JP4957754B2 - Drive transmission component, drive transmission mechanism using the same, driven device, and drive processing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a drive transmission component, a drive transmission mechanism using the drive transmission component, a driven apparatus, and a drive processing apparatus.

As conventional drive transmission mechanisms and drive transmission components used therefor, for example, those described in Patent Documents 1 to 3 have already been provided.
Patent Document 1 is a technique in which an end cap member that transmits a rotational driving force to a fixing belt is fixed to the fixing belt via an adhesive (silicone) over the entire circumferential direction of the fixing belt.
In Patent Document 2, the fixing belt is constrained by the cap member so that the cross-sectional shape of the end portion is circular, is sandwiched between the pressure roll and the pressing pad, and is driven by the circumferential driving force transmitted from the cap member. Technology.
In Patent Document 3, an end cap member is fitted to both ends of the fixing belt, a bearing is attached to the center of the end cap member, and the end cap member has a gear portion protruding in the radial direction, and is engaged with the gear portion. In this technique, the end cap member is driven to rotate by the drive gear, and the fixing belt is driven to rotate.

JP 2006-227106 A (Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention, FIG. 2) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-221719 (Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention, FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-47768 (Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention, FIG. 4)

  The technical problem of the present invention is a drive transmission component that has a simple configuration, increases the bonding strength of the annular driven body with an adhesive, and effectively prevents adhesion peeling, and a drive transmission mechanism, a driven apparatus using the drive transmission component, A drive processing apparatus is provided.

The invention according to claim 1, comprising a rotary drive transmission can drive transmission element, and a joining element which is joined to the annular driven member through the and adhesive is integrally formed with the drive transmission element coaxially the bonding element is an adhesive and a cylindrical body that can be applied to and the peripheral surface extends in the rotational center of the drive transmission element, the drive transmission element of the peripheral surface of the cylindrical body is provided on the opposite side, the cylindrical body A plurality of parallel grooves extending in a direction intersecting the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body and arranged in parallel in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body, provided on the drive transmission element side of the cylindrical body peripheral surface, and in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body And at least one circumferential groove extending continuously along the partition wall, and a partition wall provided to discontinuously partition the plurality of parallel grooves and the circumferential groove in the cylindrical body surface, The partition wall and parallel groove of the cylindrical body surface are narrowed in the protruding direction. A drive transmission component, characterized in that those having an inclined slope that.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a drive transmission element capable of transmitting rotational drive , and a joint element integrally provided coaxially with the drive transmission element and joined to the annular driven body via an adhesive. The joining element is provided in a cylindrical body that extends in the direction of the rotation center of the drive transmission element and to which an adhesive can be applied to the peripheral surface, and is provided on the opposite side of the peripheral surface of the cylindrical body from the drive transmission element. A plurality of parallel grooves extending in a direction intersecting the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body and arranged in parallel in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body, provided on the drive transmission element side of the cylindrical body peripheral surface, and in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body And at least one circumferential groove extending continuously along the partition wall, and a partition wall provided to discontinuously partition the plurality of parallel grooves and the circumferential groove in the cylindrical body surface, in depth dimension of the circumferential groove those deeper than the depth dimension of said parallel grooves A drive transmission component, wherein Rukoto.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a drive transmission element capable of transmitting rotational drive , and a joining element integrally provided coaxially with the drive transmission element and joined to the annular driven body via an adhesive. The joining element is provided in a cylindrical body that extends in the direction of the rotation center of the drive transmission element and to which an adhesive can be applied to the peripheral surface, and is provided on the opposite side of the peripheral surface of the cylindrical body from the drive transmission element. A plurality of parallel grooves extending in a direction intersecting the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body and arranged in parallel in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body, provided on the drive transmission element side of the cylindrical body peripheral surface, and in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body And at least one circumferential groove extending continuously along the partition wall, and a partition wall provided to discontinuously partition the plurality of parallel grooves and the circumferential groove in the cylindrical body surface, The bottom wall of the groove in the circumferential groove has a circumferential shape portion along the circumferential shape and A drive transmission component, characterized in that those having a straight portion which is cut in a straight line a portion opposing the circumferential shaped portions.
The invention according to claim 4, in the drive transmission component according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the plurality of parallel grooves extending along the center direction of the cylindrical body, and characterized by being arranged orthogonal to the circumferential groove It is a drive transmission component.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the drive transmission component according to any of the first to fourth aspects, the joint element is a synthetic resin joint that is joined to an annular driven body made of synthetic resin via an elastic adhesive. It is a drive transmission component characterized by being an element.
The invention according to claim 6 includes at least the drive transmission component according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and another drive transmission component that transmits the drive in connection with the drive transmission element of the drive transmission component. The drive transmission mechanism is characterized in that the drive force is transmitted to the annular driven body.
The invention according to claim 7 includes the drive transmission component according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and an annular driven body joined to a joining element of the drive transmission component via an adhesive. It is a driven device.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the aspect in which the driven device according to the seventh aspect is a fixing device that heat-fixes an unfixed toner image, a fixing belt as an annular driven body heated by a heating unit, and fixing A driven device comprising: a pressure roll that contacts and rolls against the belt; and a pressure member that is disposed on the back surface of the fixing belt and presses the fixing belt between the pressure roll. .
The invention according to claim 9 is a drive processing apparatus characterized in that the driven device according to claim 7 or 8 is included in a processing element, and processing by the processing element is driven.

According to the first aspect of the invention, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) With a configuration that maintains good productivity, it is possible to increase the bonding strength of the drive transmission component and the annular driven body with an adhesive, and to effectively prevent peeling of the two.
(2) The adhesive layer around the parallel grooves and the adhesive layer around the circumferential grooves can be separated from each other, and each adhesive performance can be kept good.
(3) The unevenness of the adhesive layer can be suppressed and the adhesive layer can be made uniform.
(4) The adhesive layer around the circumferential groove can be made uniform.
(5) The joining workability between the joining element of the drive transmission component and the annular driven body can be kept good.
According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the same effects (1) to (4) as those of the invention of claim 1, the holding strength of the adhesive layer with respect to the circumferential groove is increased, and the drive transmission component and the annular cover are increased. It is possible to more reliably prevent the peeling of the joint with the driving body.
According to the invention of claim 3, in addition to the effects (1) to (4) similar to those of the invention of claim 1, the adhesive is devised by devising the shape of the bottom wall of the groove in the circumferential groove. Slip in the rotational direction between the layer and the groove can be suppressed.
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 4 , the joining strength of the joining element of a drive transmission component and a cyclic | annular driven body can be strengthened more .
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, even if the drive transmission component and the annular driven body are made of synthetic resin, peeling of the adhesive layer between them can be effectively avoided.
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 6 , with the structure which keeps productivity favorable, the joint strength by the adhesive agent of a drive transmission component and a cyclic | annular driven body can be raised, and both adhesion peeling can be prevented effectively. it is possible to construct a drive transmission mechanism.
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 7 , with the structure which keeps productivity favorable, the joint strength by the adhesive agent of a drive transmission component and an annular driven body can be improved, and both adhesion peeling can be prevented effectively. A driven device can be constructed.
According to the eighth aspect of the invention, driven structure capable of increasing the bonding strength of the drive transmission component and the fixing belt by the adhesive and effectively preventing the peeling-off of both in a configuration that maintains good productivity. A fixing device as a device can be constructed.
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to increase the bonding strength of the drive transmission component and the annular driven body by the adhesive and to effectively prevent the peeling-off of the two in a configuration that maintains good productivity. An image processing apparatus using a driven apparatus can be constructed.

