JP5434315B2 - Toner for developing electrostatic image, method for producing toner for developing electrostatic image, developer for electrostatic image, toner cartridge, process cartridge, image forming method, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrostatic image developing toner, an electrostatic image developing toner manufacturing method, an electrostatic image developer, a toner cartridge, a process cartridge, an image forming method, and an image forming apparatus.

  Recently, in the electrophotographic printing and copying technologies, for the purpose of lower energy consumption, efforts have been made to use pressure fixing (pressure fixing) from the conventional heat energy based fixing methods (Patent Literature). 1-4).

  Patent Document 1 discloses a latent image forming step for forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of a latent image holding member, and the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the latent image holding member is used as an electrostatic charge image developing toner or the toner and carrier. A development process for developing a toner image by developing with an electrostatic charge image developer containing the toner, a process for transferring the toner image formed on the surface of the latent image holding body to the surface of the transfer body, and a transfer to the surface of the transfer body An image forming method including a fixing step for pressure-fixing a toner image, wherein the toner includes a block copolymer having a crystalline polyester block and an amorphous polyester block, and the maximum pressure during fixing is 1 MPa. An image forming method characterized in that the pressure is 10 MPa or less is disclosed.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image obtained by agglomerating resin particles having a core-shell structure, wherein both the resin constituting the core and the shell is an amorphous resin, and the resin constituting the core The glass transition point of the resin and the glass transition point of the resin constituting the shell are different by 20 ° C. or more, and the resin constituting the shell contains an acidic or basic polar group or an alcoholic hydroxyl group. An electrostatic charge image developing toner is disclosed.

  Patent Document 3 discloses an electrostatic charge image developing toner obtained by agglomerating resin particles having a core-shell structure, wherein the resin constituting the core and the shell contains a polycondensation resin, and the glass transition of the resin constituting the core Disclosed is a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image, wherein the difference between the point and the glass transition point of the resin constituting the shell is 20 ° C. or more.

  Patent Document 4 discloses a latent image forming step for forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of a latent image holding member, a developing step for developing the electrostatic latent image with a developer containing toner to form a toner image, and the toner. An electrostatic charge obtained by aggregating resin particles having a core-shell structure, the image forming method comprising: a transfer step of transferring an image to a surface of a transfer medium to obtain a transfer toner image; and a fixing step of fixing the transfer toner image. The toner for image development, the resin constituting the core and the shell are both amorphous resins, and the glass transition temperature of the resin constituting the core and the glass transition temperature of the resin constituting the shell are different by 20 ° C. or more, The resin constituting the shell contains an acidic or basic polar group or an alcoholic hydroxyl group, and the fixing step is a step of fixing the transferred toner image by applying pressure without heating. image Forming method is disclosed.

JP 2007-114635 A JP 2007-310064 A JP 2007-322953 A JP 2009-053318 A

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a toner for developing an electrostatic image having excellent stress resistance in an image forming apparatus.

The above problems have been solved by the following means.
<1> An electrostatic charge image developing toner comprising a resin satisfying the relationship of formulas (1) to (3),
80 ° C. ≦ T (0.5 MPa) (1)
T (10 MPa) <80 ° C. (2)
80 ° C. ≦ T (30 MPa) (3)
In the formulas (1) to (3), T (0.5 MPa) represents a temperature at which the viscosity becomes 10 ⁴ Pa · s at a flow tester applied pressure of 0.5 MPa, and T (10 MPa) represents a flow tester applied pressure of 10 MPa. in represents a temperature at which the viscosity becomes 10 ⁴ Pa · s, at T (30 MPa) is a flow tester applied pressure 30 MPa, representing a temperature at which the viscosity becomes 10 ⁴ Pa · s,
<2> The electrostatic image developing toner according to <1>, wherein the resin is a block copolymer composed of a block obtained by polymerizing an ethylenically unsaturated compound.
<3> The electrostatic charge image according to <1> or <2>, wherein the resin is a block copolymer including a block derived from styrene and a block derived from butyl methacrylate or a block derived from ethyl methacrylate. Developing toner,
<4> The electrostatic charge image developing toner according to <2> or <3>, wherein the block copolymer has a number average molecular weight of 20,000 to 200,000.
<5> The electrostatic charge image developing toner according to any one of <2> to <4>, wherein the block has a number average molecular weight of 10,000 to 100,000.
<6> The difference between the glass transition temperature of the block derived from the styrenes and the glass transition temperature of the block derived from the butyl methacrylate or the block derived from the ethyl methacrylate is 70 to 200 ° C., <3> to <5> The electrostatic image developing toner according to any one of
<7> The electrostatic charge image developing toner according to any one of <3> to <6>, wherein the block derived from the styrenes has a glass transition temperature of 55 to 150 ° C.
<8> The electrostatic charge image developing according to any one of <3> to <7>, wherein the glass transition temperature of the block derived from the butyl methacrylate or the block derived from the ethyl methacrylate is −100 to 30 ° C. toner,
<9> {T (0.5 MPa) −T (10 MPa)} is 20 to 120 ° C., <1> to <8> The electrostatic image developing toner according to any one of
<10> {T (0.5 MPa) -T (30 MPa)} is −50 to 40 ° C., <1> to <9> The electrostatic image developing toner according to any one of
<11> including a dispersion step of producing a resin particle dispersion containing the resin, an aggregation step of aggregating the dispersed resin particles to obtain aggregated particles, and a fusion step of heating and aggregating the aggregated particles. > To <10> a method for producing a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image according to any one of
<12> An electrostatic charge image developer comprising the electrostatic charge image developing toner according to any one of <1> to <10> and a carrier,
<13> a toner cartridge containing at least the toner for developing an electrostatic charge image according to any one of <1> to <10>;
<14> A process cartridge comprising a developer holder and containing the electrostatic image developing toner according to any one of <1> to <10> or the electrostatic image developer according to <12>. ,
<15> A toner image is formed by supplying toner to the electrostatic latent image holding member that can be detached from the image forming apparatus and rotated in one direction, and the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the latent image holding member. <14>, comprising: a developing means that contacts the surface of the latent image holding member, and a cleaning blade that is disposed in contact with the surface of the latent image holding member and cleans the surface of the latent image holding member after the toner image is transferred to the surface of the transfer target. Described process cartridge,
<16> An electrostatic latent image forming step of forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the latent image holding member, and developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the latent image holding member with a developer containing toner to form a toner image. A fixing step in which the toner image is transferred to the surface of the transfer medium, and a fixing step in which the toner image is pressed and fixed. The fixing pressure in the fixing step is 0.5 to 30 MPa. The image forming method, wherein the toner is the electrostatic image developing toner according to any one of <1> to <10> or the developer is the electrostatic image developer according to <12>. ,
<17> The image forming method according to <16>, further comprising a cleaning step of cleaning the surface of the latent image holding member after the transfer step with a cleaning blade arranged in contact with the surface of the latent image holding member. ,
<18> a latent image holding member, a charging unit for charging the latent image holding member, an exposure unit for exposing the charged latent image holding member to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the latent image holding member, and toner. A developing unit that develops the electrostatic latent image with a developer to form a toner image, a transfer unit that transfers the toner image from the latent image holding member to the surface of the transfer target, and a transfer unit that is transferred to the surface of the transfer target And a fixing unit that pressurizes the toner image, wherein the fixing unit has a fixing pressure of 0.5 to 30 MPa, and the toner is for electrostatic image development according to any one of <1> to <10>. An image forming apparatus, wherein the toner or the developer is the electrostatic charge image developer according to <12>;
<19> The cleaning device according to <18>, further comprising a cleaning blade disposed in contact with the surface of the latent image holding member and cleaning the surface of the latent image holding member after the toner image is transferred to the surface of the transfer target. The image forming apparatus described.

According to the embodiment described in <1>, it is possible to provide a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image that is excellent in stress resistance in the image forming apparatus as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.
According to the embodiment described in <2>, there is provided an electrostatic charge image developing toner capable of obtaining an image having better stress resistance in an image forming apparatus as compared with a case where the present configuration is not provided. be able to.
According to the embodiment described in <3>, it is possible to provide a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image that is more excellent in stress resistance in the image forming apparatus than in the case where the present configuration is not provided. .
According to the embodiment described in <4>, it is possible to provide a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image that is more excellent in stress resistance in the image forming apparatus than in the case where the present configuration is not provided. .
According to the embodiment described in <5>, it is possible to provide a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image that is more excellent in stress resistance in the image forming apparatus than in the case where the present configuration is not provided.
According to the embodiment described in the above <6>, it is possible to provide a toner for developing an electrostatic image that can obtain sufficient pressure fixability as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.
According to the embodiment described in <7>, there is provided an electrostatic image developing toner capable of obtaining an image having higher stress resistance in an image forming apparatus than when the present configuration is not provided. can do.
According to the embodiment described in <8>, it is possible to provide a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image that can obtain a good fixing property under pressure as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.
According to the embodiment described in <9>, it is possible to provide a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image that can obtain sufficient pressure fixability as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.
According to the embodiment described in <10>, there is provided an electrostatic charge image developing toner capable of obtaining an image having better stress resistance in an image forming apparatus than when the present configuration is not provided. can do.
According to the embodiment described in <11>, it is possible to provide a method for producing a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image having a low environmental load compared to a case where the present configuration is not provided.
According to the embodiment described in <12>, it is possible to provide an electrostatic charge image developer capable of obtaining an image excellent in stress resistance in the image forming apparatus as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided. .
According to the embodiment described in <13>, it is possible to provide a toner cartridge capable of obtaining an image excellent in stress resistance in the image forming apparatus as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.
According to the embodiment described in <14>, it is possible to provide a process cartridge capable of obtaining an image excellent in stress resistance in the image forming apparatus as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.
According to the embodiment described in <15>, it is possible to provide a process cartridge in which toner adhesion to the cleaning blade is suppressed as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.
According to the embodiment described in <16>, it is possible to provide an image forming method capable of obtaining an image having excellent fixed image strength as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.
According to the embodiment described in <17>, it is possible to provide an image forming method in which toner adhesion to the cleaning blade is suppressed as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.
According to the embodiment described in <18>, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of obtaining an image excellent in stress resistance in the image forming apparatus as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.
According to the embodiment described in <19>, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus in which toner adhesion to the cleaning blade is suppressed as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows other one Embodiment of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment roughly. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating an embodiment of a developing machine arranged in an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment.

I. Electrostatic Image Developing Toner The electrostatic image developing toner of the present embodiment (hereinafter also simply referred to as “toner”) includes a resin that satisfies the relations of Expressions (1) to (3). .
80 ° C. ≦ T (0.5 MPa) (1)
T (10 MPa) <80 ° C. (2)
80 ° C. ≦ T (30 MPa) (3)
In the formulas (1) to (3), T (0.5 MPa) represents a temperature at which the viscosity becomes 10 ⁴ Pa · s at a flow tester applied pressure of 0.5 MPa, and T (10 MPa) represents a flow tester applied pressure of 10 MPa. in represents a temperature at which the viscosity becomes 10 ⁴ Pa · s, at T (30 MPa) is a flow tester applied pressure 30 MPa, representing a temperature at which the viscosity becomes 10 ⁴ Pa · s. In addition, in this embodiment, description of numerical ranges, such as "A-B," is synonymous with "A or more and B or less" unless there is particular notice. Hereinafter, this embodiment will be described in detail.

At room temperature (25 ° C.), the polymer chain of the block copolymer composed of two or more resins and two or more blocks that are not compatible with each other changes into a disorderly compatible state at a certain boundary temperature. It is known. When the temperature is changed from a low temperature to a high temperature region, the boundary temperature at which the change from the incompatible state to the compatible state occurs is the UDOT (Upper Disorder to Order Transition) temperature, and conversely from the disordered state to the ordered state. The boundary temperature at which the change occurs is called the LDOT (Lower Order to Order Transition) temperature.
It has been reported that the melt viscosity greatly decreases in the change from the incompatible state to the compatible state (PJ Flory et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc, 86, 3515 (1964), L P. McCaster et al, Macromolecules 6, 760 (1973), IC Sanchez et al, Macromolecules 11, 1145 (1978), C. Yeung et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 1834 (1994), T. Hino et al, Macromolecules 31, 2636 (1998), H. Hasegawa et al, J. Phys. Chem. Solids 60, 1307 (1999)).
Furthermore, it has been reported that the phase transition phenomenon due to temperature greatly depends on pressure (Du. Yeol. Ryu et al, Phys. RevLett, 90, 235501 (2003)). In this case, the pressure dependency in the phase transition means a phenomenon in which the boundary temperature of the phase transition described above decreases or increases in a state under pressure.

