JP6421002B2 - Two-layer felt material and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

  In the present invention, since the height of the napped group is two stages, the base of the napped group is filled with fibers and there is a volume feeling, which is effective in preventing leakage of fine particles such as toner mainly in the photographic image forming process. The present invention relates to a felt material suitable as a sealing material and a method for producing the same.

  In an electrophotographic image forming process such as an electronic copying machine, a facsimile machine, or a laser beam printer, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-290405, the photosensitive drum and other base material are integrated into a cartridge so as to be detachable. Currently, a method in which maintenance of the process is performed by the user himself is common. In this process cartridge, waste toner generated by the cleaning mechanism is discharged into the cleaning container and discarded at the same time when the cartridge is replaced. This cleaning mechanism scrapes the residual toner from the surface of the photosensitive drum after the primary transfer, so that a sealing material is attached to both ends of the cleaning blade and the opening of the cleaning container to prevent the residual toner from leaking from both sides of the container. .

  As this kind of sealing material, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-61101 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-223447 propose to use a dense pile fabric. The pile-like woven fabric is, for example, a moquette having a pile length of 3 mm, and even if urethane foam or the like is not attached to the back surface, the sliding property is somewhat lower than that of PTFE fiber felt, and further cushioning properties are provided. High and sufficient sealing performance. In this sealing material, pile fibers are woven into two layers of ground warp and weft yarns to prevent hair loss, thereby preventing felt fibers from coming off.

  The known pile fabric sealing material has a gap remaining at the base of the pile yarn after raising, even if the pile yarn weight is fully packed, so some toner particles leak out from this location. It cannot be avoided. In addition, since this pile fiber combines two layers of warp and weft yarns, it is necessary to feed four ground warps and two ground wefts simultaneously to the loom. In addition to being very expensive, the amount of yarn used doubles and the manufacturing cost increases.

JP 2001-290405 A JP-A-11-61101 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-223447 JP-A-2005-283729

  In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-283729 proposed by the present applicant, in order to avoid toner fine particles from leaking out from the base of the pile yarn where voids remain in the seal material of the pile fabric, Proposes the lamination of thin synthetic fiber felt. This felt has a large number of entering fibers entering the base of the raised pile yarn by needle punching from the back side, and closes the voids at the base of the raised pile yarn, so that toner fine particles and polymerized toner particles are removed from this sheet material. Prevent leakage. This two-layer sheet material has a long piled pile yarn of the pile fabric, and a felt having a high cushioning property on the lower side. Therefore, the two-layer sheet material has a high cushioning property and a good seal compared to a known pile fabric sealing material. The ability to demonstrate.

  On the other hand, since the two-layer sheet material composed of a woven fabric and a felt uses a pile-shaped woven fabric and a felt, it cannot be avoided that the cost is considerably higher than that of the felt alone. This two-layer sheet material is difficult to completely prevent the toner fine particles from leaking out from the base of the pile yarn, even if the felt fiber enters the lower side of the fabric having a long raised pile yarn. The same occurs in the case of felt alone. In addition, this two-layer sheet material is not easy to change the pile yarn and increase / decrease the pile yarn length in the pile woven fabric, and it is also easy to adjust the fiber configuration according to the application and to change the characteristics of the sheet material Not.

  The present invention has been proposed in order to improve the above-mentioned problems relating to a felt material suitable as a sealing material, and since the height of the napped fibers is in two stages, a sense of volume also occurs at the base of the napped fibers, An object of the present invention is to provide a felt material having a two-layer structure that can more reliably prevent leakage of toner fine particles. Another object of the present invention is to provide a felt material having a two-layer structure that easily imparts characteristics according to a specific application because the felt fabric has two layers. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a felt material having a two-layer structure that can be processed by single and polymerizing two felt doughs and passing them twice through a needle machine.

  The felt material having a two-layer structure according to the present invention is composed of two layers of felt fabrics made of the same or different fiber materials. In the two-layered felt fabric, a first napped group drawn from the upper felt fabric, The second raised group that has been pulled out from the felt fabric and passed through the upper felt fabric is mixed on the entire surface, and the first raised group and the second raised group that are in a loop shape have different raised heights, depending on the second raised group. The lower felt fabric is integrated with the upper felt fabric.

