JP3558929B2 - Method for producing semiconductive seamless belt - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductive seamless belt used in an electrophotographic copying machine, a laser printer, and the like .
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in the case of manufacturing a semiconductive seamless belt, although not shown, first, a cylindrical mold is rotated at a low speed, and a nozzle of a supply device capable of moving forward and backward is advanced into the mold. The material solution is applied and leveled from one end to the other end of the inner peripheral surface of the rotating mold, and the material is dried to form a semiconductive seamless belt by centrifugal molding.
Then, the semiconductive seamless belt removed from the mold is heated and cooled, and as shown in FIG. 11, the tip of the cutter 3 is made to penetrate through the peripheral walls on both ends of the semiconductive seamless belt 1. The conductive seamless belt 1 is rotated in the circumferential direction to cut and remove each end thereof, so that the semiconductive seamless belt 1 is completed to have a predetermined length.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the conventional manufacturing of the semiconductive seamless belt 1, the cutter 3 is simply penetrated through the peripheral wall on each end side of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 as described above, and each end of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 is cut. However, if the cutter 3 or cutting is inappropriate, the semiconductive seamless belt 1 may be unnecessarily long or short.
Also, when the entire peripheral wall of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 is completely cut by the thick cutter 3, as shown in FIG. 12, the cut surface 24 of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 becomes a really rough and ugly surface as if torn, Many large burrs occur. As a result, the strength and durability of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 are reduced, and the product life is shortened. Therefore, there is a major problem that the cut end face of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 must be reinforced with tape or the like. .
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a method for producing a semiconductive seamless belt which has improved strength and durability and does not particularly need to reinforce an end face .
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a method for producing a semiconductive seamless belt in which semiconductivity is imparted to a resin,
A step of injecting a material solution obtained by dissolving a polymer material in a solvent into a rotating mold and centrifugally forming a semiconductive seamless belt,
A step of drying the semiconductive seamless belt and removing it from the mold,
Half-cutting the peripheral wall of the semi-conductive seamless belt removed from the mold in the circumferential direction with a cutter, and tearing the semi-conductive seamless belt to a predetermined length by using the half-cut portion. Features.
In addition, it is preferable that the half-cut depth of the cutter with respect to the peripheral wall of the semiconductive seamless belt is 10% to 90% of the thickness of the peripheral wall.
[0006]
Here, the resin in the claims may be a thermoplastic resin or a thermosetting resin. Further, the cutter is not particularly limited, and may be various single-edged, double-edged, ring-shaped or the like. When the cutter is half-cut, the outer peripheral surface of the peripheral wall may be half-cut in the circumferential direction with a cutter, but the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall may be half-cut in the circumferential direction with a cutter.
[0007]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the endless semiconductive seamless belt 1 in the present embodiment is obtained by half-cutting the outer peripheral surface of the peripheral wall on the end portion side in the circumferential direction with a cutter 3 and using this half-cut portion. When the end 2 is torn, the tear surface 4 of the peripheral wall is composed of the cutter cutting layer 5 and the tear layer 6.
[0008]
An apparatus for manufacturing the semiconductive seamless belt 1 will be described. When manufacturing the semiconductive seamless belt 1, the material solution 10 is discharged from the discharge nozzle 8 of the supply device 7 using the supply device 7 and the molding device 12 that can move forward and backward as shown in FIGS. Is applied while continuously hanging from one end to the other end in the longitudinal direction in the mold.
[0009]
As shown in FIG. 4, the supply device 7 includes various pumps 9 having elongated discharge nozzles 8 horizontally, and a hopper 11 for supplying a material solution 10 to the pumps 9. Then, based on the driving of a gear mechanism or a belt mechanism (not shown), it moves forward and backward in the axial direction of the mold 13 as shown by an arrow, and the inner periphery of the mold 13 which is 20 to 30 mm away from the tip of the discharge nozzle 8. A liquid material solution 10 having a high viscosity (1 poise or more and 100 poise or less at room temperature) is applied to the surface while continuously hanging in a streak or a linear form.
[0010]
The material solution 10 is obtained by dissolving a polymer material such as PES or PET in various solvents such as NMP and blending carbon or the like. Examples of the polymer material include polyester resins such as PBT and PEN, polyimide resins, polyamideimide resins, polyamide resins, fluororesins, polysulfone, polycarbonate, aramid resins, and polyetheretherketone. Of these, PAI and PES, which are excellent in heat resistance, low tension, and creep resistance, are preferable. The polymer material may be either thermoplastic or thermosetting, and an appropriate material can be selected depending on the production method to be performed.
