JP6308008B2 - Cylinder manufacturing method, image carrier, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cylindrical body manufacturing method, an image holding body, and an image forming apparatus.

  Patent Document 1 describes a technique of forming a work material (slag) made of metal or alloy into a cylindrical shape by impact processing in order to obtain a thin cylindrical member.

JP 2014-038139 A

  However, the dimensional accuracy of the thin cylindrical member obtained by using only impact processing was low.

  An object of the present invention is to obtain a cylindrical body with high dimensional accuracy.

The method of manufacturing a cylindrical body according to claim 1 includes a step of inserting a cylindrical mold material that is longer than the cylindrical material in the axial direction into the cylindrical material, and projecting both end portions of the mold material from the cylindrical material. And using a heater disposed inside the mold member in a state of protruding from both ends of the cylindrical member in the axial direction with the mold member inserted into the cylindrical member, from the inside of the mold member Heating the mold material, bringing the outer peripheral surface of the mold material and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical material into contact with each other, causing the outer peripheral surface of the mold material to follow the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical material, and making the cylindrical material a cylindrical body; And heating the mold material, separating the outer peripheral surface of the mold material and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, and drawing the mold material from the inside of the cylindrical body.

  An image carrier according to a second aspect of the present invention covers a cylindrical body manufactured by the cylindrical body manufacturing method according to the first aspect and an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, and changes its properties when irradiated with light. And a layer.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus that forms the image on the outer peripheral surface of the image holding member, the charging member that charges the outer peripheral surface of the image holding member, and the charged image holding member. And a device.

  According to the method for manufacturing a cylindrical body according to claim 1, in a state where the mold material is inserted into the cylindrical material, the mold material is heated from the inside of the mold material to bring the outer peripheral surface of the mold material and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical material into contact with each other. Therefore, a cylindrical body with high dimensional accuracy can be obtained as compared with the case where it cannot be copied.

  According to the image carrier of claim 2, the dimensional accuracy of the image carrier can be increased as compared with the case where the cylinder produced by the method of producing the cylinder of claim 1 is not provided. .

  According to the image forming apparatus of the third aspect, as compared with the case where the image holding body according to the second aspect is not provided, the occurrence of image defects in the image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the image holding body is suppressed. be able to.

(A) (B) (C) It is process drawing which showed a part of manufacturing method of a cylindrical body in embodiment of this invention. (A) (B) (C) It is process drawing which showed a part of manufacturing method of a cylindrical body in embodiment of this invention. (A) (B) It is process drawing which showed a part of manufacturing method of a cylindrical body in embodiment of this invention. (A) (B) It is process drawing which showed a part of manufacturing method of a cylindrical body in embodiment of this invention. (A) (B) It is process drawing which showed a part of manufacturing method of a cylindrical body in embodiment of this invention. It is drawing which showed the dimensional accuracy of the cylindrical body manufactured (molded) with the manufacturing method of the cylindrical body in embodiment of this invention with the table | surface. It is the front view which showed the image holding body which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a front view showing a charging member and an image holding body provided in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. (A) (B) (C) It is process drawing which showed the drawing process, ironing process, or drawing ironing process which can be used for the manufacturing method of a cylindrical body based on embodiment of this invention.

  An example of a cylindrical body manufacturing method, an image carrier, and an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, arrow UP shown in a figure shows the vertical direction upper direction. First, an image forming apparatus and an image holding body will be described, and then a cylindrical body manufacturing method will be described.

(overall structure)
As shown in FIG. 9, an image processing unit 12 that performs image processing on input image data is provided in the main body 10 </ b> A of the image forming apparatus 10.

  The image processing unit 12 processes input image data into gradation data of four colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). An exposure device 14 that receives the processed gradation data and performs image exposure with the laser beam LB is provided on the center side in the main body 10A.

  Above the exposure device 14, four image forming units 16Y, 16M, 16C, and 16K of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) are arranged in the horizontal direction (left and right in the figure). (Direction). When there is no need to distinguish between Y, M, C, and K, Y, M, C, and K may be omitted.