(A) is explanatory drawing which shows the outline | summary of embodiment of the drive processing apparatus with which this invention is applied, (b) is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the drive transmission component used with the drive processing apparatus of (a), (c) () Is a perspective explanatory view of the drive transmission component of (b). (A) is explanatory drawing which shows typically the junction part of the drive transmission component and cyclic | annular driven body which are shown in FIG.1 (b), (b) is the arrow line view seen from the B direction in (a). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a first embodiment of an image forming apparatus as a drive processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied. (A) is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the fixing device used with the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 3, (b) is sectional explanatory drawing which shows the cross-sectional structure of a fixing belt. FIG. 5 is a perspective explanatory view showing details of the fixing device shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the detail of VI part in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the detail of the VII part in FIG. (A) is perspective explanatory drawing which shows the detail of the drive transmission gear as a drive transmission component used in Embodiment 1, (b) is the arrow view seen from the B direction in (a), (c) is (a) ) It is an arrow view seen from the middle C direction. (A) is the EE sectional view explanatory drawing in FIG.8 (b), (b) is the F section enlarged explanatory view in FIG.9 (a). (A) is G section expansion explanatory drawing in FIG.8 (b), (b) is the HH sectional view explanatory drawing in FIG.8 (c). 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a method for manufacturing a drive transmission gear used in Embodiment 1. FIG. (A) is explanatory drawing which shows the deformation | transformation form of the drive transmission gear used in Embodiment 1, (b) is a BB sectional explanatory drawing in (a). (A) is explanatory drawing which shows typically the state of the junction part of the drive transmission gear and fixing belt which are used in Embodiment 1, (b) is description which shows the junction part characteristic of the same drive transmission gear and fixing belt. FIG. (A) is explanatory drawing which shows the peeling torque test result of the junction part of the drive transmission gear and fixing belt which are shown in Examples 1-3 and Comparative Examples 1-4, (b) is Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1-3. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the results of performance evaluation (peeling force evaluation, running stress evaluation, workability evaluation) for the joint structure of the drive transmission gear and the fixing belt shown in FIG. (A)-(d) is explanatory drawing which shows typically the drive transmission gear used in Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1-3, respectively.

Outline of Embodiment FIG. 1A is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of an embodiment of a drive processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.
In the figure, a drive processing device 15 includes a driven device 13 to which a driving force from a driving source 11 such as a motor is transmitted via a drive transmission mechanism 12 as a processing element, and drives processing by the processing element. is there.
Here, the drive processing device refers to, for example, an image forming device, a recording material processing device, or the like.
The driven device 13 has an annular driven body 14 and is driven by the annular driven body 14 through a drive transmission component 10 (see FIGS. 1B and 1C) which is a component of the drive transmission mechanism 12. Any force can be transmitted. That is, the driven device 13 includes a drive transmission component 10 and an annular driven body 14 joined to the joining element 2 of the drive transmission component 10 (see FIGS. 1B and 1C) via the adhesive 3. What is necessary is just to have.

For example, when an electrophotographic image forming apparatus is taken as an example, if the annular driven member 14 is a fixing belt, it indicates a fixing device, and as another example, if the annular driven member 14 is an annular intermediate transfer belt. An intermediate transfer device including this may be selected as appropriate.
More specifically, taking the fixing device as an example, in an embodiment in which the driven device 13 is a fixing device that heat-fixes an unfixed toner image, the annular driven member 14 heated by the heating means is used. Fixing belt, a pressure roll that rolls in contact with the fixing belt 14, and a pressure member that is disposed on the back surface of the fixing belt 14 and presses the fixing belt 14 between the pressure rolls. Things.
In this example, the adhesive 3 needs to have heat resistance that maintains the adhesive performance in the heating range of the fixing belt 14. In this type of fixing belt system, a lubricant is applied to the back surface of the fixing belt 14 from the viewpoint of maintaining good mobility of the fixing belt 14 sandwiched between the pressure member and the pressure roll. In this embodiment, it is preferable that the adhesive 3 has a lubricant resistance that prevents the lubricant from leaking.
The drive transmission mechanism 12 includes a drive transmission component 10 (see FIGS. 1B and 1C) and other drive transmission components (gears) that are associated with the drive transmission element 1 of the drive transmission component 10 and transmit the drive. , A belt, etc.) and can transmit a driving force from the driving source 11 to the annular driven body 14 as appropriate.

Next, the drive transmission component 10 used in the present embodiment will be described.
1 (b) and 1 (c), the basic structure of the drive transmission component 10 is a drive transmission element 1 capable of rotational drive transmission, and is provided integrally with the drive transmission element 1 coaxially and via an adhesive 3. a joining element 2 to be joined to the annular driven member 14 Te, wherein the joining element 2, the adhesive 3 and the cylinder 4 can be applied to and the peripheral surface extends in the rotational center of the drive transmission element 1, A plurality of parallel arrangements provided on the opposite side of the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 4 from the drive transmission element 1, extending along a direction intersecting the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body 4 and arranged in parallel in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body 4. A groove 5, at least one circumferential groove 6 provided on the drive transmission element 1 side of the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 4 and continuously extending along the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body 4, and the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 4 The plurality of parallel grooves 5 and the circumferential grooves 6 are provided so as to be discontinuously partitioned. And off the wall, and it has a.

In such technical means, the drive transmission element 1 is typically a gear portion, but is not limited to the gear portion, and includes a wide range of elements that transmit drive, such as a pulley portion.
Further, the joining element 2 only needs to have a cylindrical body 4 that can be joined to the annular driven body 14, and the outer diameter dimension of the joining element 2 is usually smaller than the outer diameter dimension of the drive transmission element 1. Often, but also includes equal or larger aspects.
Furthermore, the parallel grooves 5 only need to extend in a direction intersecting the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body 4, and need not be in the central direction of the cylindrical body 4. In addition, the parallel groove 5 is not limited to an aspect that opens toward the end of the cylindrical body 4, and includes an aspect in which a closed portion that closes the parallel groove 5 is provided at the end of the cylindrical body 4. Further, the parallel grooves 5 are usually formed in the same direction in many cases, but may include different directions.
Furthermore, as long as the circumferential groove 6 extends along the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body 4, the circumferential groove 6 is not limited to a mode extending over the entire circumference, and may be appropriately selected such as a mode in which a part is blocked. Further, only one circumferential groove 6 is required, but a plurality of circumferential grooves 6 may be used. Further, the circumferential groove 6 may be disposed at an arbitrary position on the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 4, and the circumferential groove 6 may be provided without intersecting with the plurality of parallel grooves 5. You may make it provide in the state which cross | intersected the groove | channel 5. FIG.