In the felt material of the present invention, the fibers used in the felt fabric are not single fibers but when two or more kinds are blended, the blending ratio per one fiber material is set to 5 to 80%, and polyester fibers and rayon fibers are blended. In this case, it is preferable to set the blending ratio of the polyester fiber to 40 to 70% and the blending ratio of the rayon fiber to 30 to 60%. When the fiber diameter of the upper felt fabric is 0.5 to 40 dt larger than that of the lower felt fabric, the upper felt fabric has a weight of 100 to 500 g / m ² and the lower felt fabric has a weight. Is 50 to 300 g / m ² , and both felt fabrics preferably have a thickness of 0.5 to 4.0 mm and a weight of 150 to 800 g / m ² . Preferably, the front surface, back surface or entire surface of the felt material is subjected to resin processing, and the coating amount is 5 to 100 g / m ² .

  In the felt material manufacturing method according to the present invention, two felt fabrics are formed from a predetermined card wrap by needle punching using a regular needle, and then looped from an upper felt fabric by needle punching using a fork needle. After pulling up the first napped group, the lower felt fabric is overlapped on the lower side of the upper felt fabric and looped from the lower felt fabric by needle punching using a fork needle from the lower side of the lower felt fabric. When the second raised group is pulled upward and the second raised group passes through the upper felt fabric, the first raised group and the second raised group are mixed on the entire surface of the felt material.

In the felt material manufacturing method according to the present invention, needle punching with a fork needle is performed when the upper felt fabric alone and two felt fabrics are overlapped, and the needle depth is 2.0 to 10.0 mm, the number of driven Is preferably 200 to 800 pieces / cm ² . Preferably, one or two felt fabrics are passed through a random velor machine face-down, and in the random velor machine, a large number of fork needles are deeply inserted into the felt fabric and the fibers of the felt fabric are hooked. Then, the looped first or second raised group is pulled upward, and the fibers of the raised group are obliquely oriented by pressing.

  The felt material of the two-layer structure according to the present invention has a first raised group pulled out from the upper felt fabric and a second raised group pulled out from the lower felt fabric, and has a high raised group and a low raised group. By being mixed closely, when used as a sealing material, the base of a high napped group is filled with fibers, and leakage of toner fine particles can be prevented more reliably. The felt material of the present invention has a feeling of volume in the entire napped fiber, so that it has a cushioning property as well as a conventional two-layer seal material having a felt layer and a cushion layer, as well as a known pile fiber seal material. Demonstrate good sealing performance.

  Since the felt material of the two-layer structure according to the present invention is manufactured only from the two-layer felt fabric, it is easy to change the intertwined fibers or increase / decrease the type and amount of the fibers, and the characteristics according to the specific application It is easy to give. The felt material of the two-layer structure of the present invention can be manufactured at a low cost because it uses only a felt composed of relatively thin synthetic fibers as compared with a seal material using fabric piles or ultrafine fibers. The collection efficiency is high, and it is possible to flexibly cope with the sluggish sales price due to the severe economic situation by reducing costs.

  The manufacturing method of the felt material according to the present invention can be processed only by two felt fabrics alone and polymerized and passed through a needle machine twice. Since the manufacturing process is simple, the influence on the manufacturing cost is further reduced. The manufacturing method of the felt material according to the present invention has a higher napped group height in two steps compared to a method in which two felt fabrics are simply polymerized and passed through a needle machine. Is filled with fibers, and the overall volume can be remarkably improved.

It is a schematic sectional drawing which expands and shows the felt material of the 2 layer structure which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing which expands and shows the modification of the felt material of a two-layer structure. It is explanatory drawing which shows roughly the needling process of upper felt cloth. It is explanatory drawing which shows roughly the needling process of the superposed | polymerized two felt cloth. It is an enlarged side view which shows an example of the fork needle used at a needling process. It is the photograph which expands and shows the cross section of a felt material. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the example which attached the felt material to the process cartridge as a sealing material of a small piece.

  A two-layered felt material 1 according to the present invention comprises two layers of felt fabrics 2 and 3 as shown in FIG. In the two-layered felt fabrics 2 and 3, the first raised group 5 drawn from the upper felt fabric 2 and the second raised group 7 drawn from the lower felt fabric 3 are mixed on the entire surface. The raised groups 5 and 7 may be higher in the second raised group 7 as shown in FIG. 1 or higher in the first raised group as shown in FIG. 2, depending on the desired use and function. What is necessary is just to select the fiber height of the napped groups 5 and 7. FIG. When the felt material 1 is used as a sealing material, an adhesive layer (not shown) is usually provided on the lower side of the felt fabric 3, and resin processing is performed as desired, and further processed into a predetermined planar shape by punching or the like. do it.