[0011]
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the molding device 12 includes a mold 13 for centrifugally molding the semiconductive seamless belt 1, a drive device 14 for rotating the mold 13, and a contact with the drive device 14. And a detachable driven device 15. The mold 13 is formed in a horizontally long cylindrical shape by using various metals, and the inner peripheral surface is subjected to smooth mirror finishing, fluorine processing, silicone resin processing, or the like so that the semiconductive seamless belt 1 can be easily removed from the mold. In addition, a matte black (not shown) is applied to the rough outer peripheral surface, and this black efficiently absorbs heat from the external heater. Ring-shaped lids 16 for preventing leakage of the material solution 10 are respectively detachably fitted to both ends of the mold 13, and an injection hole for the material solution is provided at the center of the lid 16.
[0012]
The driving device 14 includes various motors 17, a driving shaft 18 that rotates by driving the motor 17, a plurality of driving wheels 19 that are fitted to the driving shaft 18, and an outer peripheral surface of each driving wheel 19. The lid 16 is made of a heat-resistant and durable cylindrical elastic elastomer 20 that contacts and supports the lower portion of the outer peripheral surface of the lid 16 to exert a vibration damping function. The elastic elastomer 20 is made of, for example, silicone rubber, chloroprene rubber, or fluororubber having excellent oil resistance, solvent resistance, chemical resistance, weather resistance, heat resistance, and the like, and has a temperature of 90 ° Hs or less, preferably 30 ° Hs to 90 °. ° Hs. This is because if it is less than 30 ° Hs, the compression set characteristic will deteriorate, and if it exceeds 90 ° Hs, the vibration damping properties will be poor.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 5, the driven device 15 includes a free driven shaft 21 that slides horizontally and horizontally with respect to the drive shaft 18, a plurality of driven wheels 22 fitted to the driven shaft 21, and each driven wheel 22 and is made of a heat-resistant and durable cylindrical elastic elastomer 20A that contacts and supports the lower portion of the outer peripheral surface of the lid 16 to exert a vibration damping function.
Since the elastic elastomer 20A is the same as the elastic elastomer 20 of the driving device 14, the description is omitted.
[0014]
Next, a specific method of manufacturing the semiconductive seamless belt 1 will be described. First, the driving device 14 is driven to rotate the mold 13 in a horizontal state at a high speed (for example, 900 to 1,000 rpm). The mold 13 is heated to a predetermined temperature (about 70 ° C. to 100 ° C., although there is no particular limitation) by an external heater, and the supply device 7 is moved forward and backward with respect to the rotating mold 13 to thereby rotate the inner periphery of the mold 13. From the one end to the other end of the surface, the material solution 10 is gradually applied while continuously dripping from the tip of the discharge nozzle 8 at a pressure of 0.5 kgf / cm ² or less (the discharge amount is, for example, 50 g to 10 g / sec). (About 500 g), and the material solution 10 is leveled uniformly on the inner peripheral surface of the mold 13. When the material solution 10 is completely leveled in this way, the mold 13 is continuously heated from the surroundings by an external heater to promote the viscosity reduction of the material solution 10 and the evaporation of the solvent.
[0015]
When the mold 13 is heated for a predetermined time, the molding apparatus 12 is stopped, the mold 13 is removed, the mold 13 is set in a drier to evaporate and dry the residual solvent, and the mold 13 is removed from the drier and cooled to room temperature. Cool with air.
Then, due to a difference in thermal expansion between the mold 13 and the semi-conductive seamless belt 1 formed by centrifugal molding, the semi-conductive seamless belt 1 having the skin layer 23 from the inner peripheral surface to the outer peripheral surface of the mold 13 is naturally separated. . When the mold 13 and the semiconductive seamless belt 1 are strongly adhered and do not separate from each other, the endless semiconductive seamless belt 1 is gradually peeled off from the end of the semiconductive seamless belt 1. From the mold.
[0016]
Next, the semi-conductive seamless belt 1 is fitted and supported on a rotary drive shaft (not shown), and the end of the cutter 3 is not penetrated through the outer peripheral surface of the peripheral wall at both ends of the semi-conductive seamless belt 1. Make contact with notch. Then, the semiconductive seamless belt 1 is rotated to cut the outer peripheral surfaces of the peripheral walls at both ends into a ring shape, and each end 2 of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 is formed along the groove-shaped half cut portion. To make the semiconductive seamless belt 1 a predetermined length.