Here, the action of the three layers of adhesive by the parallel grooves 5 and the circumferential grooves 6 is estimated as follows.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, when the adhesive 3 is applied around the parallel grooves 5, the thick portion facing the parallel grooves 5 in the three layers of the adhesive around the parallel grooves 5 is the parallel grooves 5. The bottom wall and both side walls are filled and held in the parallel groove 5 and fixed. For this reason, the adhesive 3 layers around the parallel grooves 5 increase the bonding strength in the rotational direction between the annular driven body 14 and the drive transmission component 10. Therefore, when the rotational force F ₂ to the annular driven member 14 is transmitted from the drive transmission component 10, the concern that the adhesive 3 layer peeling between the drive transmitting part 10 and the annular driven member 14 small.
On the other hand, when three layers of adhesive are applied around the circumferential groove 6, the three layers of adhesive around the circumferential groove 6 are held and fixed in the circumferential groove 6. Increases the bonding strength between the annular driven body 14 and the drive transmission component 10 in the direction of separation. For this reason, even if the external force F _{1 in the} detachment direction acts on the annular driven body 14, there is little concern that the three layers of adhesive between the drive transmission component 10 and the annular driven body 14 will be peeled off.

Next, a preferable aspect and a typical aspect of the drive transmission component 10 will be described.
First, as a preferable aspect of the joining element 2 of the drive transmission component 10, the circumferential groove 6 is formed on the drive transmission element 1 side in the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 4, and the opposite side of the drive transmission element 1 to the circumferential groove 6. And a plurality of parallel grooves 5 are arranged. According to this aspect, since the adhesive 3 layers around the parallel grooves 5 and the adhesive 3 layers around the circumferential grooves 6 are separately provided, for example, a part of the adhesive 3 layers around the parallel grooves 5 is peeled off. Even if it tries, it is preferable at the point which is hard to influence the adhesive agent 3 layer around the circumferential groove | channel 6. FIG.
Moreover, as a preferable aspect of the joining element 2, what formed the parallel groove | channel 5 and the circumferential groove | channel 6 discontinuously on the cylindrical body 4 surrounding surface is mentioned. According to this aspect, by making the parallel groove 5 and the circumferential groove 6 discontinuous, a part of the adhesive 3 layer around the circumferential groove 6 flows into the adhesive 3 layer side around the parallel groove 5. It is preferable in that there is nothing.
Furthermore, as a preferable aspect of the joining element 2, one having an inclined gradient in which the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 4 is narrowed toward the protruding direction can be cited. In this embodiment, it is preferable in that the annular driven body 14 can be easily fitted into the joining element 2, and from the viewpoint of ease of molding the resin, the inclination gradient is about 0.5 to 3 °. It may be selected as appropriate.

Moreover, as a typical aspect of the plurality of parallel grooves 5, there is an aspect that extends along the center direction of the cylindrical body 4 and is orthogonally disposed with the circumferential groove 6. On the other hand, as a typical aspect of the circumferential groove 6, a concave groove continuous along the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body 4 can be cited.
Furthermore, as a preferable aspect of the circumferential groove 6, from the viewpoint of increasing the holding strength of the adhesive 3 layer with respect to the circumferential groove 6, the depth dimension of the circumferential groove 6 is larger than the depth dimension of the parallel groove 5. Deep ones are mentioned. Moreover, as another preferable aspect of the circumferential groove | channel 6, as for the bottom wall of the concave groove of the circumferential groove | channel 6, the circumferential part along the circumferential shape and the site | part which this circumferential shaped part opposes are straight. And a straight portion cut into a shape.
Furthermore, as a preferable aspect when the drive transmission component 10 and the annular driven body 14 are made of synthetic resin, the synthetic resin made of synthetic resin joined to the annular driven body 14 via the elastic adhesive 3 is used. What has the joining element 2 is mentioned. According to this aspect, the elastic adhesive 3 is preferable in that the synthetic resins are bonded with elasticity, and even if a peeling force acts on the adhesive layer, it is absorbed by elasticity.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.
Embodiment 1
-Overall configuration of image forming apparatus-
FIG. 3 shows the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus as the drive processing apparatus according to the first embodiment.
In the figure, the image forming apparatus includes a plurality of image forming units 20 (specifically, yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), black (K)) toner images that form toner images. 20Y, 20M, 20C, and 20K), an intermediate transfer belt 21 that circulates in a predetermined direction is disposed at a portion facing each image forming unit 20, and a recording material is disposed below the intermediate transfer belt 21. A supply device 22 is provided, and the recording material S supplied from the recording material supply device 22 is transported along a transport path 23, and batch transfer is performed to an image transfer portion from the intermediate transfer belt 21 in the transport path 23. A device (secondary transfer device) 24 is provided, and a fixing device 25 is provided to heat and fix the color component toner images transferred from the batch transfer device 24 to the recording material S. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 26 denotes an appropriate number of conveying rolls arranged on the conveying path 23, and 27 denotes a conveying belt that conveys the recording material S that has passed through the image transfer portion by the batch transfer device 24 toward the fixing device 25. is there.

Here, each of the image forming units 20 includes, for example, a drum-shaped photosensitive member 30, a charging device 31 that charges the photosensitive member 30, and an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member 30 that is charged by the charging device 31. An exposure device 32 such as a laser scanning device, a developing device 33 that visualizes an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive member 30 by the exposure device 32 with a corresponding color component toner, and a photosensitive device. And a cleaning device 34 that cleans residual toner on the body 30.
Further, the intermediate transfer belt 21 is stretched around a plurality of stretching rolls 41 to 45, and is circulated and rotated in a predetermined direction using, for example, the stretching roll 41 as a driving roll. A primary transfer device 46 made of, for example, a transfer roll is disposed on the back surface of the intermediate transfer belt 21 facing the photosensitive member 30 of each image forming unit 20, and each color component toner image on the photosensitive member 30 is intermediate transferred. Electrostatic transfer is performed on the belt 21. In addition, a belt cleaning device 47 that cleans residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt 21 is disposed at a portion of the intermediate transfer belt 21 that faces, for example, the tension roll 41, and the tension of the intermediate transfer belt 21 is extended. A detector 48 for correcting color misregistration is disposed at a portion facing the roll 42.
Further, the batch transfer device 24 is provided with a transfer roll 51 on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 21 facing the stretch roll 44, and for example, by applying a transfer bias to the stretch roll 44, the transfer roll 51 and the stretch roll 44, a transfer electric field is formed between the toner image and the toner image of each color component on the intermediate transfer belt 21 on the recording material S collectively.