  The present inventors have intensively studied for the purpose of applying the pressure dependency of the decrease in melt viscosity and the phase transition phenomenon to the toner for developing an electrostatic charge image for pressure fixing, and can be used in combination with normal temperature or a small amount of heat energy. It has been found that an image having excellent fixed image strength can be obtained without impairing the use environment by a volatile organic compound (VOC) by realizing excellent pressure fixability.

  On the other hand, in the image forming apparatus, when the toner or developer is transported or cleaned by a cleaning blade, the toner is plasticized by pressure stress other than during fixing, causing toner aggregation, adhesion to the cleaning blade, and crushing of the toner. May occur. Toner agglomeration, fixation and crushing are particularly likely to occur during high-speed printing. In order to improve the stress resistance, a higher fixing pressure is required when a resin that is hardly pressure plasticized is simply used as the binder resin. In addition, in order to obtain sufficient fixability, measures such as increasing the width of the fixing roll, decreasing the printing speed, and extending the fixing time are required, and it is difficult to increase the speed.

  The toner of the present embodiment is a toner including a resin having a “baroplastic (pressure flow type resin)” characteristic in which the resin melt viscosity is reversibly lowered depending on pressure, and the resin has two phases. A resin having a solubility curve (UDOT and LDOT) is used.

The toner according to the exemplary embodiment is softened to a degree that can be fixed in a certain pressure range by using a resin having two compatibility curves (fluidized by compatibility), but a pressure exceeding a certain level is applied ( In the development trimmer in the machine, cleaning with a cleaning blade is assumed), which is given the characteristic of being hardened again (non-fluidized by phase separation).
As described above, the toner according to the exemplary embodiment uses the compatibilization (fluidization) due to the decrease in UDOT under the fixing pressure for the improvement of the fixability, and at the same time, the toner due to the decrease in LDOT under higher pressure. Compatibilization (non-fluidization) is used to improve stress resistance.

1. Resin satisfying the relationship of the formulas (1) to (3) The toner for developing an electrostatic charge image of the exemplary embodiment includes a resin satisfying the relationship of the formulas (1) to (3).
80 ° C. ≦ T (0.5 MPa) (1)
T (10 MPa) <80 ° C. (2)
80 ° C. ≦ T (30 MPa) (3)
In the formulas (1) to (3), T (0.5 MPa) represents a temperature at which the viscosity becomes 10 ⁴ Pa · s at a flow tester applied pressure of 0.5 MPa, and T (10 MPa) represents a flow tester applied pressure of 10 MPa. in represents a temperature at which the viscosity becomes 10 ⁴ Pa · s, at T (30 MPa) is a flow tester applied pressure 30 MPa, representing a temperature at which the viscosity becomes 10 ⁴ Pa · s.

  In Formula (1), T (0.5 MPa) is 80 ° C. or higher, preferably 90 ° C. or higher, and more preferably 100 ° C. or higher. When T (0.5 MPa) is less than 80 ° C., the stress resistance of the toner is low, and the toner is crushed or aggregated in the image forming apparatus. The upper limit of T (0.5 MPa) is preferably as high as possible, but is preferably 250 ° C. or lower, and more preferably 200 ° C. or lower.

  In the formula (2), T (10 MPa) is less than 80 ° C., preferably less than 70 ° C., and more preferably less than 65 ° C. When T (10 MPa) is 80 ° C. or higher, the fixing pressure becomes excessive, resulting in a decrease in fixing property and paper wrinkles due to the pressure. The value of T (10 MPa) is preferably 30 ° C. or higher, and more preferably 40 ° C. or higher. Within the above numerical range, the stress resistance at room temperature (25 ° C.) is excellent.

  In the formula (3), T (30 MPa) is 80 ° C. or higher, and preferably 85 ° C. or higher. When T (30 MPa) is less than 80 ° C., the toner is crushed or aggregated and fixed to the cleaning blade in the image forming apparatus. The higher the value of T (30 MPa), the better the stress resistance and the better the cleaning and high-speed printing possible, but it is preferably 250 ° C. or lower, more preferably 200 ° C. or lower.

In the electrostatic image developing toner of the present embodiment, the value of {T (0.5 MPa) −T (10 MPa)} is preferably 20 ° C. or higher, more preferably 40 ° C. or higher, and further preferably 50 ° C. or higher. When the value of {T (0.5 MPa) −T (10 MPa)} is 20 ° C. or higher, the pressure fluidity is excellent, so that an image having excellent fixability and excellent fixed image strength can be obtained.
The upper limit of {T (0.5 MPa) −T (10 MPa)} is preferably 120 ° C. or less, and more preferably 100 ° C. or less. When the temperature is 120 ° C. or lower, good fixability can be achieved without causing paper wrinkles due to excessive pressure.

The value of {T (0.5 MPa) −T (30 MPa)} is preferably 40 ° C. or lower, more preferably 30 ° C. or lower, and further preferably 20 ° C. or lower. A temperature of 40 ° C. or lower is preferable because stress resistance in the machine such as development and cleaning is good.
Note that {T (0.5 MPa) -T (30 MPa)} is preferably as small as possible, but is preferably −50 ° C. or higher, and more preferably 0 ° C. or higher. A temperature of −50 ° C. or higher is preferred from the viewpoint of the thermal stability of the resin during toner production.

  Here, the flow tester viscosity of the block copolymer was measured using a flow tester CFT-500C (die diameter 0.5 mm) manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation, and a cylindrical sample having a diameter of 1 cm and a thickness of 1 cm was measured from room temperature to 200 ° C. It is obtained from an elution curve when measurement is performed at a heating rate of 1 ° C. per minute.

In this embodiment, it is preferable that the resin contained in the electrostatic image developing toner is a block copolymer made of a block obtained by polymerizing an ethylenically unsaturated compound.
In the present embodiment, the ethylenically unsaturated compound may be a compound having at least one ethylenically unsaturated bond, and is preferably an addition polymerizable compound, anionic polymerizable, cationic polymerizable, radical polymerizable, Any of coordination polymerization may be used, but among them, a radical polymerizable addition polymerizable compound is more preferable.

  In this embodiment, the block copolymer includes a block A having a glass transition temperature of 55 ° C. or higher (hereinafter also simply referred to as “block A”) and a block B having a glass transition temperature of 40 ° C. or lower (hereinafter simply referred to as “block A”). A block copolymer containing a block B ”) is preferred.

  The glass transition temperature of the block A (hereinafter also referred to as “Tg (A)”) is preferably 55 ° C. or higher, more preferably 55 to 150 ° C., and further preferably 70 to 120 ° C. Within the above numerical range, the storage stability of the toner, the toner strength in the image forming apparatus (toner strength in the system), and the image strength after fixing are good. The block A is preferably an amorphous polymer.

  In this embodiment, the glass transition temperature is defined in ASTM D3418-82 when measured at a rate of temperature increase of 10 ° C./min from −80 ° C. to 150 ° C. using, for example, a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Can be measured by different methods.

  The glass transition temperature of the block B (hereinafter also referred to as “Tg (B)”) is preferably 40 ° C. or less, and more preferably −100 to 30 ° C. Within the above numerical range, good fixability under pressure can be obtained.

  Furthermore, the difference {Tg (A) −Tg (B)} between Tg (A) and Tg (B) is preferably 50 ° C. or more, more preferably 70 to 200 ° C., and 80 to 180 ° C. More preferably. Within the above range, sufficient pressure fixability can be obtained, and heat energy for fixing can be reduced.

Examples of radically polymerizable ethylenically unsaturated compounds used in the present embodiment include styrenes (styrene and / or derivatives thereof), (meth) acrylic acid esters (“(meth) acrylic acid ester”, etc. Synonymous with “acrylic acid ester and / or methacrylic acid ester” and the like hereinafter, and the like), ethylenically unsaturated nitriles, ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids, vinyl ethers, vinyl ketones, olefins and the like.
Among these, in this embodiment, styrenes (styrene and / or derivatives thereof) and (meth) acrylic acid esters are preferably used.

The block A is preferably a polymer derived from styrenes (styrene and / or derivatives thereof). Examples of the styrenes include styrene and styrene derivatives having 1 to 3 alkyl groups having 1 to 5 carbon atoms having a straight or branched chain. More specifically, styrene, o-methylstyrene, m-methylstyrene, p-methylstyrene, p-ethylstyrene, pn-butylstyrene, p-tert-butylstyrene, 2,4-dimethylstyrene and the like can be mentioned. Of these, styrene, o-methylstyrene, m-methylstyrene, and p-methylstyrene are preferable, and styrene is more preferable.
For the purpose of adjusting Tg (A), a monomer unit derived from an alkyl acrylate having an alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms may be included as a copolymerization component. As the alkyl acrylate, butyl acrylate and the like are preferable. The copolymerization ratio of the monomer units derived from the alkyl acrylate having an alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms is preferably 20% by weight or less, more preferably 10% by weight or less, where the weight of the block A is 100% by weight. Within the above numerical range, it is possible to achieve both good fixability and resistance to stress in the machine.
The block A is preferably an amorphous polymer.

As the ethylenically unsaturated compound used for the preparation of the block B, (meth) acrylates are preferable, and since the stress resistance in the image forming apparatus is high and the fixing property and the fixed image strength are excellent, methacrylates are more preferable.
As the methacrylates, those having an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms are preferable, among which ethyl methacrylate and butyl methacrylate are particularly preferable, and butyl methacrylate is particularly preferable from the viewpoint of material availability. The use of ethyl methacrylate or butyl methacrylate is preferable because a block copolymer that draws two compatibility curves can be obtained.

  As the block A and the block B contained in the block copolymer, a homopolymer derived from any one of these ethylenically unsaturated compounds or a copolymer obtained by copolymerizing two or more of these is used.

  Assuming that the total amount of block A and block B in the block copolymer is 100% by weight, the proportion of block A is preferably 30 to 70% by weight, and more preferably 40 to 60% by weight. Within the above numerical range, the stress resistance in the image forming apparatus and the image strength after fixing are high.

  In this embodiment, it is preferable that the resin is a block copolymer including a block A derived from styrene and a block derived from butyl methacrylate or a block B derived from polyethyl methacrylate.

  Each block included in the block copolymer preferably has a number average molecular weight of 10,000 to 100,000, more preferably 15,000 to 80,000, and 20,000 to 80,000. More preferably, it is 000. Within the above range, the balance between the stress resistance of the toner in the image forming apparatus, the fixing property and the image strength after fixing is good.

  In order to achieve a sufficient balance between pressure fixability and toner strength, the block copolymer preferably has a number average molecular weight of 20,000 to 200,000, preferably 20,000 to 200,000. It is more preferable that it is 100,000, and it is further more preferable that it is 20,000-50,000. Within the above range, it is possible to achieve both image quality characteristics with sufficient fixing properties and excellent toner strength in the developing machine.

  Here, the number average molecular weight is measured by, for example, gel permeation chromatography (HLC-8120GPC, TSK-GEL, GMH column manufactured by Tosoh Corporation).

In the preparation of the block copolymer, various living polymerization methods such as an ionic polymerization method and a living radical polymerization method are used, but in this embodiment, the living radical weight is determined due to the ease of combining the monomers. It is preferable to use a legal method.
In this case, as a living radical polymerization method, an NMRP method (Nitroxide Radiated Polymerization), an ATRP method (Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization), a RAFT method (Reversible Addition Fragmentation method, etc.) is used. Among these, in this embodiment, the NMRP method is preferable.

  As the nitroxide compound used in the NMRP method, a known nitroxide compound used in the living radical polymerization method is used, and specifically, JP 2004-307502 A, JP 2005-126442 A, JP 2007-518843 A. And the compounds described in Japanese Patent No. 4081112 are used. In the present embodiment, a monoalkoxyamine represented by the formula (I) is preferably used.

（式（Ｉ）中、Ｒ¹は炭素数１〜５個の直鎖又は分岐を有するアルキル基を表し、Ｒ²は水素原子、炭素数１〜８個の直鎖又は分岐を有するアルキル基、炭素数６〜２０のアリール基、アルカリ金属イオン又はアンモニウムイオンを表す。）

(In the formula (I), R ¹ represents a linear or branched alkyl group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms, R ² represents a hydrogen atom, a linear or branched alkyl group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms, Represents an aryl group having 6 to 20 carbon atoms, an alkali metal ion or an ammonium ion.)

