JP2646263B2 - Elastic rotating body and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an elastic rotating body used for office equipment such as a copying machine, a printer, and a word processor, and a method of manufacturing the same.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, elastic rotating bodies used in copiers, printers, word processors, and the like are used as rollers for transferring a transfer material and also as fixing rollers for unfixed toner with a heating source.

These elastic rotating bodies are liable to wear when dirt such as paper dust, ink, toner, etc. adheres to the surface layer, and therefore, the durability of the surface layer is required.

Further, in a heat fixing roller used in a fixing device such as a copying machine or a printer, it is necessary to prevent toner offset or the like under heating, so that not only the durability but also the smoothness of the roller surface is more severe. Required under conditions.

Therefore, in order to improve the durability of the surface layer of these elastic rotating bodies, an elastic layer is formed on a core metal, a resin material is applied thereon to form a resin layer, and the elastic rotating The body has been proposed previously. It is known that the elastic rotating body is formed by baking and cooling a resin material at the time of manufacturing, thereby lowering the crystallinity of the resin film on the surface and increasing the film strength.

However, if the quenching is not performed uniformly on the surface of the resin film during quenching, heat shrinkage occurs partially on the surface of the resin film, and wrinkles and irregularities occur partially.

For example, as a conventional method of uniformly quenching the surface, after baking a resin material on the surface of the elastic rotating body, the elastic rotating body 1 is directly immersed in a water tank 9 (normal temperature of about 20 ° C.) maintained at a constant temperature. (FIG. 2).

However, in this method, the elastic rotating body is suddenly immersed in water at a high temperature in a molten state where the resin material on the surface is not cured, so that the water boils near the surface of the rotating body, and the movement of the water causes the elastic rotating body to move. There is a problem that the resin material whose surface is not cured is deformed in a wavy manner, and is easily cured in a wavy state as it is. Moreover, as in the conventional case (FIG. 2), when the elastic rotating body is immersed in the water tank in the axial direction, the crystallinity of the resin film differs between the part A which is rapidly cooled first and the part B which is finally cooled. It is difficult to form a uniform and strong coating.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, in the conventional example, due to the difference in the cooling rate at each part of the member to be cooled depending on the cooling method, the surface of the member to be cooled, wrinkles and irregularities occur, Further, it was difficult to form a strong film due to the difference in crystallinity of the resin film located on the surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an elastic rotating body in which a uniform resin film is formed, a strong and smooth resin film is formed on an elastic layer, and a method for manufacturing the same. It is in.

Means and Action for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a hollow cylindrical core, an elastic layer formed on the core, and a resin layer provided by applying a resin material on the elastic layer. A resin coating formed by baking the resin layer, immersing it in a water bath maintained at a constant temperature, and rapidly cooling to room temperature, the resin coating comprising: After baking, while maintaining the longitudinal direction of the elastic rotating body substantially parallel to the water surface of the water tank maintained at a constant temperature, while rotating the elastic rotating body about the axis, immersing in the water tank and rapidly cooling. The present invention relates to an elastic rotating body characterized by being formed by the above method.

Further, the present invention provides a resin coating by forming an elastic layer on a hollow cylindrical cored bar, applying a resin material on the elastic layer to form a resin layer, and then firing and cooling the resin layer. In the method of manufacturing the elastic rotating body, after applying and firing a resin material, the longitudinal direction of the elastic rotating body,
While rotating such an elastic rotator about an axis while maintaining substantially parallel to the water surface of the water tank maintained at a constant temperature,
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an elastic rotating body, characterized in that a resin film is formed by immersing in an aquarium and quenching.

By manufacturing the elastic rotating body having the above configuration by the above-described method, the variation in the cooling rate of the cooled portion is reduced, and a smooth and tough resin film can be formed.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a fixing roller as an elastic rotating body obtained as one embodiment of the present invention. The hollow cored bar 2 of the fixing roller 1 is provided with flange portions 5 at both ends, and is opened at both ends by a flange opening 2A (the other end is 2B, not shown). A rubber layer 3 as a heat-resistant elastic layer made of silicone rubber, fluorine rubber, or the like is formed on the metal core 2 with a thickness of 0.1 to 0.1 mm.
It is formed to a predetermined thickness within 1.0 mm. A fluororesin such as tetrafluoroethylene resin (PTFE) or ethylene tetrafluoride / perfluoroalkoxyethylene copolymer (PFA) is applied thereon, and then fired at a temperature equal to or higher than the crystal melting point of the fluororesin, and then directly fluorinated. A resin film 4 is formed by rapidly cooling the resin surface to room temperature. It is preferable that the thickness of the resin film is in the range of 1 to 50 μm.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing the above-described fixing roller 1 will be described as one embodiment of a method of manufacturing the elastic rotating body of the present invention.

