JPH02160266A - Electric field curtain device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the control of the transportation rate of particulate matter and the charge quantity by providing a piezoelectric element so as to come into contact with plural electrodes which are insulated from each other and providing an amorphous carbon film on the front surface side. CONSTITUTION:The plural electrodes 12 are provided on the surface 11a of a dielectric layer 11 constituted of an insulating material in such a manner that the electrodes are partly exposed from the surface 11a of the dielectric layer 11 and the piezoelectric element 15 is provided on the surface 11a of the dielectric layer 11 in such a manner that the element comes into contact with the respective electrodes 12. Further, an amorphous carbon film 16 is formed on the piezoelectric element 15. Nonequal alternating electric fields are formed and the piezoelectric element 15 provided in contact with the electrodes 12 oscillates when an AC voltage is applied to the plural electrodes 12 which are insulated from each other. The particulate matter is then transported by the effect of the electric field curtain by the nonequal alternating electric fields and the oscillation of the piezoelectric element 15. The control of the transportation rate of the particulate matter and the charge quantity is facilitated in this way.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an electric field curtain device that applies an alternating voltage to a plurality of electrodes that are insulated from each other to form an unequal alternating electric field. It is used as a means for transporting powder such as toner in a developing device or the like in a photographic device.

[Prior Art and its Problems] Conventionally, it has been considered to use an electric field curtain device to transport powder such as toner in a developing device of an electrophotographic device or the like.

Here, the conventional electric field curtain device applies an alternating voltage to a plurality of electrodes that are insulated from each other to form an unequal electric field.
The contact-charged powder such as toner is transported by the action of this electric field curtain.

However, the effect of such an electric field curtain alone has not been sufficient to convey powder particles such as toner.

For this reason, in recent years, as shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-13067, piezoelectric materials are provided on the curtain substrate or a portion thereof in the electric field curtain device as described above.
An electric field curtain device has been developed that uses the action of an electric field curtain and vibrates this piezoelectric material to improve the transportability of powder particles.

However, even in such an electric field curtain device, the contact charging property of the powder to be transported is poor, and for this reason, it takes a considerable amount of time to start transporting the powder, and when used in a developing device, etc. There was a problem that the response was poor.

In addition, as mentioned above, the piezoelectric material used for the curtain substrate or its parts is susceptible to deterioration under high humidity, and may leak under high humidity, causing particles such as toner to be transported. There was also the problem of deterioration.

Furthermore, in the conventional electric field curtain device, it is difficult to control the amount of transport and the amount of charge of powder particles, and it is not possible to adapt the device to various types of developing devices.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] An object of the present invention is to solve the problems in the electric field curtain device as described above.

That is, in this invention, the contact electrification of the powder and granules is improved, the transportation start-up speed of the powder and granules is improved, and the deterioration of the piezoelectric element under high humidity is suppressed, and the amount of transportation of the powder and granules is reduced. The object of the present invention is to provide an electric field curtain device in which the amount of charge can be easily controlled.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an electric field curtain device that applies an alternating voltage to a plurality of mutually insulated electrodes to form an unequal alternating electric field. A piezoelectric element is provided in contact with the electrode, and an amorphous carbon film is provided on the surface side. here,
As the electrode, conductive materials such as copper, gold, aluminum, chromium, nickel, platinum, ITO, and carbon can be used.

On the other hand, as the material for insulating the electrodes, for example, synthetic resin, glass, insulating ceramics, etc. can be used.

Moreover, as the piezoelectric element, a piezo element is used.

Commonly used piezoelectric materials such as lithium niobate can be used.

When the piezoelectric element is provided in contact with the electrode, the electrode is usually provided so as to be exposed on the surface of the dielectric layer made of the above-mentioned insulating material, and in contact with the electrode, A piezoelectric element film as described above is provided on the dielectric layer.

Furthermore, as the amorphous carbon film provided on the surface side, a plasma organic polymer film (hereinafter referred to as a
-CM! It is called. ), but it is particularly desirable to use a plasma organic polymer film containing halogen atoms from the viewpoint of chargeability of the powder particles.゛Here, when forming such an a-C film by glow discharge, a hydrocarbon gas and, if necessary, a halogen compound gas are used as the raw material gas, and as a carrier gas, a gas commonly used for -m is used. Hydrogen gas or argon gas should be used.

Here, the phase state of the hydrocarbon gas does not necessarily have to be a gas phase at room temperature and normal pressure, but as long as it can be vaporized through melting, evaporation, sublimation, etc. by heating or reduced pressure, etc.
It can be used in either liquid phase or solid phase.