R ¹ represents a linear or branched alkyl group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms, preferably a linear alkyl group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, and more preferably a methyl group.
R ² represents a hydrogen atom, a linear or branched alkyl group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms, an aryl group having 6 to 20 carbon atoms, an alkali metal ion or an ammonium ion. Examples of the linear or branched alkyl group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms include a methyl group and an ethyl group, examples of the aryl group having 6 to 20 carbon atoms include a phenyl group, and examples of the alkali metal ion include Li ^+. Na ⁺ , K ^{+ and the} like, and ammonium ions include NH ₄ ⁺ , NBu ₄ ⁺ , HNBu ₃ ^{+ and the} like. Among these, in the present embodiment, R ² is preferably a hydrogen atom.

The NMRP method is preferably performed in a nitrogen atmosphere.
The reaction is preferably carried out in the presence or absence of a solvent selected from a solvent, preferably an alcohol such as ethanol, an aromatic solvent, a chlorinated solvent, an ether or a polar aprotic solvent. It is more preferred to react under
The reaction temperature is preferably in the range of 30 to 150 ° C, more preferably in the range of 80 to 135 ° C.

  The amount of the nitroxide compound used can be determined by the number average molecular weight at the end of the polymerization. Usually, the amount of the nitroxide compound to be used is stoichiometrically determined from the weight of the monomer used and the number average molecular weight.

  In this embodiment, the content of the block copolymer is preferably 50 to 99% by weight, and more preferably 70 to 95% by weight, based on 100% by weight of the electrostatic image developing toner. Within the range of the above numerical values, the fixability is excellent in pressure or heat and pressure fixing.

  The toner for developing an electrostatic charge image of the exemplary embodiment may further contain other resin in addition to the block copolymer. For example, the toner may contain a resin having a Tg of 40 ° C. or higher. By adding a resin having a Tg of 40 ° C. or more to the electrostatic image developing toner, it is possible to further improve the mechanical stability of the toner in the electrophotographic process. In this embodiment, the shell layer may be formed on the surface of the electrostatic image developing toner with a resin having a Tg of 40 ° C. or higher.

  Preferred examples of the other resin include polycondensation resins such as polyester resins and polymers derived from ethylenically unsaturated compounds. In this case, the polycondensation resin is preferably an amorphous polyester resin or a crystalline polyester resin, and more preferably an amorphous polyester resin in order to improve the mechanical stability of the toner.

  The polyester resin is produced by performing polycondensation by a direct esterification reaction or a transesterification reaction using a polycondensable monomer such as a polyvalent carboxylic acid, a polyhydric alcohol, or a hydroxycarboxylic acid. In the case of polycondensation, it is preferable to use a polycondensation catalyst in combination in order to promote polycondensation.

In this embodiment, the polyvalent carboxylic acid is an aliphatic, alicyclic or aromatic polyvalent carboxylic acid,
Including their alkyl esters, acid anhydrides and acid halides. The polyhydric alcohol includes polyhydric alcohols and ester compounds thereof. The alkyl ester of polyvalent carboxylic acid is preferably a lower alkyl ester. The said lower alkyl ester represents the alkyl ester whose carbon number of the alkoxy part of ester is 1-8. Specific examples include methyl ester, ethyl ester, n-propyl ester, isopropyl ester, n-butyl ester, and isobutyl ester.

Among the polycarboxylic acids used in the present embodiment, as dicarboxylic acids, oxalic acid, succinic acid, maleic acid, adipic acid, β-methyladipic acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid, nonanedicarboxylic acid, decanedicarboxylic acid, Undecane dicarboxylic acid, dodecenyl succinic acid, dodecane dicarboxylic acid, fumaric acid, citraconic acid, diglycolic acid, cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid, cyclohexane-3,5-diene-1,2-dicarboxylic acid, 2,2-dimethylolbutanoic acid, apple Acid, citric acid, hexahydroterephthalic acid, malonic acid, pimelic acid, tartaric acid, mucous acid, phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, terephthalic acid, tetrachlorophthalic acid, chlorophthalic acid, nitrophthalic acid, p-carboxyphenylacetic acid, p-phenylene Diacetic acid, m-phenylene diglycol Acid, p-phenylene diglycolic acid, o-phenylene diglycolic acid, diphenylacetic acid, diphenyl-p, p′-dicarboxylic acid, naphthalene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid, naphthalene-1,5-dicarboxylic acid, naphthalene-2 , 6-dicarboxylic acid, anthracene dicarboxylic acid, dodecenyl succinic acid and the like.
Examples of the polyvalent carboxylic acid other than dicarboxylic acid include trimellitic acid, pyromellitic acid, naphthalenetricarboxylic acid, naphthalenetetracarboxylic acid, pyrenetricarboxylic acid, and pyrenetetracarboxylic acid.
These polyvalent carboxylic acids may be used individually by 1 type, and may use 2 or more types together.

Among the polyhydric alcohols (polyols), diols include ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butanediol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, hexanediol, cyclohexanediol, octanediol, decanediol, dodecanediol, and ethylene oxide adducts of bisphenol A. And propylene oxide adduct of bisphenol A, bisphenoxy alcohol fluorene (bisphenoxyethanol fluorene), and the like.
Examples of polyols other than diols include glycerin, pentaerythritol, hexamethylol melamine, hexaethylol melamine, tetramethylol benzoguanamine, and tetraethylol benzoguanamine.
These polyhydric alcohols (polyols) may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

The ethylenically unsaturated compound may be a monomer having a hydrophilic group.
Examples of the hydrophilic group include polar groups, such as acidic polar groups such as carboxy group, sulfo group, and phosphonyl group: basic polar groups such as amino group, amide group, hydroxy group, cyano group, and formyl group. Neutral polar groups and the like can be mentioned, but are not limited thereto.
Among these, acidic polar groups are preferably used for the electrostatic image developing toner of the present embodiment. The presence of the monomer having an acidic polar group and an ethylenically unsaturated bond in a specific range on the surface of the resin particles gives the resin particles cohesion, facilitating the toner formation of the resin particles, and Sufficient chargeability is imparted to the toner.
Examples of the acidic polar group preferably used include a carboxy group and a sulfo group. Examples of the monomer having an acidic polar group include an α, β-ethylenically unsaturated compound having a carboxy group and an α, β-ethylenically unsaturated compound having a sulfo group. Examples of the α, β-ethylenically unsaturated compound having a carboxy group include acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, fumaric acid, maleic acid, itaconic acid, cinnamic acid, monomethyl maleate, monobutyl maleate, and maleic acid. A monooctyl ester is mentioned. These monomers may be used individually by 1 type, and may use 2 or more types together.

When the other resin is a polymer derived from an ethylenically unsaturated compound, it is preferably a random copolymer.
Further, a resin containing a monomer unit derived from an ethylenically unsaturated compound having a hydrophilic group is preferred, and the monomer unit derived from an ethylenically unsaturated compound having a hydrophilic group is 0.1 to 10 mol% in a copolymerization ratio. It is preferable to contain. Within the above range, in the production process of an electrostatic charge image developing toner in an aqueous medium, the other resin is preferably a resin having a temperature of 40 ° C. or higher because the toner shell layer is easily formed.

  The above-mentioned other resin is preferably 50% by weight or less, more preferably 5 to 20% by weight of the total binder resin contained in the toner. Within the above range, toner durability in the developing machine is improved, and stable image quality characteristics can be obtained.

2. Colorant The toner for developing an electrostatic charge image of the exemplary embodiment preferably contains a colorant.
As the colorant, known ones are used, and may be arbitrarily selected from the viewpoints of hue angle, saturation, brightness, weather resistance, OHP permeability, and dispersibility in the toner.
Specific examples of the colorant used in the present embodiment include carbon black, chrome yellow, hansa yellow, benzidine yellow, sren yellow, quinoline yellow, permanent orange GTR, pyrazolone orange, vulcan orange, watch young red, permanent red, and brilliant. Carmine 3B, Brilliantamine 6B, Daypon Oil Red, Pyrazolone Red, Risor Red, Rhodamine B Lake, Lake Red C Rose Bengal, Aniline Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Calco Oil Blue, Methylene Blue Chloride, Phthalocyanine Blue, Phthalocyanine Green, Malachite Green Various pigments such as oxalate, titanium black, acridine, xanthene, azo, benzoquinone, azide , Anthraquinone, thioindico, dioxazine, thiazine, azomethine, indico, thioindico, phthalocyanine, aniline black, polymethine, triphenylmethane, diphenylmethane, thiazine, thiazole, xanthene, etc. And various dyes are exemplified.

  Specific examples of the colorant include carbon black, nigrosine dye (C.I. No. 50415B), aniline blue (C.I.No. 50405), and calco oil blue (C.I.No.). .Azoic Blue 3), chrome yellow (C.I.No. 14090), ultramarine blue (C.I.No. 77103), DuPont oil red (C.I.No. 26105), quinoline yellow (C.I. No. 47005), methylene blue chloride (C.I.No. 52015), phthalocyanine blue (C.I.No. 74160), malachite green oxalate (C.I.No. 42000), lamp black (C.I. No. 77266), Rose Bengal (C.I. No. 45435), a mixture thereof Such as are preferably used.

The amount of the colorant used is preferably 0.1 to 20% by weight and more preferably 0.5 to 10% by weight with respect to 100% by weight of the toner. Moreover, as a coloring agent, these pigments, dyes, etc. are used individually by 1 type, or 2 or more types may be used together.
Moreover, when using a magnetic body as a black colorant, 12 to 240 weight% may be added unlike other colorants.

3. Release Agent The toner for developing an electrostatic image according to the exemplary embodiment preferably contains a release agent.
Specific examples of the release agent used in the present embodiment include, for example, various ester waxes, low molecular weight polyolefins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polybutene, silicones that exhibit a softening point by heating, oleic acid amide, erucic acid amide, Fatty acid amides such as ricinoleic acid amide and stearic acid amide, plant wax such as carnauba wax, rice wax, candelilla wax, tree wax, jojoba oil, animal wax such as beeswax, montan wax , Mineral-based and petroleum-based waxes such as ozokerite, ceresin, paraffin wax, microcrystalline wax, microcrystalline wax, Fischer-Tropsch wax, and modified products thereof.

  In the toner for developing an electrostatic charge image of the exemplary embodiment, the release agent is preferably contained in a range of 1 to 20% by weight, and in a range of 3 to 15% by weight with respect to 100% by weight of the binder resin. It is more preferable to contain. Within the above numerical range, both good fixability and image quality characteristics can be achieved.

4). Internal Additives and Other Additives The electrostatic charge image developing toner according to the exemplary embodiment includes various known internal additives such as a charge control agent, an antioxidant, and an ultraviolet absorber used for this type of toner, if necessary. An agent may be used.
Examples of the charge control agent include positively chargeable charge control agents such as nigrosine dyes, quaternary ammonium salt compounds, triphenylmethane compounds, imidazole compounds, and polyamine resins, or chromium, cobalt, aluminum, and iron. Metal-containing azo dyes, such as salicylic acid or alkylsalicylic acid, hydroxycarboxylic acid such as benzylic acid such as chromium, zinc, aluminum and other metal salts and metal complexes, amide compounds, phenol compounds, naphthol compounds, phenolamide compounds, etc. Known materials such as a neutral charge control agent are used.

  Further, the electrostatic charge image developing toner of this embodiment may contain a flame retardant or a flame retardant aid as necessary. Examples of flame retardants and flame retardant assistants include, but are not limited to, bromine-based flame retardants that are already widely used, antimony trioxide, magnesium hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, and ammonium polyphosphate. .

Further, when the electrostatic image developing toner of the present embodiment is used as a magnetic toner, magnetic powder may be included. Specifically, a material that is magnetized in a magnetic field is used, but a ferromagnetic powder such as iron, cobalt, or nickel, or a compound such as ferrite or magnetite is used.
In the present embodiment, when toner is obtained in the aqueous phase, it is necessary to pay attention to the water phase transferability of the magnetic material. For example, the surface of the magnetic material may be modified in advance, for example, a hydrophobic treatment may be performed. preferable.

In addition, the electrostatic image developing toner of this embodiment is dried in the same manner as a normal toner for the purpose of imparting fluidity and improving cleaning properties, and then inorganic particles such as silica, alumina, titania, calcium carbonate, and vinyl resins. In addition, resin particles such as polyester and silicone are optionally added to the toner particle surface while being sheared in a dry state.
In addition, when adhering to the toner surface in an aqueous medium, examples of inorganic particles include silica, alumina, titania, calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, tricalcium phosphate, etc. Is dispersed by an ionic surfactant, a polymer acid, or a polymer base.