  Examples of the fibers used for the felt fabrics 2 and 3 include polyester fibers, rayon fibers, polypropylene fibers, PTFE fibers, acrylic fibers, nylon fibers, aromatic polyamide fibers, and the like, and wool, heat-sealed fibers, and the like. You may mix cotton. Instead of PTFE fiber, FEP (tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer) fiber, PFA (tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer) fiber, ETFE (ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer) fiber, Fibers kneaded with fluororesin powder can also be used.

  When blending two or more kinds of fibers used in the felt fabrics 2 and 3, the blending rate per fiber material is set to 5 to 80%, and special fibers such as heat fusion fibers are blended. Is effective when the blending ratio is 5 to 15%. The fiber diameter of the used fibers is preferably 0.5 to 40 dt, and in the case of split fibers, it may be 0.5 dt or less after splitting. The fiber length of the used fiber is preferably a short fiber of 30 to 80 mm. At this time, the recovered recycled cotton and the natural fiber may have a fiber length outside the range.

It felt cloth 2 and 3, respectively is created from the card wrapped by needle punching using a regular needle, thread count (needle density) 50 present / cm ² or less of Purepanchi and, end counts 100-200 present / cm ² of the main punch It may be divided into Regular needles to be used are # (counter) 36 to 40, and the needle depth is 5 to 20 mm. The total fabric weight of the felt fabrics 2 and 3 is 150 to 800 g / m ² , preferably 200 to 400 g / m ² . As the total weight of the felt material 1 becomes heavier near 800 g / m ² , the sealing performance of the felt material 1 increases. On the other hand, if the felt fabric becomes too thick, it becomes difficult to process the sealing material with a predetermined total thickness. An amount of 200 to 400 g / m ² is appropriate.

  In the Examples, it is preferable to select polyester fibers as the main material from the viewpoints of high versatility, good nonwoven fabric processability and low cost, and PTFE fibers may be selected in terms of slipperiness. . Polyester fibers have a high coefficient of friction and the sealability may be lowered, so that rayon fibers having a relatively low coefficient of friction are blended. However, since the rayon fiber has a risk of spontaneous combustion when the blending rate increases, the minimum blending ratio at which the function is manifested is set to 30%. Therefore, the cheap and versatile felt fabrics 2 and 3 contain 40 to 70% polyester fiber and 30 to 60% rayon fiber.

  In the felt fabrics 2 and 3, even if the fiber diameter of the used fibers is 0.5 to 40 dt, the upper felt fabric 2 is passed twice through a needle machine such as a random velor machine (patterning machine) 8. It is desirable to set the fiber diameter of the fiber to 5 to 40 dt and to make it thicker than the fiber diameter 0.5 to 10 dt of the lower felt fabric 3. It is also possible to make the fiber diameter of the fibers of the lower felt fabric 3 thicker than that of the upper felt fabric 2, and in this case, it is necessary to appropriately adjust the needling treatment.

Felt cloth 2 above, the basis weight is 100 to 500 g / ^{m 2,} it is necessary durable to pass twice needle machine, it is preferable to set the lower limit to 100 g / ^{m 2.} The lower felt fabric 3 has a basis weight of 50 to 300 g / m ² , and a lower basis weight is desirable if a stable web can be formed. However, considering the mechanical capacity of the needle machine, it is 100 to 200 g. It is appropriate to set to / m ² . As a result, the total weight of the felt materials 2 and ² reaches 150 to 800 g / m ² .

  The total thickness of the felt fabrics 2 and 3 is preferably 0.5 to 4.0 mm. If the fabrics 2 and 3 are too thick, it becomes difficult to process a sealing material having a determined total thickness. It is desirable to be about 7 to 1.5 mm. However, when there is no restriction on the total thickness of the sealing material, since the napped shape is easier to visually confirm the smaller the pressing margin is, the total napping thickness of 1.0 to 1.0 can sufficiently exhibit the napping effect of the felt material 1. It is desirable that it is 3.0 mm.