  The image forming units 16 of these colors are all configured similarly. Each image forming unit 16 includes a cylindrical image holder 18 that is rotationally driven at a predetermined speed, and a charging member 20 for primary charging that charges the outer peripheral surface of the image holder 18. ing. As shown in FIG. 8, the charging member 20 is disposed below the image carrier 18, is in contact with the image carrier 18, and is rotated following the rotating image carrier 18. .

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9, each image forming unit 16 converts the electrostatic latent image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier 18 charged by the image exposure of the exposure device 14 described above into a predetermined color. And a developing device 22 that visualizes the toner image by developing the toner. Each image forming unit 16 includes a cleaning blade 24 that cleans the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier 18. Details of the image carrier 18 will be described later.

  Further, the exposure apparatus 14 is provided with four semiconductor lasers (not shown) configured in the image forming units 16 of the respective colors. The laser beams LB-Y, LB-M, LB-C, and LB-K are emitted from these semiconductor lasers according to the gradation data.

  The laser beams LB-Y, LB-M, LB-C, and LB-K emitted from the semiconductor laser are irradiated to a polygon mirror 26, which is a rotating polygon mirror, through an f-θ lens (not shown). The mirror 26 is deflected and scanned. The laser beams LB-Y, LB-M, LB-C, and LB-K deflected and scanned by the polygon mirror 26 pass through the imaging lens (not shown) and a plurality of mirrors on the image carrier 18. The exposure point is scanned and exposed from obliquely below.

  Further, since the exposure device 14 scans and exposes an image on the image carrier 18 from below, the exposure device 14 receives toner from the developing device 22 of the image forming unit 16 of each color located above. Etc. may fall. Therefore, the periphery of the exposure device 14 is sealed by a rectangular parallelepiped frame 28. Further, on the upper part of the frame 28, the four laser beams LB-Y, LB-M, LB-C, and LB-K are transparently transmitted toward the image holding member 18 of the image forming unit 16 of each color. Glass windows 30 are provided respectively.

  On the other hand, a primary transfer unit 21 is provided above the image forming unit 16 for each color. The primary transfer unit 21 has an endless intermediate transfer belt 32, an intermediate transfer belt 32 wound around, a driving roll 40 that rotates and rotates the intermediate transfer belt 32 in the direction of the arrow, and an intermediate transfer belt 32 is wound. A tension applying roll 36 that applies tension to the intermediate transfer belt 32, a cleaning blade 38 that cleans the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 32, and an opposite side of the image carrier 18 of each color with the intermediate transfer belt 32 interposed therebetween. And a primary transfer roll 34 disposed respectively.

  Each color toner image sequentially formed on the image carrier 18 of the image forming unit 16 is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 32 by the primary transfer roll 34 of each color.

  A secondary transfer roll 42 (an example of a transfer member) is provided on the opposite side of the drive roll 40 across the intermediate transfer belt 32. The toner images of each color transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 32 in a multiple manner are conveyed by the intermediate transfer belt 32, sandwiched between the drive roll 40 and the secondary transfer roll 42, and conveyed along the paper conveyance path 56. Secondary transfer is performed on a sheet member P as a medium.

  Further, on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the sheet member P with respect to the secondary transfer roll 42 (hereinafter simply referred to as “the downstream side in the conveyance direction”), the toner image transferred to the sheet member P is heated and pressed by the sheet member. A fixing device 44 for fixing to P is provided.

  Further, on the downstream side of the fixing device 44 in the conveyance direction, a discharge roll 46 that discharges the sheet member P on which the toner image is fixed to a discharge portion 48 provided on the upper portion of the main body 10A of the image forming apparatus 10 is provided.

  On the other hand, a sheet feeding member 50 on which the sheet members P are stacked is provided on the lower side in the main body 10 </ b> A of the image forming apparatus 10. Further, a sheet feeding roll 52 for feeding the sheet members P stacked on the sheet feeding member 50 to the sheet conveying path 56 is provided, and the sheet members P are separated one by one on the downstream side in the conveying direction of the sheet feeding roll 52. Separating roll 54 is provided. Further, an alignment roll 58 for adjusting the conveyance timing is provided on the downstream side of the separation roll 54 in the conveyance direction. Thus, the sheet member P supplied from the sheet feeding member 50 is moved to a position (secondary transfer position) where the intermediate transfer belt 32 and the secondary transfer roll 42 are in contact with each other by the alignment roll 58 that rotates at a predetermined timing. It is configured to be sent out.

