JP4704081B2 - Cleaning device, process unit, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning device used for a copying machine, a fax machine, a printer, and the like, and more particularly, to a cleaning device that removes toner on a surface of a member to be cleaned with a cleaning blade. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a process unit and an image forming apparatus provided with the cleaning device.

Conventionally, in this type of cleaning apparatus, a cleaning blade using a cleaning blade made of a rigid material such as metal or an elastic material such as rubber is known. Hereinafter, a case where the member to be cleaned is a photoreceptor as a latent image carrier will be described.
In the case of using a cleaning blade made of a rigid material, it is difficult to deform it in accordance with subtle irregularities on the surface of the photoconductor, so that the contact with the surface of the photoconductor tends to be insufficient. Then, the toner rubs through a minute gap formed between the photosensitive member and the cleaning blade, and cleaning failure is likely to occur. On the other hand, in the case of using a cleaning blade made of an elastic material such as rubber, it can be satisfactorily adhered to the surface of the photoconductor by flexibly deforming it according to the fine irregularities on the surface of the photoconductor. For this reason, more excellent cleaning performance can be exhibited. As an image forming apparatus using such a cleaning blade, for example, the one described in Patent Document 1 is known.

  On the other hand, in recent years, an image forming apparatus for forming an image by using a toner by a polymerization method having a small particle diameter and excellent sphericity instead of a toner by a pulverization method for the purpose of enabling formation of a higher resolution image. Development is underway. By using the toner by the polymerization method, it is possible to form a high quality image with little dot shape disturbance.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-109587

However, it has been found by experiments of the present inventors that when a toner by a polymerization method is used, it becomes easy to cause a cleaning failure even if an elastic member is used as a cleaning blade. It was found that this poor cleaning was caused as follows.
That is, the toner by the pulverization method having a relatively large particle size and low sphericity is likely to be held together due to the low sphericity and fine irregularities on the surface. For this reason, when caught on the cleaning blade, each toner particle does not move around on the upstream side of the surface movement direction of the photoconductor from the contact portion between the photoconductor and the cleaning blade, and it is in a state where it becomes a lump. Stay. Then, it is scraped off from the surface of the photoreceptor by a cleaning blade.
On the other hand, a polymer toner having a small particle size and high sphericity is difficult to gather due to its high sphericity, and therefore, the toner of the photoconductor is more than the contact portion between the photoconductor and the cleaning blade. It moves around actively while rotating on the upstream side of the surface movement direction. In addition to exhibiting such active behavior, since the particle size is small, toner particles that appear in the contact portion between the photosensitive member and the cleaning blade eventually appear. Then, subsequent toner particles are connected to the toner particles and rub through the contact portion.

In order to suppress such rubbing through, it is necessary to increase the contact pressure between the photosensitive member and the cleaning blade to such an extent that toner that moves while rotating actively does not enter the contact portion. However, in the conventional cleaning blade, when the pressure is pressed more strongly toward the photoconductor to increase the contact pressure, the waist becomes weak due to weakness of the waist, and it is difficult to increase the contact pressure. However, if the pressure is forced to increase the contact pressure, not only the edge of the blade but also the lower surface of the blade is brought into close contact with the photoreceptor, so that the friction force between the blade and the photoreceptor is increased more than necessary. End up. As a result, it has become difficult to drive the photoconductor satisfactorily.
Such a problem is not limited to the case where the member to be cleaned is a photoconductor, but a toner image carrier such as an intermediate transfer member or a roller-shaped or belt-shaped endless charging device that charges the surface of the photoconductor in proximity or contact. It also occurs in the case of moving objects. In other words, this is a problem that can occur if the member is provided with a cleaning device that cleans the member to be cleaned to which unnecessary toner has adhered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and the object of the present invention is to improve a member to be cleaned while suppressing poor cleaning even when a toner that is difficult to clean, such as a toner by a polymerization method, is used. To provide a process unit and an image forming apparatus capable of moving on the surface.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a flat plate which removes toner on the surface of the member to be cleaned, which is supported by the support member and whose tip is in contact with the member to be cleaned moving in the counter direction. In a cleaning device having a shape of an elastic member, and the rubber hardness (JISA hardness) of the elastic member is 65 [°] or more and 80 [°] or less, the blade thickness which is the thickness of the elastic member is t, When the free end length, which is the length from the boundary between the supported portion and the unsupported portion of the elastic member to the tip portion, is L, 2.5 [mm] ≦ t ≦ 5.0 [Mm] and 1.5 ≦ L / t ≦ 3.0, and the set linear pressure from the elastic member to the member to be cleaned is 0.5 [N / cm] or more and 1.8 [N / cm] Ri der hereinafter the member to be cleaned and those Contact angle of the front edge portion of the elastic member 95 [°] or more, and is characterized in der Rukoto 120 [°] or less.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device of the first aspect, the member to be cleaned is a latent image carrier.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to the first aspect, the member to be cleaned is a charged endless moving body that charges the surface of the latent image carrier by approaching or contacting the latent image carrier. It is what.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device of the first aspect, the member to be cleaned is an intermediate transfer member.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device of the first, second, third, or fourth aspect, the tangent line of the member to be cleaned at the contact portion where the elastic member contacts the member to be cleaned, and the elastic member The abutment angle formed by is 15 [°] or more and 25 [°] or less.
The invention according to claim 6 is the cleaning device according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, wherein the elastic member has a laminated structure in which a plurality of blades having different material properties are stacked. It is.
The invention of claim 7, claim 1, 2, 3, 4, was 5 or the cleaning device 6, as the material of the elastic member, the modulus of repulsion elasticity when the temperature is 23 [° C.] It is characterized in that it is 30 [%] or less and the rate of change of the rebound resilience from 10 [° C.] to 40 [° C.] is 350 [%] or less.
The invention of claim 8, at least a cleaning apparatus and the cleaning device integrally provided with a member to be cleaned to remove the toner on the surface is performed by a removable process uni Tsu preparative main body of the image forming apparatus in, as the cleaning apparatus, according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, it was 6 or those, which comprises using a cleaning apparatus according to 7.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, at least a latent image carrier, a charging means for charging the surface of the latent image carrier, and formation of a latent image for forming an electrostatic latent image on the latent image carrier. A toner image forming means comprising: a developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image into a toner image; a transfer means for transferring the toner image on the latent image carrier onto a transfer material; An image forming apparatus comprising: a cleaning device that removes toner on a member to be cleaned to which unnecessary toner has adhered in the process of forming an image and forming an image on a recording medium. , 4,5, 6 or is one which is characterized by using the cleaning apparatus according to 7.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the ninth aspect , the latent image carrier is provided with a surface protective layer made of a material containing fine particles of an inorganic compound. It is what.
The invention of claim 11 is the image forming apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the latent image carrier is provided with a surface protective layer made of a binder resin having a crosslinked structure. is there.
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus of the eleventh aspect, a charge transport layer is provided in the structure of the surface protective layer.
The invention of claim 13, claim 9, the image forming apparatus of 10,1 1 or 12, after passing through the transfer means, a cleaning means for removing residual toner on the latent image bearing member And a lubricant applying means for applying a lubricant to the surface of the latent image carrier before entering the opposite portion.
The invention of claim 14, claim 9, the image forming apparatus of 10,1 1 or 12, the developing means carries a developer accommodating portion and developer accommodating the developer, the electrostatic A developing device having a developing roller for supplying toner to an electrostatic latent image, and having a lubricant supplying means for supplying a lubricant to the developer, the lubricant being mixed with the developer and rotating the developing roller Is applied to the surface of the latent image carrier by contact.
The invention of claim 15, claim 9, the image forming apparatus 10,11,12,1 3 or 14, as the toner image forming means to form a toner image on a different toner image bearing member to each other A plurality of such devices are provided, and as the transfer means, a toner image formed on the plurality of toner image carriers is sequentially transferred onto the transfer material.

In the cleaning device according to any one of the first to fifteenth aspects, the set linear pressure on the member to be cleaned of the plate-like elastic member is 0.5 [N / cm] or more and 1.8 [N / cm] or less. It is possible to prevent the polymerized toner from entering the contact portion. Furthermore, when an elastic member having a rubber hardness of 65 [°] or more and 80 [°] or less is used, the blade thickness is t and the free end length is L, 2.5 [mm] ≦ t ≦ 5.0 [ mm] and 1.5 ≦ t / L ≦ 3.0, it is possible to make the blade strong, and even if the set linear pressure in the above range is applied, the blade does not hit the belly. The contact pressure can be increased.

According to the first to fifteenth aspects of the invention, by preventing the polymerized toner from entering the contact portion, it is possible to suppress poor cleaning even when the toner by the polymerization method is used. Since the contact pressure can be increased, it is possible to prevent an increase in the frictional force between the elastic member and the member to be cleaned due to the contact with the belly, and there is an excellent effect that the surface of the member to be cleaned can be moved favorably.

[Embodiment 1]
First, the basic configuration of the printer will be described.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer 200 according to the present embodiment. The printer 200 includes a process unit 100, an optical writing unit 101, a paper feed cassette 10, a plurality of conveyance roller pairs 20, a recording material conveyance path 30, a registration roller pair 31, a transfer conveyance unit 40, a fixing device 50, and a discharge roller pair. 60 and so on.

  The optical writing unit 101 includes a light source, a polygon mirror, an f-θ lens, a reflection mirror, and the like, and irradiates laser light onto a surface of a photoconductor described later based on image data by a known technique.

[ Reference Configuration Example 1 ]
FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the process unit 100 according to the reference configuration example 1. As illustrated in FIG. In the figure, a process unit 100 that generates a toner image includes a drum-shaped photoreceptor 1, a charging device 110, a developing device 120, a photoreceptor cleaning device 130, a static eliminator 140, and the like.

