JP2992214B2 - Developing method of non-magnetic one-component developer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a non-contact type non-magnetic one-component developer developing method for developing an electrostatic latent image using a non-magnetic toner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, in an electrophotographic method, a latent image is formed electrically on a photoreceptor, the latent image is developed with toner, and a toner image is transferred to a transfer material such as paper as necessary. The image is fixed by means such as heat, pressure and the like to obtain a copy. As a developer used in such an electrophotographic method, a two-component developer including a toner and a carrier,
There is a one-component developer having both functions of a toner and a carrier. The one-component developer further includes a magnetic one-component developer,
It is classified as a non-magnetic one-component developer. The two-component developer has excellent electrophotographic properties such as transferability, fixability, and environmental resistance, but requires a toner concentration sensor to control the ratio of toner to carrier, and has a short developer life. There is a problem that the stirring mechanism of the developer is complicated. On the other hand, a magnetic one-component developer does not require the above-described toner concentration sensor, and can easily reduce the size of the developing device. However, since it contains magnetic particles, the fixability may be poor. In recent years, a method using a non-magnetic toner as a one-component developer has been proposed and put to practical use in order to achieve both the simplification of the apparatus and the electrophotographic characteristics.

A one-component developing method using a non-magnetic toner includes a contact type non-magnetic one-component developing method in which a developing roller carrying a developer is brought into contact with a photoreceptor having an electrostatic latent image to perform development. There is a non-contact type non-magnetic one-component developing method in which a certain gap is provided between the photosensitive member and the photosensitive member to cause toner on a developing roller to fly and develop. In the contact-type non-magnetic one-component developing method, the toner on the developing roller and the photoreceptor having an electrostatic latent image are in contact with each other, so that the developing property is good. On the other hand, the toner is not only in the developing device but also in the developing device. There is also friction with the photoreceptor, which increases the mechanical load on the toner. On the other hand, in the non-contact type non-magnetic one-component developing method, since the developer is frictionally charged only by the charging member, the mechanical load on the developer is small. The mechanical stress received is large, and fusion to the layer regulating member or the like often becomes a problem. Further, in the case of the non-contact type, the developing property is generally inferior to that of the contact type, since a gap is interposed during development.
Particularly when the toner has a small particle size of several μm, it is difficult to obtain good developability.

In a non-contact non-magnetic one-component developing method,
As one of means for improving the developing property, it is conceivable to increase the amount of toner supplied to the developing roller. Generally, when the particle diameter becomes small, the fluidity of the toner tends to decrease.
In particular, when a toner having a small particle diameter of several μm is used, it is an important issue to secure a sufficient toner transport amount. In order to solve this problem, in the developing device, besides using a toner replenishing unit by rotation of a sponge roller, a fur brush roller, and the like, more important elemental technologies include:
The pressure of the layer regulating member against the developing roller, the contact angle, and the like are given. That is, in order to improve the flow of the toner into the contact portion between the layer regulating member on which the toner layer is formed and the developing roller surface, an appropriate contact angle is provided, and at the same time, the pressing force of the layer regulating member is reduced, What is necessary is just to increase the toner conveyance amount in the direction. However, when the amount of toner transported is large, the frequency of contact between the toner and the layer regulating member and the surface of the developing roller is reduced, and the toner is not sufficiently charged, and problems such as fogging and scattering are likely to occur.

On the other hand, even if the frequency of contact between the toner and the layer regulating member and the developing roller is reduced under the above-mentioned low pressure, the toner has good chargeability and has problems such as fogging and scattering. Is not required to occur. Further, when a small particle size toner having an average particle size of the order of several μm is used to improve the image quality, the specific surface area of the toner is increased, so that the frequency of contact between the toner and the above members is further reduced. However, the above-mentioned problems become even more remarkable.
In addition, when the toner has a small particle diameter, it is difficult to obtain good fluidity as described above, and therefore, it is necessary to optimize the contact angle to improve the flow of the toner into the layer forming portion. Become. Therefore, in order to obtain sufficient characteristics as a process, it is necessary to consider both the device and the toner.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional situation. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact non-magnetic one-component developer developing method in which a uniform toner layer is obtained on a developing sleeve, and even a toner having a small particle diameter does not generate scattering, fog, etc. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for developing a non-magnetic component developer which can obtain excellent developability.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems The present inventors have solved the problem of the non-contact type non-magnetic one-component developing method and have obtained a good developing property even if the toner has a small particle diameter. ,
As a result of intensive studies, the above object has been achieved by using a specific layer regulating member and a contact method thereof, and using a non-magnetic one-component developer (hereinafter, referred to as a toner) containing a specific charge control agent. It has been found that a uniform toner layer can be obtained on the developing roller, fog and scattering do not occur even with a small particle diameter, and a method for developing a non-magnetic one-component developer having sufficient developability can be provided. Was completed.

Namely, a non-magnetic one-component developing agent used in the present invention contains a binder resin, a colorant and a charge control agent,
The charge control agent is a polymer type charge control agent (A) shown below.
It is constituted from a pigment type charge control agent (B) Luke, or
It is composed of the charge control agent (B) . (A) a graft polymer (C1) having a polystyrene-based main chain in which 50 mol% or more is styrene and a graft chain having a skeleton represented by the following general formula (1); A mixture comprising the polymer (C2). (B) A compound represented by the following general formula (3).

[0009]

Embedded image (Wherein R ₁ is a C ₁₁ -C ₁₇ hydrocarbon group, R ₂ and R ₃ are each independently hydrogen or a C ₁ -C ₈ hydrocarbon group, or R ₂ and R ₃ are R ₄ may be a C _{1 to} C ₁₂ alkylene group which may contain an ether bond in the group,
X ^- is an anion, m represents an integer of 2 to 100. )

[0010]

Embedded image (In the formula, R _{1 to} R ₄ and X ⁻ are the same as in the general formula (1), and n represents an integer of 2 to 100.)

[0011]

Embedded image (Wherein R ₁ , R ₂ , R ₃ and R ₄ are each independently a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 22 carbon atoms,
A 20 represents an unsubstituted or substituted aromatic group, an aralkyl group having 7 to 20 carbon atoms, and A ⁻ represents a molybdate anion, a tungstate anion, a molybdenum or a heteropolyacid anion containing a tungsten atom. )

In the first developing method of the present invention, the non-magnetic one-component developer is supplied to a developing roller, and a thin layer of the non-magnetic one-component developer is supplied to a surface of the developing roller by a layer regulating member. Giving a charge, the non-magnetic one-component developer is caused to fly by a potential difference between the photosensitive drum and the developing roller,
A non-contact type non-magnetic one-component developer developing method in which a photosensitive drum holding an electrostatic latent image is developed in a non-contact manner and then transferred to a transfer material, wherein an end of the layer regulating member has both ends. Non-magnetic one-component development wherein the contact angle between the tangent to the developing roller at the contact portion between the layer regulating member and the developing roller and the fixing surface of the layer regulating member is 45 ± 35 °. This is a method for developing the agent.