  Further, next to the discharge roll 46, the sheet member P on which the image is fixed on the surface by the fixing device 44 is transported to the double-side transport path 62 without being discharged directly onto the discharge portion 48 by the discharge roll 46. A roll 60 is provided. As a result, the sheet member P conveyed along the double-sided conveyance path 62 is conveyed again to the alignment roll 58 with the front and back sides reversed, and this time, the toner image is transferred to the back surface of the sheet member P. It is fixed and discharged onto the discharge unit 48.

(Operation of the overall configuration)
With this configuration, an image is formed on the sheet member P as follows.

  First, the gradation data of each color is sequentially output from the image processing unit 12 to the exposure device 14, and the laser light of each color emitted from the exposure device 14 according to the gradation data is charged by the charging member 20. 18 is exposed to scanning on the outer peripheral surface. Then, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier 18. The electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier 18 is visualized as a toner image of each color of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) by the developing device 22 of each color. The

  Further, the toner images of the respective colors formed on the image holding member 18 are circulated on the rotating intermediate transfer belt 32 by the primary transfer roll 34 of the primary transfer unit 21 disposed over the image forming units 16 of the respective colors. Multiple transcriptions are made.

  In addition, the toner images of the respective colors transferred in multiple on the intermediate transfer belt 32 are secondly transferred to the sheet member P conveyed by the secondary transfer roll 42 to the sheet conveyance path 56 by the alignment roll 58 at a predetermined timing. Next transferred.

  Further, the sheet member P to which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 44. The toner image transferred to the sheet member P is fixed to the sheet member P by the fixing device 44 and fixed, and then discharged to the discharge portion 48 provided at the upper portion of the main body 10A of the image forming apparatus 10 by the discharge roll 46. The

  On the other hand, when images are formed on both surfaces of the sheet member P, the sheet member P on which the image is fixed on the surface by the fixing device 44 is not discharged as it is onto the discharge unit 48 by the discharge roll 46, but the conveyance direction is switched. The sheet is conveyed to the duplex conveyance path 62 via the conveyance roll 60. Then, by conveying the sheet member P along the duplex conveyance path 62, the front and back of the sheet member P are reversed, and the sheet member P is conveyed again to the alignment roll 58. This time, the toner image is transferred / fixed on the back surface of the sheet member P, transferred and fixed, and then discharged onto the discharge portion 48 by the discharge roll 46.

(Main part configuration)
Next, the image carrier 18 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the image holding body 18 includes a cylindrical cylindrical body 80 and a pair of closing members 82 that are fitted to both ends of the cylindrical body 80 and close the opening of the cylindrical body 80. Yes. Further, the image carrier 18 includes a photosensitive layer 84 that covers the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 80 and changes its properties when irradiated with light.

  The closing member 82 is formed of a resin material, and a shaft portion 82 </ b> A that constitutes a rotating shaft of the cylindrical body 80 is integrally formed on the closing member 82. The shaft portion 82A is rotatably supported by support members 90 (see FIG. 8) disposed at both ends of the image carrier 18. Further, a gear 88 is attached to the shaft portion 82A on the right side in the drawing, and a rotational force from a motor (not shown) is transmitted to the image holding body 18 through the gear 88.

  The photosensitive layer 84 is formed by evaporating a material containing an organic photo semiconductor cadmium sulfide whose properties change when irradiated with light on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 80.

  Furthermore, the cylindrical body 80 is formed into a cylindrical shape using aluminum. As an example, the outer diameter is 30 [mm], the length is 250 [mm], and the thickness is from 0.2 [mm] to 0.8 [mm]. Is of any constant thickness.