  The charging device 110 serving as a charging means opposes a charging roller 111 as a rotating charging member that is driven to rotate while a charging bias is applied to the photoreceptor 1 serving as a latent image carrier through a predetermined minute gap. ing. Then, with this minute gap, a discharge is generated from the charging roller 111 toward the photoconductor 1 to uniformly charge the photoconductor 1. The reason why the charging roller 111 is rotated is that the roller surface immediately after the discharge is retracted from the minute gap, and the roller surface that is not discharged is caused to enter the minute gap, thereby generating a stable discharge.

As a charging means, conventionally, a corona charging method utilizing corona discharge has been generally adopted. In the corona charging method, a charge wire is disposed close to a member to be charged, and a high voltage is applied to the charge wire to cause a corona discharge between the charge wire and the member to be charged. Is charged. However, in the case of the corona charging method, discharge products such as ozone and nitrogen oxide (NOx) are generated with corona discharge. Since the discharge-generating substance may form a nitric acid or nitrate film that adversely affects image formation on the surface of the photoreceptor, it is desirable to avoid the occurrence if possible. Therefore, in recent years, in place of the corona charging method, the development of a contact charging method or a proximity charging method in which the generation of a discharge generation material is small and charging can be performed with low power has been actively performed. In these methods, a charging member such as a roller, a brush, or a blade is brought into contact with or in close proximity to a charged member such as a photosensitive member, and a voltage is applied to the charging member to charge the surface of the charged member. It is. According to this method, compared to the corona charging method, the generation of a discharge generation material is small, and low power can be realized, so that the utility is high. In addition, since a large charging device is not required, the device can be miniaturized, which meets the needs for miniaturization of the device. Furthermore, when a spherical toner formed by a polymerization method is used, a cleaning failure is more likely to occur than a pulverized toner. However, the non-contact roller charging method has an advantage that the cleaning residual toner does not adhere to the charging device, and an abnormal image does not occur due to the adhesion.

  Therefore, the printer 200 employs a non-contact roller charging method. As a charging method, there is a method of charging a member to be charged by AC applied discharge by a charging member such as a roller brought into contact with the member to be charged. When this method is applied, it is preferable to use an elastic member that improves the contact between the surface of the member to be charged and the charging member and does not apply mechanical stress to the member to be charged. However, when an elastic member is used, the charging nip width is widened, which may cause the protective material to easily adhere to the charging roller side. Therefore, it is more advantageous to charge the object to be charged without contact. Therefore, in the printer 200, the photosensitive member 1 is uniformly charged by a non-contact charging method. As the charging rotating member, in addition to the charging roller 111, a charging drum or a roller-shaped charging brush can be used.

  The surface of the photosensitive member 1 that has been subjected to the charging process is irradiated with laser light L that has been modulated and deflected by the optical writing unit 101. Then, the potential of the irradiation part (exposure part) is attenuated. By this attenuation, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 1. The formed electrostatic latent image is developed by a developing device 120 as developing means to become a toner image.

  The photosensitive member 1 as a latent image carrier is, for example, a drum-shaped tube in which a tube made of aluminum or the like is coated with a photosensitive layer made of an organic photosensitive material exhibiting photosensitivity, and further a charge transport layer is coated thereon. Is. Instead of the drum shape, a belt shape may be adopted.

  The developing device 120 includes a developing unit 122, a developer supply unit 119, and a developer stirring unit 123 in a developing casing 121. The developing unit 122 is provided with a developing sleeve 124 as a developer carrying member that exposes a part of the peripheral surface from the opening of the developing casing 121, a doctor blade 125, and the like.

  The cylindrical developing sleeve 124 is made of a non-magnetic material, and its surface is roughened by sandblasting or the like. By this roughening, the developer conveying ability is enhanced. Instead of roughening, fine grooves may be provided on the surface. The developing sleeve 124 is rotated by driving means (not shown). Inside the developing sleeve 124 that is driven to rotate in this way, the magnet roller 126 is fixed so as not to rotate around the sleeve. The magnet roller 126 has a plurality of magnetic poles divided in the circumferential direction. Under the influence of these magnetic poles, a magnetic field is formed on the periphery of the developing sleeve 124.

The developer supply unit 119 and the developer stirring unit 123 of the developing device 120 contain a developer (not shown) including a magnetic carrier and a negatively chargeable toner. The developer supply unit 119 is provided with a supply conveyance screw 118, a T sensor 128 that is a toner concentration sensor, and the like. Further, the developer agitating unit 123 is provided with an agitating and conveying screw 127, a toner replenishing unit (not shown), and the like.
The developer is agitated and conveyed in the depth direction in the figure by the supply and conveyance screw 118 and is frictionally charged. During the agitation and conveyance, the developer sleeve 124 comes into contact with the surface. Then, it is carried on the surface of the developing sleeve 124 due to the influence of a magnetic field extending from the surface of the developing sleeve 124 into the developer supplying unit 119, and is pumped up from the developer supplying unit 119 as the surface of the developing sleeve 124 rotates. . And it is conveyed to the position facing the doctor blade 125 with the rotation of the sleeve surface. At this facing position, the developer is regulated in layer thickness when it rubs through the doctor gap, which is the gap between the developing sleeve 124 and the doctor blade 125, and the frictional charging of the toner is promoted.

  The developer that has passed through the doctor gap reaches the developing area facing the photoreceptor 1 as the surface of the developing sleeve 124 rotates. In this developing area, the photosensitive member 1 and the developing sleeve 124 face each other with a predetermined developing gap. On the surface of the sleeve in the developing region, magnetic carriers in the developer are raised by a magnetic force from a developing magnetic pole (not shown) of the magnet roller 126 to form a magnetic brush. The formed magnetic brush moves while the tip of the magnetic brush is rubbed against the photosensitive member 1 to attach toner to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member 1. By this adhesion, a toner image is formed on the photoreceptor 1.

  The developer that has consumed toner by development returns to the developing device 120 as the developing sleeve 124 rotates. Then, it is separated from the sleeve surface under the influence of the repulsive magnetic field and gravity formed in the container, and returned to the developer supply section 119 disposed at a position lower than the developing section 122.

  A partition wall 129 is provided between the developer supply unit 119 provided with the supply conveyance screw 118 and the developer agitation unit 123 provided with the agitation conveyance screw 127. The partition wall 129 partitions the developer supply unit 119 and the developer stirring unit 123. In the developer supply unit 119, the supply / conveying screw 118 is driven to rotate by driving means (not shown), and the developer is supplied to the developing sleeve 124 while being conveyed from the front side to the back side in the drawing. The developer transported to the far end in the figure passes through an opening (not shown) provided in the partition wall 129 and is delivered to the developer stirring section 123 provided with a stirring transport screw 127. Then, after the agitating and conveying screw 127 is driven to rotate, it is conveyed from the back side to the near side in the figure, and then supplied through the other opening (not shown) provided in the partition wall 129. Return to the developer supply unit 119 side. In this way, the developer is circulated and conveyed in the developing device 120.

  The T sensor 128 is composed of a magnetic permeability sensor, and is provided on the supply conveyance screw 118, and outputs a voltage having a value corresponding to the magnetic permeability of the developer conveyed thereon. Since the magnetic permeability of the developer shows a certain degree of correlation with the toner concentration, the T sensor 128 outputs a voltage having a value corresponding to the toner concentration. This output voltage value is sent to a control unit (not shown). The control unit includes a RAM and the like, and Vtref that is a target value of the output voltage from the T sensor 128 is stored therein. This Vtref is used for drive control of a toner supply device (not shown). Specifically, the control unit described above drives and controls a toner supply device (not shown) so that the value of the output voltage from the T sensor 128 approaches Vtref, and the developer of the developing device 120 from the toner supply unit (not shown). Toner is replenished into the stirring unit 123. By this replenishment, the toner density of the developer in the developing device 120 is maintained within a predetermined range.

The toner image formed on the photoreceptor 1 is transferred onto the transfer paper P that is conveyed while being held on the surface of a conveyance belt 41 described later. The surface of the photoreceptor 1 that has undergone the transfer process is cleaned of residual toner by the photoreceptor cleaning device 130.
The photoconductor cleaning device 130 includes a photoconductor removal casing 131, a holder 132 as a support member, a cleaning blade 2 as an elastic cleaning blade, a collection screw 134, and the like.
The holder 132 is made of a rigid material such as metal or hard plastic. One end of the holder 132 is cantilevered by the photosensitive member removal casing 131, while the cleaning blade 2 is supported on the free end side.

The cleaning blade 2 fixed to the free end side of the holder 132 is made of polyurethane rubber as an elastic material, and scrapes off the transfer residual toner on the photoconductor 1 while the edge thereof is in contact with the surface of the photoconductor 1. The toner scraped off falls on the collection screw 134.
The recovery screw 134 that is rotationally driven by a driving means (not shown) receives a positive cleaning bias from a power source (not shown). The transfer residual toner dropped on the collection screw 134 is conveyed toward a waste toner container (not shown) as the collection screw 134 rotates while being electrostatically attracted to the collection screw 134.
The photosensitive member 1 cleaned by the photosensitive member cleaning device 130 is neutralized by the neutralizer 140. Then, it is uniformly charged by the charging device 110 and returns to the initial state.