5. Volume average particle diameter, particle size distribution, and shape factor The volume average particle diameter (D _50v ) of the toner for developing an electrostatic charge image of this embodiment is preferably 2 to 10 μm, more preferably 3 to 8 μm, and further preferably 5 to 7 μm. . Within the above range, the image quality characteristics after fixing are good.

Further, it is preferable that the toner particle size distribution is narrower. More specifically, the ratio of the 16% diameter (D _16p ) and the 84% diameter (D _84p ) in terms of the smaller number particle diameter of the toner is expressed as a square root. (GSDp), that is, GSDp described later is preferably 1.40 or less, more preferably 1.31 or less, and particularly preferably 1.27 or less. Moreover, it is preferable that GSDp is 1.15 or more.
If the volume average particle diameter and GSDp are both in the above ranges, extremely small particles do not exist, and therefore, a decrease in developability due to an excessive charge amount of the small particle diameter toner is suppressed.

The volume average primary particle size, number average particle size distribution index, volume average particle size distribution index, etc. of particles such as resin particles and toner particles can be measured by, for example, a measuring device such as Coulter Multisizer II (manufactured by Beckman Coulter, Inc.) Can be measured. In this case, measurement is performed using an optimum aperture depending on the particle size level of the particles. When the particle diameter is about 5 μm or less, the particle size is measured using a laser diffraction / scattering particle size distribution analyzer (LA-700, manufactured by Horiba, Ltd.). A cumulative distribution is drawn from the smaller diameter side to the particle size range (channel) divided based on the particle size distribution, and the particle diameter that becomes 16% cumulative is the volume D _16v , the number D _16P , and the cumulative 50%. The particle diameter is _defined as a volume D _50v and a number D _50P , and the particle diameter at a cumulative 84% is defined as a volume D _84v and a number D _84P . Using these, the volume average particle size distribution index (GSDv) is calculated as (D _84v / D _16V ) ^1/2 and the number average particle size distribution index (GSDp) is calculated as (D _84P / D _16P ) ^1/2 .

  The shape factor SF1 of the electrostatic image developing toner is preferably in the range of 110 to 145, more preferably in the range of 120 to 140. The shape factor SF1 is a shape factor indicating the degree of unevenness on the particle surface, and is calculated by the following equation.

In the formula, ML indicates the maximum length of the particle, and A indicates the projected area of the particle.
As a specific measurement method of SF1, for example, first, an optical microscope image of toner spread on a slide glass is taken into an image analysis device through a video camera, SF1 is calculated for 50 toners, and an average value is obtained. Is mentioned.

II. Method for Producing Toner for Developing Electrostatic Image The method for producing the toner for developing an electrostatic image of the present embodiment (hereinafter also simply referred to as “toner producing method”) is not particularly limited, and an existing kneading and pulverizing method, A chemical production method such as suspension polymerization or emulsion aggregation method can be used, a dispersion step of producing a resin particle dispersion containing the resin, an aggregation step of aggregating the dispersed resin particles to obtain aggregated particles, and A production method including a fusing step of fusing the aggregated particles by heating is particularly preferred.
Hereinafter, a method for producing the electrostatic charge image developing toner of this embodiment will be described.

The toner production method of the present embodiment preferably includes a dispersion step of producing a resin particle dispersion containing the resin.
As the dispersion process, a block copolymer is polymerized in advance by bulk polymerization, solution polymerization, etc., and then a rotary shearing type homogenizer, a ball mill, a sand mill, a dyno mill having a medium, a pressure discharge type dispersing machine (Gorin homogenizer, manufactured by Gorin), etc. Shear emulsification method to disperse in aqueous medium by various mechanical high shearing force, phase inversion emulsification method in which resin is dissolved in organic solvent, then phase change is performed by adding aqueous medium, block copolymer or its precursor (living terminal low Molecular weight or block) with a small amount of ethylenically unsaturated compound, shear emulsion emulsification or phase inversion emulsification, mini-emulsion polymerization, suspension polymerization, etc. A dispersion method is used.

In miniemulsion polymerization or suspension polymerization, it is preferable not to use an organic solvent for dissolving the block copolymer or its precursor, and the block copolymer or its precursor is used only with a small amount of an ethylenically unsaturated compound. More preferably, it is dissolved.
In the miniemulsion polymerization or suspension polymerization, the ethylenically unsaturated compound to be mixed with the block copolymer is preferably an ethylenically unsaturated compound that becomes a polymer having a Tg of 40 ° C. or higher after polymerization. Specific examples of the ethylenically unsaturated compound include styrene, butyl acrylate and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate.

In the present embodiment, examples of the “aqueous medium” include water such as distilled water and ion exchange water, and the water to which alcohols such as ethanol and methanol are added. Among them, a mixed solution of ethanol and water or water is preferable, and water such as distilled water and ion exchange water is more preferable. These may be used individually by 1 type and may use 2 or more types together.
The aqueous medium may contain a water-miscible organic solvent in addition to the alcohols. Examples of the water-miscible organic solvent include acetone and acetic acid.

In preparing resin particle dispersions, various ionic surfactants such as anionic surfactants and cationic surfactants, nonionic surfactants (nonionic surfactants), inorganic dispersants, polymer types A dispersant may be used.
For example, anionic surfactants include sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, sodium alkylnaphthalenesulfonate, sodium arylalkylpolyethersulfonate, 3,3-disulfone-N, N-diphenylurea, 4,4-diazo-bis- Sodium amino-8-naphthol-6-sulfonate, ortho-carboxybenzene-azo-dimethylaniline, 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-triphenylmethane-4,4-diazo-bis-β-naphthol-6 -Sodium sulfonate, sodium dialkylsulfosuccinate, sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium tetradecyl sulfate, sodium pentadecyl sulfate, sodium octyl sulfate, sodium oleate, sodium laurate, sodium caprate, sodium caprylate Um, sodium caproate, potassium stearate, and the like calcium oleate.
Examples of the cationic surfactant include alkylbenzene dimethyl ammonium chloride, alkyl trimethyl ammonium chloride, distearyl ammonium chloride and the like.
Nonionic surfactants include polyethylene oxide, polypropylene oxide, combinations of polypropylene oxide and polyethylene oxide, esters of polyethylene glycol and higher fatty acids, alkylphenol polyethylene oxide, esters of higher fatty acids and polyethylene glycol, higher fatty acids and polypropylene oxide. And water-soluble and oil-soluble surfactants such as sorbitan esters.
Examples of the polymer colloid stabilizer include sodium polycarboxylate and polyvinyl alcohol, and examples of the inorganic dispersant include calcium carbonate. However, these do not limit the present embodiment.
Further, the pH of the aqueous dispersion is adjusted with sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, ammonia or the like.

Furthermore, in the miniemulsion method, a small amount of a co-surfactant (Co-Stabilizer) is optionally used in combination. As the co-surfactant, a co-surfactant that is insoluble or hardly soluble in water and is soluble in the oil phase and used in the conventionally known “miniemulsion polymerization” is used.
Examples of suitable co-surfactants include alkanes having 8 to 30 carbon atoms such as dodecane, hexadecane and octadecane, alkyl alcohols having 8 to 30 carbon atoms such as lauryl alcohol, cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol, and lauryl. C8-C30 alkyl (meth) acrylates such as (meth) acrylate, cetyl (meth) acrylate, stearyl (meth) acrylate, dodecanethiol, lauryl mercaptan, cetyl mercaptan, stearyl mercaptan, etc. Specific alkanethiols, and other polymers or polyadducts such as polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate, carboxylic acids, ketones, amines, and the like.

  In the shear emulsification and phase inversion emulsification, when the block copolymer or a precursor thereof is mixed with the ethylenically unsaturated compound, a step of polymerizing the ethylenically unsaturated compound may be included. Examples of the ethylenically unsaturated compound include styrene and its derivatives, acrylic ester and its derivatives, methacrylic ester and its derivatives.

  The polymerization method is not particularly limited, but a polymerization method in a normal aqueous medium such as a suspension polymerization method, a dissolution suspension method, a miniemulsion method, a microemulsion method, a multistage swelling method or an emulsion polymerization method including seed polymerization. May be used, and two or more polymerization methods may be used in combination.

For the ethylenically unsaturated compound, known polymerization methods such as a method using a polymerization initiator, a self-polymerization method by heat, a method using ultraviolet irradiation, etc. can be adopted as the polymerization method. Among these, a polymerization initiator is used. Is preferred.
There is no restriction | limiting in particular as a polymerization initiator, A well-known radical polymerization initiator, a cationic polymerization initiator, and an anionic polymerization initiator are used. The polymerization initiator includes oil-soluble and water-soluble initiators, and both initiators are arbitrarily used in view of the decomposition temperature, that is, the activation temperature.

  The ethylenically unsaturated compound is preferably a radical polymerizable monomer, and the polymerization initiator is preferably a radical polymerization initiator. There are oil-soluble and water-soluble radical polymerization initiators, but either initiator may be used. Specific examples of the radical polymerization initiator include 2,2′-azobis (2-methylpropionitrile), 2,2′-azobis (2-methylbutyronitrile), and 2,2′-azobisiso. Butyronitrile, 2,2′-azobis (2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile), 2,2′-azobis (2,4-dimethyl-4-methoxyvaleronitrile), 1,1′-azobis (cyclohexanecarbonitrile) ), 2,2′-azobis (2-amidinopropane) hydrochloride azobisnitriles, acetyl peroxide, octanoyl peroxide, 3,5,5-trimethylhexanoyl peroxide, decanoyl peroxide, lauroyl Diacyl peroxide such as peroxide and benzoyl peroxide, di-t-butyl peroxide , T-butyl-α-cumyl peroxide, dialkyl peroxide such as dicumyl peroxide, t-butyl peroxyacetate, α-cumyl peroxypivalate, t-butyl peroxyoctoate, t-butylperoxyneo Peroxyesters such as decanoate, t-butyl peroxylaurate, t-butyl peroxybenzoate, di-t-butyl peroxyphthalate, di-t-butyl peroxyisophthalate, t-butyl hydroperoxide, Organic peroxidation such as 2,5-dimethylhexane-2,5-dihydroperoxide, cumene hydroperoxide, hydroperoxide such as di-isopropylbenzene hydroperoxide, and peroxycarbonate such as t-butylperoxyisopropyl carbonate object Inorganic peroxides such as hydrogen peroxide, potassium persulfate, sodium persulfate, radical polymerization initiators such as persulfates such as ammonium persulfate. A redox polymerization initiator may be used in combination.

  Moreover, you may use a chain transfer agent at the time of addition polymerization. There is no restriction | limiting in particular as a chain transfer agent, Specifically, what has the covalent bond of a carbon atom and a sulfur atom is preferable, For example, thiols are mentioned preferably.

  When the toner according to the exemplary embodiment is manufactured by the emulsion aggregation method, the toner manufacturing method according to the exemplary embodiment includes an aggregation process in which dispersed resin particles are aggregated to obtain aggregated particles, and the aggregated particles are heated and fused. It preferably includes a fusion step.

  As the aggregation step, for example, the resin particle dispersion is preferably mixed with a colorant particle dispersion, a release agent particle dispersion, and the like, and an aggregation agent is added to cause heteroaggregation, thereby agglomerating the toner diameter. A step of forming particles may be mentioned. The medium of each dispersion is preferably an aqueous medium. In the aggregation step, resin particles other than the block copolymer resin particles, preferably a polymer derived from an ethylenically unsaturated compound and / or a non-crystalline polyester having a Tg of 40 ° C. or higher. It may be added.

  In addition, as a dispersion method of the colorant and the release agent, any method such as a rotary shearing homogenizer, a ball mill having a medium, a sand mill, a dyno mill, a homogenizer having a strong shearing ability, or a pressure discharge type disperser (Gorin homogenizer). It is possible to use a general dispersion method such as (manufactured by Gorin Co., Ltd.) and is not limited at all. Further, these colorant particles and release agent particles may be added together with other particle components in a mixed solvent at once, or may be divided and added in multiple stages.

  Further, after aggregation as described above to form the first aggregated particles, the above resin particle dispersion or another resin particle dispersion is further added, and the second shell layer is formed on the surface of the first aggregated particles. It is also possible to form. In this example, the colorant particle dispersion is prepared separately. However, when the colorant is mixed in advance with the resin particles, the colorant particle dispersion is not necessary, and the release agent is also in this respect. It is the same.