(Manufacturing method of cylindrical body)
Next, a method for manufacturing the cylindrical body 80 will be described. The cylindrical body 80 is formed (manufactured) using impact processing for forming the cylindrical cylindrical material 206 and correction processing for correcting the cylindrical material 206 to form the cylindrical body 80.

[Impact processing]
First, impact processing for forming the cylindrical material 206 will be described.

  In the impact processing, as shown in FIG. 1A, the concave mold 204 in which the slag 202 which is a lump of aluminum is stored, and the slag 202 stored in the concave mold 204 are pressed to make the slag 202 cylindrical. A cylindrical punch mold 200 is used.

  In the impact process, first, the slag 202 is accommodated in the concave mold 204, and the punch mold 200 is further disposed above the concave mold 204 (see FIG. 1A).

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, the punch die 200 moves downward to crush and deform the slag 202 accommodated in the concave die 204. As a result, the slag 202 is deformed into a bottomed and cylindrical bottomed tubular member 205 along the peripheral surface of the punch die 200.

  Next, the punch die 200 moves upward, and as shown in FIG. 2A, the bottomed tubular member 205 that is in close contact with the punch die 200 is separated from the concave die 204.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, the bottomed tubular member 205 is removed from the punch die 200 (demolded).

  Next, one end side (the lower end side in the figure) of the bottomed cylindrical member 205 is cut, and as shown in FIG. 2C, a cylindrical cylindrical member 206 having both ends opened is formed.

[Correction processing]
Next, correction processing for correcting the cylindrical material 206 and improving the dimensional accuracy of the cylindrical material 206 to form the cylindrical body 80 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, a cylindrical shape 230 (an example of a mold material) is used for the straightening process. The cylindrical mold 230 is formed using aluminum with a predetermined dimensional accuracy. The length of the cylindrical mold 230 is longer than the length of the cylindrical material 206, and the thickness (plate thickness) of the cylindrical mold 230 is the cylindrical material 206. It is thicker than the thickness. Further, under the same temperature (for example, 20 [° C.]), the outer diameter of the cylindrical mold 230 is made smaller by several tens of μm than the inner diameter of the cylindrical material 206.

  In the straightening process, first, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, a cylindrical mold 230 is inserted into the cylindrical member 206 (insertion step). In this state, a gap of several tens of μm is generated at least partly in the circumferential direction between the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mold 230 and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical material 206.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4A, a heater 232 having the same length as that of the cylindrical mold 230 is disposed inside the cylindrical mold 230, and the cylindrical mold 230 is moved to the inner peripheral surface side by using this heater 232. (Heating step: For example, the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical mold 230 is heated to 200 [° C.] and this heated state is maintained for 0.5 [hr]).

  By heating the cylindrical mold 230 from the inner peripheral surface side, the cylindrical mold 230 is expanded as shown in FIG. 4B, and the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mold 230 is brought into contact with the entire inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical material 206. And the cylindrical material 206 is pushed out. Accordingly, the cylindrical member 206 is made the cylindrical body 80 by causing the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 206 to follow the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mold 230.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5A, the heater 232 is extracted from the inside of the cylindrical mold 230, and the cylindrical body 80 and the cylindrical mold 230 are left as they are at room temperature (for example, 20 [° C.]) to be naturally cooled. To do. Thereby, the cylindrical mold 230 contracts, so that the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mold 230 and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 80 are separated from each other. Then, the cylindrical mold 230 is pulled out from the inside of the cylindrical body 80 (cooling step). As described above, the correction process of correcting the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical material 206 to form the cylindrical body 80 is completed.

(Example)
Next, Examples 1 to 12 in which the cylindrical member 206 is the cylindrical body 80 by correction processing will be described using the table shown in FIG.

〔specification〕
The outer diameter of the cylindrical material 206 of Examples 1 to 12 is 30 [mm] and the length is 250 [mm]. Moreover, about the thickness, the cylindrical material 206 of Examples 1, 5, and 9 is 0.8 [mm], and the cylindrical material 206 of Examples 2, 6, and 10 is 0.6 [mm]. The cylindrical material 206 of Examples 3, 7, and 11 is 0.4 [mm], and the cylindrical material 206 of Examples 4, 8, and 12 is 0.2 [mm]. The cylindrical material 206 is a cylindrical material formed using only impact processing.