[0017]
The thickness of the cutter 3 is preferably 100 μm or less. This is because the thickness becomes 120, 450, 600 μm or the like, and if it exceeds 100 μm, the appearance of the tear surface 4 deteriorates and becomes rough. The half-cut depth of the cutter 3 with respect to the peripheral wall is 10% to 90% of the thickness of the peripheral wall, and preferably about 10% to 50% of the thickness of the peripheral wall. This is because when the half-cut depth is less than 10% of the thickness of the peripheral wall, cutting becomes difficult, and when it exceeds 50%, the appearance of the tear surface 4 gradually deteriorates, and cutting becomes gradually difficult. Because. In addition, the half cut may be cut out at once, but if it is cut out a plurality of times gradually, the appearance of the tear surface 4 can be beautifully adjusted. By the above-described tearing operation, the tearing surface 4 of the peripheral wall becomes the mutually different cutter cutting layer 5 and the tearing layer 6, and the flexible cylindrical and thick semiconductive seamless belt 1 can be obtained.
[0018]
According to the above, since the cutter 3 is not entirely cut through the peripheral wall on each end side of the semiconductive seamless belt 1, the semiconductive seamless belt 1 becomes unnecessarily long due to improper cutting. Or be short. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, since the tear surface 4 of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 is not roughened and a large number of burrs do not occur, the strength and durability of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 are significantly improved. It becomes possible. Therefore, the product life can be greatly extended, and furthermore, there is no need to reinforce the torn end surface of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 with tape or the like.
[0019]
In addition, since the high-viscosity material solution 10 is continuously discharged and applied from the tip of the discharge nozzle 8, the material solution 10 can be effectively prevented from scattering in all directions in the mold 13, and the semiconductive seamless material can be prevented. The thickness of the belt 1 can be made extremely uniform. Therefore, a high-precision thick semiconductive seamless belt 1 having a thickness of 50 μm or more, particularly 80 μm or more can be suitably manufactured in a short time. In addition, since the material solution 10 is applied to the mold 13 that is rotating at a high speed instead of rotating at a low speed, quick leveling becomes very easy. Further, since the mold 13 is mounted in a stable state by the driving device 14 and the driven device 15 instead of the unstable cantilever, not only a small diameter but also a semiconductive seamless belt 1 having a large diameter of 200 mm or more can be easily formed. Centrifugal molding.
[0020]
Further, since the mold 13 is rotated only by the driving wheel 19 of the driving device 14 and the driven wheel 22 is rotated by following the rotation, no speed difference is generated between the driving wheel 19 and the driven wheel 22, and the driving wheel 19 and the driven wheel 22 are simplified. With such a configuration, vertical movement and minute slippage of the mold 13 can be extremely effectively prevented. Further, since the driven device 15 approaches or separates from the driving device 14 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5, it is possible to facilitate maintenance and replacement of the mold 13 and easily deal with the mold 13 used differently. Can be expected. Furthermore, since the elastic elastomers 20 and 20A have excellent heat resistance, even if the mold 13 is heated, long-term continuous use can be greatly expected.
[0021]
In the above embodiment, the semiconductive seamless belt 1 is rotated and half-cut is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the cutter 3 is rotated to half-cut the semiconductive seamless belt 1. You can also. Further, although the tear surface 4 of the peripheral wall is made of the different cutter cutting layer 5 and the different tear layer 6, three or four or more layers may be formed by half-cutting with the cutter 3 having different surface accuracy. In the above embodiment, the driving device 14 and the driven device 15 are used. However, the driven device 15 may be omitted and a pair of driving devices 14 may be used.
[0022]
Further, the driven device 15 can be moved toward and away from the driving device 14, but the driving device 14 can be moved toward and away from the driven device 15, and the driving device 14 and the driven device 15 can be moved toward and away from each other. Is also good. In addition, the elastic elastomers 20 and 20A of the driving wheel 19 and the driven wheel 22 are brought into contact with the lower portion of the outer peripheral surface of the lid 16. You may make it contact. Furthermore, after completely leveling the material solution 10, the mold 13 that rotates at a high speed is rotated at a low speed during drying (for example, 200 to 250 rpm) to release the solvent from the centrifugal force and discharge the solvent. It is possible to shorten the thickness and make the thickness of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 uniform.
[0023]
【Example】
Hereinafter, Example 1, Comparative Example 1, Example 2, Comparative Example 2, and Example 3 of the method for manufacturing a semiconductive seamless belt according to the present invention will be sequentially described.
Example 1
Using a material solution 10 in which 18.1 phr of carbon D4 is added to (aromatic) polyamideimide, a semiconductive seamless belt 1 having a peripheral wall thickness of 100 μm is centrifugally formed, heated, air-cooled at room temperature, demolded, and rotated. The semiconductive seamless belt 1 is fitted and supported on the drive shaft, and the end of the cutter (manufactured by Feather Corporation) 3 does not penetrate the outer peripheral surface of the peripheral wall at both ends of the semiconductive seamless belt 1. The contact was made with a notch of 50 μm. Then, the semiconductive seamless belt 1 is rotated to cut the outer peripheral surfaces of the peripheral walls at both ends 50 μm in a ring shape by 50 μm, and each end 2 of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 is formed along the groove-shaped half cut portion. To obtain a semiconductive seamless belt 1 having a predetermined length.