A rubber layer 3 having heat resistance such as silicone rubber is formed as an elastic layer on the cored bar 2. A fluororesin such as PTFE and PFA is applied as a resin material on the rubber layer 3. Next, this is fired at a temperature higher than the crystal melting point of the resin material for a predetermined time. In this embodiment, baking was performed at 450 ° C. for 5 minutes. After this baking, the fixing roller 1 is cooled. The cooling method will be described with reference to FIG.

The fixing roller 1 includes a flange member 5 at both ends and a chuck member 6.
Fixed at. The chuck member 6 is driven to rotate by a motor 8 via a chain 7. Fixing roller 1 immediately after firing
Is driven by the motor 8 and continuously rotates at a constant speed in the direction of the arrow b while rotating at a constant speed in the direction of the arrow a.
And the resin surface is directly quenched. In the water tank 9,
Water is stored, and the water is circulated by a pump (not shown), and is always kept at a constant temperature (about 20 ° C.).

At this time, the speed of immersing the fixing roller 1 in water is as follows.
Preferably between 0.1 and 2 m / sec. The reason is that when the speed is 0.1 m / sec or less, the quenching effect is weakened, and when the speed is 2 m / sec or more, the water in the water tank 9 splashes toward the fixing roller 1, so that water drops partially adhere on the fixing roller, and This causes rapid thermal shrinkage and permanent deformation such as wrinkles as described above. The rotation speed is 10 ~
60 rpm is desirable. If the rotation speed is 60 rpm or more, the water in the water tank 9 jumps toward the fixing roller 1, causing the above-described problem. On the other hand, if the rotation speed is 10 rpm or less, the cooling rate becomes uneven as in the case of immersion in water without rotation, and the crystallinity of the resin film is different, so that a uniform and strong film cannot be formed.

Further, since the core metal 2 of the fixing roller 1 is hollow and is formed with both ends open, when immersed in water, air inside the core metal leaks easily and bubbles are easily generated. It is desirable to close the hole in the part.

As described above, while keeping the longitudinal direction parallel to the water surface, by immersing the elastic rotating body in water while rotating at a constant speed around the axis, the fired resin layer can be uniformly and rapidly cooled. It is possible to form a uniform and tough resin film without wrinkles or the like. Further, the adhesive strength between the resin film and the rubber layer can be increased.

In the above-described embodiment, the adhesive layer is not provided between the resin / coating and the rubber layer. However, the present invention can be manufactured even when the adhesive layer is provided.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the elastic rotating body according to the present invention has not only the ability to convey a sheet-like material such as a transfer material and the wear resistance, but also
In particular, the durability and the smoothness of the rotating body surface have been dramatically improved.

Further, according to the production method of the present invention, a resin film having a sufficiently low crystallinity can be formed on the elastic layer in a strong adhesion state, and the surface thereof can be uniformly and smoothly finished.

Therefore, the elastic rotating body to which the present invention is applied dramatically increases the number of times of use, and does not cause a problem such as an offset even when used for a fixing roller.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a fixing roller as one embodiment of the elastic rotating body of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a conventional example, and FIG. 3 is an example of an apparatus for rapidly cooling the entire fixing roller. FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Elastic rotating body (fixing roller) 2 ... Core metal 3 ... Elastic layer 4 ... Resin coating 5 ... Flange part 6 ... Chuck member 7 ... Chain 8 ... Motor 9 ... Water tank

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] A hollow cylindrical core, an elastic layer formed on the core, a resin material applied on the elastic layer to provide a resin layer, and after firing the resin layer, A resin coating formed by immersing in a water bath maintained at a temperature and rapidly cooling to room temperature, wherein the resin coating is formed by baking the resin layer and forming a longitudinal axis of the elastic rotary member. While maintaining the direction substantially parallel to the water surface of the water tank maintained at a constant temperature, while rotating the elastic rotating body about the axis, it is formed by immersing in the water tank and rapidly cooling. Characteristic elastic rotating body. 2. An elastic layer is formed on a hollow cylindrical core metal, a resin material is applied on the elastic layer to form a resin layer, and then the resin layer is baked and cooled to form a resin film. In the method of forming and manufacturing an elastic rotating body, after applying and baking a resin material, the elastic rotating body is held while keeping the longitudinal direction of the elastic rotating body substantially parallel to the water surface of the water tank maintained at a constant temperature. A method for producing an elastic rotating body, characterized in that a resin film is formed by immersing in a water bath and rapidly cooling while rotating the body around an axis. 3. The revolving speed of the elastic rotating body is set to 10 to 60 rpm, and the immersion speed is set to 0.1 to 2 m / sec.
3. The method for producing an elastic rotating body according to item 1. 4. The hollow cylindrical core according to claim 2, wherein flanges are provided at both ends of the metal core, and the opening of the flange is closed with a hole by a chuck member. A method for manufacturing an elastic rotating body. 5. The elastic rotating body according to claim 2, wherein a rubber layer is formed on the core metal as the elastic layer, and the resin film is formed on the rubber layer. Manufacturing method.