  When the emulsion aggregation method is used in the method for producing an electrostatic charge image developing toner of this embodiment, the aggregation is caused by a pH change or the like in the aggregation step, and the particle diameter of the toner particles containing the binder resin and the colorant is adjusted. can do. At the same time, an aggregating agent may be added in order to stably and rapidly aggregate the particles, or to obtain aggregated particles having a narrower particle size distribution.

  As the flocculant, a compound having a monovalent or higher charge is preferable, and specific examples of the compound include water-soluble surfactants such as the above-mentioned ionic surfactants and nonionic surfactants, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and the like. Acids such as nitric acid, acetic acid, oxalic acid, magnesium chloride, sodium chloride, aluminum sulfate, calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, aluminum nitrate, silver nitrate, copper sulfate, sodium carbonate, inorganic acid metal salts, sodium acetate, potassium formate, sulphate Examples thereof include metal salts of aliphatic acids such as sodium acid, sodium phthalate and potassium salicylate, metal salts of aromatic acids, and metal salts of phenols such as sodium phenoxide.

In consideration of the stability of the aggregated particles, the stability of the coagulant with respect to heat and time, and the removal during washing, a metal salt of an inorganic acid is preferable as the coagulant in terms of performance and use. Specific examples include metal salts of inorganic acids such as magnesium chloride, sodium chloride, aluminum sulfate, calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, aluminum nitrate, silver nitrate, copper sulfate, and sodium carbonate.
The amount of these flocculants added varies depending on the valence of the charge, but they are all small, 3% or less for monovalent, 1% or less for divalent, 0 for trivalent. .5% by weight or less is preferable. Since the amount of the flocculant is preferably small, it is preferable to use a compound having a large valence.

  Further, after the agglomeration treatment, the particle surface may be cross-linked by heat treatment or the like for the purpose of suppressing colorant exudation from the particle surface. In addition, you may remove the used surfactant etc. by water washing | cleaning, acid washing | cleaning, or alkali washing | cleaning as needed.

The median diameter of the resin particles in the other resin particle dispersion that can be used in the present embodiment is preferably 0.1 to 2.0 μm.
Further, the median diameter of the colorant particles of the colorant particle dispersion that can be used in the aggregation step and the median diameter of the release agent particles of the release agent particle dispersion are 0.1 to 2.0 μm. It is preferable.

  Examples of the fusing step include a step of fusing and coalescing the aggregated particles by heating to a temperature not lower than the glass transition temperature or the melting point of the resin particles. The temperature for fusion / unification is preferably higher than the melting point or glass transition temperature of the resin used in the block copolymer. Under such temperature conditions, the binder resin in the aggregated particles melts, and the aggregated particles change from an indeterminate shape to a more spherical shape.

  After the aggregation process and the fusion process, an arbitrary washing process, solid-liquid separation process, and drying process may be performed. In the washing step, it is preferable to sufficiently perform substitution washing with ion-exchanged water from the viewpoint of chargeability. The solid-liquid separation step is not particularly limited, but suction filtration, pressure filtration, and the like are preferably used from the viewpoint of productivity. Furthermore, the drying process is not particularly limited, but freeze drying, flash jet drying, fluidized drying, vibration fluidized drying, etc. are preferably used from the viewpoint of productivity.

In addition, the manufacturing method of the toner for developing an electrostatic charge image according to the exemplary embodiment includes various known internal additives such as a charge control agent, an antioxidant, and an ultraviolet absorber used for this type of toner, if necessary. May be used.
These additives can be added in any step. The charge control agent is preferably added as an aqueous dispersion or the like. The addition amount of the charge control agent is preferably 1 to 25% by weight, and 5 to 15% by weight with respect to 100% by weight of the oil phase. % Is more preferable. Here, the oil phase is a solid content obtained by removing an organic solvent or the like from components emulsified and dispersed in an aqueous medium.

III. Electrostatic Image Developer The electrostatic image developing toner of this embodiment is used as an electrostatic image developer (hereinafter also referred to as “developer”). The developer is not particularly limited except that it contains the toner for developing an electrostatic charge image of the present embodiment, and can take an appropriate component composition depending on the purpose. When the electrostatic image developing toner is used alone, it is prepared as a one-component electrostatic image developer, and when used in combination with a carrier, it is prepared as a two-component electrostatic image developer. As a one-component developer, a method in which a charged toner is formed by frictional charging with a developing sleeve or a charging member, and development is performed according to an electrostatic latent image can be applied.

  The carrier is not particularly limited, but usually, magnetic particles such as iron powder, ferrite, iron oxide powder, nickel, etc .; the magnetic particles as a core material and the surface thereof as a styrene resin, vinyl resin, ethylene resin, rosin Resin-coated carrier formed by coating a resin such as a resin based on polyester, polyester or melamine, or a wax such as stearic acid, and forming a resin coating layer; a magnetic material obtained by dispersing magnetic particles in a binder resin Examples include a distributed carrier. Among them, the resin-coated carrier is particularly preferable because the chargeability of the toner and the resistance of the entire carrier can be controlled by the configuration of the resin coating layer.

  The mixing ratio of the electrostatic image developing toner of this embodiment and the carrier in the two-component electrostatic image developer is 2 to 10 parts by weight of the electrostatic image developing toner with respect to 100 parts by weight of the carrier. Is preferred. Moreover, the preparation method of a developing agent is not specifically limited, For example, the method of mixing with a V blender etc. is mentioned.

IV. Toner Cartridge The toner cartridge of the present embodiment is a toner cartridge that contains at least the electrostatic charge image developing toner of the present embodiment. The toner cartridge of this embodiment may contain the electrostatic image developing toner of this embodiment as an electrostatic image developer.

The toner cartridge of this embodiment is preferably detachable from the image forming apparatus. That is, in the image forming apparatus having a configuration in which the toner cartridge can be attached and detached, the toner cartridge of the present embodiment in which the toner of the present embodiment is stored is preferably used.
Further, the toner cartridge may be a cartridge that stores toner and a carrier, or a cartridge that stores toner alone and a cartridge that stores a carrier independently.

V. Image Forming Method The electrostatic image developing toner of the present embodiment and the electrostatic image developer of the present embodiment can be used in an ordinary electrostatic image developing system (electrophotographic system) image forming method. It is preferably used in the image forming method of this embodiment.

  The image forming method of the present embodiment includes an electrostatic latent image forming step of forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the latent image holding member, a developer containing toner on the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the latent image holding member. Development step of forming a toner image by developing the toner image, a transfer step of transferring the toner image to the surface of the transfer target, and a fixing step of fixing the toner image by pressurizing, wherein the fixing pressure of the fixing step is 0 The electrostatic charge image developing toner of the present embodiment or the developer is the electrostatic charge image developer of the present embodiment.

  Furthermore, in addition to the steps described above, a known step such as a charge removing step for removing the surface of the latent image holding member after transfer may be included as necessary.

The developing step is a step of developing the electrostatic latent image with a developer layer on a developer holding member to form a toner image. The developer layer is not particularly limited as long as it contains the electrostatic image developer of this embodiment containing the electrostatic image developing toner of the present embodiment.
In the development process, known development means (developer) can be used. As the developing machine, for example, a developer is accommodated, a developer conveying member that supplies the developer while rotating in one direction on the surface of the latent image holding member, and a minute gap is formed between the surface of the developer conveying member. A developing machine having a developer regulating member disposed opposite to the surface of the developer conveying member can be used.
When a developing machine including the developer conveying member and the developer regulating member is used, if the toner of the present embodiment is used as the toner used for the developer, aggregation caused by toner collapse or contamination in the image forming apparatus is caused. The occurrence of image defects (particularly contamination due to toner crushing around the developer conveying member) and image defects can be suppressed. Furthermore, it is possible to further suppress the occurrence of contamination and image defects due to toner collapse not only in the vicinity of the developer conveying member but also in the gap between the developer conveying member and the developer regulating member.

In the transfer step, the transfer target may be a recording medium such as paper, but may be an intermediate transfer member. That is, in the transfer step or the transfer unit, a transfer step of transferring twice or more using an intermediate transfer member may be provided.
As the recording medium such as paper, for example, plain paper, cardboard, OHP sheet, coated paper whose surface is coated with resin, art paper for printing, and the like can be suitably used. Further, it is preferable to use cardboard as the recording medium. In addition, a thick paper means the paper which is 90 g / m < ² > or more. The image forming method of the present embodiment is a particularly excellent method for image formation on cardboard, and it is possible to reduce fixing energy while achieving both high image quality and reliability in high-speed fixing using cardboard. preferable. In addition to excellent image formation on cardboard, it exhibits effective performance without problems for plain paper weighing less than 90 g / m ² , reducing fixing energy, or image per hour at the same energy. The formation speed is improved.

The fixing step is a step of forming a copy image by fixing a toner image on a transfer medium such as paper by pressing or heating and pressing with a roller or a heating roller fixing machine having a constant temperature. is there.
The fixing pressure in the fixing step is preferably 0.5 to 30 MPa, more preferably 1 to 20 MPa, and further preferably 1 to 10 MPa. When the value is within the above range, sufficient fixability can be obtained, and excellent image strength can be obtained. In addition, it is possible to suppress deterioration in image quality characteristics due to paper wrinkles, paper spreading and the like.
In the fixing step, when the image is fixed by heating and pressing, the heating temperature is preferably 40 to 120 ° C, more preferably 50 to 100 ° C. Within the above numerical range, it is preferable from the viewpoint of fixing with low energy and improving the durability of the fixing member.

The image forming process of the present embodiment preferably further includes a cleaning process. The cleaning step is a step of removing the electrostatic image developing toner and the electrostatic image developer remaining on the surface of the latent image holding member. A known cleaning means can be used in the cleaning step, and is not limited.
In the present embodiment, it is preferable that the cleaning step is a step of cleaning the surface of the latent image holding member after the transfer step with a cleaning blade arranged in contact with the surface of the latent image holding member. In the image forming method including the cleaning step, by using the electrostatic image developing toner of the present embodiment, it is possible to suppress the toner from adhering to the cleaning blade. Occurrence is suppressed.

  In the image forming method of the present embodiment, an aspect that further includes a recycling step is preferable. The recycling step is a step of transferring the electrostatic image developing toner collected in the cleaning step to the developer layer. The image forming method including the recycling step can be performed using an image forming apparatus such as a toner recycling system type copying machine or facsimile machine. The present invention is also applicable to a recycling system in which the cleaning step is omitted and toner is collected simultaneously with development.

VI. Image Forming Apparatus and Process Cartridge Further, the electrostatic charge image developing toner and electrostatic charge image developer of the present embodiment can be used without particular limitation as long as they are known electrophotographic image forming apparatuses. It is preferably used in an image forming apparatus.
The image forming apparatus according to this embodiment forms a latent image holding member, charging means for charging the latent image holding member, and exposing the charged latent image holding member to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the latent image holding member. An exposure unit; a developing unit that develops the electrostatic latent image with a developer containing toner to form a toner image; a transfer unit that transfers the toner image from the latent image holding member to the surface of the transfer target; A fixing unit that pressurizes the toner image transferred to the surface of the transfer body, wherein the fixing unit has a fixing pressure of 0.5 to 30 MPa, and the toner is the electrostatic image developing toner of the present embodiment or the developing unit; The agent is the electrostatic charge image developer of this embodiment.
The image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a cleaning blade that is disposed in contact with the surface of the latent image holding member and cleans the surface of the latent image holding member after the toner image is transferred to the surface of the transfer target. It is preferable that the image forming apparatus have.
Furthermore, the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment is preferably an image forming apparatus in which the developing unit includes a developer conveying member that supplies the developer to the surface of the latent image holding member.
The image forming apparatus may include a charge removing unit or the like as necessary.

The process cartridge according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a developer holding member, and stores the electrostatic charge image developing toner according to the present exemplary embodiment or the electrostatic charge image developer according to the present exemplary embodiment.
Here, the process cartridge according to the present embodiment may be a cartridge that accommodates the electrostatic charge image developer according to the present embodiment, or the cartridge that accommodates the carrier alone and the electrostatic charge image developing toner according to the present embodiment. A separate toner cartridge may be used.
The process cartridge of this embodiment includes at least one selected from the group consisting of an image carrier, a charging unit for charging the surface of the image carrier, and a cleaning unit for removing toner remaining on the surface of the image carrier. It is preferable that the process cartridge is provided. Furthermore, the process cartridge according to the present embodiment may include other members such as a charge removing unit as necessary.