In a second developing method according to the present invention, the non-magnetic one-component developer is supplied to a developing roller so that the Young's modulus is 1
A thin layer of the non-magnetic one-component developer is supplied to the surface of the developing roller by a layer regulating member which is a rubber blade of 20 kgf / cm ² or less, a charge is given, and the non-magnetic one-component developer is charged by a potential difference between the photosensitive drum and the developing roller. A non-contact type non-magnetic one-component developer developing method in which a developer is caused to fly and developed in a non-contact manner on a photosensitive drum holding an electrostatic latent image, and then transferred to a transfer material. The ends of the member are fixed at both ends, and the contact angle θ between the tangent to the developing roller at the contact portion between the layer regulating member and the developing roller and the fixing surface of the layer regulating member is 45 ± 35 °. This is a method for developing a non-magnetic one-component developer.

Further, in a third developing method according to the present invention, the non-magnetic one-component developer is supplied to a developing roller, and a thin layer of the non-magnetic one-component developer is supplied to the surface of the developing roller by a layer regulating member. At the same time as applying a charge, causing the non-magnetic one-component developer to fly by the potential difference between the photoconductor drum and the developing roller, developing the photoconductor drum holding the electrostatic latent image in a non-contact manner, and then transferring it to a transfer material. A non-contact type non-magnetic one-component developer developing method, wherein an end of the layer regulating member is fixed at both ends, and a tangent to the developing roller at a contact portion between the layer regulating member and the developing roller and a layer regulating member. A non-magnetic one-component developer, characterized in that the contact angle θ formed by the fixing surface is 45 ± 35 ° and the load on the developing roller of the layer regulating member is 10 to 150 g / cm at a linear pressure. One It is.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail. The non-magnetic one-component developer used in the present invention contains a binder resin, a colorant and a charge control agent, and the charge control agent is composed of a polymer type charge control agent (A) shown below and a pigment type charge control agent. constructed from the controlling agent (B) Luke, or those made up of a charge control agent (B). (A) a graft polymer (C1) having a polystyrene-based main chain in which 50 mol% or more is styrene, and a graft chain having a skeleton represented by the following formula (7); and a polymer (C2) represented by the following formula (8) A) a mixture consisting of (B) a compound represented by the following formula:

[0016]

Embedded image (In the formula, m represents an integer of 2 to 100.)

[0017]

Embedded image (In the formula, n represents an integer of 2 to 100.)

[0018]

Embedded image In the present invention, the present invention can be practiced with the graft polymer (C1) alone.

As the binder resin, besides those conventionally used in electrophotographic powder toners, all those which could not be used in terms of charge control properties and the like can be used. Examples include, but are not limited to, polystyrene, polyester, ethylene-vinyl chloride copolymer, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyamide, polyethylene, maleic resin, xylene resin, and phenol resin.

As the coloring agent, any known coloring agent can be used. For example, black colorants such as carbon black, acetylene black, lamp black, channel black, and aniline black; and, for chromatic colors, farnal blue, permanent blue, nigrosine blue, phthalocyanine cyan pigments, rose bengal, and xanthene magenta Examples include, but are not limited to, color dyes, quinacridone-based magenta pigments, monoazo-based red pigments, and disazo-based yellow pigments. These colorants are appropriately blended in the binder resin in a range of 1 to 20 parts by weight.

Next, the charge control agent used in the present invention will be described. Polymeric charge control agent (A) used in the present invention
Is a polymer obtained by introducing a graft chain represented by the general formula (1) into a functional group of a styrene-based resin having a functional group. Means a styrene-based resin having a functional group portion. Examples of the styrene resin having a functional group include a styrene resin having a halomethyl group and a styrene resin having an amino group.

In the general formula (1), C11 to R11
Examples of the C17 hydrocarbon group include an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, and an alkylphenyl group. Examples of the hydrogen of R2 and R3 or the hydrocarbon group of C1 to C3 include hydrogen, an alkyl group, an aryl group, and an aralkyl group. Examples of the aromatic ring in which R2 and R3 are mutually connected include a benzo group.

The molecular weight of the graft polymer (C1) is such that the number average degree of polymerization of the polystyrene main chain, that is, the number average degree of polymerization of the styrene resin is 5 to 500, and the number average degree of polymerization m of the graft chain is 2 to 500. 100.

On the other hand, the polymer type charge control agent (A) used in the present invention comprises the graft polymer (C1) and the polymer (C).
It is a mixture consisting of 2). The polymer (C2) is a homopolymer obtained by homopolymerizing a part of the graft chain of the graft polymer (C1) without bonding to the main chain. The homopolymer has a number average degree of polymerization n of 2 to 100.

The composition ratio of each component in the charge control agent (A) is as follows:
In terms of the weight ratio of the graft chain constituting the graft polymer (C1) to the weight of the polymer (C2), the graft polymer (C1)
1) is 25 to 100%, and the polymer (C2) is 0 to 75%.

Next, the pigment type charge control agent (B) used in the present invention is a compound represented by the general formula (3). In the formula, R ₁ , R ₂ , R ₃ and R ₄ are each independently a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 22 carbon atoms, an unsubstituted or substituted aromatic group having 6 to 20 carbon atoms, It represents 20 aralkyl group, a ^- represents a heteropolyacid anion containing molybdenum anion, tungstate anion, molybdenum or tungsten atoms.

The characteristics of the non-magnetic one-component developer used in the present invention is constructed from these polymer type charge control agent (A) and the pigment type charge control agent (B) a charge control agent
Or a charge control agent (B) . Hereinafter, the charge control agent (A) and the charge control agent (B)
The features of actual use when the developing device of the present invention is used will be described individually. First, the charge control agent (A) has, as a first feature, good melting and dispersibility with respect to the binder resin because a styrene resin is used for the main chain of the graft chain due to its structure. It is. In this case, as the binder resin, one using styrene as a constituent monomer is particularly excellent in dispersibility, but almost the same effect was observed with other binder resins of the present invention. With conventional pigment-type charge control agents, it is difficult to uniformly include a charge control agent in individual toner particles, especially when the particle size is large, but the charge control agent (A) of the present invention Since the above-mentioned melt dispersibility is good, it is possible to uniformly impart positive chargeability to individual toner particles. Second of charge control agent (A)
The feature of (1) is that, when it is contained in the toner, the charge rising property on the developing roller of the present invention is very good. According to the experiments of the present inventors, the toner using the charge control agent (A) after passing through the layer forming portion once,
It is apparent that the charge immediately saturates and the charge amount remains almost the same level no matter how many times the film passes through the layer forming portion. The charge amount after saturation was about 5 to 6 μc / g. In particular, this second feature can be said to be a remarkable operation and effect in the present invention. That is, in the present invention, as described above, in order to obtain good developability, it is necessary to secure a sufficient amount of toner to be supplied. Particularly, when the toner has a small particle diameter, the specific surface area of the toner Therefore, it becomes difficult to sufficiently charge individual toner particles in one pass through the layer forming portion. For this reason, in addition to using the layer control member having a particularly low elasticity as described above, in addition to being able to improve the followability of the layer control member to the developing roller and to favorably charge the toner,
Charge control agent (A) in the non-magnetic one-component developing method of the present invention
By using, it is possible to positively impart uniform charge of individual toner particles from the toner side,
The characteristics can be further improved. A third feature of the charge control agent (A) is improvement in image quality.
These can correct thinning of pixels such as dots, lines, and characters, which is a disadvantage of the DC flying development method among the nonmagnetic one-component development methods.