[0024]
When the tear surface 4 of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 thus obtained was observed, as shown in FIG. 6, it was found that the tear surface 4 was not ugly and rough, and that a very good result that no large burrs were generated was obtained. Was completed. Also, half-cutting was very easy.
[0025]
Comparative Example 1
The same semiconductive seamless belt 1 as in Example 1 is centrifugally formed, heated, air-cooled at room temperature, and released from the mold. Then, the semiconductive seamless belt 1 is inserted into and supported by a rotary drive shaft. The tip of a cutter (manufactured by Feather Corporation) 3 was made to penetrate the outer peripheral surface of the peripheral wall at both end portions. Then, the semiconductive seamless belt 1 was rotated to completely cut each end portion 2 by 100 μm to obtain a semiconductive seamless belt 1 having a predetermined length.
When the tear surface 4 of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 was observed, as shown in FIG. 7, the tear surface 4 was very rough, ugly, and many large burrs were found. Did not. The cut was really difficult.
[0026]
Example 2
Basically, it is the same as in Example 1, but when 50 μm half-cut is performed, instead of 50 μm half-cut at a time, 50 μm half-cut is gradually performed in 10 μm divided into 5 times.
When the tear surface 4 of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 was observed, as shown in FIG. 8, good results could be obtained with respect to the appearance and burrs of the tear surface 4.
[0027]
Comparative Example 2
The 50 μm half-cut was performed at once, instead of dividing the 50 μm half-cut into five 10 μm steps. The other parts were the same as in Example 2 except that the cutter 3 was a 120 μm-thick double-edged blade.
Observation of the tear surface 4 of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 showed that sufficient results could not be obtained with respect to the appearance and large burr of the tear surface 4 as shown in FIG.
[0028]
Example 3
Basically, it is the same as in Example 1, except that the cutter 3 was a 100 μm-thick double-edged blade made by Feather Corporation, and the cutter 3 was half-cut by 50 μm.
When the tear surface 4 of the semiconductive seamless belt 1 was observed, as shown in FIG. 10, a good result was obtained in which the tear surface 4 was beautiful and a large burr was hardly observed.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the strength and durability of the semiconductive seamless belt can be improved. In addition, it is possible to omit a reinforcing member for an end surface of the semiconductive seamless belt.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory perspective view showing a state in which an outer peripheral surface of a peripheral wall at both end portions is half-cut in a circumferential direction by a cutter in a ring shape in an embodiment of a method of manufacturing a semiconductive seamless belt according to the present invention .
FIG. 2 is an explanatory front view of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged explanatory view of a main part showing a semiconductive seamless belt in an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a semiconductive seamless belt according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a partially sectional explanatory view showing an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a semiconductive seamless belt according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a molding apparatus in the embodiment of the method for producing a semiconductive seamless belt according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a photograph showing Example 1 of a method for producing a semiconductive seamless belt according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a photograph showing Comparative Example 1 of the method for producing a semiconductive seamless belt according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a photograph showing Example 2 of the method for producing a semiconductive seamless belt according to the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a photograph showing Comparative Example 2 of the method for producing a semiconductive seamless belt according to the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a photograph showing Example 3 of the method for producing a semiconductive seamless belt according to the present invention.
FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing a state in which a peripheral wall on an end side is completely cut by a cutter in a conventional method for manufacturing a semiconductive seamless belt.
FIG. 12 is an enlarged explanatory view showing a cut surface of the semiconductive seamless belt of FIG. 11;
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 1 semiconductive seamless belt 2 end 3 cutter 4 tear surface 5 cutter cutting layer 6 tear layer 7 supply device 8 discharge nozzle 9 pump 10 material solution 11 hopper 12 molding device 13 mold 14 drive device 15 driven device 23 skin layer

Claims (2)

A method for producing a semiconductive seamless belt in which a resin is provided with semiconductivity,
  A step of injecting a material solution in which a polymer material is dissolved in a solvent into a rotating mold and centrifugally forming a semiconductive seamless belt,
  A step of drying the semiconductive seamless belt and removing it from the mold,
  Half-cutting the peripheral wall of the semiconductive seamless belt removed from the mold in the circumferential direction with a cutter, and tearing the semiconductive seamless belt to a predetermined length by using the half-cut portion. A method for producing a semiconductive seamless belt, which is characterized in that: The method for manufacturing a semiconductive seamless belt according to claim 1, wherein a half cut depth of the cutter with respect to a peripheral wall of the semiconductive seamless belt is set to 10% to 90% of a thickness of the peripheral wall.

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