  In FIG. 1 described above, at the lower part of the printer 200 main body, a paper feed cassette 10 that accommodates a plurality of transfer sheets P in a bundle of sheets is detachably supported with respect to the printer 200 main body. The paper feed cassette 10 rotates the paper feed roller 11 that is in contact with the uppermost transfer paper P of the paper bundle accommodated therein, so that the transfer paper P is directed toward the recording material conveyance path 30. And send it out. The recording material transport path 30 includes a plurality of transport roller pairs 20 disposed at predetermined intervals in the transport path, and a registration roller pair 31 disposed near the end of the transport path. Then, the transfer paper P received from the paper feed cassette 10 is transported toward the registration roller pair 31 by the plurality of transport roller pairs 20. The registration roller pair 31 feeds the transfer paper P sandwiched between the rollers toward the transfer nip at a timing at which the transfer paper P can be brought into close contact with the toner image at a transfer nip described later. As a result, the transfer paper P is in close contact with the toner image on the photoreceptor 1 while being held on the surface of the transport belt 41 at the transfer nip.

The transfer conveyance unit 40 includes a conveyance belt 41, a conveyance belt drive roller 42, a recording medium transfer bias roller 43, a conveyance belt cleaning device 44, and the like.
The conveyor belt 41 has a base layer, an elastic layer, and a surface layer (not shown) from the inside of the belt loop. The base layer is a layer in which, for example, a fluorine-based resin having a small elongation or a rubber material having a large elongation contains a material that hardly stretches, such as canvas. As such a base layer, a material obtained by seamlessly molding a resin material such as polyvinylidene fluoride, polyimide, polycarbonate, or polyethylene terephthalate can be used. These materials can be used as they are, or the conductivity can be adjusted by a conductive material such as carbon black. The surface layer is a layer made of a material having a low surface energy and exhibiting good releasability from the toner, such as a fluorine-based resin, and is laminated on the base layer by a method such as spraying or dipping. The elastic layer is a layer made of an elastic material such as fluorine-based rubber or acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer rubber, and is provided to exert a certain degree of elasticity on the entire belt.

  The conveyor belt 41 is stretched around a conveyor belt drive roller 42 and a recording medium transfer bias roller 43 so as to be tensioned. Then, it is moved endlessly counterclockwise in the figure by the rotation of the conveying belt drive roller 42 driven by a belt drive motor (not shown). The recording medium transfer bias roller 43 is disposed so as to be in contact with the base layer side (inner peripheral surface side) of the transport belt 41 and receives a transfer bias from a power source (not shown). Further, the transfer belt 41 is pressed toward the photosensitive member 1 from the base layer side, and a transfer nip where the conveying belt 41 that moves endlessly counterclockwise and the photosensitive member 1 that rotates clockwise in the drawing is in contact is formed. Form. In the transfer nip, a transfer electric field is formed between the photosensitive member 1 and the recording member transfer bias roller 43 due to the influence of the transfer bias.

  The conveyor belt 41 holds the transfer paper P, which is fed from the registration roller pair 31, on its upper stretched surface. Then, the transfer paper P is caused to enter the transfer nip with the endless movement thereof. A toner image on the photoconductor 1 is transferred to the transfer paper P brought into intimate contact with the photoconductor 1 at the transfer nip due to the influence of the transfer electric field and the nip pressure described above.

  The transfer paper P onto which the toner image has been transferred in this way exits the transfer nip as the conveying belt 41 moves endlessly, and is then transferred to the fixing device 50. A small amount of toner adheres to the surface of the transport belt 41 after the transfer paper P is delivered. The toner is cleaned by a conveyor belt cleaning device 44 that sandwiches the conveyor belt 41 with the conveyor belt driving roller 42. In the figure, as the conveyor belt cleaning device 44, a system in which toner is scraped off from the belt by a rotating fur brush 44a is shown, but a system in which the toner is scraped off by a cleaning blade may be used.

  The fixing device 50 forms a fixing nip by rotating a fixing roller 51 containing a heat source such as a halogen lamp and a pressing roller 52 pressed against the fixing roller 51 in the forward direction. Then, the transfer paper P received from the conveyor belt 41 is sandwiched between the fixing nips and is pressurized while being heated. Due to the influence of this heating and pressurization, the toner is softened and the toner image is fixed on the transfer paper P. The transfer paper P that has passed through the fixing device 50 is discharged to the outside of the apparatus through a pair of paper discharge rollers 60 or is sent to a paper reversing unit (not shown) disposed below the fixing device 50.

Next, a photoconductor cleaning device in a conventional image forming apparatus will be described.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an example of the holder 132 and the cleaning blade 2 in a conventional photoconductor cleaning device. In the figure, a holder 132 as a support member is cantilevered by being fixed to a casing at one end side in a region not shown. On the free end side of the holder 132, the cleaning blade 2 is fixed so as to protrude from the tip of the holder 132. The cleaning blade 2 has a rubber hardness of 70 [°], a blade thickness: t of 2.0 [mm], a free end length: L of 10.0 [mm], and L / t of 5 .0. Furthermore, the contact angle of the blade with respect to the photosensitive member was set to 20 [°].
Then, the protruding edge E is brought into contact with a photosensitive member (not shown), and the transfer residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive member is scraped off. The cleaning blade 2 is made of polyurethane rubber as an elastic member for the purpose of improving the adhesion with the photoreceptor 1. Therefore, when the edge E at the front end is pressed against the photosensitive member 1, the front end side protruding from the holder 132 is slightly bent. When cleaning the toner by the conventional pulverization method, it is sufficient to press the toner with a relatively weak pressing force.

In recent years, for the purpose of enabling the formation of higher-resolution images, development of image forming apparatuses that form images using toner by a polymerization method having a small particle size and excellent sphericity instead of toner by a pulverization method Is underway. By using the toner by the polymerization method, it is possible to form a high quality image with little dot shape disturbance.
However, if the toner has a small particle size or a spherical shape, it becomes difficult to completely remove the transfer residual toner using a cleaning blade, and cleaning failure occurs. This is because a rotational moment is generated in the toner at the position where the cleaning blade is pressed against the image carrier, and the toner is easily trapped between the cleaning blade and the image carrier by pushing up the cleaning blade.
For this reason, when using a toner whose particle size has been reduced or spheroidized, it is necessary to increase the pressing force of the cleaning blade against the image carrier to prevent the toner from being trapped.
The cleaning blade 2 shown in FIG. 3 has a large L / t value of 5.0. As a result, when the cleaning blade is pressed toward the photosensitive member with a strong pressing force capable of satisfactorily cleaning the toner by the polymerization method, the leading end side is greatly bent.
In addition to the cleaning blade shown in FIG. 3, the conventional blade has a thickness t of 1.5 [mm] to 2.0 [mm] and a free end length L of 7 [mm] to 10 [mm]. Generally, L / t was a large value of 3.5 to 7. A state diagram when the blade at that time is pressed against the photosensitive member for cleaning is shown in FIG.
In the conventional cleaning of pulverized toner, the value of L / t is increased so that the elasticity of the blade is used to provide a margin for component variations and image carrier shake. That is, even if the parts can be made somewhat short, the blade is always in contact with the image carrier even if the image carrier is shaken by the eccentric behavior at each rotation. If the conventional pulverized toner is used, cleaning can be sufficiently performed within this range.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing the tip of the cleaning blade 2 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 pressed against the photoconductor with a strong pressing force capable of satisfactorily cleaning the toner by the polymerization method. The surface of the photoreceptor 1 moves from the right side to the left side in FIG. In the cleaning blade 2 shown in the figure, a portion surrounded by a symbol E indicates an edge in contact with the photosensitive member 1. As shown in the drawing, the edge E that is in contact with the photosensitive member 1 sinks under the surface of the blade facing the photosensitive member 1 so as to bend along the moving direction of the photosensitive member surface. This wrinkle is formed with a size of about several [μm] , and appears even when the pressing force is weak when cleaning the toner by the pulverization method. However, with the conventional weak pressing force, the blade portion in contact with the photosensitive member 1 was only the edge E that slightly fell with a size of several [μm] .
However, the cleaning blade 2 pressed toward the photosensitive member 1 with a strong pressing force is greatly bent, so that not only the edge E but also a surface facing the photosensitive member 1 is shown as surrounded by Bs in the drawing. A so-called belly contact with the photoreceptor 1 is achieved. In this state, the frictional force between the cleaning blade 2 and the photosensitive member 1 is excessively increased, the torque for rotating the photosensitive member 1 is increased, and the photosensitive member 1 is driven to rotate favorably. It becomes difficult.

FIG. 6 is a pressure distribution diagram at the tip of the cleaning blade 2 in the state shown in FIG. In the same figure, the pressure distribution line (arrow in the figure) is located on the lower side in the figure, indicating that a stronger pressure is applied to the blade. In order to satisfactorily clean the toner by the polymerization method, it is only necessary to obtain the contact pressure having the strength indicated by the longest arrow in the drawing at the contact portion between the edge E of the blade and the photoreceptor 1.
However, in the conventional cleaning blade 2, when the contact pressure between the edge E of the blade and the photosensitive member 1 is obtained, the contact pressure is also applied to the abdomen as shown in FIG. It will occur. As a result, the load of the cleaning blade 2 on the photosensitive member 1 is increased, and the frictional force is also increased, so that the rotational torque of the photosensitive member 1 is increased, which is a major cause of hindering favorable rotational driving of the photosensitive member 1. I understood.

Next, the cleaning blade 2 provided in the photoconductor cleaning device 130 included in the printer 200 will be described. FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory view of the cleaning blade 2 applied to the photoconductor cleaning device 130.
In the same figure, a holder 132 as a support member is cantilevered by being fixed to the casing at one end in a region not shown in the same manner as in FIG. On the free end side of the holder 132, the cleaning blade 2, which is an elastic member, is fixed so as to protrude from the tip of the holder 132.
In the cleaning blade 2 shown in FIG. 7, the rubber hardness of the blade is 70 [°], the blade thickness: t is 2.5 [mm], the free end length: L is 4.0 [mm], and L / t is 1.6. Further, the contact angle β formed by the photoreceptor 1 and the lower surface of the cleaning blade 2 is 20 [°].