-Fixing device-
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the fixing device 25 includes an annular fixing belt 61, a pressure contact arrangement with the outer peripheral surface of the fixing belt 61, a follow-up rotation of the fixing belt 61, and the fixing belt 61. A pressure roll 62 that forms a fixing nip region therebetween, a pressure pad 63 that is disposed on the back surface of the fixing belt 61 and presses the fixing belt 61 between the fixing nip region with the pressure roll 62, and the fixing belt And an electromagnetic induction heater 67 for electromagnetically heating 61. Reference numeral 71 denotes a peeling member that is provided on the exit side of the fixing nip region of the fixing belt 61 and peels the recording material S wound around the fixing belt 61.
The main elements of the fixing device 25 will be described in detail below.
<Fixing belt>
First, the fixing belt 61 includes, in order from the inner peripheral surface side, a base layer 61a made of a sheet-like member having high heat resistance, a conductive layer 61b stacked on the base layer 61a, and an elastic layer stacked on the conductive layer 61b. A layer 61c and a surface release layer 61d laminated on the elastic layer 61c are provided.

Here, as the base layer 61a, a flexible resin such as a fluororesin, a polyimide resin, a polyamide resin, a polyamideimide resin, a PEEK resin, a PES resin, a PPS resin, a PFA resin, a PTFE resin, and an FEP resin is excellent in heat resistance. A material having is preferably used. A thickness of 10 to 150 μm is suitable. If the thickness is smaller than 10 μm, the strength as the fixing belt 61 cannot be obtained. If the thickness is larger than 150 μm, the flexibility is impaired, and the heat capacity increases and the temperature rise time becomes longer. is there.
The conductive layer 61b is a layer (heat generation layer) that generates heat by a magnetic field induced by the electromagnetic induction heater 67, and a metal layer such as iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, aluminum, or chromium has a thickness of about 1 to 80 μm. What was formed is used. The material and thickness of the conductive layer 61b are appropriately selected so as to realize a specific resistance value that can generate sufficient heat by eddy current due to electromagnetic induction.
Furthermore, the elastic layer 61c has a thickness of 10 to 500 μm and is made of silicone rubber, fluorine rubber, fluorosilicone rubber or the like having excellent heat resistance and heat conductivity.
When printing a color image, particularly when printing a photographic image or the like, a solid image is often formed over a large area on the recording material S. For this reason, when the surface of the fixing belt 61 (surface release layer 61d) cannot follow the unevenness of the recording material S or the toner image, heating unevenness occurs in the toner image, and the heat transfer amount is large and small. Uneven gloss occurs in the fixed image. That is, the glossiness is high in the portion where the heat transfer amount is large, and the glossiness is low in the portion where the heat transfer amount is small. Such a phenomenon is likely to occur when the thickness of the elastic layer 61c is smaller than 10 μm. Therefore, the thickness of the elastic layer 61c is preferably set to 10 μm or more. On the other hand, when the elastic layer 61c is larger than 500 μm, the thermal resistance of the elastic layer 61c increases, and the quick start performance of the fixing device 25 decreases. Therefore, the thickness of the elastic layer 61c is preferably set to 500 μm or less.
If the rubber hardness of the elastic layer 61c is too high, the unevenness of the recording material S and the toner image cannot be followed and uneven glossiness tends to occur in the fixed image. Accordingly, the rubber hardness of the elastic layer 61c is suitably 50 ° (JIS-A: JIS-KA type tester) or less.
Furthermore, regarding the thermal conductivity λ of the elastic layer 61c, λ = 6 × 10 ⁻⁴ to 2 × 10 ⁻³ [cal / cm · sec · deg] is suitable. This is because, when the thermal conductivity λ is smaller than 6 × 10 ⁻⁴ [cal / cm · sec · deg], the thermal resistance is large, and the temperature rise in the surface layer (surface release layer 61d) of the fixing belt 61 is slow. On the other hand, when the thermal conductivity λ is larger than 2 × 10 ⁻³ [cal / cm · sec · deg], the hardness becomes excessively high or the compression set is deteriorated.
Further, since the surface release layer 61d is a layer that is in direct contact with the unfixed toner image transferred onto the recording material S, it is necessary to use a material having excellent release properties and heat resistance. Therefore, as the material constituting the surface release layer 61d, for example, tetrafluoroethylene perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether polymer (PFA), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), fluororesin, silicone resin, fluorosilicone rubber, fluororubber, silicone Rubber or the like is preferably used.
The thickness of the surface release layer 61d is preferably 5 to 50 μm. This is because, when the thickness of the surface release layer 61d is smaller than 5 μm, there is a problem that uneven coating occurs when the coating film is formed, an area having poor release properties is formed, or durability is insufficient. In addition, when the surface release layer 61d exceeds 50 μm, there is a problem that heat conduction is deteriorated. In particular, the surface release layer 61d formed of a resin-based material has too high hardness, and the elastic layer This is because the function of 61c is lowered. In order to improve toner releasability in the surface release layer 61d, an oil application mechanism for applying oil (release agent) for preventing toner offset to the surface release layer 61d is brought into contact with the fixing belt 61. It is also possible to arrange.

<Pressure roll>
Further, the pressure roll 62 has a metal cylindrical roll member 62a as a core material (core), and the surface of the cylindrical roll member 62a has heat resistance such as silicone rubber, foamed silicone rubber, fluororubber, and fluororesin. It has an elastic layer 62b and an outermost surface release layer 62c.
<Pressure pad>
Further, the pressure pad 63 is formed of an elastic material such as silicone rubber or fluorine rubber, or a heat resistant resin such as polyimide resin, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyether sulfone (PES), or liquid crystal polymer (LCP). ing. The pressure pad 63 is disposed over a region slightly wider than the region through which the recording material S passes with respect to the width direction of the fixing belt 61, and the pressure pad 63 has a substantially total length in the longitudinal direction. It is comprised so that the pressurization roll 62 may be pressurized over.
Further, in order to improve the slidability between the pressure pad 63 and the fixing belt 61 in the clamping portion (fixing nip portion N) of the fixing belt 61 between the pressure pad 63 and the pressure roll 62, the pressure pad 63 is improved. Between the fixing belt 61 and the fixing belt 61, a sliding sheet (not shown) made of a polyimide film having excellent slidability and high wear resistance, a glass fiber sheet impregnated with a fluororesin, or the like is disposed. . Further, a lubricant is applied to the inner peripheral surface of the fixing belt 61. As the lubricant, amino-modified silicone oil, dimethyl silicone oil, or the like is used. As a result, the frictional resistance between the fixing belt 61 and the pressure pad 63 is reduced, and the fixing belt 61 can be smoothly rotated.