Moreover, as the hydrocarbon in this hydrocarbon gas, for example, saturated hydrocarbon, unsaturated hydrocarbon, alicyclic hydrocarbon, aromatic hydrocarbon, etc. are used.

There are many types of hydrocarbons that can be used, but examples of saturated hydrocarbons include methane, ethane, propane, butane, pentane, hexane, heptane, octane, isobutane, isopentane, neopentane, isohexane,
Neohexane, dimethylbutane, methylhexane, ethylpentane, dimethylpentane, tributane, methylhebutane, dimethylhexane, trimethylpentane, isonanone, etc. are used.

Examples of unsaturated hydrocarbons include ethylene, propylene, isobutylene, butene, pentene, methylbutene, hexene, tetramethylethylene, heptene, octene, allene, methylalene, butadiene, pentadiene, hexadiene, cyclopentadiene, ocimene,
Allocimene, myrcene, hexatriene, acetylene,
diacetylene, methylacetylene, butyne, pentyne,
Hexine, heptine, octyne, etc. are used.

In addition, examples of alicyclic hydrocarbons include cyclopropane, cyclobutane, cyclopentane, cyclohexane,
Cyclohebutane, cyclooctane, cyclopropene, cyclobutene, cyclopentene, cyclohexene, cycloheptene, cyclooctene, limonene, terbirun, phellandrene, sylvestrene, thuene, carene, pinene, bornylene, camphuene, fenchen, cyclobutanethien, tricyclene, pisabolene, Zingiberene, curcumene, humulene, kajinensesesquivenichen, selinene, caryophyllene, santarene, cedrene, campholene, phylloclatene, bodocarbrene, mylene, etc. are used.

Examples of aromatic hydrocarbons include benzene, toluene, xylene, hemimelithene, pseudocumene, mesitylene, prenitene, isodurene, durene, pentamethylbenzene, hexamethylbenzene, ethylbenzene, propylbenzene, cumene, styrene, biphenyl, and terphenyl. , diphenylmethane, triphenylmethane, dibenzyl, stilbene, indene, naphthalene, tetralin, anthracene, phenanthrene, etc. are used.

Here, the amount of hydrogen atoms contained in the a-C film is approximately 30 to 60 at% with respect to the total amount of carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms.
That's about it.

Further, the amount of hydrogen atoms contained in this a-C film changes depending on the form of the film forming apparatus and the conditions during film forming, and the amount of hydrogen can be lowered by, for example, increasing the substrate temperature.
Lowering the pressure, lowering the dilution rate of the raw material hydrocarbon gas, using a raw material gas with a lower hydrogen content, increasing the applied power, lowering the frequency of the alternating electric field, increasing the strength of the DC electric field superimposed on the alternating electric field. Examples include raising the price.

In the present invention, it is desirable to use a halogen compound gas as a raw material gas in addition to the above-mentioned hydrocarbon gas, and to add at least halogen atoms into the a-C film.

Here, the halogen atom may be any of a fluorine atom, a chlorine atom, a bromine atom, or an iodine atom, and the phase state of the halogen compound gas does not necessarily have to be a gas phase at room temperature and normal pressure, It can be used in either liquid or solid phase as long as it can be vaporized through melting, evaporation, sublimation, etc. by heating or reduced pressure.

Examples of the above halogen compounds include fluorine,
Inorganic compounds such as chlorine, bromine, iodine, hydrogen fluoride, chlorine fluoride, bromine fluoride, iodine fluoride, hydrogen chloride, bromine chloride, iodine chloride, hydrogen bromide, iodine bromide, hydrogen iodide, alkyl halides Organic compounds such as halogenated alkyl metal, halogenated aryl, halogenated silicate ester, halogenated styrene, halogenated polymethylene, halogen-substituted organosilane, and heroform are used.

Here, examples of the alkyl halide include methyl fluoride, methyl chloride, methyl bromide, methyl iodide, ethyl fluoride, ethyl chloride, ethyl bromide, ethyl iodide, propyl fluoride, propyl chloride, and bromide. Propyl, propyl iodide, butyl fluoride, butyl chloride, butyl bromide, butyl iodide, amyl fluoride, amyl chloride, amyl bromide, amyl iodide, hexyl fluoride, hexyl chloride, hexyl bromide, hexyl iodide , heptyl fluoride, heptyl chloride, heptyl bromide, heptyl iodide, etc. are used.