Next, the characteristics of the pigment type charge control agent (B) used in the present invention will be described. The first feature is that the average particle diameter is as small as about 1.0 μm. Therefore, the toner particles can be easily contained in individual toner particles. Particularly, when the toner has a small particle size of several μm, generation of toner particles containing no charge controlling agent can be prevented. The second feature of the charge control agent (B) is that a high image density is easily obtained when it is contained in the toner. In the experiments, the present inventors selected various commercially available pigment-type charge control agents and compared them. As a result, the use of the charge control agent (B) resulted in the highest image density. The main reason for this is that the charge control agent (B) is lower than the charge amount when other commercially available pigment type charge control agents are contained in the toner. In the non-magnetic one-component developing method of the present invention, the DC flying developing method is used. In this case, according to the study of the present inventors, when the toner particle diameter is as small as several μm, The largest amount is about 3 ~ 7μc
/ G of charge range. In the present invention, the charge control agent (B) satisfies the above-mentioned appropriate charge amount range of about 5 to 6 μc / g, and all of the other pigment type charge control agents for comparison have a charge of more than tens of μc / g. A high charge amount was shown.

In the case of the conventional two-component developing method and the contact developing method among the non-magnetic one-component developing methods, the suitable charge amount range for development is as high as about tens of μc / g to about twenty and several μc / g. For this reason, even if the charge amount distribution is somewhat broad, generation of uncharged toner is small, and there is a case where there is no practical problem. On the other hand, among the non-magnetic one-component developing methods, the suitable charge amount of the DC flying developing method according to the present invention is in a very low range of about 3 to 7 μc / g. For this reason, uncharged toner which causes fogging and scattering is likely to be generated, and it is necessary to make the charge amount distribution sharper than that of the toner used in the above-described conventional method. As described above, it is necessary for the toner used in the present invention to achieve both low charging and uniform charging. As described above, the polymer type charge control agent (A)
(B) and (B) have a common feature that the toner has good dispersibility when contained in the toner and can achieve uniform charging of the toner. At the same time, in each case, the charge amount when converted to toner was as low as about 5 to 6 μc / g, and it was confirmed that these were suitable for the non-magnetic one-component developing method of the present invention. Both the charge control agents (A) and (B) have high development density, low fog, and good image quality, which are common features. However, the charge control agent (A) reproduces pixels such as dots, lines, and characters. And the charge control agent (B) has the greatest advantage in that a particularly high image density can be obtained. From the above results, in the present invention, the charge control agents (A) and (B)
By further using, the image characteristics were further improved. As a result, the image quality, development density, and fog were good, and an image was obtained which exceeded the case where both were used individually.

In the present invention, in order to improve the fluidity of the toner, a fluidity improver such as hydrophobic silica or hydrophobic alumina, or the attachment of toner particles to each other, or between toner particles and a developing roller or a layer regulating member is used. A fine powder such as a metal oxide or barium sulfate for reducing the adhesion can be used while being held on the toner surface. In this case, the fluidity improver, metal oxide or barium sulfate fine powder can be used alone or in combination. Here, to hold the above-mentioned fluidity improver or metal oxide, fine powder such as barium sulfate on the toner surface means that the above-mentioned fluidity improver or fine powder is applied to the toner surface by electrostatic force or van der Waals force. This includes the state of being attached (grained state) and the state of being buried (fixed state).

The toner used in the present invention may optionally contain other components, for example, additives such as low molecular weight polypropylene, low molecular weight polyethylene, silicone oil, and thermoplastic silicone resin. Further, together with the charge control agents (A) and (B), a nigrosine dye,
Charge control agents such as triphenylmethane and quaternary ammonium salts other than (A) and (B) may be contained alone or in combination of two or more. The toner provided in the present invention has a volume average particle diameter of 11 μm or less, preferably 3 to 10 μm, and when the volume average particle diameter is less than 3 μm, sufficient fluidity may not be obtained, On the other hand, 10μ
If it is larger than m, the reproducibility of pixels such as dots, lines, characters, etc. may be deteriorated. The toner used in the present invention is a binder resin, a colorant, a charge control agent, and if necessary, a mixture of raw materials adjusted at a predetermined mixing ratio of other additives is an extruder that is a melt kneader, a Banbury mixer,
It is obtained by melt-kneading with a twin-screw kneader, pulverizing and classifying. The charge control agents (A) and (B) can be finely dispersed easily in the binder resin by the above-described melt-kneading means. As a means for obtaining the toner used in the present invention, it is also possible to obtain the toner by a polymerization method such as suspension, emulsification, and the like, and the resulting action and effect are different from those of the toner obtained by the above-described melt-kneading method. There is no.

Next, the developing method of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a developing device used in the method for developing a non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a photosensitive drum which is a cylindrical electrostatic latent image holding member, 2 is a hopper, 3 is a developer, 4a is a layer regulating member, 4b is a fixing member of the layer regulating member, 5 is an aluminum sleeve. The used developing roller, 6 is a member for preventing leakage of the developer and scraping off, and 7 is a stirrer. In this developing device, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 1 by a known electrophotographic method. A developer 3 is contained in the hopper 2, and the developer is carried by the layer regulating member 4a on the sleeve of the developing roller 5 so as to have a constant layer thickness.
Conveyed. The sleeve of the developing roller is provided with a gap of 120 μm from the photosensitive drum 1. DC or AC voltage may be applied to the sleeve as needed. The developer carried by the developing roller 5 is transported by the rotation of the developing roller, comes into contact with the photosensitive drum 1 having an electrostatic latent image, and the electrostatic latent image is visualized. FIG. 2 shows a layer regulating member 4a according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a tangent line Y at a contact portion P perpendicular to a fixing surface X of the developing roller 5 and a contact angle θ.

In the present invention, it is desirable to use a rubber blade as the layer regulating member 4a. In the conventional non-magnetic one-component developing method, there is an example in which a metal blade is used as a layer regulating member.However, when a metal blade is used, even if the same pressure is applied, local toner fusion to the layer regulating member and the developing roller may occur. Likely to happen. It was confirmed that when a rubber blade was used, such local toner fusion hardly occurred. Further, even among the rubber blades, the low elastic rubber blade having a low Young's modulus sometimes did not cause any fusion. Although the cause is not necessarily clear, when a roughened developing roller is used, when a convex portion of the developing roller surface comes into contact with the layer regulating member, a local shear force is applied to the rubber by a metal blade. It is estimated that it will be stronger than the blade. In the case of a metal blade, when the toner passes through such a high stress portion, a high stress is applied to the toner particles, so that it is considered that fusion is likely to occur.

On the other hand, among rubber blades,
Those having low elasticity of f / cm2 or less have good followability to unevenness on the surface of the developing roller and have a small difference in stress between the concave portion and the convex portion. It is preferably used because it is unlikely to cause blemishes. Accordingly, the present invention has made a intensive study on means for improving the developability of a non-magnetic one-component developing method of a small particle diameter toner, which is a problem of the above-mentioned conventional technique, particularly using a low elastic rubber blade. Was obtained as a result of
The details are described below.