<Supporting member>
Further, a support member 64 that supports the pressure pad 63 is disposed in the fixing belt 61.
The support member 64 is formed in a rod shape extending along the longitudinal direction of the pressure pad 63 and has a holding piece 64a on which the pressure pad 63 is held and held. Here, the material of the support member 64 needs to have a predetermined rigidity or more so as to reduce the amount of deflection when receiving the pressure contact force from the pressure roll 62 (for example, 1 mm or less). A metal such as aluminum is preferred.
Furthermore, in the present embodiment, a temperature-sensitive magnetic metal 65 such as an Fe—Ni alloy is fixed to the support member 64 via a stopper 66 in the fixing belt 61, and the temperature-sensitive magnetic metal 65 is It is located on the opposite side of the pressure pad 63 and is disposed opposite the fixing belt 61 inside the fixing belt 61 with a predetermined gap.

<Electromagnetic induction heater>
In addition, an electromagnetic induction heater 67 is disposed outside the fixing belt 61 at a portion facing the temperature-sensitive magnetic metal 65. In this example, the electromagnetic induction heater 67 includes a pedestal 68 having a curved surface corresponding to the fixing belt 61, an excitation coil 69 supported by the pedestal 68, and a high frequency current (not shown) that supplies the excitation coil 69. And an excitation circuit.
Here, the pedestal 68 is made of a material having insulating properties and heat resistance. For example, a phenol resin, a polyimide resin, a polyamide resin, a polyamideimide resin, a liquid crystal polymer resin, or the like can be used.
The exciting coil 69 has a substantially cylindrical curved surface facing the fixing belt 61 so as to face the substantially cylindrical fixing belt 61 at a constant interval.
Further, in this example, a magnetic flux holding member 70 that is made of a material with high magnetic permeability (ferrite, permalloy, etc.) and holds the magnetic flux generated by the exciting coil 69 is provided on the back side of the pedestal 68. .
In such an electromagnetic induction heater 67, when a high frequency current is supplied to the exciting coil 69 from an exciting circuit (not shown), the magnetic flux repeatedly generates and disappears around the exciting coil 69. The frequency of the high frequency current is set to about 10 to 500 kHz, for example. When the generated magnetic flux crosses the conductive layer 61b of the fixing belt 61, an eddy current is generated in the conductive layer 61b so as to generate a magnetic field that hinders the change of the magnetic field, and power proportional to the skin resistance of the conductive layer 61b. Joule heat is generated.

-Drive transmission mechanism of fixing device-
Next, the overall configuration of the drive transmission mechanism 80 of the fixing device 25 will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the figure, a drive transmission mechanism 80 includes a rotation drive transmission mechanism 81 that rotationally drives the fixing belt 61 and the pressure roll 62, and a contact / separation mechanism 90 that moves the pressure roll 62 to and from the fixing belt 61. And.
Here, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the rotational drive transmission mechanism 81 is provided with a drive motor (not shown) on one side in the longitudinal direction of the fixing device 25 and a drive gear 82 connected to the drive motor. At the same time, when the drive gear 82 is engaged with a drive transmission gear 83 for transmitting the pressure roll 62, the pressure roll 62 is driven to rotate.
The rotational drive transmission mechanism 81 meshes with the drive gear 82 at the first stage drive transmission gear 84a of the drive transmission gear train 84 composed of a plurality of stages of drive transmission gears, and at the final stage drive of the drive transmission gear train 84. A gear 85 with clutch is engaged with the transmission gear 84e, and a drive transmission gear 87 for driving the fixing belt is disposed on the opposite side of the fixing belt 61 in the longitudinal direction with respect to the gear 85 with clutch. The gear 87 and the clutch-equipped gear 85 are connected by a connecting rod 86, and the end cap 100 that is the final drive transmission component is engaged with the drive transmission gear 87 via the drive transmission gear 88. Is driven to rotate.
Details of the end cap 100 will be described later.

The contact / separation mechanism 90 includes a rotatable rotating rod 91 extending along the axial direction of the pressure roll 62, and eccentric cams 92 are fixed to both sides of the rotating rod 91 in the axial direction. A swing lever 93 that can swing freely is provided at a portion corresponding to the cam 92, and a roll-shaped cam follower 94 that comes into contact with the cam surface of the eccentric cam 92 is provided on a part of the swing lever 93. The cam follower 94 is constantly pressed against the cam surface of the eccentric cam 92 by an urging force, and the cam surface of the eccentric cam 92 is moved by rotating the rotating rod 91 with a drive motor (not shown), for example. Thus, the posture of the swing lever 93 is changed, and the pressure roll 62 is brought into contact with and separated from the fixing belt 61 by the swing lever 93.
5 and 7, reference numeral 96 denotes a rotation detector for controlling the rotation operation of the fixing belt 61. In this example, a detection gear 97 for taking out the rotation operation of the end cap 100 is provided. A rotation detection plate 98 that rotates coaxially with the gear 97 is attached, and a rotation operation of the rotation detection plate 98 is detected by an optical sensor 99.

-End cap-
Next, the configuration of the end cap 100 will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the figure, end caps 100 (specifically, 100a and 100b) are end cover covers that are inserted and attached to both end portions of the fixing belt 61, and both end portions of a support member 64 disposed inside the fixing belt 61. The shaft portion (not shown) formed in the shaft is rotatably fitted.
The end cap 100 includes a gear portion 110 capable of transmitting rotational driving, and a joint portion 120 that is integrally formed coaxially with the gear portion 110 and is inserted and joined to the inside of both side edges of the fixing belt 61. In addition, the support member 64 is rotatably supported via a bearing member 105 (see FIG. 9) with respect to a shaft portion (not shown) of the support member 64.
In particular, in this example, one end cap 100 (for example, 100a) to which a rotational driving force is transmitted from the outside is inserted and fixed between the joint 120 and the fixing belt 61 with an adhesive (not shown). On the other hand, the other end cap 100 (for example, 100b) to which the rotational driving force is not transmitted from the outside may use the above-mentioned adhesive, but the joint portion is more effective than the inner diameter of the fixing belt 61, for example. The outer diameter of 120 may be formed to be slightly larger and the two may be simply fitted together, or the portion corresponding to the joint 120 from the outer peripheral surface of the fixing belt 61 may be tightened with a ring-shaped band. It may be.
The material of the end cap 100 is preferably an engineering plastic that is excellent in mechanical properties and insulation and is said to have good heat resistance. For example, phenol resin, polyimide resin, polyamide resin, polyamideimide resin, PEEK resin, PPS resin, LCP resin, and the like can be selected.
In addition, in this example, the end portion of the end cap 100 inserted into the fixing belt 61 is held by the support member 64 in order to prevent an extra external force from being applied to the end cap 100 from the inside when the fixing belt 61 rotates. It arrange | positions so that distance may be kept away from the longitudinal direction edge part position of the pressurization pad 63 currently provided.
Here, the reason why the bonding method is adopted for the joint structure between the end cap 100 and the fixing belt 61 to which the rotational driving force is transmitted from the outside will be supplemented as follows.
That is, when the pinning method is used for joining the end cap and the fixing belt, the stress is concentrated at the pin portion, and there is a concern that the fixing belt is torn at that portion.
In order to prevent stress from concentrating on the part, an end cap is fitted to the fixing belt, and a ring-shaped band is press-fitted from the outside of the fixing belt to the fitted part. There is concern that the end cap will slip.
For this reason, an adhesive bonding method using an adhesive has been adopted as a bonding method in which stress is not partially concentrated and slip does not occur.