  In order to manufacture the felt material 1 having a two-layer structure, as shown in FIG. 3, the upper felt fabric 2 is needle punched, and the first napped group is drawn out and oriented obliquely. For example, the needle machine used is the random velor machine 8 shown in FIG. 3, and the fork needle 10 shown in FIG. 5 is attached to the random velor machine. In the random velor machine 8, a large number of fork needles 10 are attached to the needle board 9, and on the other hand, the felt fabrics 2 and 3 are conveyed horizontally together with the brush conveyor 11 in the direction of the arrow.

  The felt fabric 2 is, for example, arranged face down and passed through the random velor machine 8. The fork needle 10 has a U-shaped tip portion 12, and when it is deeply inserted into the felt fabric 2, it is easy to pull out the loop-shaped first raised group 5 by hooking the fibers. When the fork needle 10 is used, it can be raised in a fine loop shape instead of straight hair, and the felt material 1 improves the scraping property as a seal material. Even if the needle used in the random velor machine 8 is basically the fork needle 10, it can be combined with the crown needle as desired.

  The upper felt fabric 2 is rewound after the first raised group 5 is formed, and this rewound is for adjusting the napped direction of the felt fabrics 2 and 3. Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the lower felt fabric 3 is stacked on the lower side of the upper felt fabric 2, and further needle punching is performed from the lower side to pull out the second raised group 7 and to obliquely orient. The needle machine used is, for example, a random velor machine 8 similar to that shown in FIG. 3, and the fork needle 10 is attached to the random velor machine in the same manner.

In the two-stage needle ring, the fork needle 10 preferably has a shape of # 36 (0.57 m / m) to 42 (thinnest) when the upper felt fabric alone and the two felt fabrics are overlapped. The number of driving is 200 to 800 / cm ² . The shape of the needle 10 becomes thicker as the # (counter) of the fork needle 10 is smaller, and a thicker needle such as # 35 or less increases the amount of fiber drawn, but the felt fabrics 2 and 3 are severely damaged. Therefore, # 36 or higher is usually used. Further, when the number of needles to be driven is 200 / cm ² or more, the napped density becomes higher. When the number of needles exceeds 800 / cm ² , if the number of needles exceeds 800 / cm ² , the scale of the felt fabric and the remarkable decrease in strength will progress. It becomes the situation that cannot function as a material.

  In the two-stage needle ring, the needle depth is 2.0 to 10.0 mm, and the first needling for the felt fabric 2 illustrated in FIG. 3 and the felt fabrics 2, 3 illustrated in FIG. The needle depth is different from the second needling. At this time, if the needle depth is less than 2.0 mm, the effect of napping is small, and if it exceeds 10.0 mm, the napping tends to fall asleep, and the loop cutting during needling increases. For example, the needle depth of the first needling is preferably 6 to 8 mm, and the needle depth of the second needling is preferably 4 to 5 mm. The needle depths of both needle rings are reversed depending on the application. It may be.

  The needle machine used in the needle ring is, for example, a random velor machine 8 (FIG. 3), and other machines can also be used. Since the random velor machine 8 performs punching from above, the felt fabrics 2 and 3 are arranged face down as shown in FIGS. Since the napped groups 5 and 7 can be oriented obliquely with a press after napping when the random velor machine 8 is passed, they are preferably used as a sealing material for an electrophotographic image forming process.

  The obtained felt material 1 has two layers of felt fabrics 2 and 3 as a base, and the height of the napped groups 5 and 7 has two stages, so that a density gradient can be given to the entire napped, It is possible to have a sense of volume by filling another napping at the base of a high napping group. In addition, since the fabrics 2 and 3 that are needle felts have two layers, each fabric has a specific role by changing the fiber material, changing the fineness of the fiber material, or adding heat-fusible fibers. It is also possible to impart certain characteristics.

The felt material 1 on which the napped groups 5 and 7 are formed can be subjected to resin processing on the front surface, the back surface or the entire surface in order to adjust the torque value or prevent the hair from coming off, and the coating amount is 5 to 100 g. / M ² or so. For example, when a fluorine-based resin is applied to the surface of the felt material 1, the torque value can be adjusted regardless of the type of fiber used in the felt material. Moreover, when a thermosetting resin is applied to the back surface of the felt material 1, it becomes a sealing process that suppresses fluffing and fluffing when the felt material is cut. Further, when the entire felt material 1 is processed with a resin, the amount of resin required is larger than both of the above methods, and the felt material 1 tends to be hard. Processing with a stable adhesion amount can be performed.