[Heating conditions]
As for the heating conditions, the heating temperature is 200 [° C.], 250 [° C.], 300 [° C.], or 350 [° C.], and the heating time is 0.3 [hr], 0.5 [hr], 1.0 [Hr] or 2.0 [hr].

[Dimensional accuracy]
Comparing the dimensional accuracy before correction processing (dimensional accuracy of the cylindrical material 206) and the dimensional accuracy after correction processing (dimensional accuracy of the cylindrical body 80), all of cylindricity, roundness, and coaxiality (JIS B0024). In the improvement. In particular, the cylindrical material 206 having a small thickness has a higher degree of improvement in dimensional accuracy than the cylindrical material 206 having a large thickness.

(Summary)
As described above, the cylindrical material 206 is formed into a cylinder by improving the dimensional accuracy of the cylindrical material 206 by performing the insertion process, the heating process, and the cooling process on the cylindrical material 206 formed using only impact processing. The body 80 is used. In other words, by using the insertion step, the heating step, and the cooling step, the cylindrical body 80 with high dimensional accuracy can be obtained as compared with the case where these steps are not used.

  Further, in the image carrier 18, the cylindrical body 80 with high dimensional accuracy is used as a component of the image carrier 18 compared to the case where the cylindrical material 206 is used. Charging unevenness is suppressed.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus 10, since charging unevenness generated on the outer peripheral surface of the image holding member 18 is suppressed, occurrence of image defects in the output image is suppressed.

  Although the present invention has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and various other embodiments can be taken within the scope of the present invention. This will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, in the above embodiment, aluminum is used as the material of the cylindrical body 80, but other metal materials may be used.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although aluminum was used as a type | mold material of the cylindrical type | mold 230, you may use another metal material (for example, magnesium, brass (Cu-Zn), etc.).

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the cylindrical material 206 after impact processing was used, the insertion process, the heating process, and the cooling process were implemented in the cylindrical material made into the cylindrical shape by other processes, and the dimensional accuracy of a member May be improved.

  Further, although not specifically described in the above embodiment, drawing, ironing, and drawing ironing may be performed between impact processing and straightening processing. As shown in FIG. 10 (A), the drawing process is a process of reducing the outer diameter of the cylindrical material 206 using a mold 220, and the ironing process is as shown in FIG. 10 (B). This is a process of reducing the thickness (wall thickness) of the cylindrical material 206 using the mold 222. Further, as shown in FIG. 10C, the drawing ironing process uses a mold 224 to reduce the thickness (thickness) of the cylindrical material 206 and reduce the outer diameter of the cylindrical material 206. It is processing.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 14 Exposure apparatus (an example of a forming apparatus)
18 Image carrier 20 Charging member 22 Developing device (example of forming device)
80 Cylindrical body 84 Photosensitive layer 206 Cylindrical material 230 Cylindrical type (an example of a mold material)

Claims (3)

Inserting a cylindrical mold material that is longer than the cylindrical material in the axial direction into the cylindrical material, and projecting both end portions of the mold material from the cylindrical material ;
The mold material is inserted from the inside of the mold material by using a heater disposed inside the mold material in a state where the mold material is inserted into the cylindrical material and protrudes from both ends of the cylindrical material in the axial direction. The outer peripheral surface of the mold material and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical material are brought into contact with each other, the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical material is made to follow the outer peripheral surface of the mold material, and the cylindrical material is formed into a cylindrical body,
Heating the mold material, separating the outer peripheral surface of the mold material and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, and drawing the mold material from the inside of the cylindrical body;
The manufacturing method of a cylindrical body provided with. A cylindrical body manufactured by the cylindrical body manufacturing method according to claim 1;
A photosensitive layer that covers the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and changes its properties when irradiated with light;
An image carrier comprising: The image carrier according to claim 2,
A charging member for charging the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier;
A forming apparatus for forming an image on the outer peripheral surface of the charged image carrier;
An image forming apparatus comprising:

Images