  It is assumed that the cleaning blade 2 having such a configuration is pressed so that the contact pressure per unit area between the edge and the photoreceptor 1 is strong enough to clean the toner by the polymerization method. Even with such pressing, the cleaning blade 2 has a L / t of 1.6, which is lower than the conventional value, and has a shape that is difficult to bend.

  FIG. 8 shows the tip of the cleaning blade 2 of FIG. 7 in which the edge E is brought into strong contact with the photoconductor 1 so that the contact pressure with the photoconductor 1 becomes strong enough to satisfactorily clean the toner by the polymerization method. It is an enlarged view which shows a part. In the cleaning blade 2 having a L / t value of 1.6, which is lower than the conventional value shown in FIG. 7, it is possible to suppress an increase in bending due to its shape, and as shown in FIG. Only the edge E is brought into contact with the photosensitive member 1. For reference, the pressure distribution is shown in FIG. It can be seen that a strong pressure is intensively applied to the edge in contact with the photoreceptor 1.

[Experiment 1]
The present inventors conducted an experiment to compare the cleaning performance between the conventional cleaning blade shown in FIG. 3 and the cleaning blade applied to the photoconductor cleaning device 130 shown in FIG. This experiment confirms how the cleaning performance of both cleaning blades increases while gradually increasing the linear pressure of the cleaning blade against the photosensitive member. The experimental conditions are listed below.
-Photoconductor diameter: 60 [mm]
-Photoconductor linear velocity: 200 [mm / sec]
-Photoconductor length: 340 [mm]
About cleaning blade Rubber hardness: 70 [°]
Rebound resilience coefficient: 15 [%] (temperature 23 [° C.])
300% modulus: 3720 [N / cm ² ]
Tensile strength: 4970 [N / cm ² ]
Permanent elongation%: 1.70
Contact angle with respect to photoconductor: 20 [°]
The cleaning property was measured as follows. That is, the actual machine that is printing out the reference image is temporarily stopped, and the adhesive tape is affixed to and peeled off from the surface of the image carrier after cleaning to transfer the residual cleaning toner to the adhesive tape. Then, the image density (ID) of this adhesive tape was measured with an illuminance meter (X-Rite) to obtain a residual toner ID. The higher the value of the residual toner ID, the more cleaning residual toner is attached to the surface of the image carrier after cleaning, that is, the cleaning property is deteriorated. Generally, it is judged that the cleaning property is good when the value of the residual toner ID is 0.01 or less. This experiment was performed by observing the test print with the naked eye and evaluating the degree of contamination of the non-image area in a plurality of subjects.
Further, regarding the linear pressure between the edge of the blade and the image carrier, a cleaning blade is brought into contact with the image carrier, and the weight F per unit length (in the drum axis direction) is measured by an I-SCAN weight measuring device ( Measured by Nitta Corporation).

The results are shown as a graph in FIG.
10, A shows the experimental result of the cleaning blade shown in FIG. 3, and B shows the experimental result of the cleaning blade shown in FIG. The horizontal axis represents the linear pressure, and the vertical axis represents the remaining toner ID to indicate the cleaning performance. Linear pressure changes with 0.3 [N / cm], 0.5 [N / cm], 0.7 [N / cm], 0.9 [N / cm] and 1.1 [N / cm] The experiment was conducted.
As shown in FIG. 10, in FIG. 10, the cleaning performance gradually decreases in spite of the increase in the linear pressure, with the linear pressure 0.5 [N / cm] as the inflection point. This is because the cleaning blade shown in FIG. 3 has a large L / t = 5.0, so that the blade itself buckles and deforms and the abdomen hitting described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 occurs. On the other hand, B in FIG. 10 has a linear pressure of 0.5 [N / cm] and a residual toner ID of less than 0.01. Further, as the linear pressure increases, the cleaning performance is good. This is because the cleaning blade shown in FIG. 7 exists in a region where L / t is appropriate.

[Experiment 2]
Next, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the cleaning property by varying the blade thickness t and the free end length L.
The results of Experiment 2 are shown in Table 1. The experimental conditions are as follows.
-Photoconductor diameter: 60 [mm]
-Photoconductor linear velocity: 200 [mm / sec]
-Photoconductor length: 340 [mm]
About cleaning blade Rubber hardness: 70 [°]
Rebound resilience coefficient: 15 [%] (temperature 23 [° C.])
300% modulus: 3720 [N / cm ² ]
Tensile strength: 4970 [N / cm ² ]
Permanent elongation%: 1.70
Contact angle with respect to photoconductor: 20 [°]
Contact pressure: 0.3 [N / cm] 0.5 [N / cm], 0.7 [N / cm], 0.9 [N / cm], 1.1 [N / cm]

表１において、クリーニング性が「○」となっているものは、実験１で説明したＩ−ＳＣＡＮを用いた測定で残トナーＩＤが０．０１以下であったものである。

In Table 1, the case where the cleaning property is “◯” means that the residual toner ID was 0.01 or less in the measurement using I-SCAN described in Experiment 1.

  From Table 1, when the blade thickness is t = 2.0 [mm], the blade length is 7 [mm] or 10 [mm], and a blade with L / t of 3.5 or 5.0 is used. And rubbing through and full omission occurred. This is because an abdomen hits like the cleaning blade shown in FIG. On the other hand, if the blade length is shortened to 4 [mm] and a blade with other thickness is used, a blade with good L / t of 2.0 can be obtained. did. Therefore, it is considered that the blade thickness is insufficient when t = 2.0 [mm].

This phenomenon was improved by setting the blade thickness to t = 2.5 [mm] or more. However, when the blade thickness is large and L / t is in an area smaller than 1.5, problems such as the motor of the photoconductor locking and not moving occur.
Even when t = 2.5 [mm] or more, if the length L is long and L / t is larger than 3.0, the tip of the blade cannot be efficiently peeled off. No blocking force is generated at the contact portion with the surface of the photoreceptor. This caused a problem that the toner rubs through.
Thus, in Experiment 2, a good cleaning property was obtained by setting the blade thickness t to 2.5 or more and L / t to 1.5 or more and 3.0 or less.

The blade shown in FIG. 10B is No. 4 blade in Table 1. FIG. 10 shows that when the linear pressure is 0.5 [N / cm] or more, the residual toner ID is 0.01 or less, and a good cleaning property is obtained.
In the experiment shown in FIG. 10, an experiment was performed in which the cleaning blade contact pressure applied to the conventional blade and the cleaning device 130 was varied in the range of 0.3 to 1.1 [N / cm]. Based on the experimental results shown in FIG. 10, three contact pressures of 0.5 [N / cm], 0.7 [N / cm] and 0.9 [N / cm] for blades other than No3 and No4 The experiment was conducted.
Further, in Table 1, No. 1 that was able to obtain good cleaning properties. 5, no. 8, no. 11, no. 12, no. 14 and no. Also for No. 15, the cleaning performance with respect to the linear pressure was similar to the graph shown in FIG. Thus, good cleaning properties could be obtained by setting L / t to an appropriate value and a linear pressure of 0.5 [N / cm] or more.
Considering only the cleaning property, the higher the linear pressure, the better. However, if the linear pressure is too high, there is a risk of buckling even if L / t is 3.0 or less. Further, if the blade thickness is increased so as not to buckle, the photoreceptor motor is locked, and it is inefficient to use a powerful motor that is not locked. For this reason, the linear pressure of the blade against the photoreceptor is set to 1.8 [N / cm] or less.

[Experiment 3]
Next, the relationship between the blade biting amount and the linear pressure will be examined.
As experiment 3, blade thickness t = 3.0 mm, free length 7.0 [mm], and various hardnesses (JIS-A) were prepared. The wire thickness was measured. FIG. 11 shows the experimental results of Experiment 3, and is a graph showing the relationship between the amount of blade biting and the linear pressure. In addition, a region where good cleaning properties can be obtained is indicated by a hatched region in the figure.
The cleaning performance of the blade was judged to be good when the residual toner ID obtained by the same method as in Experiment 1 was 0.01 or less. FIG. 11 shows that the linear pressure increases simply by increasing the amount of biting.
In order to obtain a linear pressure of 0.5 [N / cm] or more, it is only necessary to bite in at 0.05 [mm] with a rubber hardness of 90 [°]. However, there is a fluctuation of 0.1 [mm] when the image carrier actually rotates, and 0.2 [mm] due to blade component accuracy and contact variation.
Therefore, when a material having a high rubber hardness is used in a state where the amount of biting in is small, contact unevenness between the blade and the photoconductor occurs, and uniform cleaning performance cannot be obtained. From these examination results, the amount of bite is required to be 0.5 [mm] or more in consideration of the environmental margin. Therefore, in order to secure the linear pressure of the blade and secure an area with good cleaning, the rubber hardness is preferably in the range of 65 [°] to 80 [°]. It can be said that the hardness with a margin in the amount of biting is more preferably 70 [°] or more and 75 [°].

  In addition, as a lower limit of the amount of biting, it is preferable that it is 0.5 [mm] or more as mentioned above. Further, if the biting amount exceeds 1.0 [mm], even if the same linear pressure is applied, the pressure at the contact portion is dispersed, and the toner may not be sufficiently cleaned. Is 1.0 [mm] or less.