  The resin processing means is not particularly limited. For processing the upper part or the lower part of the felt material 1, a coating method such as a roll coater method, a screen printing method, a spray method, or the like is selected, and the entire processing is performed. Then, the pad mangle method or the like may be selected. Moreover, the heat processing for stabilizing the film | membrane after resin processing can also be performed as desired.

  When the felt material 1 is used as a seal material for an electrophotographic image forming process, the felt material 1 is in close contact with an operating member such as a photosensitive drum or a developing roller, and reduces the frictional resistance of the contact surface. Since the two raised napping groups 5 and 7 are in a loop shape, the remaining toner on the drum surface or the like can be effectively scraped off. The napped groups 5 and 7 can be oriented obliquely with a press by passing through a random velor machine 8, or can be oriented in one direction by a heat treatment such as a heated roll press (not shown) after the needle ring. Then, the frictional resistance of the contact surface with the operation member such as the photosensitive drum and the developing roller can be further reduced.

  When the felt material 1 is used as a sealing material, an adhesive layer (not shown) is provided on the back surface of the felt material 1. As the adhesive layer, a double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive tape, a liquid adhesive, a hot melt adhesive, or the like can be used. This adhesive layer makes it possible to attach the felt material 1 to an appropriate part of an electrophotographic image forming process or a work machine having a rotating roller and a reciprocating member as a sealing material.

  This sealing material may be cut into a small L-shaped plane or rectangular plane and attached to a predetermined portion of the process cartridge 16 (FIG. 7) that is detachably stored in the photographic image forming process. This felt material can be applied to a toner cartridge (not shown) of a monochrome copying machine, or can be used for a fixing roller for fusing toner to a recording paper to thermally fix it. This felt material can be applied not only to the seal of the photosensitive drum and the developing roll, but also to maintain the distance between the developing mechanism and the cleaning mechanism in the cartridge, and to hermetically support various rotating rollers and reciprocating members.

Next, the present invention will be described based on examples, but the present invention is not limited to the examples. For upper felt fabric 2, 70% black polyester short fiber (made by Toray) with a fineness of 6.6 dt and a fiber length of 64 mm and 30% white rayon short fibers (made by Ohmicenshi) with a fineness of 7.8 dt and a fiber length of 52 mm Thus, a card wrap of 150 g / m ² was obtained. For the lower felt fabric 3, 70% black polyester short fibers (made by Teijin) with a fineness of 3.3 dt and a fiber length of 51 mm and 30% white rayon short fibers with a fineness of 3.3 dt and a fiber length of 51 mm are mixed. A card wrap of 150 g / m ² was obtained.

In order to manufacture the upper felt fabric 2, a needle machine equipped with # 36 and # 40 regular needles is used, and the needle depth is 18 mm with the # 36 needle and 8 mm with the # 40 needle, and the up and down strike is performed. The number of driving-in is 152 / cm ² in total by 38 pre-punches and 114 main punches. The lower felt fabric 3 was manufactured with the same needle depth, driving method, and number of driving using a needle machine to which the same regular needle as the upper felt fabric 2 was attached.

The upper felt fabric 2 is turned over, and as shown in FIG. 3, it is fed into a random velor machine (made by DILO Di-Lour, etc.) 8 to which a # 40 fork needle (Grotz-Beckert) 10 is attached, and the needle depth from above. Needling is performed at 6.5 mm and the number of driven-in wires is 583 / cm ² . With the fork needle 10, the fine loop-shaped first raised hair group 5 is pulled out and oriented obliquely.

  The upper felt fabric 2 is rewound after the first raised group 5 is formed, and this rewound is for adjusting the inclined raised direction of the felt fabrics 2 and 3.

Next, in order to perform the second needle ring, the lower felt fabric 3 is superposed on the lower side of the upper felt fabric 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the polymerized felt fabrics 2 and 3 are turned over and fed to a random velor machine 8 to which a # 40 fork needle 10 is attached, and the needle depth is 4.5 mm from above and the number of driven-in 583 pieces / cm ^2. Needling. By this needle punch, the slightly raised fine loop-shaped second raised hair group 7 is formed obliquely. As shown in FIG. 1, the first raised hair group 5 and the second raised hair group 7 are closely mixed, and the compatible hair The groups 5 and 7 are inclined obliquely in the same direction as a whole.