In the present embodiment, the end caps 100 (specifically, 100a and 100b) may have different configurations, but the left and right are shared in consideration of mounting workability.
<Gear part>
More specifically, the gear portion 110 is formed by forming gear teeth (not shown) on the outer periphery of the cylindrical body 111 at a predetermined pitch interval, and the number of gear teeth is appropriately selected according to the gear ratio. In addition, the gear shape is not limited to the parallel teeth of the spur gear, and the inclined teeth of the helical gear may be appropriately selected.
<Joint part>
On the other hand, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 8A to 8C, the joining portion 120 extends in the direction of the rotation center of the gear portion 110 and is a cylindrical body having a smaller diameter than the maximum outer diameter of the gear portion 110. 121. The inner diameter of the cylindrical body 121 of the joint portion 120 and the inner diameter of the cylindrical body 111 of the gear portion 110 may be the same or different. Further, the inner peripheral walls of the respective cylindrical bodies 111 and 121 may be stepped.
In the present embodiment, a plurality of parallel grooves 130 extending along the center direction of the cylindrical body 121 and arranged in parallel in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body 121 on the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 121 of the joint 120, A single circumferential groove 140 that is disposed orthogonally to the plurality of parallel grooves 130 and extends along the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body 121 is formed.

In particular, in the present embodiment, the plurality of parallel grooves 130 are disposed on the opposite side of the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 121 from the gear portion 110, and the circumferential groove 140 is disposed on the circumferential side of the cylindrical body 121 on the gear portion 110 side. Further, the plurality of parallel grooves 130 and the circumferential grooves 140 are formed discontinuously leaving the partition wall 150.
Further, in the present embodiment, the joint portion 120 has an inclination gradient θ in which the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 121 is narrowed in the protruding direction. The inclination gradient θ is obtained by setting the difference between the radial dimension of the maximum outer diameter portion of the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 121 and the radial dimension of the outer diameter portion at the tip of the cylindrical body 121 to the separation distance between them in the protruding direction of the cylindrical body 121. If the gradient is gradually changed, it means the average gradient.
In this example, the inclination gradient θ is preferably about 0.5 to 3 ° from the viewpoint of easy fitting of the joint 120 of the end cap 100 to the fixing belt 61, ease of manufacture, and adhesive strength. Here, if it is less than 0.5 °, it is insufficient in terms of ease of fitting the joint 120 and ease of manufacture, and if it exceeds 3 °, the adhesiveness due to the adhesive tends to be insufficient.

Further, in the present embodiment, the plurality of parallel grooves 130 are concave grooves having a substantially rectangular cross section as shown in FIGS. 8 (a) (b), 9 (a) (b), and 10 (a). In 131, an opening 132 is formed toward the front end of the cylindrical body 121 in the protruding direction, and a curved portion 133 is formed at the edge of the bottom opening 132 of the groove 131.
In this example, the concave groove 131 is formed, for example, at 20 to 40 places (for example, 32 places) with respect to the cylindrical body 121 having a maximum outer diameter of about 30 mm, and the depth h ₁ is about 0.1 to 1. It is set to about 0 mm.
Further, in this example, the circumferential groove 140 is configured by a concave groove 141 that continuously extends along the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body 121.
The width w of the concave groove 141 may be a dimension that allows easy filling of the adhesive, and is selected to be, for example, about 0.5 to 2.5 mm. However, since the concave groove 141 width × circumferential length is a shear area in which the adhesive is stressed by the pulling force, the shear area × adhesive strength needs to be set larger than the pulling force.
On the other hand, the depth h ₂ of the concave groove 141 may be appropriately selected, but is set deeper than the depth h ₁ of the concave groove 131 of the parallel groove 130. Here, the depth _{h 2} is set to the extent of about 0.3 to 1.5 mm (e.g. 0.5 mm).
Furthermore, the bottom wall of the concave groove 141 of the circumferential groove 140 includes a circumferential shape portion 142 along the circumferential shape and the circumferential shape portion as shown in FIGS. 8C and 10B, for example. 142 have linear portions 143 obtained by linearly cutting portions facing each other. The linear portion 143 is originally based on a demand in manufacturing the mold, but has an effect of suppressing the rotation direction slip between the adhesive layer and the concave groove 141.

-Example of end cap production-
Next, an example of manufacturing the end cap 100 is shown in FIG.
In the figure, when the end cap 100 is made of a predetermined resin material (for example, PPS) as an example, as shown in FIG. 11, the end cap 100 corresponds to the inner peripheral surface shape of the end cap 100 as shown in FIG. For example, a pair of split molds having a mold shape corresponding to the outer surface shape of the inner mold 161 having the mold shape, the gear portion 110 of the end cap 100, and the joint portion 120 (parallel groove 130, circumferential groove 140, partition wall 150). The outer cap 162 (specifically, 162a and 162b) is used to mold the end cap 100 by pouring the molten resin material 164 into the space 163 between the outer die 162 and the inner die 161, and then splitting the die. What is necessary is just to remove the outer cap 162 which consists of this, and to remove the end cap 100 shape | molded from the inner die 161.
Then, the molded end cap 100 may be post-processed after die-cutting, and the surface of the joint 120 of the end cap 100 may be subjected to embossing as necessary from the viewpoint of further increasing the frictional resistance. Processing or blasting may be performed, or UV surface treatment (UV irradiation) may be performed to clean / modify the surface and improve adhesion.
The manufacturing method of the end cap 100 is not limited to the above-described mold forming. For example, the end cap molded without a groove may be machined to form a groove.

-End cap installation example-
Next, a case where the end caps 100 are attached to both side edges of the fixing belt 61 will be described.
First, with respect to the end cap 100 to which the driving force is transmitted from the outside, as shown in FIG. 13A, after applying the adhesive 200 to the peripheral surface of the joining portion 120 of the end cap 100, a jig (not shown) is shown. The joint 120 of the end cap 100 is fitted into the opening on one side edge of the fixing belt 61 using the, and the one side edge of the fixing belt 61 and the end are bonded under a predetermined bonding condition (for example, temperature 150 ° C., 30 minutes). The bonding portion 120 of the cap 100 may be bonded and fixed.
Here, the adhesive 200 for adhering the end cap 100 may be any adhesive that maintains good adhesion performance in consideration of the maximum temperature reached by the adhesion part in an environment where it is used as the fixing device 25. It may be selected as appropriate. Further, in the aspect in which the fixing device 25 includes a lubricant (for example, Si oil) that may interfere with the adhesive in the fixing belt 61, the fixing device 25 further has a lubricant resistance that is not inhibited by the lubricant. It is preferable to select one.
In this example, since the end cap 100 (for example, PPS) and the fixing belt 61 (for example, polyimide) are made of synthetic resin, even if a peeling force acts between them, the peeling force can be absorbed elastically. Thus, an elastic adhesive is used. As this type of elastic adhesive, silicone is most suitable in consideration of heat resistance.
On the other hand, for the end cap 100 to which no driving force is transmitted from the outside, considering the ease of assembly and disassembly, when joining the end cap 100 to the die 120 from the inner diameter of the fixing belt 61, the end cap 100 is molded. The outer diameter of the end cap 100 is preliminarily molded so as to be slightly larger, and the joint 120 of the end cap 100 is fitted into the one side edge opening of the fixing belt 61 using a jig not shown in the figure, or The fixing belt 61 located around the joint 120 of the fitted end cap 100 may be pressed with a ring-shaped band.