In the present invention, a rubber blade (hereinafter referred to as a rubber blade)
The fixing method of the blade (referred to as a blade) to the developing device needs to be fixed at both ends. In the conventionally known non-magnetic one-component developing method, a cantilever-type fixing method, a method using a roller, and the like have been devised for an elastic layer forming member, and some of them have been put to practical use. However, in the case of the former cantilever method, the edge of the free end is
When pressure-bonded to the developing roller, the toner layer formed on the developing roller is likely to be uneven due to deterioration of the edge portion, and particularly, due to inorganic fine particles used as an external additive,
When the scratch is generated, a streak is generated in the toner layer in the process direction, which may adversely affect print quality. Similarly, in the case of the cantilever method, when the contact is made at the antinode of the blade, the unevenness and streaks as described above are unlikely to occur in the toner layer. In some cases, the toner is not uniform in the axial direction of the roller. In particular, in a contact portion where the pressure is low, toner agglomerates are likely to be generated, and a good toner layer may not be formed. On the other hand, in the latter layer regulation by the roller, there are problems such as an increase in the size of the member, pressure being easily controlled by the elastic modulus inherent to the roller, and a low degree of freedom in setting the pressure. To solve this problem, a new proposal has been made (Japanese Patent Application No. 6-244951) in which one end of the layer regulating member is fixed, the other end is a free end, and the contact angle is specified. , pressing unevenness is likely to occur in the layer regulating member, and formation of the toner layer for the contact area is small to the developing roller over the had a problem that charging of the toner becomes uneven is insufficient. The present invention proposes a method of fixing both ends as a method capable of solving all of the above problems when a rubber blade having a low elastic modulus is used as a layer regulating member.

That is, in the present invention, since the layer regulating member is fixed at both ends, the layer regulating member always comes into contact with the developing roller on the abdominal surface regardless of the contact angle or the like. It has the advantage that the problems of scratches and deterioration, which are the aforementioned problems, are significantly reduced, and that the apparatus is greatly simplified as compared with the case where a roller is used as a regulating member. In addition, it has been found that, compared to the case of a roller, the blade itself bends more easily, and it is easier to obtain uniform pressing at a low pressure. Although the cause is not necessarily clear, it is determined that the two-sided fixing method of the present invention easily obtains uniform pressing in the axial direction of the developing roller regardless of the mounting accuracy. That is, it is considered that the non-contact surface complements the pressing of the contact surface, and the pressing in the axial direction is averaged as if two blades exist. Another advantage of using the both-end fixing method of the present invention is that the contact area of the developing roller from the blade at the contact portion is about 2-2.5 times as compared with the conventional cantilever method. It was confirmed that it became. As a result, it has been found that the toner is more uniformly charged, and it is easy to obtain a good image without fogging and scattering even when the toner supply amount is large.

In the present invention, the contact position of the blade with the developing roller may be either a position (with) in the rotational direction of the developing roller or a direction (counter) opposite to the rotational direction. No problem. In this case, the term “with” means that the fixing surface (X) of the layer regulating member (4a) and the fixing member (4b) in FIG.
a) is a contact state upstream of the contact portion (P) between the developing roller and the developing roller (2) in the rotation direction of the developing roller (2). The counter means a contact state in which the fixed surface (X) is on the downstream side of the contact portion (P). In the conventional cantilever method, in the case of a counter, the blade sometimes shows a so-called stick-slip behavior with respect to the developing roller, and a vibration phenomenon accompanying this may occur. In the both-end fixing method of the present invention, the sliding of the abutting portion on the developing roller in both the width and the counter is stable,
No vibration phenomenon occurred. It is considered that the toner particles act as a kind of lubricant in sliding the blade and the developing sleeve, and suppress the occurrence of a vibration phenomenon. In the case of fixed at both ends, regardless of the contact angle, the blade always contacts the developing roller on the belly surface, and the blade contacts on the convex surface. It is presumed that this has prevented the outbreak.
The belly surface here refers to the entire outer surface other than the edge portion (E) of the layer regulating member in FIG. 2, and the convex portion allows the layer regulating member bent in FIG. 2 to contact the developing roller. Shall refer to the entire outer surface.

In the present invention, the angle (contact angle θ) between the layer regulating member (blade), the tangent line Y to the developing roller at the contact portion P of the developing roller and the fixing surface X of the layer regulating member 4a is 45 ± 35. ° is required. When the contact angle of the low elastic modulus rubber blade in the present invention was examined, when the contact angle θ was small (less than 10 °), the layer thickness was excessively large at a maximum of about 80 μm, and the contact portion between the blade and the developing roller was large. In the (layer forming portion), fine aggregates of the toner were generated. The charge amount is 1 to 3 μm.
c / g, which was unsuitable for flight development. Further, in the range where θ exceeds 80 °, a uniform toner layer was formed, but the layer thickness was as thin as about 20 μm, and the toner transport amount was small. At this time, the charge amount was as high as about 20 μc / g, and although the occurrence of scattering fog was small, the development density was as low as about 0.5, so that it was judged that it was not practically usable.

Next, when the contact angle is in the range of 10 to 80 ° of the present invention, a uniform toner layer is formed and the layer thickness is 30 to 6
0 μm was almost suitable for development. Also, fog is small, and the development density is according to the Macbeth reflection densitometer.
About 1.4 was sufficient, and no scattering was observed. The charge amount at this time was about 3 to 8 μc / g, which was confirmed to be suitable for flight development. In the case of the cantilever method, even if the same pressure is applied, the flow of the toner into the layer forming portion changes depending on the set contact angle, and the layer thickness may change. In the both-end fixing method, an appropriate toner inflow angle is always obtained irrespective of the contact angle of the blade, so that the amount of toner flowing into the layer forming portion is sufficient and the layer thickness is hard to change. As described above, the blade mounting condition is easier than the conventional cantilever system, and the degree of freedom in developing device design is increased. In the present invention, the appropriate value for pressing is 10 to 150 g / cm. When the pressing force was less than 10 g / cm, a sufficient layer was not formed, and fine aggregates were generated. On the other hand, 150 g / cm
If the ratio is more than 1, the layer formation is good, but a sufficient transport amount cannot be obtained, and the charge amount of the toner becomes 20 μc / g or more, resulting in poor flight developability. Various blades can be applied, and specific examples include silicone rubber and urethane rubber.

[0040]

In a non-contact developing method using a non-magnetic one-component developer (toner), in order to stably obtain a good image, toner fusion to a layer regulating member (blade) does not occur. is necessary. In addition, the toner transport amount for obtaining a sufficient development amount is ensured, and even if the volume average particle diameter of the toner is a small particle diameter of several μm, uniform and sufficient charging can be applied to individual toner particles. A developing device mechanism to be performed is required. Since the rubber blade used as the layer regulating member in the present invention has low elasticity, it has good followability to minute irregularities on the surface of the developing sleeve, and has a small stress difference between the concave portion and the convex portion. Mechanical stress is reduced, and fusion hardly occurs. In addition, due to the above-described problem of fusion, when a rubber blade having a low elasticity is used, generation of vibrations and the like is suppressed by stabilizing the contacting method with the developing roller at both ends with respect to the developing device, so that the rubber blade is stable. Sliding was obtained. As a result, a uniform toner layer was obtained. When the both ends are fixed, the contact angle is 45 ± 35 °, and 10 to 15
By adjusting to a pressure of 0 g / cm, that is, a linear pressure as a load on the developing roller of the layer regulating member, no fusing occurs, and even when a small particle size toner is used, a uniform toner layer and sufficient toner conveyance are achieved. While obtaining the amount, the toner could be charged uniformly and sufficiently, and good developability could be obtained.