  As is apparent from the photograph of FIG. 6, the felt material 1 has a two-layer structure in which long napped groups 5 and short napped groups 7 made of polyester fibers and rayon fibers are arranged. By providing a difference in fiber density and fiber thickness with the group 7, when used as a sealing material, a higher sealing performance than that of a conventional polyester felt is exhibited. In the felt material 1, the napping group 5 on the surface layer is a relatively long and thick fiber, reduces the frictional property by low density, hardly disturbs the inclination direction of the napping, and maintains the scraping property of the toner for a long time. Further, the root napping group 7 is a relatively short and thin fiber, and collects toner that has entered the inside of the sealing material.

  When the felt material 1 is used as a sealing material, a double-sided adhesive tape is bonded to the lower surface of the felt fabric 3 to form an adhesive layer. For example, the felt material 1 is punched into small pieces of an L-shaped plane to obtain a large number of sealing materials 13 and 14 (FIG. 7) that are L-shaped planes. In the felt material 1, the ends of the fibers of the compatible hair groups 5, 7 are in a fine loop shape, and the scraping property of the toner is improved. Referring to FIG. 6, the fiber density of the roots 15 of the napped groups 5 and 7 is increased, and the toner collecting performance is further improved by using fine fibers.

  As illustrated in FIG. 7, the sealing materials 13 and 14 are attached to a part of the process cartridge 16 that is detachably housed in a laser beam printer (not shown). The cartridge 16 includes a frame 24 having a photosensitive drum 18, a charging roller 20 and a cleaning mechanism 22, and a developing mechanism 28 having a developing roller 26, so that the developing mechanism can be rotated with respect to the frame 24. Install. At both ends of the developing roller 26, developing roller sealing materials 14 and 14 are attached to prevent the toner 30 from leaking out.

  The photosensitive drum 18 is close to the cleaning mechanism 22 that removes the residual toner after transfer after the toner image formed on the drum surface by the developing roller 26 of the developing mechanism is temporarily transferred to the transfer paper A. The photosensitive drum 18 is opposed to the opening 34 of the cleaning container 32 in the cleaning mechanism 22, and a cleaning blade 36 made of urethane rubber is installed at the edge of the opening so that the edge of the blade is attached to the photosensitive drum 18. After the primary transfer, the remaining toner is scraped off from the surface of the photosensitive drum and sent into the cleaning container 32.

  When the cartridge 16 is detachably stored in the printer main body, an exposure mechanism for irradiating a laser beam 38 to form an electrostatic latent image on the drum surface is disposed above the cartridge. Is contacted by a transfer roller 40 for primary transfer of the developed toner image. The transfer paper A passes in contact with the transfer roller 40, and a fixing device (not shown) is arranged in front of the arrow which is the feeding direction of the transfer paper. The photosensitive drum 18 is rotated at a predetermined peripheral speed in the direction of the arrow so that the photosensitive drum 18 comes into contact with the charging roller 20 for uniformly charging the drum surface, and then, an exposure mechanism by the irradiation of the laser beam 38 and the developing roller 26 are sequentially applied. Further, it contacts the transfer roller 40.

  In the cleaning mechanism 22, sealing materials 13 and 13 are attached to both ends of the cleaning blade 36 in accordance with the shape of the cleaning blade 36, and the sealing materials are in contact with both ends of the surface of the photosensitive drum 18. These sealing materials may be attached along the edge of the container opening 34. The sealing materials 13 and 13 prevent the collected residual toner from leaking out from both sides of the container opening 34. The cleaning mechanism 22 is excellent in toner removal capability due to the presence of the sealing materials 13 and 13 and can be applied to the process cartridge 16.

  The sealing materials 13, 13, 14, and 14 are adhered to predetermined portions, that is, both ends of the developing roller 26, the cleaning blade 36, and the opening 34 of the cleaning container 32 by the lower adhesive layer, and the toner leaks to the outside. It prevents that. In the developing mechanism 28, since the sealing materials 14 and 14 function as a distance maintaining material, the minute distance between the developing roller 26 and the photosensitive drum 18 is always maintained constant, and a good image can be stably output. Further, the cleaning mechanism 22 allows the cleaning blade 36 and the container opening 34 to be in close contact with the drum surface due to the presence of the sealing materials 13 on both side ends.

