ionomer No. 13) Ethylene-methacrylate-acrylic acid (50/25
/ 25) Al ionomer No.14) Ethylene-fumaric acid-itaconic acid (50/25/2
5) Fe ionomer No.15) Ethylene-styrene-acrylic acid (50/25/25) N
aIonomer Epoxy resins (resins containing epoxy groups) include the following No. 16 to No. 20.

No.16) Epoxy phenol resin No.17) Epoxy nylon resin No.18) Epoxy alkyd resin No.19) Epoxy urea resin No.20) Epoxy ester resin As typical examples of shape memory resins (commercially available), Neopolnene resin (manufactured by Zeon Corporation) and the like.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the vicinity of a valve arranged so as to be in surface contact with an electrophotographic developer supply section or an expansion section. As described above, the internal pressure is uniformly applied to the electrophotographic developer under the pressure of the gas which expands due to the surface contact between the electrophotographic developer supply unit and the valve, and the electrophotographic developer is discharged.

The electrophotographic developer may be a dry developer or a liquid developer, or may be one of these materials. Among these, a liquid developer containing a carrier liquid having high insulating properties and a low dielectric constant, a coloring agent, a dispersing or binding resin, and a dispersion medium is preferable. The liquid developer is formed by adding a polarity control agent or the like in some cases.

As the carrier liquid, cyclohexane, n-hexane, n-hexane
-Heptane, n-nonane, n-octane, isooctane, isododecane, ligroin and the like;
Commercial products of aliphatic hydrocarbons of these mixtures include Isopar E, G, H, L, K manufactured by Exxon Corporation and Shell Sol-71, Solvesso 100, 150 manufactured by Shell Petroleum Corporation.

Colorants include Printex V, Printex U, Printex G, Special Black 15, Special Black 4, Special Black 4-B (manufactured by Degussa), Mitsubishi # 44, # 30, MR-11, MA- 100 (Mitsubishi Kasei), Raven 1035, Raven 1252, Newspectra II (Colombia Carbon), Regal 40
0,600, black pearl 900,1100,1300, carbon black such as Mogar L (manufactured by Cabot Corporation), inorganic pigments such as zinc oxide and titanium oxide, and phthalocyanine blue, phthalocyanine green, sky blue, rhodamine lake, malachite green lake, Methyl violet lake, peacock blue lake, naphthol green B, naphthol green Y, naphthol yellow S, naphthol red, lithol first yellow
2G, Permanent Red 4R, Brilliant Fast Scarlet, Hansa Yellow, Benzidine Yellow, Risor Red, Lake Red C, Lake Red D, Brilliant Carmine 6B, Permanent Red F5R, Pigment Scarlet 3B, Indigo, Thio Indigo, Oil Pink and Bordeaux 10B Organic pigments.

The colorant is preferably treated with a modified polyolefin. The modified polyolefin is, for example, polyethylene oxide, polypropylene oxide, ethylene- (meth) acrylic acid copolymer, ethylene- (meth) acrylic acid ester copolymer, propylene- (meth) acrylic acid copolymer, propylene- ( (Meth) acrylic acid ester copolymers, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers, ethylene-ethyl acrylate-acrylic acid copolymers, etc., which can be uniformly dispersed with an inorganic or organic colorant by heat kneading, flushing or the like. desirable.