  The process cartridge of the present embodiment is preferably detachable from the image forming apparatus. A developing unit that stores a latent image holding member and a developer rotating in one direction and supplies the electrostatic charge image developer to an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the latent image holding member to form a toner image. And a cleaning blade disposed in contact with the surface of the latent image holding member and cleaning the surface of the latent image holding member after the toner image is transferred to the surface of the transfer target. .

  By using the toner for developing an electrostatic charge image according to the present exemplary embodiment, it is possible to suppress adhesion of the toner to the cleaning blade. Therefore, the electrostatic charge image developing toner of this embodiment can be preferably used in an image forming method, an image forming apparatus, and a process cartridge using a cleaning blade for cleaning the surface of the latent image holding member.

  The pressing force of the cleaning blade against the surface of the latent image holding member is preferably within a range of 30 to 50 MPa, and more preferably within a range of 30 to 40 MPa. When the value is within the above range, the pressing force is appropriate and the cleaning can be performed efficiently. Further, the surface of the latent image holding member is prevented from being worn, and its life is extended as compared with the conventional case.

As the developing means (developing machine), known ones are used. However, the electrostatic image developing toner of this embodiment has high mechanical strength and suppresses toner crushing, so that mechanical stress on the toner is not applied. It is also used in a developing machine having a configuration that is easy to join.
As a developing machine having such a configuration, a developer conveying member that stores toner and developer and supplies the developer to the surface of the latent image holding member while rotating in one direction, a developer conveying member surface, A developing machine that includes a developer regulating member that forms a minute gap and is opposed to the surface of the developer conveying member.

In the developing machine having such a configuration, when the distance between the surface of the developer conveying member and the developer regulating member is 20 mm or less, the reason is not clear, but the toner surface is not detached from the toner surface. There is a merit that the release agent component exposed to the surface is peeled off and it is difficult to generate agglomerates in the developing machine. On the other hand, extremely strong mechanical stress is applied to the developer, and toner collapse tends to occur. However, the use of the electrostatic image developing toner of the present embodiment, which is superior in mechanical strength, can enjoy the above-described advantages, while suppressing the occurrence of toner collapse.
Note that the distance between the surface of the developer conveying member and the developer regulating member is preferably 20 mm or less, and more preferably 15 mm or less. Further, the lower limit value of the distance between the surface of the developer conveying member and the developer regulating member is preferably 0.2 mm or more practically.
If it is within the above numerical range, the occurrence of toner collapse is suppressed, and the occurrence of contamination and image defects in the apparatus is suppressed.

Further, from the viewpoint of speeding up, the peripheral speed of the developer transport member is preferably as large as possible. However, as the peripheral speed of the developer transport member increases, toner collapse tends to occur. However, the use of the electrostatic image developing toner of the present embodiment, which is superior in mechanical strength, can achieve high speed while suppressing the occurrence of toner collapse.
From this viewpoint, the peripheral speed of the developer conveying member is preferably 300 mm / s or more, and more preferably 400 mm / s or more. The peripheral speed of the developer conveying member is preferably 600 mm / s or less. When the value is within the above range, the occurrence of toner collapse is suppressed.

  Hereinafter, specific examples of the image forming apparatus and the process cartridge of the present embodiment will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a basic configuration of an embodiment (first embodiment) of an image forming apparatus according to this embodiment.
The image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a latent image holding body 12, a charging unit 14, an electrostatic latent image forming unit 16, a developing unit 18, a transfer unit 20, a cleaning unit 22, a charge eliminating unit 24, a fixing unit 26, and a cartridge 28. Is provided.
The developer housed in the developing unit 18 and the replenishment developer housed in the cartridge 28 are the electrostatic charge image developer of this embodiment.

  For convenience, FIG. 1 illustrates only a configuration including one developing unit 18 and one cartridge 28 each containing a developer according to the present embodiment. However, for example, in the case of a color image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus includes It is also possible to adopt a configuration including the number of developing means 18 and cartridges 28 corresponding to the number of colors.

  The image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is an image forming apparatus having a configuration in which a cartridge 28 can be attached and detached. The cartridge 28 is connected to the toner image forming means 18 through a developer supply pipe 30. Therefore, when forming an image, the electrostatic charge image developer of the present embodiment stored in the cartridge 28 is supplied to the developing means 18 through the developer supply rod 30, so that the present embodiment is performed over a long period of time. An image using the electrostatic charge image developer in the form is formed. When the amount of developer stored in the cartridge 28 is low, the cartridge 28 is replaced.

  Around the latent image holding body 12, charging means 14 for charging the surface of the latent image holding body 12 in order along the rotation direction (arrow A direction) of the latent image holding body 12, and the latent image holding body according to the image information. 12 electrostatic latent image forming means 16 for forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface, developing means 18 for supplying the electrostatic image developer of the present embodiment to the formed electrostatic latent image, contact with the surface of the latent image holding body 12 The drum-shaped transfer means 20 that can be driven to rotate in the direction of arrow B as the latent image holding body 12 rotates in the direction of arrow A, the cleaning means 22 that contacts the surface of the latent image holding body 12, and the latent image holding body 12 A neutralizing means 24 for neutralizing the surface is arranged.

  In the gap between the latent image holding member 12 and the transfer unit 20, the recording medium 50 conveyed in the arrow C direction by a conveyance unit (not shown) from the opposite side to the arrow C direction can be inserted. A fixing unit 26 having a pressurizing unit is disposed on the latent image holding body 12 in the direction of arrow C, and a press contact portion 32 is provided so as to face the fixing unit 26. Further, the recording medium 50 that has passed through the gap between the latent image holding member 12 and the transfer means 20 can be inserted through the pressure contact portion 32 in the direction of arrow C.

As the latent image holding member 12, for example, a photosensitive member or a dielectric recording member can be used.
As the photoreceptor, for example, a photoreceptor having a single layer structure or a photoreceptor having a multilayer structure can be used. Examples of the material of the photoconductor include inorganic photoconductors such as selenium and amorphous silicon, and organic photoconductors.

  Examples of the charging means 14 include a contact charging device using a conductive or semiconductive roller, brush, film, rubber blade, or the like, a non-contact charging device such as corotron charging or scorotron charging using corona discharge, and the like. Well-known means are used.

  As the electrostatic latent image forming means 16, for example, any conventionally known means capable of forming a signal capable of forming a toner image at a desired position on the surface of the recording medium may be used in addition to the exposure means. As the exposure means, conventionally known exposure means such as a combination of a semiconductor laser and a scanning device, a laser scanning writing device comprising an optical system, or an LED head are used. In order to realize a preferable mode of producing a uniform and high-resolution exposure image, it is preferable to use a laser scanning writing device or an LED head.

  As the transfer means 20, for example, an electric field is generated between the latent image holding body 12 and the recording medium 50 by using a conductive or semiconductive roller, brush, film, rubber blade or the like to which a voltage is applied. The toner image composed of the toner particles is transferred to the back surface of the recording medium 50 by means of a means for transferring the toner image composed of the toner particles or a corotron charging device or a scorotron charging device using corona discharge. Conventionally known means such as a means for carrying out are used.

  Further, a secondary transfer unit is used as the transfer unit 20. That is, although not shown, the secondary transfer unit is a unit that transfers the toner image to the intermediate transfer member and then secondary-transfers the toner image from the intermediate transfer member to the recording medium 50.

  Here, a cleaning blade is used as the cleaning means 22. Moreover, as the static elimination means 24, a tungsten lamp, LED, etc. are mentioned, for example.

As the fixing unit 26, for example, a fixing unit that forms a copy image by fixing a toner image on a transfer medium such as paper by pressurizing or heating and pressing with a roller or a heating roller fixing machine having a constant temperature. preferable.
The fixing pressure is preferably 0.5 to 30 MPa, more preferably 1 to 20 MPa, and further preferably 1 to 10 MPa. When the value is within the above range, sufficient fixability can be obtained, and excellent image strength can be obtained. In addition, it is possible to suppress deterioration in image quality characteristics due to paper wrinkles, paper spreading, and the like. When fixing an image by heating and pressing, the heating temperature is preferably 40 to 120 ° C, more preferably 50 to 100 ° C.
An optical fixing machine that heats and fixes the toner image by light irradiation with a flash lamp or the like may be used in combination.
The material forming the roll surface such as a heating roll or a pressure roll is preferably a material excellent in releasability with respect to the toner, such as a silicone rubber or a fluorine-based resin, for the purpose of preventing toner from adhering.

As the recording medium 50, conventionally known ones such as plain paper and glossy paper can be used, and those having a base material and an image receiving layer formed on the base material can be used. Is preferably used. In addition, a thick paper means the paper which is 90 g / m < ² > or more. The image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment is an apparatus that is particularly excellent in image formation on cardboard, and can reduce fixing energy while achieving both high image quality and reliability in high-speed fixing using cardboard. preferable. In addition to excellent image formation on cardboard, it exhibits effective performance without problems even on plain paper weighing less than 90 g / m ² , reducing fixing energy, or image per hour at the same energy. The formation speed is improved.

  Next, image formation using the image forming apparatus 10 will be described. First, as the latent image holding body 12 rotates in the direction of arrow A, the surface of the latent image holding body 12 is charged by the charging unit 14. An electrostatic latent image corresponding to image information is formed on the surface of the charged latent image holding body 12 by the electrostatic latent image forming means 16. A toner image is formed on the surface of the latent image holding body 12 on which the electrostatic latent image is formed by supplying the electrostatic charge image developer of the present embodiment from the developing unit 18 according to the color information of the electrostatic latent image. .

  Next, the toner image formed on the surface of the latent image holding body 12 moves to a contact portion between the latent image holding body 12 and the transfer unit 20 as the latent image holding body 12 rotates in the direction of arrow A. At this time, the recording medium 50 is inserted through the contact portion in the direction of the arrow C by a paper conveyance roll (not shown), and the latent image holding body 12 is applied by the voltage applied between the latent image holding body 12 and the transfer means 20. The toner image formed on the surface is transferred to the surface of the recording medium 50 at the contact portion.

  The surface of the latent image holding member 12 after the toner image is transferred to the transfer unit 20 is cleaned by removing the remaining toner by the cleaning blade of the cleaning unit 22, and is neutralized by the neutralizing unit 24.

  The recording medium 50 onto which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to the pressure contact portion 32 of the fixing means 26 and is pressurized by the fixing means 26 when passing through the pressure contact portion 32. At this time, an image is formed by fixing the toner image on the surface of the recording medium 50.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a basic configuration of another preferred embodiment (second embodiment) of the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 2 includes the process cartridge according to the present embodiment.

  An image forming apparatus 200 shown in FIG. 2 includes a process cartridge 210 detachably disposed in an image forming apparatus main body (not shown), an electrostatic latent image forming unit 216, a transfer unit 220, and a fixing unit 226. It has.

  The process cartridge 210 has a latent image holding body 212 in a casing 211 provided with an opening 211A for forming an electrostatic latent image, and a cleaning means 222 having a charging means 214, a developing means 218 and a cleaning blade around it. Are combined and integrated by a mounting rail (not shown).

  On the other hand, the electrostatic latent image forming means 216 is disposed at a position where an electrostatic latent image can be formed on the latent image holding body 212 from the opening 211A of the casing 211 of the process cartridge 210. Further, the transfer unit 220 is disposed at a position facing the latent image holding body 212.

  The details of the latent image holder 212, charging unit 214, electrostatic latent image forming unit 216, developing unit 218, transfer unit 220, cleaning unit 222, fixing unit 226, and recording medium 250 are as follows. 10 is the same as the latent image holding body 12, the charging unit 14, the electrostatic latent image forming unit 16, the developing unit 18, the transfer unit 20, the cleaning unit 22, the fixing unit 26, and the recording medium 50.

  The image formation using the image forming apparatus 200 of FIG. 2 is the same as the image formation using the image forming apparatus 10 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a basic configuration of a preferred embodiment of a developing machine arranged in the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment. Here, in the figure, 400 is a developing machine, 410 is a housing, 412 is a developer conveying member, 414 is a developer regulating member, 416 is an opening, and 500 is a latent image holding member.
3 includes a housing 410 provided with an opening 416 at a position facing the latent image holding member 500, and a small gap between the latent image holding member 500 and the opening 416 in the housing 410. A developer conveying member 412 disposed to face the latent image holding member 500, and an upper end portion of the developer conveying member 412 that is fixed to the inner wall of the upper surface of the housing 410 and a lower end portion of the developer conveying member 412 that is slightly above the top of the developer conveying member 412. It has a configuration including a developer regulating member 414 arranged to face the developer conveying member 412 so as to form a gap. For convenience of explanation, the description of other members in the developing device 400 (for example, a developer agitator) and the developer stored in the developing device 400 is omitted.