In a non-contact developing method using a non-magnetic one-component toner, in order to improve flying developability,
It is necessary to keep the charge amount of the toner low. However, if the charge amount is too low, problems such as fogging and toner scattering tend to occur. For this reason, the charge amount of the toner needs to be low, the charge amount of each toner particle shows an approximate value, and the width of the charge amount distribution needs to be narrow and sharp. Further, when the particle diameter of the toner is as small as several μm, the specific surface area of the toner is increased, so that the frequency of contact between the toner, the blade and the developing roller is reduced, and the toner is difficult to be uniformly charged.

Both the specific charge control agents (A) and (B) used in the present invention can be very finely dispersed in the binder resin. Therefore, even if the toner has a small particle size,
Individual toner particles can uniformly and uniformly contain a charge control agent. For this reason, even when the frequency of contact between the small particle size toner and the charging member such as the blade and the surface of the developing roller (sleeve) is low, the charge amount distribution of the toner can be narrowed. At the same time, the amount of charge can be suppressed to a low level, so that the developing device of the present invention can obtain good developability.

[0043]

The present invention will be described below with reference to examples.
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic configuration of a suitable developing device used in the non-contact type non-magnetic one-component developer developing method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 illustrates a relationship between a layer regulating member and a developing roller. Hereinafter, common parts of the first to thirteenth embodiments will be described. Regarding the components described in the examples,
Unless otherwise specified, dimensions, accuracy, shape, material, arrangement, and the like are not limited to the description examples, but are merely examples for description. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a photosensitive drum which is a cylindrical electrostatic latent image holder, and a minimum distance between the photosensitive drum and the developing roller is set to 120 μm at a developing position. The rotation direction of the photosensitive drum is defined by the direction of the arrow in the figure. The surface roughness of the developing roller of No. 5 is set to 0.5 to 15 μm in Rz, and it is preferable to set Rmax to 20 μm or less. The material of the developing roller is made of aluminum or other non-magnetic metal material, and rotates in the direction of the arrow. 4a is a layer regulating member,
The material used is a low elastic rubber blade having a Young's modulus of silicone rubber or urethane rubber of 120 kgf / cm ² or less. Reference numeral 4b denotes a fixing member for the layer regulating member, which is fixed to the second hopper. Attachment position, material, and the like of each member such that the angle formed between the fixing surface of the fixing member 4b of the layer regulating member 4a and the contact line between the layer regulating member 4a and the developing roller 5 is 45 ± 35 °. Adjust the shape, accuracy, etc. Reference numeral 6 denotes a toner leakage prevention and scraping member, which is made of a resin film such as a polyethylene terephthalate film, a nonwoven fabric such as a fluorine fiber paper, or the like, and is fixed to the hopper 2. The free end is in contact with the surface of the developing roller. The member 6 is not limited to the function of preventing leakage of the toner, but can also function as a member for providing charge to the toner or a member for removing charge by appropriately selecting the material. The non-magnetic one-component developer of No. 3 is
It is put into the hopper 2 and supplied to the contact portion (layer forming portion) 4a and 5 by the stirrer 7. The non-magnetic one-component developer is carried and conveyed on the sleeve of the developing roller by the layer regulating member 4a so as to have a constant layer thickness (40 to 80 μm). Although the sleeve of the developing roller is provided with a constant gap of 120 μm from the photosensitive drum, an arbitrary interval of 90 to 150 μm can be selected as necessary. Although a DC voltage is basically applied to the sleeve, an AC voltage may be applied as necessary. The developer carried by the developing roller 5 is conveyed by the rotation of the developing roller, is brought close to the photosensitive drum 1 having an electrostatic latent image, and is subjected to development, so that the electrostatic latent image is visualized.

Next, the non-magnetic one-component developer used in Examples 1 to 8 of the present invention will be described. In an embodiment,
Parts means parts by weight. After mixing and melting and kneading the raw materials according to the following formulation, the mixture is pulverized and classified to have a volume average particle diameter of 7.4.
A μm non-magnetic one-component developer was obtained. Next, 1.0 part of hydrophobic silica (trade name: HDK H3050EP manufactured by Wacker Chemical Co.) was added to 100 parts of the non-magnetic one-component developer, and the mixture was stirred for 2 minutes with a Henschel mixer. The non-magnetic one-component developers of the present invention used in Nos. 1 to 8 were prepared. Hereinafter, the non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention is simply referred to as a toner T1.

Formulation of toner T1 100 parts of styrene-acrylic copolymer resin (manufactured by Fujikura Kasei Co., Ltd .: monomer composition: styrene / butyl acrylate / n-butyl methacrylate = 78/18/4, Mn: 2.9 × 10 ⁴⁾ , Mw: 32.8 × 10 ⁴ ) 10 parts of carbon black (trade name: BPL, manufactured by Cabot Corporation) 4 parts of charge control agent (A) (a graft polymer having a graft chain having the following structural formula 1 and the following structure) Polymer type charge control agent composed of polymer C2 of formula 2) 2 parts of charge control agent (B) (Pigment type charge control agent of structural formula 3 below) 2 parts of polypropylene wax (manufactured by Sanyo Chemical Industries, Ltd.) (Product name: Viscole 660P) Note: Each structural formula is as follows.

[0046]

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[0047]

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[0048]

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Example 1 A low elastic silicone rubber blade having a Young's modulus of 110 kgf / cm ² was used as a layer regulating member, and was mounted on the developing device shown in FIG. The contact method was with, and the contact angle θ was 45 °. Further, the pressure on the developing roller was adjusted to about 65 g / cm, and a developing device suitable for the non-magnetic one-component developing method of the present invention was obtained. Further, development was performed using the above-mentioned toner: T1 as the non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention.

Example 2 A low elastic silicone rubber blade having a Young's modulus of 70 kgf / cm ² was used as a layer regulating member, and the other conditions were set in the same manner as in Example 1. The toner was T1 and the pressure was set at about 45 g / cm. Development was performed using the above-mentioned toner: T1 as the non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention.

Example 3 A low elastic silicone rubber blade having a Young's modulus of 110 kgf / cm ² was used as a layer regulating member,
g / cm, and the other conditions were set as in Example 1. Further, development was performed using the above-mentioned toner: T1 as a non-magnetic one-component developer.

Example 4 A low elastic silicone rubber blade having a Young's modulus of 110 kgf / cm ² was used as a layer regulating member, and a pressure of 25 g was applied.
/ Cm, and other conditions were set as in Example 1. Further, development was performed using the above-mentioned toner: T1 as the non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention.