[Experiment 4]
Next, the relationship between the blade thickness and the linear pressure was examined.
In Experiment 4, various blade thicknesses were prepared, and a cleaning blade having a rubber hardness of 70 [°] and a free length of 7.0 [mm] was applied to the photoreceptor at an abutment angle of 20 [°]. The linear pressure was measured by changing the amount of biting of each blade when in contact. FIG. 12 shows the experimental results of Experiment 4, and is a graph showing the relationship between the amount of biting and the linear pressure of blades having different blade thicknesses.
The linear pressure tends to increase as the amount of biting increases, and the gradient of the linear pressure with respect to biting increases as the blade thickness increases. From this result, it is the blade thickness: t = 2.5 [mm] or more that the linear pressure of 0.5 [N / cm] can be secured at 1.0 [mm] or less that can be substantially bitten. I understand that. In this experiment, the blade thickness is t = 5.0 [mm]. If the thickness is more than this and L / t is 1.5 or more, the free end L becomes unnecessarily long and economical. The result is inferior in terms of sex.
Accordingly, the blade thickness range is 2.5 [mm] or more and 5.0 [mm] or less as an appropriate range.

[Experiment 5]
Next, the relationship between the contact angle of the cleaning blade to the photosensitive member and the cleaning property will be examined.
As Experiment 5, No. 1 in Table 1 was obtained. The cleaning blade 4 was brought into contact with the photosensitive member at a linear pressure of 0.7 [N / cm], the contact angle was changed, and the cleaning property was evaluated by the value of the remaining toner ID at that time. FIG. 13 shows the experimental result of Experiment 5, and is a graph showing the relationship between the blade contact angle and the remaining toner ID.
This contact angle is defined as β in FIG. 7 in the contact state (counter contact) in which the leading end of the blade is directed to the upstream side in the movement direction of the photoreceptor surface from the rear end. This is the angle between the surface facing the surface of the photoconductor and the tangent of the blade on the photoconductor. This tangent is a tangent to the surface of the photosensitive member at the contact portion between the photosensitive member and the blade when the blade is soft-touched. Actually, it is used by biting into the photosensitive member rather than the position where the blade is soft-touched. However, since it is difficult to obtain the tangent in the bited-in state, the tangent is obtained in the soft-touched state.
From FIG. 13, it can be seen that when the contact angle of the blade is small, the blade comes into contact with the belly and the cleaning performance is lowered. If the allowable range of the remaining toner ID is 0.10, the contact angle needs to be 15 [°] or more. Further, when the contact angle is increased, the entire blade is caught, and it is difficult to set the angle to 25 [°] or more. Therefore, the contact angle is 15 [°] or more and 25 [°] or less. Further, by setting the contact angle to 19 [°] or more , the value of the residual toner ID becomes 0.01 or less, and better cleaning can be performed. Therefore, the contact angle is set to 20 [°] in the photoconductor cleaning device 130.

The volume average particle diameter can be determined by a Coulter counter method. Specifically, the toner number distribution and volume distribution data measured by the Coulter Multisizer 2e type (manufactured by Coulter) are sent to a personal computer via an interface (manufactured by Nikkaki Co., Ltd.) for analysis. More specifically, a 1% NaCl aqueous solution using first grade sodium chloride is prepared as an electrolytic solution. Then, 0.1 to 5 [ml] of a surfactant, preferably alkylbenzene sulfonate, is added as a dispersant to 100 to 150 [ml] of the electrolytic aqueous solution. Further, 2 to 20 [mg] of toner as a test sample is added thereto, and the dispersion treatment is performed for about 1 to 3 minutes with an ultrasonic disperser. Then, 100 to 200 [ml] of the electrolytic aqueous solution is put into another beaker, and the solution after the dispersion treatment is added to the beaker so as to have a predetermined concentration, and then applied to the Coulter Multisizer 2e type. The aperture is 100 [μm], and the particle size of 50,000 toner particles is measured. The channel, 2.00~2.52 [μm] below; 2.52 to 3.17 less than [[mu] m]; from 3.17 to 4.00 less than [μm]; 4.00~5.04 [μm] Less than 5.04 to 6.35 [μm] ; 6.35 to less than 8.00 [μm] ; 8.00 to less than 10.08 [μm] ; 10.08 to less than 12.70 [μm] ; 12.70 to less than 16.00 [μm] ; 16.00 to less than 20.20 [μm] ; 20.20 to less than 25.40 [μm] ; 25.40 to less than 32.00 [μm] ; Using 13 channels of less than 00 to less than 40.30 [μm] , toner particles having a particle size of 2.00 [μm] or more and 32.0 [μm] or less are targeted. Then, the volume average particle diameter is calculated based on the relational expression “volume average particle diameter = ΣXfV / ΣfV”. However, X is the representative diameter in each channel, V is the equivalent volume in the representative diameter of each channel, and f is the number of particles in each channel.

  FIG. 14 shows the relationship between the rebound resilience and temperature in four types of cleaning blades A to D having different rebound resilience. As shown in the figure, the resilience modulus tends to increase with increasing temperature. The cleaning blade indicated by C in FIG. 14 has a relatively low rate of change in the rebound resilience accompanying the temperature change of about 200 [%], but exhibits a relatively high rebound resilience at a temperature of 10 [° C.]. Such a blade exhibits a relatively high rebound resilience in a temperature range that generally changes in the printer, and there is a concern that the toner may be scraped off by the polymerization method. Further, the cleaning blade indicated by B in FIG. 14 exhibits a very small rebound resilience in a low temperature region. However, since the rate of change of the rebound resilience accompanying the temperature change is as high as about 600 [%], the rebound resilience equivalent to that of the cleaning blade C in FIG. In contrast, the cleaning blade indicated by A in FIG. 14 has a rebound resilience at a temperature of 23 [° C.] of 30 [%] or less, and a change in the rebound resilience from 10 [° C.] to 40 [° C.]. The rate is 350 [%] or less. Such a blade exhibits a relatively low rebound resilience in a temperature range that generally changes in the printer, and thus it is possible to suppress toner slip-out due to the polymerization method. The inventors have confirmed through experiments that the cleaning blade indicated by A in FIG. 14 can exhibit good cleaning performance regardless of temperature changes. Therefore, in the photoreceptor cleaning device 130, the cleaning blade 2 having a rebound resilience of 30 [%] or less at an air temperature of 23 [° C.] is used. Further, a material having a change rate of the impact resilience from 10 [° C.] to 40 [° C.] of 350 [%] or less is used.

  In the printer 200, a toner having an average circularity of 0.98 or more and a volume average particle diameter of 5 [μm] is used as a toner by polymerization. The average circularity can be measured using a flow type particle image analyzer FPIA-2000 (trade name, manufactured by Toa Medical Electronics Co., Ltd.). Specifically, in 100 to 150 [ml] of water from which impure solids have been removed in advance in a container, 0.1 to 0.5 [ml] of a surfactant, preferably alkylbenzene sulfonate, is added as a dispersant, Further, about 0.1 to 0.5 [g] of a measurement sample (toner) is added. Thereafter, the suspension in which the toner is dispersed is subjected to a dispersion treatment with an ultrasonic disperser for about 1 to 3 minutes so that the dispersion concentration becomes 3000 to 1 [10,000 / μl]. Set and measure toner shape and distribution. Based on the measurement result, the outer peripheral length of the toner projection shape is L1, the projected area is S, and L2 / L1 is obtained when the outer peripheral length of the same perfect circle as the projected area S is L2. Is the circularity.

  The volume average particle diameter can be determined by a Coulter counter method. Specifically, the toner number distribution and volume distribution data measured by the Coulter Multisizer 2e type (manufactured by Coulter) are sent to a personal computer via an interface (manufactured by Nikkaki Co., Ltd.) for analysis. More specifically, a 1% NaCl aqueous solution using first grade sodium chloride is prepared as an electrolytic solution. Then, 0.1 to 5 [ml] of a surfactant, preferably alkylbenzene sulfonate, is added as a dispersant to 100 to 150 [ml] of the electrolytic aqueous solution. Further, 2 to 20 [mg] of toner as a test sample is added thereto, and dispersion treatment is performed for about 1 to 3 minutes using an ultrasonic disperser. Then, 100 to 200 [ml] of the electrolytic aqueous solution is put into another beaker, and the solution after the dispersion treatment is added to the beaker so as to have a predetermined concentration, and then applied to the Coulter Multisizer 2e type. The aperture is 100 [μm], and the particle size of 50,000 toner particles is measured. As channels, 2.00 to less than 2.52 μm; 2.52 to less than 3.17 μm; 3.17 to less than 4.00 μm; 4.00 to less than 5.04 μm; 5.04 to less than 6.35 μm; 6 Less than 35 to 8.00 μm; less than 8.00 to less than 10.08 μm; less than 10.08 to less than 12.70 μm; less than 12.70 to less than 16.00 μm; less than 16.00 to less than 20.20 μm; Intended for toner particles having a particle size of 2.00 μm or more and 32.0 μm or less using 13 channels of less than 40 μm; 25.40 to less than 32.00 μm; 32.00 to less than 40.30 μm. Then, the volume average particle diameter is calculated based on the relational expression “volume average particle diameter = ΣXfV / ΣfV”. However, X is the representative diameter in each channel, V is the equivalent volume in the representative diameter of each channel, and f is the number of particles in each channel.

  As the pulverization method further develops in the future, it may be possible to obtain a toner having a very high average circularity even by the pulverization method. In such a case, even with toner by the pulverization method, cleaning defects are likely to occur as in the case of toner by the polymerization method.

As shown in FIG. 15, the toner used in each experiment described above has an average circularity of 0.98 or more and a volume average particle size of 5 [μm] , and has a particle size in the range of 2.5 to 7.0 [μm]. 95% of toner particles are present. This distribution state is the same for the untransferred toner (toner that is actually cleaned).

  In addition, if the contact pressure of the blade is increased to such an extent that the toner by the polymerization method can be cleaned well, a large frictional force may be generated on the photoconductor by the pressure and the surface friction coefficient, which may damage the photoconductor surface. is there. Therefore, in the printer 200, the photosensitive member that has a crosslinked structure is used as the binder resin constituting the surface protective layer or the charge transport layer below it. Specifically, a reactive monomer having a plurality of crosslinkable functional groups in one molecule is used, and a crosslink reaction is caused to the reactive monomer using light or heat energy to form a three-dimensional network structure. It is a thing. This network structure functions as a binder resin and exhibits high wear resistance. In such a photoreceptor, damage due to friction with the blade can be suppressed.