-Operation of fixing device-
Next, the operation of the fixing device according to the present embodiment will be described.
When the fixing device 25 is not normally used, the pressure roll 62 stands by in a state of being separated from the fixing belt 61.
As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, when the fixing device 25 is operated, a driving force from a drive motor (not shown) is transmitted to the rotational drive transmission mechanism 81 to drive the fixing belt 61 and the pressure roll 62. Rotate. When the drive rotation starts and the rotation operation of the end cap 100 is detected by the optical sensor 99 as the rotation operation of the rotation detection plate 98, a high-frequency current flows through the excitation coil 69 and the fixing belt 61 is heated. When the temperature of the fixing belt 61 rises to a predetermined temperature, the pressure roll 62 comes into contact with the fixing belt 61 by the contact / separation mechanism 90 to form a fixing nip, and at the same time, the clutch of the gear 85 with clutch is disengaged. Driving of the fixing belt 61 is driven rotation of the pressure roll 62.
A few seconds after the pressure roll 62 contacts the fixing belt 61 and the fixing nip is formed, the recording material on which the unfixed toner image is placed passes through the fixing nip, and the toner is fixed on the recording material by heat and pressure. Is done.
Further, during the fixing operation, the rotational speed of the pressure roll 62 is controlled by a control device (not shown) based on the detection signal from the rotation detector 96 so that the peripheral speed of the fixing belt 61 becomes a predetermined speed. It is like that.

-End cap bonding evaluation-
Considering the joining evaluation of the end cap 100, the joining performance of the end cap 100 and the fixing belt 61 by the adhesive 200 is bonded to a load acting normally, for example, as shown in FIG. It is necessary to cause the members (end cap 100 and fixing belt 61 in this example) to behave as an integral member.
Here, when the elastic coefficient of the fixing belt 61 is k ₁ and the elastic coefficient of the end cap 100 is k ₂ , the overall elastic coefficient k with the adhesive 200 interposed is as follows.
k = k ₁ · k ₂ / k ₁ + k ₂
The bonding performance of the adhesive 200 between the end cap 100 and the fixing belt 61 is, for example, as shown in FIG. 13B, in the elastic region, the displacement x and the load y are approximately proportional to each other in accordance with Hooke's law. However, when the plastic region is reached, the bonding performance by the adhesive 200 is broken at the plastic limit.
Therefore, it is necessary to design so that the bonding performance by the adhesive is maintained with respect to the load that normally acts.
In the fixing device according to the present embodiment, the fixing belt 61 is rotationally driven through the end cap 100. However, even if the fixing belt 61 is continuously used for a long period of time, the situation where the end cap 100 is peeled off from the fixing belt 61 does not occur. I couldn't see it.
As described above, this is presumed to be due to the action of the groove configuration of the joint portion 120 of the end cap 100 (the plurality of parallel grooves 130 + circumferential grooves 140) (peeling prevention action against the rotation direction and the separation direction of the fixing belt 61). (See paragraph [0012]).

Various ideas have been applied to the groove configuration of the joint portion 120 in the present embodiment, and the following actions can be achieved in addition to the original action.
(1) Layout of parallel grooves and circumferential grooves Since the circumferential grooves 140 are arranged closer to the gear part 110 and the plurality of parallel grooves 130 are arranged on the opposite side of the gear part 110 via the partition wall 150, The adhesive layers around the plurality of parallel grooves 130 and the circumferential grooves 140 rarely flow into the other side.
(2) Shape of parallel groove Since a plurality of parallel grooves 130 are opened at the tip of the joint 120, the adhesive layer around the parallel groove 130 is filled into the parallel groove 130 until it reaches the tip of the joint 120. In other words, the force against the peeling force acting in the rotation direction of the fixing belt 61 is larger than in the embodiment in which the front ends of the parallel grooves 130 are closed.
In particular, since the bottom opening 132 edge of the concave groove 131 constituting the plurality of parallel grooves 130 is configured as the curved portion 133, even if the adhesive layer around the parallel grooves 130 is unevenly distributed at the start of bonding. The uneven adhesive portion is likely to be pushed out toward the tip opening curved portion 133 side of the parallel groove 130, and the surface of the adhesive layer around the parallel groove 130 is likely to be uniform.
Furthermore, in this example, since the width of the groove 131 of the parallel groove 130 is wider than the width of the stepped portion between the grooves 131, the adhesive layer around the parallel groove 130 is easily filled in the groove 131. ing.
(3) Shape of circumferential groove Since the circumferential groove 140 is formed by a concave groove 141 that is deeper than the plurality of parallel grooves 130, it prevents peeling of the fixing belt 61 in the direction in which the fixing belt 61 is detached, as compared with an embodiment having the same depth. As a result, a larger force is secured, and adhesion peeling in the direction in which the fixing belt 61 is detached is less likely to occur.
(4) Shape of the Joining Part The joining part 120 has an inclination gradient θ in which the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 121 is narrowed in the protruding direction, so that the joining part 120 of the end cap 100 can be easily fitted into the fixing belt 61. In addition, even if the adhesive layer applied to the joint 120 is non-uniformly distributed at the start of joining, the non-uniform portion is likely to be pushed to the tip side of the cylindrical body 121 according to the inclination gradient θ. The surface of the adhesive layer around 120 tends to be uniform.
Such joining evaluation of the end cap 100 is supported by the examples described later.

-Deformation of end cap-
In the present embodiment, the groove configuration of the joining portion 120 of the end cap 100 includes the circumferential groove 140 on the gear portion 110 side, and a plurality of parallel grooves 130 on the opposite side of the gear portion 110 via the partition wall 150. Although it is an aspect which has, it is not necessarily restricted to this, For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the some parallel groove | channel 130 is formed in the cylindrical body 121 peripheral surface of the junction part 120 of the end cap 100, and this For example, one circumferential groove 140 may be formed along the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 121 so as to intersect with the plurality of parallel grooves 130, or in addition to the circumferential groove 140 of the first embodiment. The circumferential grooves shown in FIG. 12 may be added, or a plurality of circumferential grooves 140 intersecting the plurality of parallel grooves 130 may be appropriately selected.