Example 5 A low elastic silicone rubber blade having a Young's modulus of 110 kgf / cm ² was used as a layer regulating member, the contact angle θ was 20 °, the pressure was adjusted to 35 g / cm, and the other The conditions were set as in Example 1. Further, development was performed using the above-mentioned toner: T1 as the non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention.

Example 6 A low elastic silicone rubber blade having a Young's modulus of 110 kgf / cm ² was used as a layer regulating member, the contact angle θ was 75 °, the pressure was adjusted to 100 g / cm, and The conditions were set as in Example 1. Further, development was performed using the above-mentioned toner: T1 as the non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention.

Example 7 A low elastic silicone rubber blade having a Young's modulus of 110 kgf / cm ² was used as a layer regulating member, the contact angle θ was 20 °, the pressure was adjusted to 20 g / cm, and the other The conditions were set as in Example 1. Further, development was performed using the above-mentioned toner: T1 as the non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention.

Example 8 A low elastic silicone rubber blade having a Young's modulus of 110 kgf / cm ² was used as a layer regulating member, the contact angle θ was 75 °, the pressure was adjusted to 110 g / cm, and The conditions were set as in Example 1. Further, development was performed using the above-mentioned toner: T1 as the non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention.

Example 9 Next, a non-magnetic one-component developer used in Example 9 of the present invention will be described. In the examples, parts are parts by weight. After mixing the raw materials with the following composition and performing melt kneading,
The mixture was pulverized and classified to obtain a non-magnetic one-component developer having a volume average particle diameter of 7.2 μm. Next, the non-magnetic one-component developer 100
Of the non-magnetic one component of the present invention used in Example 9 by adding 1.0 part of hydrophobic silica (trade name: HDK H3050EP manufactured by Wacker Chemical Co., Ltd.) to the mixture and stirring with a Henschel mixer for 2 minutes. A developer was used. Hereinafter simply referred to as a toner T 2 a non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention.

[0058] formulated Styrene toner T 2 - 100 parts acrylic copolymer resin (manufactured by Fujikura Kasei Co., Ltd. monomer composition: styrene / butyl acrylate / n-butyl methacrylate = 78/18/4, Mn : 2.9 × 10 ^{4, Mw: 32.8 × 10 4} ) · carbon black 10 parts (by Cabot Corporation, trade name: BPL) charge control agent (B) 2 parts (front Symbol structural formula 3 of the pigment type charge control agent) polypropylene wax 2 parts (manufactured by Sanyo Chemical Industries, Ltd. trade name: VISCOL 660P) was developed by combining the developing device according to example 1 of the toner T 2 and the present invention.

[0059] <Example 10> Next, non-magnetic one-component developer used in Example 1 0 of the present invention will be described. In the examples, parts are parts by weight. After mixing the raw materials with the following composition and performing melt kneading,
The mixture was pulverized and classified to obtain a non-magnetic one-component developer having a volume average particle diameter of 7.5 μm. Next, the non-magnetic one-component developer 100
Against part, hydrophobic alumina (manufactured by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd. trade name: RFY-C) was added 1.0 parts by stirring for 2 minutes by a Henschel mixer, the non-magnetic of the present invention to be used in Example 1 0 This was a one-component developer. Hereinafter simply referred to as a toner T 3 a non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention.

[0060] formulation of the toner T 3 · Styrene - 100 parts of the acrylic copolymer resin (manufactured by Fujikura Kasei Co., Ltd. monomer composition: styrene / butyl acrylate / n-butyl Metaakurire - DOO = 78/18/4, Mn : 2.9 × ^{10 4, Mw: 32.8 × 104} ) · carbon black 10 parts (by Cabot Corporation, trade name: BPL) · charge control agent (a) 6 parts (front Symbol graft polymer having a graft chain composed of structural formula 1 ( C1) and before Symbol structure polymer type charge control agent comprising 2 comprising a polymer (C2)) charge control agent (B) 2 parts (charge control agent before Symbol pigment type of structure 3) polypropylene 2 parts of wax (trade name: Viscol 660P, manufactured by Sanyo Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) The toner T 3 and the developing device described in Example 1 of the present invention were used in combination for development.

[0061] <Example 1 1> Next, non-magnetic one-component developer used in Example 1 of the present invention will be described. In the examples, parts are parts by weight. After mixing the raw materials with the following composition and performing melt kneading,
After pulverization and classification, a non-magnetic one-component developer having a volume average particle diameter of 7.4 μm was obtained. Next, the non-magnetic one-component developer 100
0.8 parts of hydrophobic silica (trade name: HDK H3050EP, manufactured by Wacker Chemical Co.) and 0.8 parts of barium sulfate fine powder (BF-20P, manufactured by Sakai Chemical Co., Ltd.) were added to the mixture at the same time. in the non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention to be used in example 1 1 by stirring for 2 minutes. Hereinafter simply referred to as a toner T 4 the non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention.

[0062] formulated Styrene toner T 4 - 100 parts of the acrylic copolymer resin (manufactured by Fujikura Kasei Co., Ltd. monomer composition: styrene / butyl acrylate / n-butyl methacrylate = 78/18/4, Mn : 2.9 × 10 ^{4, Mw: 32.8 × 10 4} ) · carbon black 10 parts (by Cabot Corporation, trade name: BPL) · charge control agent (a) a graft polymer having a 4 parts (graft chain composed of front Symbol formula 1 ( C1) and before Symbol structure polymer type charge control agent comprising 2 comprising a polymer (C2)) charge control agent (B) 2 parts (charge control agent before Symbol pigment type of structure 3) polypropylene wax 2 parts (manufactured by Sanyo Chemical Industries, Ltd. trade name: was developed by combining the developing apparatus described as VISCOL 660P toner T 4 to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0063] <Example 1 2> Next, non-magnetic one-component developer used in Example 1 2 of the present invention will be described. In the examples, parts are parts by weight. After mixing the raw materials with the following composition and performing melt kneading,
After pulverization and classification, a non-magnetic one-component developer having a volume average particle diameter of 7.4 μm was obtained. Next, the non-magnetic one-component developer 100
0.7 part of hydrophobic silica (trade name: HDK H3050EP, manufactured by Wacker Chemical Co., Ltd.) and zinc oxide fine powder (bastran type, manufactured by Mitsui Kinzoku Co., Ltd.)
2410) were added to 1.0 parts of the same time, and a non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention to be used in Example 1 2 by stirring for 2 minutes in a Henschel mixer. Hereinafter simply referred to as a toner T 5 a non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention.

[0064] formulated Styrene toner T 5 - 100 parts of the acrylic copolymer resin (manufactured by Fujikura Kasei Co., Ltd. monomer composition: styrene / butyl acrylate / n-butyl methacrylate = 78/18/4, Mn : 2.9 × 10 ^{4, Mw: 32.8 × 10 4} ) · carbon black 10 parts (by Cabot Corporation, trade name: BPL) · charge control agent (a) a graft polymer having a 4 parts (graft chain composed of front Symbol structural formulas 1 and before Symbol formula 2 comprising a polymer (C2) a polymer type charge control agents) charge control agent (B) 2 parts (charge control agent before Symbol pigment type of structure 3) polypropylene wax 2 parts (manufactured by Sanyo Chemical Industries, Ltd. trade name: VISCOL 660P) was developed by combining the developing device according to example 1 of the toner T 5 and the present invention.