As shown in FIG. 2, a felt fabric manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 is used. In the felt material 42, the upper felt fabric 44 corresponds to the lower felt fabric 3 of the first embodiment, and the weight per unit area is 200 g / m ² . The lower felt fabric 46 corresponds to the upper felt fabric 2 of Example 1 and has a weight per unit area of 150 g / m ² . The upper felt fabric 44 is turned over and sent to a random velor machine equipped with a # 40 fork needle. Needle depth is 4.5 mm from above and a needling of 583 needles / cm ² is performed. By this fork needle, a fine loop-shaped first raised group 48 is formed obliquely. The upper felt fabric 44 is rewound after the first napped group 48 is formed.

Next, in order to perform the second needle ring, the lower felt fabric 46 is overlaid on the lower side of the upper felt fabric 44. The polymerized felt fabrics 44 and 46 are turned upside down and fed to a random velor machine equipped with a # 40 fork needle, and needling is performed with a needle depth of 6.5 mm and a driving number of 583 / cm ² from above. By this needle punch, the slightly raised fine loop-shaped second raised hair group 50 is formed obliquely.

  The felt material 42 has a two-layer structure in which long napped groups 50 and short napped groups 48 made of polyester fibers and rayon fibers are arranged, and the fiber density and fiber thickness of the napped group 50 on the surface layer and the napped group 48 at the root. When used as a sealing material, a higher sealing performance than that of a conventional polyester felt is exhibited. In this sealing material, the napping group 50 on the surface layer is a relatively long and thick fiber. The low density reduces the frictional property, makes the napping direction difficult to disturb, and maintains the toner scraping property for a long period of time. Further, the root napping group 48 is a relatively short and thin fiber, and collects toner that has entered the sealing material.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Felt material of 2 layer structure 2 Felt cloth of upper part 3 Felt cloth of lower part 5 First raised group 7 Second raised group 8 Random velor machine 10 Fork needle 16 Process cartridge

Claims (6)

Total thickness of 0.5 to 4.0 mm, in a total basis weight comprises two layers of felt fabric of the same or different fiber material is 200 to 400 g / ^{m 2,} polymerized two layers of felt fabric, driving the needle number and a fine first napped group drawn out from above the felt fabric in 200 and 800 present / cm ^2, the number of implanted needle above the felt cloth is pulled out from the felt fabric downward 200-800 present / cm ² The fine second raised groups that have passed through are densely mixed on the entire surface, and the first raised group and the second raised group have a needle depth of 6 to 8 mm for the first needling and a needle depth of the second needling of 4 to 8 mm. since 5mm or needle depth is opposite different nap height, felt fabrics downward by the second napped group integral with the upper felt fabric, a toner seal member is provided an adhesive layer on the back surface of the felt material It felt material having a two-layer structure is used.   The fiber used for the felt fabric is not single, but when blending two or more kinds, the blending ratio per fiber material is set to 5 to 80%. When blending polyester fiber and rayon fiber, polyester fiber is used. The felt material according to claim 1, wherein the blending ratio is set to 40 to 70% and the blending ratio of rayon fibers is set to 30 to 60%. It felt material of fiber diameter of the fibers of the upper felt fabric according to 請 Motomeko 1 Ru larger 0.5~40dt der than that of the lower felt fabric. The felt material according to claim 1, wherein the front surface, the back surface or the entire surface of the felt material is subjected to resin processing, and the coating amount is 5 to 100 g / m ² . Two felt fabrics are formed from a predetermined card wrap by needle punching using a regular needle, and then the upper felt fabric alone and two felt fabrics are overlapped in the needle punching by a random velor machine using a fork needle . If both the needle depth is 2.0～10.0Mm, end counts are 200 to 800 present / cm ^2, the fibers of the nap group with to pull out the first napped group loop from above the felt cloth upward The lower felt fabric is superposed on the lower side of the upper felt fabric, and needle punching from the lower side of the lower felt fabric is further performed so that the looped second raised group is formed from the lower felt fabric. the Rukoto fiber napped groups are oriented obliquely with to leave the pulling upward, it felt material table A method for producing a felt material having a two-layer structure in which oblique first raised groups and second raised groups are closely mixed on the entire surface and used as a toner seal material .   One or two felt fabrics are passed through a random velor machine face-down, and in the random velor machine, a large number of fork needles are inserted deeply into the felt fabric and the fibers of the felt fabric are hooked to form a loop-shaped first The manufacturing method according to claim 5, wherein the first or second raised group is drawn upward and the fibers of the raised group are oriented obliquely by pressing.

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