Other resins include Mitsui Petrochemical Company 110P, 220P, 220MK, 820NK, 410MP, 210MP, 310MP, 405MP, 20
0P, 4202E, 4053E Sanyo Chemical 131P, 151P, 161P, 171P, E300, E250P Eastman Chemical N-10, N-11, N-12, N-14, N-34, N-45 , C-10, C-13, C-15, C-1
6, E-10, E-11, E-12, E-14, E-15 Sasol H1, H2, A1, A2, A3, A4 Basf (BASF) OA WAX, A WAX Petrolite (Petrolite) Barreco (BARECO) 500, Barreco (BARECO) 200, E-730, E-
2018, E-2020, E-1040, Petronaba C, Petronaba C-
36, Petronaba C-400, Petronaba C-400
aba) C-7500 Hoechst PE580, PE130, PED121, PED136, PED153, PED521, PED522, P
ED534 Union Carbide Company DYNI, DYNF, DYNH, DYNJ, DYNK Monsanto Company ORUZON 805,705,50 Dupont Company ALATHON 3,10,12,14,16,20,22,23 Allied Chemical Company AC polyethylene 6, 6A, 615, etc., synthetic polyethylene, polypropylene and its modified products, carnauba wax, montan wax, candelilla wax, sugar cane wax, natural wax such as auricurie wax, beeswax, wood wax, brass wax, ester gum, cured Natural resin such as rosin,
Natural resin modified maleic resin, natural resin modified phenolic resin, natural resin modified polyester resin, natural resin modified pentaerythritol resin, natural resin modified cured resin such as epoxy resin and the like.

As the resin for dispersion, a general formula With a vinyl monomer A represented by the general formula Or a copolymer of a vinyl monomer represented by the following formula with a monomer B selected from vinylpyridine ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, styrene, divinylbenzene and vinyltoluene, or a graft copolymer thereof. Surfactants are also useful.

The amount of the dispersing resin used is usually 0.1 to 3 parts by weight, preferably 0.5 to 1.5 parts by weight, based on 1 part by weight of the resin component. The total resin component which may be present in the toner composition is 5 to 100 parts by weight, preferably 5 to 20 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the liquid component.

As described above, in the present invention, the developer is not limited, but a high solid content developer is preferable.

In order to achieve high solid differentiation, it is necessary to improve the separability between the colorant or the resin and the dispersion medium in the developer, and it is difficult for the colorant or the resin to hold the dispersion medium. For that purpose, the diffusion speed of the toner or the dispersion medium of the toner is preferably 1 mm / min or more.

The diffusion rate of the dispersion medium of the toner, using Toyo Filter Paper No. 2 as a filter paper, 0.30 g of a developer was dropped,
The rate at which the dispersion medium diffuses through the filter paper was measured at room temperature (20 ° C.). Some of them increase or decrease the diffusion speed by heating.

〔Example〕

Examples 1, 2, 3, and 4 A small hole was made in a tin steel plate at the bottom of the outer wall of a 500-ml train core developer supply device similar to that shown in FIG. 1, and the resin was closed by heat fusion and joining. One container was prepared.
On the other hand, Ketjen Black (200 g) / E-300 300 g Flushing treatment colorant 500 g Resin CMA-AMA-MMA (85/5/10) graft polymer 100 g Isopar E 540 g mixture was dispersed in Keddy mill for 6 hours. A wet toner was prepared. Liquid developer with 55% solids and 1800 cp viscosity
200 g was added, and then the bag 7 containing a part of the aqueous citric acid solution of the grow-pak was crushed to generate gas.

As shown in Table 1, when the electrophotographic developer supply device according to the present invention was immersed in a silicone oil bath, a part of the resin on the outer wall of the device was dissolved due to the temperature of the oil bath, and the hole was removed. Opened, and the electrophotographic developer and the solvent flowed out.

In contrast, a conventional electrophotographic developer supply exploded in the same bath after 12 minutes.

Examples 5, 6, 7 and 8 Pressurized cans having the same volume as shown in Fig. 1 and having small holes made in the side surface of a 610 ml tin can and closed with heat by means of the above-mentioned resin by heat-sealing, bonding or other means. Was prepared. On the other hand, a mixture consisting of 500 g of Mitsubishi MA-11 resin, 100 g of resin LMA-GMA-MAA (80/10/10) copolymer (molar ratio), and 500 g of kerosene was dispersed in a ball mill for 48 hours to prepare a wet toner. Wet developer 2 with 54.5% solids and 580 cp viscosity
00g and 200g of Isopar H were mixed in, and the glow pack was treated as in Example 1.