[0065] <Example 1 3> Next, non-magnetic one-component developer used in Examples 1 3 of the present invention will be described. In the examples, parts are parts by weight. After mixing the raw materials with the following composition and performing melt kneading,
After pulverization and classification, a non-magnetic one-component developer having a volume average particle diameter of 7.4 μm was obtained. Next, the non-magnetic one-component developer 100
Parts, hydrophobic silica (trade name: HDK H3050EP, manufactured by Wacker Chemical Co., Ltd. ) 5 parts were added, and the present onset light of a non-magnetic one-component developer used in Example 1 3 by stirring for 2 minutes in a Henschel mixer. Hereinafter simply referred to as a toner T 6 a non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention.

[0066] formulated Styrene toner T 6 - 100 parts of the acrylic copolymer weight resin (manufactured by Fujikura Kasei Co., Ltd. monomer composition: styrene / butyl acrylate / n-butyl metal acrylate = 78/18/4, Mn : 2.9 × 10 ^{4, Mw:. 32 8 ×} 10 4) · carbon black 10 parts (by Cabot Corporation, trade name: BPL) · charge control agent (a) 4 parts (before Symbol graft polymer having a graft chain composed of structural formula 1 ( C1) and before Symbol structure polymer type charge control agent comprising 2 comprising a polymer (C2)) charge control agent (B) 2 parts (charge control agent before Symbol pigment type of structure 3) silicone - 7 parts of acrylic copolymer resin (manufactured by Toagosei Co., Ltd. trade name: Simac) was developed by combining the developing device according to example 1 of the present invention the toner T 6.

[0067] and the contact method of the blade and the counter <Example 1 4> Example 1. The conditions were the same as in Example 1 except that the contact angle was 45 ° and the pressure was adjusted to 70 g / cm. Toner T 1
Was used.

<Comparative Example 1> A low elastic silicone rubber blade having a Young's modulus of 110 kgf / cm ² was used as a layer regulating member, and was attached to the developing device shown in FIG. At that time, the contact method was a with, the contact angle was 5 °, and the pressure was 20 g / cm. Further, development was performed using the toner: T1.

<Comparative Example 2> A low elastic silicone rubber blade having a Young's modulus of 110 kgf / cm ² was used as a layer regulating member, and was attached to the developing device shown in FIG. The contact method at that time is with,
The contact angle was 90 ° and the pressure was about 70 g / cm. The toner was developed using T1.

<Comparative Example 3> The following ingredients were mixed, melt-kneaded, and then pulverized and classified to obtain a non-magnetic one-component developer having a volume average particle diameter of 7.6 µm. Next, to 100 parts of this non-magnetic one-component developer, 1.0 part of hydrophobic silica (trade name: HDK H3050EP manufactured by Wacker Chemical Co., Ltd.) was added, and the mixture was stirred with a Henschel mixer for 2 minutes to obtain a comparative sample. Was used as a non-magnetic one-component developer. Hereinafter, this non-magnetic one-component developer is simply referred to as toner TC1.

100 parts of styrene-acrylic copolymer resin (manufactured by Fujikura Kasei Co., Ltd .: monomer composition: styrene / butyl acrylate / n-butyl methacrylate = 78/18/4, Mn: 2.9 × 10 ⁴⁾ , Mw: 32.8 × 10 ⁴ ) ・ 10 parts of carbon black (trade name: BPL, manufactured by Cabot) ・ 2 parts of charge control agent (trade name: Bontron N04, manufactured by Orient Chemical) ・ 2 parts of polypropylene wax (Sanyo Chemical Industries, Ltd.) (Company name: Viscol 660P) The TC1 toner for comparison and the developing device of Example 1 were combined for development.

<Comparative Example 4> The following ingredients were mixed, melt-kneaded, pulverized and classified to obtain a non-magnetic one-component developer having a volume average particle diameter of 7.4 µm. Next, to 100 parts of this non-magnetic one-component developer, 1.0 part of hydrophobic silica (trade name: HDK H3050EP manufactured by Wacker Chemical Co., Ltd.) was added, and the mixture was stirred with a Henschel mixer for 2 minutes to obtain a comparative sample. Was used as a non-magnetic one-component developer. Hereinafter, this non-magnetic one-component developer is simply referred to as toner TC2.

100 parts of styrene-acrylic copolymer resin (manufactured by Fujikura Kasei Co., Ltd., monomer composition: styrene / butyl acrylate / n-butyl methacrylate = 78/18/4, Mn: 2.9 × 10 ⁴⁾ , Mw: 32.8 × 10 ⁴ ) 10 parts of carbon black (trade name: BPL, manufactured by Cabot) 2 parts of charge control agent (trade name: copy blue PR, manufactured by Hoechst) 2 parts of polypropylene wax (Sanyo Chemical Industries, Ltd.) (Company name: Viscol 660P) The TC2 toner for comparison was used in combination with the developing device of Example 1 for development.

Comparative Example 5 A low-elastic silicone rubber blade having a Young's modulus of 110 kgf / cm ² was used as a layer regulating member, and was attached to the developing device shown in FIG. The contact method was with, the contact angle was 45 °, and the pressure was about 7 g / cm. And developed and toner TC1 of Comparative Example 3 set seen together.

<Comparative Example 6> The developing device of Comparative Example 5 was developed in combination with the toner TC2 of Comparative Example 4.

With respect to the above-mentioned Examples and Comparative Examples of the non-magnetic one-component developing method, the characteristics were evaluated using a modified machine of a commercially available copying machine. The surface potential of the photosensitive drum is -700V
, And the developing bias was set to -100V. The surface of the developing roller was subjected to a surface roughening treatment by a sand blast method, and Rz was 2 μm and Rmax was 6 μm. All the dimensions relating to the other developing devices were the values described in Examples and Comparative Examples. Table 1 summarizes the contents of the developing device and the toner in the developing methods of Examples and Comparative Examples, and the evaluation results. The evaluation method and evaluation criteria are as shown below. -Fusing to blade Initial stage: The blade state at the time of continuous imaging of 50 sheets was visually checked. After 5,000 sheets: The state of the blade after 5,000 images were picked up was visually confirmed. Evaluation criteria: ○ indicates that no fusion occurred. The symbol Δ indicates that some fusion occurred, and it was judged that the level affected the image.

Uniformity of Toner Layer The state of the toner layer formed on the surface of the developing roller was visually evaluated both after the initial 5,000 sheets. Evaluation criterion: ○ indicates that the surface is uniform over the entire area from the rear to the front and the circumferential direction. The symbol “Δ” indicates that slight unevenness occurs in the circumferential direction, and the level affects the image. X indicates that unevenness or toner aggregation occurs in the circumferential direction and in the rear to front directions, and that the influence on the image is large. Charge Amount The charge amount of the toner layer formed on the developing sleeve was directly measured using a blow-off charge amount measuring device (manufactured by Toshiba Chemical Corporation). The developing device is electrically connected directly to the connection point of the Faraday gauge of the blow-off charge amount measuring device, and the counter charge when the toner layer is suctioned and removed is measured. The charge amount is obtained by dividing the measured value.