Here, the toner image is formed in the developing process as follows. First, the developer is transported to the gap between the developer transport member 412 and the developer regulating member 414 by the rotation of the developer transport member 412 in the arrow B direction (counterclockwise direction in the figure), and passes through this gap. In this case, the thickness is made uniform so that the developer becomes a layer having a thickness corresponding to the gap.
Then, the developer layered on the developer conveying member 412 reaches a position facing the latent image holding member 500 that rotates in the arrow A direction (clockwise in the figure) by the rotation of the developer conveying member 412. Be transported. At this time, the toner in the developer is moved by electrostatic force from the developer conveying member 412 to the latent image holding member 500 due to the electric field gradient formed between the latent image holding member 500 and the developer conveying member 412, and charged. After charging by means (not shown), the toner image is formed on the surface of the latent image holding member 500 so as to correspond to the electrostatic latent image formed on the latent image holding member 500 by irradiation with laser light or the like according to image information. Is formed.

  Since the toner for developing an electrostatic charge image of the present embodiment has excellent resistance to stress such as pressure, the toner is used when being stirred, transported or regulated by the developer agitator, the developer transport member, or the developer regulating member. No crushing or aggregation occurs.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example demonstrates this invention in detail, a following example does not limit this invention at all. Hereinafter, “part” means “part by weight” and “%” means “% by weight” unless otherwise specified.

  In the following examples, the volume average particle size, number average molecular weight, glass transition temperature (Tg), and flow tester viscosity were measured by the following methods.

<Measurement of volume average particle diameter of particles>
A Coulter Multisizer II type (manufactured by Beckman Coulter, Inc.) was used for measuring the volume average particle diameter of the particles. In this case, measurement was performed using an optimum aperture depending on the particle size level of the particles. The particle diameter of the measured particles was expressed as a volume average particle diameter (μm).
When the particle diameter of the particles was 5 μm or less, the measurement was performed using a laser diffraction / scattering particle size distribution analyzer (LA-700, manufactured by Horiba, Ltd.).

<Number average molecular weight>
The number average molecular weight was determined by using 1.2 ml / min of solvent (tetrahydrofuran) at a temperature of 40 ° C. using gel permeation chromatography (HLC-8120GPC, TSK-GEL, GMH column manufactured by Tosoh Corporation). The sample was poured at a flow rate, and 3 mg of a tetrahydrofuran sample solution having a concentration of 0.2 g / 20 ml was injected as a sample weight and measured. In measuring the molecular weight of the sample, the measurement conditions included in the range in which the logarithm of the molecular weight of the prepared calibration curve and the count number are in a straight line were selected with several monodisperse polystyrene standard samples having a molecular weight of the sample. .

<Glass transition temperature>
The glass transition temperature Tg is measured by a method defined in ASTM D3418-82 when a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) is used to measure from −80 ° C. to 150 ° C. at a heating rate of 10 ° C. per minute. It was measured.

<Flow tester viscosity>
The flow tester viscosity of the block copolymer was measured using a flow tester CFT-500C (die diameter: 0.5 mm) manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation, and a cylindrical sample having a diameter of 1 cm and a thickness of 1 cm was measured from room temperature to 200 ° C. per minute. It calculated | required from the elution curve when measuring with the temperature increase rate of 1 degreeC.

<Synthesis of 2-methyl-2- [N- (tert-butyl) -N- (1-diethoxyphosphoryl-2,2-dimethylpropyl) -aminoxy] -propionic acid (MBPAP)>
In a nitrogen purged glass vessel, 500 parts degassed toluene, 35.9 parts CuBr, 15.9 parts copper powder, 86.7 parts N, N, N ′, N ′, N ″ -pentamethyl Diethylenetriamine is introduced and, with stirring, 580 parts degassed toluene, 42.1 parts 2-bromo-2-methylpropionic acid and 78.9 parts N-tert-butyl-N- (1-diethylphosphonate). No-2,2-dimethylpropyl) nitroxide was introduced and stirred for 90 minutes at room temperature, after which the reaction medium was filtered and the toluene filtrate was washed twice with saturated aqueous NH ₄ Cl. Washing with pentane, vacuum drying, 2-methyl-2- [N- (tert-butyl) -N- (1-diethoxyphosphoryl-2,2-dimethylpropyl) -aminoxy] -propionic acid ( BPAP) was obtained.
The molar mass of the prepared MBPAP determined by mass spectrometry was 381.44 g / mol (C ₁₇ H ₃₆ NO ₆ P), which was confirmed to be the target product.

<Preparation of release agent particle dispersion>
Ester wax (manufactured by NOF Corporation: WE-2, melting point 65 ° C.): 50 parts Anionic surfactant (Daiichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co., Ltd .: Neogen RK): 5 parts Ion exchange water: 200 The above components were mixed, heated to 95 ° C., dispersed using a homogenizer (manufactured by IKA: Ultra Tarrax T50), then dispersed with a Manton Gorin high-pressure homogenizer (manufactured by Gorin), and an average particle size of 230 nm. A release agent particle dispersion (release agent concentration: 20% by weight) obtained by dispersing a release agent as described above was prepared.

<Preparation of colorant particle dispersion>
Cyan pigment (Daiichi Seika Kogyo Co., Ltd., Pigment Blue 15: 3 (copper phthalocyanine)): 1,000 parts Anionic surfactant (Daiichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co., Ltd .: Neogen R): 150 parts Ion-exchanged water: 9,000 parts or more are mixed, dissolved, and dispersed for about 1 hour using a high-pressure impact disperser Ultimateizer (manufactured by Sugino Machine Co., Ltd., HJP30006) to disperse the colorant (cyan pigment). A colorant particle dispersion was prepared. The average particle diameter of the colorant (cyan pigment) in the colorant particle dispersion was 0.15 μm, and the colorant particle concentration was 23% by weight.

Example 1
<Preparation of block copolymer (1)>
Add 100 parts of styrene monomer and 1.3 parts of MBPAP to a glass container equipped with a reflux condenser, a nitrogen inlet pipe, and a stirrer, mix well at 80 ° C. under a nitrogen stream, and raise the temperature to 110 ° C. Polystyrene was polymerized (Block A). The molecular weight was measured at any time by GPC, and when the number average molecular weight of polystyrene reached 22,000, the residual styrene amount was measured by the weight loss method and the polymerization rate (conversion rate) was determined to be 99.5%. there were.
Thereafter, 100 parts of butyl methacrylate was added, polymerization was continued at 130 ° C., and chain extension with polybutyl methacrylate was performed. When the number average molecular weight of the block B derived from polybutylmethacrylate was 20,000 and the sum of the initially polymerized polystyrene chains and the number average molecular weight reached 42,000, the mixture was cooled to room temperature.
The polymer was dissolved in 225 parts of THF, taken out, dropped into methanol to reprecipitate the block copolymer (1), the precipitate was filtered, and further washed with methanol, then vacuumed at 40 ° C. Drying was performed to obtain a block copolymer (1) of styrene and butyl methacrylate.

  In addition, a styrene homopolymer having a number average molecular weight of 22,000 was prepared by the same operation using 50 parts of styrene and 0.68 parts of MBPAP using the above polymerization apparatus, and after purification in the same manner, its glass transition temperature (Tg) It was 100 degreeC when the measurement was performed.

  Furthermore, a homopolymer having a number average molecular weight of 20,000 was polymerized in the same manner using 300 parts of butyl methacrylate and 3.7 parts of MBPAP, and Tg after purification was confirmed to be -35 ° C.

Further, when the temperature at which the flow tester viscosity of the obtained block copolymer (1) was 10 ⁴ Pa · s was measured, it was 105 ° C. at 0.5 MPa (T (0.5 MPa)) and 53 at 10 MPa. ℃ (T (10 MPa)), at 30 MPa, 85 ℃ (T (30 MPa)), {T (0.5 MPa)-T (10 MPa)} is 52 ℃, {T (0.5 MPa)-T (30 MPa)} Was 20 ° C.

<Preparation of resin particle dispersion (1)>
To 400 parts of the block copolymer (1), 8.0 parts of sorbitan sesquiolate and 120 parts of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) in which 0.8 parts of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate are dissolved are added, and a reflux condenser, a stirrer, The mixture was added to a reactor equipped with a replacement water dropping device and a heating device, and then mixed well at 65 ° C. Then, after heat-mixing at 65 degreeC for 1 hour, 1,000 parts of ion-exchange water were dripped at the speed | rate of 1 part / min, and the phase inversion emulsification of the block copolymer (1) was performed. Further, the phase-inverted emulsion was cooled and MEK was removed from the emulsion under reduced pressure at 60 ° C. using an evaporator to obtain a resin particle dispersion (1).
The volume average particle diameter of the resin particles in the obtained resin particle dispersion was 180 nm, and the solid content concentration was 42.5% by weight.

<Preparation of toner particles (1)>
Resin particle dispersion (1): 565 parts (240 parts solid content)
Colorant particle dispersion: 22.87 parts (solid content 5.3 parts)
Release agent particle dispersion: 50 parts (solid content 10 parts)
Among the above raw materials, leave 158 parts (67 parts solids) of the resin particle dispersion (1), put the above raw materials into a cylindrical stainless steel container, and disperse and mix for 30 minutes while applying shear force at 8,000 rpm with Ultra Turrax did. Subsequently, 0.14 part of 10% nitric acid aqueous solution of polyaluminum chloride was dropped as a flocculant. At this time, the pH of the raw material dispersion was controlled in the range of 4.2 to 4.5. The pH was adjusted with 0.3N nitric acid or 1N aqueous sodium hydroxide as required. Thereafter, the raw material dispersion is transferred to a vessel equipped with a stirrer and a thermometer and heated, and the growth of aggregated particles is promoted at 40 ° C. When the volume average particle diameter reaches 5.0 μm, the material dispersion is first arranged. 158 parts of the obtained resin particle dispersion (1) was gradually added afterwards, the temperature was raised to 50 ° C., and the volume average particle diameter was adjusted to 6.2 μm. Further, after raising the pH to 7.5, the temperature was raised to 98 ° C. and held at 98 ° C. for 6 hours, and then the pH was gradually lowered to 6.5, then the heating was stopped and the mixture was allowed to cool. Thereafter, it was sieved with a 45 μm mesh, washed repeatedly with water and then dried with a freeze dryer to obtain toner particles (1).
As a result of measuring the volume average particle size and the volume average particle size distribution of the toner particles (1) using a Coulter Multisizer type II (manufactured by Beckman Coulter, Inc.), the volume average particle size is 6.5 μm, and the volume average particle size The diameter distribution was 1.23.

<Preparation of Toner for Electrostatic Image Development (1) and Electrostatic Charge Image Developer (1)>
To the toner particles (1) thus obtained, 1 part of colloidal silica (Aerosil R972, manufactured by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd.) is externally added and mixed using a Henschel mixer, thereby developing an electrostatic charge image developing toner. (1) was obtained.
Meanwhile, 100 parts of ferrite particles (manufactured by Powdertech Co., Ltd., EFC50B, average particle size 50 μm) and 1 part of methacrylate resin (manufactured by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd., molecular weight 95,000) are mixed in a pressure kneader with 500 parts of toluene. After mixing for 15 minutes at room temperature, the temperature is raised to 70 ° C. while mixing under reduced pressure, and after distilling off toluene, cooling and sizing using a 105 μm sieve, a ferrite carrier (resin-coated carrier) Was made.
This ferrite carrier and the electrostatic image developing toner (1) were mixed to prepare a two-component electrostatic image developer (1) having a toner concentration of 7% by weight.

(Evaluation of electrostatic charge image developing toner and electrostatic charge image developer)
As the image forming apparatus, a modified machine of DocuCenter Color f450 manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. was used. As for the fixing device, a two-roll type fixing device capable of adjusting the maximum fixing pressure was modified, and the image-side pressure roll was changed to a high-hardness roll in which a SUS tube was coated with Teflon (registered trademark). Fuji Xerox S paper was used as the transfer paper.
This image forming apparatus includes a cleaning blade as a cleaning unit for the latent image holding member (photosensitive member).
In addition, the developing machine includes a developer conveying member that supplies the developer on the surface of the latent image holding member, and a developer regulating member that is disposed so as to face the surface of the developer conveying member so as to form a certain minute gap. It is a thing.
The pressing force of the cleaning blade was 30 MPa.
Further, the developer toner crushing / aggregation, fixing of cleaning toner, fixability, and fixed image strength were evaluated as follows. The evaluation results are shown in Table 1.