  From the viewpoints of electrical stability, friction resistance, long life, etc., it is very effective to use a monomer having a charge transporting ability in whole or in part as the reactive monomer. By using such a monomer, a charge transport site is formed in the network structure, and the function as the surface protective layer can be sufficiently exhibited.

  Examples of the reactive monomer having a charge transporting ability include compounds containing at least one charge transporting component and at least one silicon atom having a hydrolyzable substituent in the same molecule. A compound containing a charge transporting component and a hydroxyl group in the same molecule, or a compound containing a charge transporting component and a carboxyl group in the same molecule may be used. Furthermore, a compound containing a charge transporting component and an epoxy group in the same molecule, a compound containing a charge transporting component and an isocyanate group in the same molecule, or the like may be used. These charge transport materials having a reactive group may be used alone or in combination of two or more. More preferably, it is desirable to use a reactive monomer having a triarylamine structure as the monomer having a charge transporting ability because of its high electrical and chemical stability and high carrier mobility.

  In addition to reactive monomers, monofunctional and bifunctional polymerizable monomers and the like for the purpose of imparting functions such as viscosity adjustment during coating, stress relaxation of the crosslinkable charge transport layer, lower surface energy and reduced friction coefficient A polymerizable oligomer may be used in combination. As the polymerizable monomer and polymerizable oligomer, known ones can be used.

  When the polymerization reaction of the hole transporting compound is caused by heat, there are a case where the polymerization reaction is advanced only by thermal energy and a case where the polymerization reaction is accelerated by a polymerization initiator. In order to efficiently advance the polymerization reaction at a lower temperature, it is preferable to add a polymerization initiator.

  In the case of polymerization by light, it is preferable to use ultraviolet rays as light. However, since it is rare that the reaction proceeds only with light energy, it is common to use a photopolymerization initiator in combination. The polymerization initiator in this case mainly absorbs ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 400 [nm] or less, generates active species such as radicals and ions, and initiates polymerization. You may use together the polymerization initiator which accelerates | stimulates the polymerization reaction by the heat mentioned above.

  The charge transport layer having a network structure has high wear resistance, but has a large volume shrinkage during the crosslinking reaction, and may cause cracks if it is excessively thickened. In such a case, it is preferable to form a protective layer having a cross-linked structure on the upper layer (surface side) using a protective layer of a low molecular weight dispersion polymer on the lower layer (photosensitive layer side), with the surface protective layer having a laminated structure. .

  For a photoreceptor provided with a surface protective layer as described above, for example, it is produced in the same manner as a well-known method except that the protective layer coating solution, film thickness, and preparation conditions are devised as described below. can do. That is, first, 182 parts by weight of methyltrimethoxysilane, 40 parts by weight of dihydroxymethyltriphenylamine, 225 parts by weight of 2-propanol, 106 parts by weight of 2% acetic acid, and 1 part by weight of aluminum trisacetylacetonate are mixed to protect the surface. A coating solution for the layer is obtained. This coating solution is applied onto the charge transport layer and dried, and then heat-cured for 1 hour in an environment of 110 [° C.] to form a surface protective layer having a thickness of 3 [μm].

Further, for example, a well-known method may be used except that the protective layer coating solution, film thickness, and preparation conditions are devised as described below. That is, 30 parts by weight of a hole transporting compound having a chemical structural formula shown in Chemical Formula 1, and an acrylic monomer having a chemical structural formula shown in Chemical Formula 2 and a photopolymerization initiator (1-hydroxy-cyclohexyl-phenyl-ketone). 0.6 parts by weight of the mixture is dissolved in a mixed solvent of 50 parts by weight of monochlorobenzene / 50 parts by weight of dichloromethane to obtain a coating material for the surface protective layer. This paint is applied on the charge transport layer by spray coating, and cured for 30 seconds at a light intensity of 500 [mW / cm ² ] using a metal halide lamp, thereby forming a surface protective layer having a thickness of 5 μm.

[ Reference Configuration Example 2 ]
Next, as a reference configuration example 2 , a configuration in which the cleaning blade 2 is combined with two blade-like polyurethane materials having different characteristics will be described.
FIG. 16 is an enlarged configuration diagram illustrating the cleaning blade 2 and the holder 132 of the printer according to the reference configuration example 2 . As shown in the drawing, in the reference configuration example 2 , the cleaning blade 2 that is an elastic member has a multilayer structure including a surface layer 2a that abuts on a photosensitive member (not shown), and a lower layer 2b between the surface layer 2a and the holder 132. Something is used. Each layer is made of a polyurethane material, but the properties of the polyurethane material are different from each other. The characteristic is that the hardness and the rebound resilience coefficient are different or the thickness is different.
In FIG. 16, the blade thickness t is 2.5 [mm] or more and 5.0 [mm] or less, and L / t is 1.5 or more and 3.0 or less.

In Reference Configuration Example 2 , the layer thickness of the lower layer 2b is larger than that of the surface layer 2a, and the lower layer 2b has a lower hardness than the surface layer 2a. In such a configuration, the surface layer 2a is harder than the lower layer 2b, so that it is possible to form a tight melee at the tip contact portion with the photoconductor, which is in contact with a cleaning blade having a single layer structure. The pressure can be increased. Further, by using a low hardness layer as the lower layer 2b, the contact property between the surface layer 2a and the photosensitive member can be made uniform.

  FIG. 17 shows the relationship between the rebound resilience (rebound resilience coefficient JIS-K-6255) and temperature in the cleaning blade 2. In the figure, a graph connecting the round plot points shows the characteristics of the cleaning blade made of only the material forming the lower layer 2b. A graph connecting the diamond-shaped plot points shows the characteristics of the cleaning blade 2 having the two-layer structure shown in FIG. A graph connecting rectangular plot points shows the characteristics of the cleaning blade made of only the material forming the surface layer 2a. In any cleaning blade, the thickness of the entire blade is the same.

  As shown in FIG. 17, by combining a high hardness surface layer 2a and a low hardness lower layer 2b, a cleaning blade that exhibits intermediate characteristics between only the surface layer 2a and only the lower layer 2b can be obtained. Thereby, the toner can be rebounded by the high repulsion characteristic of the lower layer 2b and the cleaning ability can be improved while the edge is reliably brought into contact with the photosensitive member without disturbing the curled shape of the edge of the blade.

  Note that materials having different tan δ peak temperatures may be used for the surface layer 2a and the lower layer 2b in order to provide a margin for environmental fluctuations. Thus, for example, a material having a tan δ peak temperature of about −15 [° C.] is used as the material of one layer, and a material having a tan δ peak temperature of about 25 [° C.] is used as the material of the other layer. Can be used. In such a configuration, the tan δ peak temperature of the two layers is about 18 [° C.], which is a substantially intermediate temperature in the printer operating environment temperature range of 5 to 35 [° C.]. As a result, it is possible to obtain a cleaning characteristic that provides a margin for environmental fluctuations.

[ Example]
Then, not to the front end of the edge E cleaning blade 2 as an example is cut so that the 90 [°], the edge E is 95 [°] or more, 120 [°] to be a less obtuse The structure cut | disconnected to is demonstrated.
Figure 18 is an enlarged view showing the cleaning blade 2 and the holder 132 of the printer according to the embodiment. As shown, Oite the embodiment, as the cleaning blade 2 which is an elastic member, and the photosensitive member 1 is the angle θ of the abutting edge E has a shape which is cut the tip such that the obtuse angle.
In FIG. 18, the blade thickness t is 2.5 [mm] or more and 5.0 [mm] or less, and L / t is 1.5 or more and 3.0 or less.

  FIG. 19 shows an enlarged view of the vicinity of the edge E, which is the tip portion of the deformed state obtained by calculation of the cleaning blade 2 shown in FIG. Since the edge E, which is the tip, has an obtuse shape, it is in a state of being easily turned over, so that even a small linear pressure value is easily generated, and a large drag can be generated against the photoreceptor. The results of calculating this drag distribution by calculation are shown in FIG. It can be seen that by using this shape, the drag concentrates on the tip and efficient cleaning is possible. In addition, since the tip portion has an obtuse angle, it is possible to avoid the entire blade from being involved even if the frictional force with the image carrier suddenly increases.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, since the rubber hardness of the cleaning blade 2 that is an elastic member is 65 [°] or more and 80 [°] or less, the blade can be maintained in an elastic force without permanent deformation. Further, since it has a medium hardness, the surface pressure can be maintained and uniform contact with the photosensitive member, which is a member to be cleaned, can be achieved, as well as cleaning properties and durability. The contact angle between the cleaning blade 2 and the photosensitive member is set to 15 [°] or more and 25 [°] or less. Then, by setting the set linear pressure on the photosensitive member 1 to 0.5 [N / cm] or more and 1.8 [N / cm] or less, it is possible to prevent the polymerization toner from entering the contact portion. When the blade thickness is t and the free end length is L, the value of t is 2.5 [mm] included in the range of 2.5 [mm] ≦ t ≦ 5.0 [mm]. The value of / t is 1.5 ≦ t / L ≦ 3.0. As a result, the cleaning blade 2 can be prevented from hitting the photosensitive member 1 and the blade is brought into contact with the image carrier in a narrow contact area, so that a high surface pressure can be obtained. In addition, since the contact is made in a narrow area, the total load applied to the blade needs only a small force.
By preventing the polymerized toner from entering the contact portion by the above-described operation, the cleaning failure can be suppressed even when the polymerized toner is used, and the contact pressure can be increased without causing contact with the stomach. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent an increase in the frictional force between the elastic member and the member to be cleaned due to the contact with the belly, and it is possible to secure a region for damaging the spherical / small-diameter toner, thereby enabling reliable cleaning.
Further, the rebound resilience coefficient at 23 [° C.] of the rubber of the cleaning blade 2 is set to 30 [%] or less, and the change rate of the resilience elastic modulus from 10 [° C.] to 40 [° C.] is set to 350 [%] or less. Stable cleaning quality is obtained regardless of the environment.
In addition, the binder resin in the structure of the image carrier protective layer or the charge transport site has a cross-linked structure, so that the strength of the image carrier itself is improved, and the amount of wear damage due to blade rubbing is small, so a long-life image. The forming device can be maintained.
Further, as in Reference Configuration Example 2 , the cleaning blade 2 has a laminated structure of members having different material characteristics, so that the contact pressure can be increased as compared with a cleaning blade having a single layer structure. In addition, the adhesion between the blade and the photoreceptor 1 can be improved. Furthermore, it can be made less susceptible to environmental fluctuations such as temperature changes than a single-layer cleaning blade.
Also, as in the embodiment, the cleaning surface forming photosensitive member 1 and the abutting ridge of the blade 2 is 95 [°] or more, 120 [°] by a less obtuse, turn-up amount can be reduced. Thereby, the amplitude of the self-vibration of the stick / slip is small, which is advantageous for wear damage of the blade itself.
Further, the photoconductor cleaning device 130 including the cleaning blade 2 and the process unit 100 including the photoconductor 1, the developing device 120, and the charging device 110 are detachable from the printer 200 main body. This improves the miniaturization of the main body of the printer 200 and the operability of attaching / detaching / removing consumables.