As shown in Table 2, when the electrophotographic developing and supplying apparatus according to the present invention was immersed in a silicone oil bath, a part of the resin on the outer wall of the supplying apparatus was dissolved, and the electrophotographic developer and the solvent flowed out. .

Example 9 (Production of colorant) 300 g of phthalocyanine green and 700 g of an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (molar ratio 70/30) were kneaded at 90 ° C with two rolls. After cooling, it was pulverized to produce a colorant.

(Resin production) Transfer 1000 g of isododecane into a 2 liter four-necked flask at 90 ° C
Was heated. Stearyl acrylate 300 g and allyl butyl acrylate 10 g, fumaric acid 4 g, benzoyl peroxide 3
g was added dropwise over 1 hour. After polymerization at 90 ° C. for 6 hours after the addition, 100 g of n-butyl methacrylate monomer and 4 g of azobisisobutyronitrile were added dropwise over 1 hour.
After dropping, polymerize at 85 ° C for 6 hours, polymerization rate 96.4%, viscosity 890 cps
Was synthesized.

Manufacture of developer Charge the toner material of the following formulation into a ball mill,
For 15 hours to prepare a concentrated toner.

A mixture consisting of 400 g of the above-prepared coloring agent, 10 g of the above-prepared resin 600 g, and 10 g of resin powder (BR102, an acrylic resin manufactured by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd.) was dispersed, and Isopar G was added to a solid content of 35%. The diffusion speed of the dispersion medium was 3.5 mm / min.

280 g of this liquid developer was added, and then a part of the aqueous solution of citric acid in the glow pack was allowed to react with sodium bicarbonate. Holes were made at several places, and these holes were heat-sealed with the resin and closed with the resin. Subsequently, a valve was attached to this.

For comparison, a conventional electrophotographic developer supply device was filled with a gas expansion section and an electrophotographic developer supply device.

There was no explosion when the device was immersed in a 250 ° C silicone oil bath, but it exploded after 8 minutes (in a 250 ° C silicone oil bath) with a pressure can with a conventional valve.

[Effect of the invention]

According to the present invention, in an electrophotographic copying apparatus capable of rapidly supplying a fixed amount of an electrophotographic developer at a high solid content or a high viscosity, an electrophotographic developer is used when the copying machine becomes abnormally high in temperature. Since a part of the outer wall of the supply device is dissolved and the gas and the developer flow away, it is possible to prevent the entire copying machine from burning.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an electrophotographic developer supply device according to the present invention using a grow-pak type. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a valve that can be used in the present invention. FIG. 3 is a view schematically showing a conventional feeder cap type electrophotographic developer supply device. Materials in parentheses below are examples of materials. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electrophotographic developer supply apparatus 2 ... Valve 3 ... Expansion part (pressure-resistant bag for pressurization (aluminum inner surface resin processing)) 4 ... Part for holding internal pressure 5 ... Pouch containing citric acid aqueous solution 6 ... Bicarbonic acid Sodium-containing bag 7 Citric acid aqueous solution containing bag 8 Electrophotographic developer supply unit 10 Flow tube (polyethylene, nylon) 11 Feeder container (polyethylene) 13 Developer 31 Nozzle 32 Rubber packing 33 Caulking member 35 Quantitative container 37 Mounting cup 40 Guard (polyethylene) 41 Spray cap (polyethylene) 42 Spray port (polyethylene, nylon)

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hidemi Uematsu 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A 1-1125457 (JP, U) JP-A 59-32675 (JP, U) Real opening 63-141664 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. An inflatable portion which contains a sufficient amount of material to allow necessary expansion by generating a gas, and which is in contact with the inflatable portion and which is inflated by the generation of the gas. An electrophotographic supply device provided with an electrophotographic developer supply unit arranged so that the electrophotographic developer is discharged by expansion of gas generation, wherein an outer wall of the device is partially composed of an olefin resin, an ionomer, or the like. An electrophotographic developer supply device comprising a resin, an epoxy resin or a shape memory resin.