A peeling torque test was conducted on the embodiments in which the end caps and the fixing belts according to Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4 were joined with a silicone adhesive.
Here, the end caps according to Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4 will be described as follows.
Example 1: A mode of the end cap 100 according to the first embodiment (a mode in which a plurality of parallel grooves 130 and a circumferential groove 140 are provided in the joint portion 120: see FIG. 15A).
Comparative Example 1: A mode in which the cylindrical peripheral surface of the joint 120 ′ of the end cap 100 ′ is a smooth surface 122 ′ (surface roughness Ra = about 0.2 μm) (see FIG. 15B).
Comparative Example 2: A mode in which only a plurality of parallel grooves 130 ′ are provided on the cylindrical body peripheral surface of the joint 120 ′ of the end cap 100 ′ (see FIG. 15C).
Comparative Example 3: A mode in which a knurled groove 180 ′ is provided on the cylindrical body peripheral surface of the joint 120 ′ of the end cap 100 ′ (see FIG. 15D).
Comparative Example 4: A mode in which the smooth surface 122 ′ of the cylindrical body surface of the joint 120 ′ of the end cap 100 ′ of Comparative Example 1 is a rough surface (surface roughness Ra = 2.0 μm).
Further, the peeling torque test refers to a mode in which the joining portion of the end cap and the fixing belt according to each example and each comparative example are joined with a silicone adhesive while the other end cap and the fixing belt are fixed. Torque is applied to each of the two, and the force required for adhesion failure when the adhesive layer is peeled is measured twice.
The results are shown in FIG.
According to the figure, it can be understood that the force (peeling force) required for adhesion failure is relatively large except for Comparative Example 1.

Next, performance evaluation of the end cap was performed for Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3.
In addition to the peel force evaluation shown in FIG. 14A, this end cap performance evaluation includes a fixing device using each end cap incorporated in an actual machine, a running stress evaluation through which a recording material passes, and workability Evaluation was performed.
The results are shown in FIG.
In FIG. 14, it is understood that the peel force evaluation is good in Example 1 and Comparative Examples 2 and 3 except for Comparative Example 1, as shown in FIG.
In running stress evaluation, in Example 1, the recording material 550k had no adhesion peeling between the end cap and the fixing belt, and in Comparative Example 3 also, the recording material 200k had adhesion between the end cap and the fixing belt. Although it was confirmed that no peeling occurred, Comparative Example 1 confirmed that adhesive peeling occurred at the initial stage of passing through the recording material, and Comparative Example 2 also confirmed that adhesive peeling occurred when the recording material was about 1 k. It was.
Furthermore, for workability evaluation, it is difficult for Comparative Example 3 to be mass-produced by a method such as mold forming for knurled grooves, while Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 are based on a method such as mold forming. It is understood that mass production is possible.
From this, it is understood that Example 1 is good in all points of peeling force evaluation, running stress evaluation, and workability evaluation, and is superior to Comparative Examples 1 to 3.
In addition, it has been confirmed that Examples 2 and 3 are even better than Example 1.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Drive transmission element, 2 ... Joining element, 3 ... Adhesive, 4 ... Cylindrical body, 5 ... Parallel groove, 6 ... Circumferential groove, 10 ... Drive transmission component, 11 ... Drive source, 12 ... Drive transmission mechanism, 13 ... Driven device, 14 ... Annular driven body, 15 ... Drive processing device

Claims (9)

Comprising a rotary drive transmission can drive transmission element, and a joining element which is joined to the annular driven member through the and adhesive is integrally formed with the drive transmission element coaxially,
The joining element extends in the direction of the rotation center of the drive transmission element, and a cylindrical body to which an adhesive can be applied on the peripheral surface;
A plurality of parallel grooves provided on the opposite side of the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body, extending along a direction intersecting the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body, and arranged in parallel in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body;
At least one circumferential groove provided on the drive transmission element side of the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body and continuously extending along a circumferential direction of the cylindrical body ;
A partition wall provided so as to discontinuously partition the plurality of parallel grooves and the circumferential grooves in the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body,
A drive transmission component characterized in that a partition wall and a parallel groove in the peripheral surface of the cylindrical body have an inclination gradient that narrows in a protruding direction . Comprising a rotary drive transmission can drive transmission element, and a joining element which is joined to the annular driven member through the and adhesive is integrally formed with the drive transmission element coaxially,
The joining element extends in the direction of the rotation center of the drive transmission element, and a cylindrical body to which an adhesive can be applied on the peripheral surface;
A plurality of parallel grooves provided on the opposite side of the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body, extending along a direction intersecting the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body, and arranged in parallel in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body;
At least one circumferential groove provided on the drive transmission element side of the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body and continuously extending along a circumferential direction of the cylindrical body ;
A partition wall provided so as to discontinuously partition the plurality of parallel grooves and the circumferential grooves in the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body,
A drive transmission component characterized in that a depth dimension of the circumferential groove is deeper than a depth dimension of the parallel groove . Comprising a rotary drive transmission can drive transmission element, and a joining element which is joined to the annular driven member through the and adhesive is integrally formed with the drive transmission element coaxially,
The joining element extends in the direction of the rotation center of the drive transmission element, and a cylindrical body to which an adhesive can be applied on the peripheral surface;
A plurality of parallel grooves provided on the opposite side of the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body, extending along a direction intersecting the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body, and arranged in parallel in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body;
At least one circumferential groove provided on the drive transmission element side of the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body and continuously extending along a circumferential direction of the cylindrical body ;
A partition wall provided so as to discontinuously partition the plurality of parallel grooves and the circumferential grooves in the circumferential surface of the cylindrical body,
The bottom wall of the concave groove of the circumferential groove has a circumferential portion along the circumferential shape, and a straight portion obtained by linearly cutting opposite portions of the circumferential portion. Drive transmission parts characterized by The drive transmission component according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
The plurality of parallel grooves extend along the center direction of the cylindrical body, and are arranged orthogonal to the circumferential grooves. The drive transmission component according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
The bonding element, the drive transmission component, characterized in that via a synthetic resin annular driven member and the elastic adhesive is a bonding element made of synthetic resin to be joined. A drive transmission component according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein at least the other of the drive transmission component for driving transmitted each other relates to the drive transmission element of the drive transmission component, cyclic driven the driving force from the driving source A drive transmission mechanism characterized by transmitting to the body. A drive transmission component according to any one of claims 1 to 5, the drive unit, characterized in that it comprises an annular driven member which is bonded via an adhesive to the joining element of the drive transmission component. The driven device according to claim 7, wherein the driven device is a fixing device that heat-fixes an unfixed toner image.
A fixing belt as an annular driven body heated by a heating means, a pressure roll that rolls in contact with the fixing belt, and a fixing belt disposed between the pressure roll and the back surface of the fixing belt. A driven device comprising a pressing member that pressurizes the driven device. A drive processing apparatus comprising the driven apparatus according to claim 7 or 8 in a processing element, and driving processing by the processing element.

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