[Modification 1]
FIG. 21 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a process unit 100 of the printer according to the first modification.
In FIG. 21, the photoconductor cleaning device 130 is a lubricant application unit that applies a lubricant to the surface of the photoconductor before entering the contact position with the cleaning blade 2 after passing through the transfer conveyance unit 40 as a transfer unit. A brush unit 136 is provided. The brush unit 136 includes a lubricant solid material 136 b and a lubricant application brush 136 a that is rotated while being in contact with the lubricant solid material 136 b and the photoreceptor 1.

  The lubricant application brush 136a is a roller-like brush in which an infinite number of brushes made of acrylic carbon are planted on a core material. Innumerable raised tips (not shown) are rotationally driven in the clockwise direction in the figure, which causes surface movement in the counter direction at the portion facing the photoreceptor 1 so that the photoreceptor 1 is sequentially rubbed. By this rotational drive, the lubricant powder scraped from the lubricant solid material 136 b is applied to the surface of the photoreceptor 1.

  If the lubricant solid material 136b is directly rubbed against the photoreceptor 1 without providing the lubricant application brush 136a, uneven wear of the lubricant solid material 136b is caused, or the amount of lubricant powder applied to the surface of the photoreceptor 1 is increased. Cause non-uniformity. Accordingly, the lubricant powder is scraped off from the lubricant solid material 136b by the lubricant application brush 136a and applied to the photoreceptor 1. In such a configuration, the above-described uneven wear and uneven application amount can be suppressed.

  When the lubricant application brush 136a is used, the amount of lubricant powder applied to the photoreceptor 1 can be easily adjusted by adjusting the rotation speed. Furthermore, the rotation direction of the lubricant application brush 136a is set to the counter direction with respect to the rotation direction of the photoreceptor 1, so that the lubricant is applied to the transfer residual toner before being brought into contact with the cleaning blade 2, thereby improving the cleaning performance. It can also be made.

  As the solid lubricant 136b, a solidified metal soap such as zinc stearate, calcium stearate, magnesium stearate, barium stearate, aluminum stearate, or the like can be used.

[Modification 2]
Next, as a second modification, a configuration in which a leveling blade for leveling the lubricant is provided separately from the cleaning blade, unlike the first modification.
FIG. 22 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a process unit 100 of a printer according to the second modification. In the process unit 100 of the second modification, the lubricant powder is applied to the surface of the photoreceptor 1 after being cleaned by the cleaning blade 2 by the lubricant application brush 136a. Further, a leveling blade 137 is provided between the brush unit 136 and the charging device 110, and a tip of the blade 137 is brought into contact with the surface of the photoreceptor 1. The leveling blade 137 has a role of making the application state on the surface of the lubricant powder applied to the surface of the photoreceptor 1 by the lubricant application brush 136a uniform.

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 21, the lubricant is applied to the surface of the photoreceptor 1 before being cleaned by the cleaning blade 2, but the lubricant is applied to the photoreceptor in a relatively large lump state. There is a case. As a result, the toner and the external additive on the toner surface rub through the blade nip as the contact portion, thereby adversely affecting the image.

  On the other hand, in Modification 2 shown in FIG. 22, the lubricant applied to the surface of the photoconductor 1 is leveled by the leveling blade 137 and then entered into the blade nip of the photoconductor cleaning device 130. Thereby, it is possible to avoid the external additive and the toner from being rubbed out by the lump of the lubricant.

[Modification 3]
Next, as a third modification, unlike the first and second modifications, a device for applying a lubricant is not provided, and a lubricant is mixed with the developer in the developing device 120 to mix the lubricant with the photosensitive member 1. The structure applied to the substrate will be described.
FIG. 23 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a process unit 100 of a printer according to the third modification. In the process unit 100 of the third modification, a lubricant supply unit 138 is provided on the upper part of the developing device 120. If the lubricant provided in the lubricant supply unit 138 is solid, it is mixed with the developer in the developing device 120 by a fur brush (not shown). Further, when the lubricant provided in the lubricant supply unit 138 is powdery, the powdery lubricant falls into the developing device 120 through an opening (not shown) and is mixed with the developer. The lubricant mixed in the developer is applied to the surface of the photoreceptor 1 by a magnetic brush formed on the developing sleeve 124. This makes it possible to form a lubricating layer on the surface of the photoreceptor 1 at low cost.

[Modification 4]
FIG. 24 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a printer 200 according to the fourth modification. The printer 200 shown in FIG. 24 includes four sets of process units 100Y, 100C, M, and K for forming images of each color of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). ing. Y, C, M, and K added after the numbers of the respective symbols indicate members for yellow, cyan, magenta, and black (the same applies hereinafter).

  The transfer belt 41 of the transfer transfer unit 40 is stretched around a transfer belt drive roller 42 and a driven roller 45. The photoreceptors 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K of the process units 100Y, 100M, 100C, and 100K are in contact with the upper stretched surface of the transport belt 41 to form a transfer nip. In these transfer nips, the transfer belts 43Y, M, C, and K disposed inside the belt loop sandwich the conveyance belt 41 between the photoreceptors 1Y, M, C, and K.

On the transfer paper P conveyed from the right side to the left side in the drawing while being held on the upper stretched surface of the conveyance belt 41, Y, M, The C and K toner images are transferred in a superimposed manner. As a result, a full-color image is formed on the transfer paper P.
A plurality of process units 100 as Y, M, C, and K are provided as toner image forming means, and a full color image on the transfer paper P is formed by superimposing the toner images of each color according to the transfer paper P. Can do.

[Embodiment 2]
In the first embodiment, the printer 200 is described in which the characteristic portion of the present invention is applied to the photoconductor cleaning device 130 that functions as a latent image carrier and cleans transfer residual toner of the photoconductor 1 that functions as a toner image carrier. . However, the cleaning device having the characteristics of the present invention is not limited to the photoconductor cleaning device.
Hereinafter, as Embodiment 2, a configuration in which a cleaning device having the characteristics of the present invention is applied to a charging roller cleaning device that cleans the surface of a charging roller 111 that is a charging endless moving body as a member to be cleaned will be described.
Since the second embodiment is common to the first embodiment except that the charging device 110 includes a cleaning device, the description of the common points is omitted.

  FIG. 25 is a schematic configuration diagram of the charging device 110 according to the second embodiment. As shown in the figure, the charging device 110 includes a charging roller cleaning device 117 that removes toner adhering to the charging roller 111. The charging roller cleaning device 117 includes a charge removal casing 113, a holder 132 as a support member, a cleaning blade 2 as an elastic cleaning blade, a charge removal collection screw 114, and the like.

Of the transfer residual toner adhering to the photoreceptor 1, toner that has not been removed by the photoreceptor cleaning device 130 reaches a portion facing the charging roller 111 that is a charging region. Since the charging roller 111 is charged in proximity to or in contact with the photoreceptor 1, some toner that has reached the charging region may adhere to the charging roller 111.
The toner adhering to the charging roller 111 in the charging region is removed from the surface of the charging roller by the cleaning blade 2 of the charging roller cleaning device 117.

The cleaning blade 2 of the charging roller cleaning device 117 is the same as the cleaning blade 2 applied to the photoconductor cleaning device 130. Thereby, the transfer residual toner adhering to the charging roller 111 can be removed satisfactorily.
Since the transfer residual toner adhered to the charging roller 111 can be removed satisfactorily, it is not necessary to use the non-contact type for preventing toner adhesion as in the first embodiment, and the contact type charging roller 111 can be employed.
The charging device 110 as a process unit has a configuration in which at least the charging roller cleaning device 117 and the charging roller 111 are integrated, and is detachable from the printer 200 main body.

[Embodiment 3]
Next, as Embodiment 3, a configuration in which a cleaning device having the characteristics of the present invention is applied to an intermediate transfer member cleaning device that cleans the surface of an intermediate transfer member that functions as a toner image carrier will be described.