Image density The solid image of the non-magnetic one-component developer transferred from the photosensitive drum to the transfer paper was measured with a reflection densitometer (trade name: RD-914, manufactured by Macbeth). -Fog After development, the non-image area on the photosensitive drum before transfer is sampled by peeling and sampling with a mending tape (manufactured by Sumitomo 3M), and the sample is stuck on unused transfer paper. Thereafter, the reflection density is measured in the same manner as the image density. - the fine line reproducibility transfer paper line image transferred from the photosensitive drum was observed with microscope <br/> mirror. Evaluation criteria: ◎ means that 7 cycles / mm or more could be resolved. In the case of ○, resolution of 5 to 6 cycles / mm could be resolved, but resolution of 7 or more could not be resolved. Δ indicates that 3 to 4 cycles / mm can be resolved, but 5 or more cannot be resolved. × indicates that the resolution could be resolved at 2 cycles / mm or less, but not at 3 or more. Here, that be resolved, the process vertically, laterally both means that thin lines blur, an overlapping little. -Young's modulus The Young's modulus in the thickness direction of the rubber blade was determined by performing a compression test using a Tensilon type tester (UCT-500, manufactured by Orientec). The results of the above test are shown in Tables 1 and 2 below, and the advantages of the non-magnetic one-component developing method of the present invention became clear.

(1) Examples 1 to 8 The setting of the rubber blade as the layer regulating member of the developing device was changed within the range of the non-magnetic one-component developing method of the present invention, and the charge controlling agent A of the present invention was changed. By using a non-magnetic one-component developer in which both of B and B were used, very good results were obtained.

[0080] (2) using the developing device of Example 9 Example 1, by using a non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention using the charge control agent B, to obtain a good good results. Accordingly, it can be seen that each of the charge control agents B can be used alone.

(3) Examples 10 to 13 Using the developing apparatus of Example 1, a non-magnetic one-component developer in which the charge control agents A and B of the present invention were used in combination was added to hydrophobic silica and hydrophobic alumina. , Barium sulfate fine powder and zinc oxide fine powder were externally added, and in each case, very good results were obtained. From this, it was confirmed that each external additive described in the text of the present invention can be used in the non-magnetic one-component developing method of the present invention.

(4) Example 14 Using the developing device and the toner of Example 1, the contact method was used as a counter, but there was no problem. If both ends were fixed, good results could be obtained with either the width or the counter. Was confirmed.

(5) Comparative Examples 1 and 2 Examples in which the contact angle is outside the range of the present invention will be described. In Comparative Example 1, when the contact angle was reduced to 5 °, unevenness in the circumferential direction of the toner layer and a large number of minute toner lumps occurred, and the image evaluation was not completed. Comparative Example 2 has a contact angle of 90 °.
Although the layer formation is good, the charge amount is high, the image density is low, and after continuous imaging of 5000 sheets,
Some fusion (of the toner) occurred on the blade. From the above, it was confirmed that the range of the present invention is appropriate for the contact angle.

(6) Comparative Examples 3 and 4 Examples in which a non-magnetic one-component developer in which a charge control agent other than the present invention is used alone in the developing device of Example 1 are shown. In each case, the charge amount was high and the image density was low. Also, the resolution is poor. This example confirmed the validity of the charge control agents A and B used in the non-magnetic one-component developer of the present invention.

(7) Comparative Examples 5 and 6 Comparative Examples 3 and 4 were performed using a developing device with a pressure of about 7 g / cm.
When the developer is combined, the image density, the fog, and the resolution are further reduced as compared with Comparative Examples 3 and 4 using a developing device with a pressure of about 65 g / cm. . From this, the significance of the non-magnetic one-component developing method of the present invention became clearer. In all of the above examples, no scattering occurred during continuous imaging.

[0086]

【table 1】

[0087]

[Table 2]

[0088]

According to the present invention, in the method in which the layer regulating member (rubber blade) having a low elastic modulus is fixed at both ends as described above and the abutment is made at 45 ° ± 35 ° with respect to the developing roller, the pressing is performed within an appropriate range. By using a non-magnetic one-component developer containing a specific charge control agent in a developing device adjusted to a uniform toner layer on the developing roller, the non-magnetic one-component developer has a small particle size. However, there is no occurrence of scattering, fogging and the like, and good developability can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of an apparatus used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a layer regulating member and a developing roller.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photoconductor drum 2 Hopper 3 Developer 4a Layer regulating member 4b Fixing member 5 Developing roller 6 Leak prevention and scraping member 7 Stirrer

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-192376 (JP, A) JP-A-4-202305 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Showa 63-198063 (JP, U) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03G 15/08 G03G 13/08 G03G 9/08

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A binder resin, a colorant and a charge control agent, constituted from the charge control agent is a polymer type charge control agent shown below as (A) the pigment type charge control agent (B) Ru is
Alternatively, a non-magnetic one-component developer composed of a charge controlling agent (B) is supplied to the developing roller, and a thin layer of the non-magnetic one-component developer is supplied to the surface of the developing roller by a layer regulating member and a pigment type. At the same time as applying a charge, causing the non-magnetic one-component developer to fly by the potential difference between the photosensitive drum and the developing roller, developing the photosensitive drum holding the electrostatic latent image in a non-contact manner, and then transferring it to a transfer material. A non-contact type non-magnetic one-component developer developing method, wherein an end of the layer regulating member is fixed at both ends, and a tangent to the developing roller at a contact portion between the layer regulating member and the developing roller and a layer regulating member. The contact angle θ formed by the fixed surface of
A method for developing a nonmagnetic one-component developer, characterized in that the angle is ± 35 °. (A) a graft polymer (C1) having a polystyrene-based main chain in which 50 mol% or more is styrene and a graft chain having a skeleton represented by the following general formula (1); A mixture comprising the indicated polymer (C2).
(B) A compound represented by the following general formula (3). Embedded image Wherein R ₁ is a C ₁₁ -C ₁₇ hydrocarbon group, R ₂ and R ₃ are each independently hydrogen or a C ₁ -C ₈ hydrocarbon group, or R ₂ and R ₃ are R ₄ may be a C _{1 to} C ₁₂ alkylene group which may contain an ether bond in the group,
X ^- is an anion, m represents an integer of 2 to 100. ) (In the formula, R _{1 to} R ₄ and X ⁻ are the same as those in the general formula (1), and n represents an integer of 2 to 100.) (Wherein R ₁ , R ₂ , R ₃ and R ₄ are each independently a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 22 carbon atoms,
A 20 represents an unsubstituted or substituted aromatic group, an aralkyl group having 7 to 20 carbon atoms, and A ⁻ represents a molybdate anion, a tungstate anion, a molybdenum or a heteropolyacid anion containing a tungsten atom. ) 2. The layer regulating member has a Young's modulus of 120 kgf / c.
^{2. The} method for developing a non-magnetic one-component developer according to claim 1, wherein the non-magnetic one-component developer is a rubber blade having a size of m2 or less. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the pressure of the layer regulating member against the developing roller is 10 to 150 g / cm at a linear pressure.