<Evaluation of developer crushing and aggregation>
As for the occurrence of toner crushing and aggregation in the developer conveying member and the developer regulating member, after 5,000 sheets are printed, the occurrence of toner crushing and aggregation around the developer conveying member and the developer regulating member is visually observed. Was carried out. The evaluation criteria are as follows.
○: Toner crushing and aggregation around the developer conveying member and the developing device regulating member cannot be confirmed.
Δ: Toner crushing and aggregation around the developer conveying member and the developing device regulating member can be easily confirmed, and there is a problem in practical use.
X: Toner crushing and aggregation around the developer conveying member and the developing device regulating member are remarkable.

<Evaluation of cleaning toner adhesion>
Evaluation of the cleaning property was carried out by visually observing filming (fixation) of the toner on the cleaning blade and the photoreceptor after printing 5,000 sheets. The evaluation criteria are as follows.
○: Toner sticking to the cleaning blade cannot be confirmed, and there is no problem in actual use.
(Triangle | delta): Adherence of the toner to a cleaning blade can be confirmed easily, and there exists a problem in actual use.
X: The toner adheres to the cleaning blade remarkably.

<Evaluation of fixability>
The fixing roll of the fixing machine was heated to 50 ° C., and the fixing pressure was set to 10 MPa. Then, the image was fixed at each fixing pressure, and the fixing property was evaluated. The evaluation criteria are as follows. The evaluation results are shown in Table 1.
○: No image unevenness (gross unevenness) and good adhesion to paper.
(Triangle | delta): Although slight image nonuniformity was observed, adhesiveness with paper was favorable and was a level which is satisfactory practically.
X: Image unevenness occurred, and adhesion to paper was at a level that had a practical problem.

<Evaluation of fixed image strength>
A pencil scratch test based on JIS K5400 was performed on the image portion after the 10 MPa fixing, and the following determination was made based on the pencil hardness. The results are shown in Table 1.
○: Pencil hardness H or higher and no problem at all.
(Triangle | delta): It is less than pencil hardness H and HB or more, and has a problem in actual use.
X: Pencil hardness was less than HB and practically problematic.

(Example 2)
Blocks shown in Table 1 in the same manner as in Example 1 except that 100 parts of styrene monomer, 1.5 parts of MBPAP and 140 parts of butyl methacrylate were used instead of 100 parts of styrene monomer, 1.3 parts of MBPAP and 100 parts of butyl methacrylate. A block copolymer (2) having a block B derived from A and a butyl acrylate polymer was prepared.
Using the obtained block copolymer (2), an electrostatic charge image developing toner (2) and an electrostatic charge image developer (2) were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. . The results are shown in Table 1.

(Example 3)
The blocks shown in Table 1 are the same as in Example 1 except that 100 parts of styrene monomer, 0.7 parts of MBPAP and 130 parts of butyl methacrylate were used instead of 100 parts of styrene monomer, 1.3 parts of MBPAP and 100 parts of butyl methacrylate. A block copolymer (3) having a block B derived from A and a butyl acrylate polymer was prepared.
Using the obtained block copolymer (3), an electrostatic image developing toner (3) and an electrostatic image developer (3) were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. . The results are shown in Table 1.

Example 4
The blocks shown in Table 1 in the same manner as in Example 1 except that 100 parts of styrene monomer, 1.3 parts of MBPAP and 100 parts of ethyl methacrylate were used instead of 100 parts of styrene monomer, 1.3 parts of MBPAP and 100 parts of butyl methacrylate. A block copolymer (4) having a block B derived from A and a butyl acrylate polymer was prepared.
Using the obtained block copolymer (4), an electrostatic image developing toner (4) and an electrostatic image developer (4) were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. . The results are shown in Table 1.

(Example 5)
<Preparation of block copolymer (5)>
A block copolymer was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the block A was changed to a copolymer of styrene and butyl acrylate.
Specifically, in the preparation of Block A, 85 parts of styrene monomer, 15 parts of butyl acrylate, and 0.7 part of MBPAP were used instead of 100 parts of styrene monomer and 1.3 parts of MBPAP. Further, a block copolymer (5) having a block B was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that 100 parts of butyl methacrylate was changed to 80 parts.
Using the obtained block copolymer (5), an electrostatic charge image developing toner (5) and an electrostatic charge image developer (5) were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. . The results are shown in Table 1.

(Comparative Example 1)
100 parts of polyethylene oxide (average molecular weight 4,000, acid value 20) and 50 parts of magnetite (EPT1000, manufactured by Toda Kogyo Co., Ltd.) were melt-mixed at 140 ° C. and pulverized with a pulverizer to obtain a 10.5 μm powder. Obtained. This powder was made up of 2.5 parts of kaolin (H kaolin, manufactured by Tsuchiya Kaolin Industry Co., Ltd.), 50 parts of styrene butadiene copolymer (butadiene content 15 wt%, 4544 manufactured by Denki Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd.), 250 parts of xylene. After being dispersed in the mixed solution, drying was carried out with a spray dryer (inlet temperature 150 ° C., outlet temperature 100 ° C.), and an electrostatic charge image developing toner (C1) having a particle size of 13.0 μm was produced. The obtained electrostatic charge image developing toner (C1) was mixed with a carrier in the same manner as in Example 1 to prepare an electrostatic charge image developer (C1) and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Comparative Example 2)
The blocks shown in Table 1 in the same manner as in Example 1 except that 100 parts of styrene monomer, 0.9 part of MBPAP and 100 parts of butyl acrylate were used instead of 100 parts of styrene monomer, 1.3 parts of MBPAP and 100 parts of butyl methacrylate. A block copolymer (C2) having a block B derived from A and a butyl acrylate polymer was prepared.
Using the obtained block copolymer (C2), an electrostatic image developing toner (C2) and an electrostatic image developer (C2) were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. . The results are shown in Table 1.

(Comparative Example 3)
Blocks shown in Table 1 in the same manner as in Example 1, except that 100 parts of styrene monomer, 100 parts of MBPAP and 100 parts of butyl methacrylate were used instead of 100 parts of styrene monomer, 100 parts of MBPAP and 100 parts of butyl methacrylate. A block copolymer (C3) having A and block B was prepared.
Using the obtained block copolymer (C3), an electrostatic charge image developing toner (C3) and an electrostatic charge image developer (C3) were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. . The results are shown in Table 1.

(Comparative Example 4)
A block copolymer (C4) was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the block A was changed to polymethyl methacrylate.
Specifically, 100 parts of methyl methacrylate, 1.3 parts of MBPAP and 100 parts of butyl acrylate were used instead of 100 parts of styrene monomer, 1.3 parts of MBPAP and 100 parts of butyl methacrylate.
Using the obtained block copolymer (C4), an electrostatic charge image developing toner (C4) and an electrostatic charge image developer (C4) were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. . The results are shown in Table 1.

(Comparative Example 5)
A block copolymer (C5) was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the block B was changed to polyhexyl methacrylate.
Specifically, instead of 100 parts of styrene monomer, 1.3 parts of MBPAP and 100 parts of butyl methacrylate, 100 parts of styrene monomer, 1.3 parts of MBPAP and 100 parts of hexyl methacrylate were used.
Using the obtained block copolymer (C5), an electrostatic charge image developing toner (C5) and an electrostatic charge image developer (C5) were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. . The results are shown in Table 1.

10, 200 Image forming apparatus 12, 212, 500 Latent image holder 14, 214 Charging means 16, 216 Electrostatic latent image forming means 18, 218 Developing means 20, 220 Transfer means 22, 222 Cleaning means 24 Static eliminating means 26, 226 Fixing means 28 Cartridge 30 Developer supply pipe 32 Pressure contact portion 50, 250 Recording medium 210 Process cartridge 211 Housing 211A Opening 400 Developer 400 Housing 412 Developer conveying member 414 Developer regulating member 416 Opening

Claims (17)

Look-containing resin satisfying the relationship of formula (1) to (3),
The toner for developing an electrostatic charge image , wherein the resin is a block copolymer comprising a block derived from styrene and a block derived from butyl methacrylate or a block derived from ethyl methacrylate .
80 ° C. ≦ T (0.5 MPa) (1)
T (10 MPa) <80 ° C. (2)
80 ° C. ≦ T (30 MPa) (3)
In the formulas (1) to (3), T (0.5 MPa) represents a temperature at which the viscosity becomes 10 ⁴ Pa · s at a flow tester applied pressure of 0.5 MPa, and T (10 MPa) represents a flow tester applied pressure of 10 MPa. in represents a temperature at which the viscosity becomes 10 ⁴ Pa · s, at T (30 MPa) is a flow tester applied pressure 30 MPa, representing a temperature at which the viscosity becomes 10 ⁴ Pa · s. The electrostatic charge image developing toner according to claim 1 , wherein the block copolymer has a number average molecular weight of 20,000 to 200,000. Number average molecular weight of each block is 10,000 to 100,000, toner according to claim 1 or 2. The difference between the glass transition temperature of the block derived from the block or the methacrylate derived from the glass transition temperature and the butyl methacrylate block derived from the styrene is 70 to 200 ° C., to any one of claims 1 to 3 1 The toner for developing an electrostatic image described in 1. The glass transition temperature of the block derived from styrene is 55 to 150 ° C., according to claim 1 to 4, an electrostatic image developing toner according to any one. The glass transition temperature of the block derived from the block or the methacrylate from butyl methacrylate are -100~30 ℃, an electrostatic image developing toner according to any one of Claims 1-5. {T (0.5MPa) -T (10MPa )} is the 20 to 120 ° C., according to claim 1-6 or toner according to one. {T (0.5MPa) -T (30MPa )} is the -50~40 ℃, claim 1-7 The toner according to any one. A dispersion step for producing a resin particle dispersion containing the resin,
An aggregating step of aggregating the dispersed resin particles to obtain aggregated particles; and
Including a fusing step of fusing the agglomerated particles by heating.
The method for producing a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image according to any one of claims 1 to 8 . An electrostatic image developer containing a toner and a carrier for developing an electrostatic charge image according to any one of Claims 1-8. A toner cartridge containing at least the toner for developing an electrostatic charge image according to any one of claims 1 to 8 . A developing agent holding member, a toner for developing electrostatic images according to any one claims 1-8, or, for holding the electrostatic image developer according to claim 10, the process cartridge. A latent image holder that is detachable from the image forming apparatus and rotates in one direction; and a developing unit that supplies toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the latent image holder to form a toner image; The process cartridge according to claim 12 , further comprising: a cleaning blade that is disposed in contact with the surface of the latent image holding member and cleans the surface of the latent image holding member after the toner image is transferred to the surface of the transfer target. An electrostatic latent image forming step for forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the latent image holding member;
A developing step of developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the latent image holding member with a developer containing toner to form a toner image;
A transfer step of transferring the toner image onto the surface of the transfer target; and
Including a fixing step of pressing and fixing the toner image,
The fixing pressure in the fixing step is 0.5 to 30 MPa;
An image-forming method, comprising the toner that a toner for developing an electrostatic image or the developer according to any one of Claims 1-8 is electrostatic image developer of claim 10. The image forming method according to claim 14 , further comprising a cleaning step of cleaning the surface of the latent image holding member after the transfer step by a cleaning blade arranged in contact with the surface of the latent image holding member. Latent image carrier,
Charging means for charging the latent image holding member;
Exposure means for exposing the charged latent image carrier to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the latent image carrier;
Developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image with a developer containing toner to form a toner image;
Transfer means for transferring the toner image from the latent image holding member to the surface of the transfer target; and
A fixing unit that pressurizes the toner image transferred to the surface of the transfer target;
The fixing pressure of the fixing unit is 0.5 to 30 MPa,
The image forming apparatus wherein the toner is according to claim 1-8 toner or the developer for electrostatic image development according to any one is electrostatic image developer of claim 10. The image according to claim 16 , further comprising a cleaning blade that is disposed in contact with the surface of the latent image holding member and cleans the surface of the latent image holding member after the toner image is transferred to the surface of the transfer target. Forming equipment.

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