FIG. 26 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an intermediate transfer unit 300 including an intermediate transfer belt 210 as an intermediate transfer body according to the third embodiment and a peripheral configuration thereof. The intermediate transfer unit 300 is applied to a known image forming apparatus different from the printer 200 described above.
The intermediate transfer unit 300 includes an intermediate transfer belt 210, a belt cleaning device 90, and the like. Further, a tension roller 214, a driving roller 215, a secondary transfer backup roller 216, four intermediate transfer bias rollers 62Y, C, M, and K, three grounding rollers 74, and the like are also provided.

  The intermediate transfer belt 210 is tensioned by ten rollers including a tension roller 214. Then, it is endlessly moved clockwise in the drawing by the rotation of a driving roller 215 driven by a belt driving motor (not shown). The four intermediate transfer bias rollers 62Y, C, M, and K are disposed so as to be in contact with the base layer side (inner peripheral surface side) of the intermediate transfer belt 210, and receive an intermediate transfer bias from a power source (not shown). . Further, the intermediate transfer belt 210 is pressed toward the photoreceptors 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1K from the base layer side to form intermediate transfer nips. At each intermediate transfer nip, an intermediate transfer electric field is formed between the photoreceptor and the intermediate transfer bias roller due to the influence of the intermediate transfer bias. The above-described Y toner image formed on the Y photoconductor 1Y is intermediately transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 210 due to the influence of the intermediate transfer electric field and nip pressure. On the Y toner image, the C, M, and K toner images formed on the C, M, and K photoconductors 1C, M, and K are sequentially superimposed and transferred. By this superimposing intermediate transfer, a four-color superposed toner image (hereinafter referred to as a four-color toner image), which is a multiple toner image, is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 210.

  In the intermediate transfer belt 210, the ground roller 74 is in contact with the portion located between the intermediate transfer nips from the inside. These grounding rollers 74 are made of a conductive material. Then, the current due to the intermediate transfer bias transmitted from the intermediate transfer bias rollers 62Y, C, M, and K to the belt at each intermediate transfer nip is prevented from leaking to other intermediate transfer nips and process cartridges.

  The four-color toner image superimposed and transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 210 is secondarily transferred onto a transfer sheet (not shown) at a secondary transfer nip described later. The transfer residual toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 210 after passing the secondary transfer nip is cleaned by the cleaning blade 2 of the belt cleaning device 90 that sandwiches the belt with the driving roller 215 on the left side in the drawing.

By using the same cleaning blade 2 as that applied to the printer 200 as the cleaning blade 2 of the belt cleaning device 90, the transfer residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 210 can be satisfactorily removed.
In particular, in an intermediate transfer body that carries a plurality of colors of toner, such as the intermediate transfer belt 210, color mixture due to transfer residual toners of different colors adhering to the photoreceptor 1 due to good removal of the transfer residual toner. Can be prevented.
Note that the intermediate transfer unit 300 as a process unit has a configuration in which at least the belt cleaning device 90 and the intermediate transfer belt 210 are integrated, and is detachable from the image forming apparatus main body (not shown).

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a process unit in the printer. Schematic which shows the conventional holder and a cleaning blade. Schematic which shows the state which made the conventional cleaning blade contact | abut to a photoconductor. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing a tip portion of a conventional cleaning blade pressed against a photoconductor with a strong pressing force capable of satisfactorily cleaning toner by a polymerization method. FIG. 6 is a pressure distribution diagram at the tip of the cleaning blade in the state shown in FIG. 5. Schematic which shows the holder and cleaning blade which concern on the reference structural example 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing a tip portion of a cleaning blade according to Reference Configuration Example 1 . 6 is a pressure distribution diagram of a cleaning blade according to Reference Configuration Example 1. FIG. The graph which shows the experimental result of Experiment 1. The graph which shows the experimental result of Experiment 3. The graph which shows the experimental result of Experiment 4. The graph which shows the experimental result of Experiment 5. The graph which shows the relationship between the resilience elastic modulus and temperature in four types of cleaning blades. The graph which shows the particle size distribution of a toner. FIG. 6 is an enlarged configuration diagram illustrating a cleaning blade and a holder of a printer according to Reference Configuration Example 2 . The graph which shows the relationship between the resilience modulus of a cleaning blade, and temperature. Enlarged view showing a cleaning blade and the holder of the printer according to the embodiment. The enlarged view which shows the front-end | tip part of the cleaning blade which concerns on an Example . The pressure distribution figure of the cleaning blade which concerns on an Example . FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a process unit of a printer according to a first modification. FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a process unit of a printer according to a second modification. FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a process unit of a printer according to a third modification. FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a process unit of a printer according to a fourth modification. FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a charging device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an intermediate transfer unit according to a third embodiment and its surroundings.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photoconductor 2 Cleaning blade 2a Surface layer 2b Lower layer 10 Paper feed cassette 20 Conveyance roller pair 30 Recording body conveyance path 31 Registration roller pair 40 Transfer conveyance unit 41 Conveyance belt 42 Conveyance belt drive roller 43 Recording material transfer bias roller 44 Conveyance belt cleaning apparatus 44a Fur brush 50 Fixing device 60 Paper discharge roller pair 100 Process unit 101 Optical writing unit 110 Charging device 111 Charging roller 113 Charge removal casing 114 Charge removal / recovery screw 117 Charging roller cleaning device 118 Supply conveyance screw 119 Developer supply unit 120 Development Device 121 Developing casing 122 Developing section 123 Developer stirring section 124 Developing sleeve 125 Doctor blade 126 Magnet roller 127 Stirring and conveying screw 12 T sensor 129 partition wall 130 photoconductor cleaning device 131 photoreceptor removing the casing 132 holder 134 collecting screw 136 brush unit 136a lubricant applying brush 136b lubricant solids 140 static eliminator 200 printer 300 intermediate transfer unit P transfer sheet

Claims (15)

A tip-shaped elastic member that is supported by a support member and has a tip in contact with a cleaning member that moves on the surface in a counter direction, and removes toner on the surface of the cleaning member;
In the cleaning device in which the rubber hardness (JISA hardness) of the elastic member is 65 [°] or more and 80 [°] or less,
The blade thickness, which is the thickness of the elastic member, is t, and the free end length, which is the length from the boundary between the supported portion and the unsupported portion of the elastic member to the tip portion, is L. Then
2.5 [mm] ≦ t ≦ 5.0 [mm]
as well as,
1.5 ≦ L / t ≦ 3.0
Satisfy the relationship
Setting line pressure to該被cleaning member from the elastic member is 0.5 [N / cm] or more state, and are 1.8 [N / cm] or less,
The angle of the front edge portion of the cleaning member which abuts against the elastic member 95 [°] or more, 120 [°] a cleaning device according to claim der Rukoto below. The cleaning device according to claim 1.
A cleaning apparatus, wherein the member to be cleaned is a latent image carrier. The cleaning device according to claim 1.
A cleaning device, wherein the member to be cleaned is a charging endless moving body that charges the surface of the latent image carrier by approaching or contacting the latent image carrier. The cleaning device according to claim 1.
The cleaning apparatus is characterized in that the member to be cleaned is an intermediate transfer member. The cleaning device according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4.
The contact angle between the tangent line of the member to be cleaned and the elastic member at the contact portion where the elastic member contacts the member to be cleaned is 15 [°] or more and 25 [°] or less. A cleaning device characterized. The cleaning device according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.
A cleaning device, wherein the elastic member has a laminated structure in which a plurality of blades having different material properties are stacked . 請 Motomeko 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or in the cleaning device 6,
As the material of the elastic member, the rebound resilience when the temperature is 23 [° C.] is 30% or less, and the rate of change of the rebound resilience from 10 [° C.] to 40 [° C.] A cleaning apparatus using 350% or less. Integrally includes a member to be cleaned to remove the toner on the surface by at least a cleaning apparatus and the cleaning device is made, in a removable process uni Tsu preparative main body of the image forming apparatus,
As the cleaning device, according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, the process unit, which comprises using a cleaning device according to 7 it was 6 or. At least a latent image carrier;
Charging means for charging the surface of the latent image carrier;
Latent image forming means for forming an electrostatic latent image on the latent image carrier;
Developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image into a toner image;
Toner image forming means comprising transfer means for transferring the toner image on the latent image carrier to a transfer material;
An image forming apparatus having a cleaning device that removes toner on a member to be cleaned to which unnecessary toner has adhered in the process of forming a toner image and forming an image on a recording medium.
Claim 1,2,3,4,5 as the cleaning device, an image forming apparatus which comprises using a cleaning device according to 7 was 6 or. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9 .
An image forming apparatus using a latent image bearing member provided with a surface protective layer made of a material containing fine particles of an inorganic compound. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9 .
An image forming apparatus using a latent image bearing member provided with a surface protective layer made of a binder resin having a crosslinked structure. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11 .
An image forming apparatus comprising a charge transport layer in the structure of the surface protective layer. 9. The image forming apparatus of 10,1 1 or 12,
Lubricant applying means for applying a lubricant to the surface of the latent image carrier before passing through the transfer means and before entering a portion facing the cleaning means for removing the transfer residual toner on the latent image carrier. An image forming apparatus provided. 9. The image forming apparatus of 10,1 1 or 12,
The developing means is a developing device including a developer containing portion for containing a developer and a developing roller that carries the developer and supplies toner to the electrostatic latent image,
Having a lubricant supply means for supplying a lubricant to the developer;
The image forming apparatus, wherein the lubricant is mixed with the developer and applied to the surface of the latent image carrier by the rotation of the developing roller. 9., 10,11,12,1 3 or the image forming apparatus 14,
A plurality of toner image forming means for forming toner images on different toner image carriers are provided.
An image forming apparatus comprising: a transfer unit that sequentially transfers toner images formed on a plurality of toner image carriers on the transfer material.

Images