Examples of alkyl metal halides include dimethylaluminum chloride, dimethylaluminum bromide, diethylaluminum chloride, diethylaluminum iodide, methylaluminum dichloride, methylaluminum tribromide, ethylaluminum diodide, trimethyltin chloride, Trimethyltin chloride, trimethyltin iodide, triethyltin chloride, triethyltin bromide, dimethyltin dichloride, dimethyltin dibromide, dimethyltin iodide, diethyltin dichloride, diethyltin tribromide, diethyltin diodide, methyltin trichloride, tri-odor Methyltin oxide, methyltin triiodide, ethyltin tribromide, etc. are used.

Further, as the halogenated aryl, for example, fluorobenzene, chlorobenzene, brombenzene, iodobenzene, chlorotoluene, bromotoluene, chlornaphthalene, bromnaphthalene, etc. are used.

In addition, examples of the halogenated silicate ester include monomethoxytrichlorosilane, dimethoxydichlorosilane, trimethoxymonochlorosilane, monoethoxytrichlorosilane, jetoxydichlorosilane, triethoxymonochlorosilane, monoallyloxytrichlorosilane,
Diaryloxydichlorosilane, triaryloxymonochlorosilane, etc. are used.

Further, as the halogenated styrene, for example, chlorostyrene, bromustyrene, iodostyrene, fluorostyrene, etc. are used.

Examples of halogenated polymethylene include methylene chloride, methylene bromide, methylene iodide, ethylene chloride, ethylene bromide, ethylene iodide, trimethylene chloride, trimethylene bromide, trimethylene iodide, butane dichloride, and dibromide. Butane, butane shoide, pentane dichloride,
Pentane dibromide, pentane shoide, hexane dichloride,
Hexane dibromide, hexane dichloride, hexane dichloride,
Hebutane dibromide, hebutane dibromide, octane dichloride,
Octane dibromide, octane shoide, nonane dichloride, nonane dibromide, etc. are used.

In addition, examples of halogen-substituted organosilanes include:
Chlormethyltrimethylsilane, dichloromethyltrimethylsilane, bischloromethyldimethylsilane, trischlormethylmethylsilane, chlorethyltriethylsilane, dichloroethyltriethylsilane, bromomethyltrimethylsilane, iodomethyltrimethylsilane, bisiodomethyldimethylsilane, Chlorphenyltrimethylsilane, bromphenyltrimethylsilane, chlorphenyltriethylsilane, bromphenyltriethylsilane, iodophenyltriethylsilane, etc. are used.

In addition, examples of heroform include fluoroform,
Chloroform, bromoform, iodoform, etc. are used.

Here, the amount of halogen atoms contained as a chemical modifier in this a-C film is mainly controlled by increasing or decreasing the amount of the halogen compound gas introduced into the reaction chamber where the plasma reaction is performed. Can be done. That is,
If the amount of halogen compound gas introduced is increased, this a-
If the amount of halogen atoms added to the C film increases, and conversely, the amount of halogen compounds introduced is decreased, the amount of halogen atoms added to the a-C film decreases.

Here, the halogen atom content in this a-C film may be 1 atomic % or more, and the maximum content is as follows:
Although there is no particular restriction, it is inevitably determined from the manufacturing aspect of the structure of the a-C film and glow discharge.

Further, in this invention, the film thickness of the a-C film is approximately 0.
．． 01 to 5 μm is suitable. That is, if the film thickness of this a-C film is thinner than 0.01 μm, the piezoelectric element provided below becomes susceptible to the influence of moisture, making it impossible to ensure suitable moisture resistance. If it is thicker than 5 μm, there is a risk that the adhesiveness with the piezoelectric element may deteriorate.

In addition, if the a-C film is doped with atoms of group 111A or group VA to control the polarity, it becomes possible to control the physical properties depending on the type of powder such as toner that comes into contact with it. Further, when oxygen or nitrogen is doped into this a-C film, the stability over time of this a-C film is improved.

[Operation] In the electric field curtain device configured as described above, when an alternating voltage is applied to a plurality of electrodes that are insulated from each other, an unequal alternating electric field is formed, and the piezoelectric element provided in contact with the electrodes is vibrates, and the powder material is transported by the action of the electric field curtain due to the unequal alternating electric field and the vibration of the piezoelectric element.

In addition, in the electric field curtain device of the present invention, since the contact electric field of the amorphous carbon film provided on the surface side is very high compared to other substances, when a powder such as toner comes into contact with it, it is instantaneous. It is strongly adhesively charged, and the transport start-up speed of powder and granules becomes dramatically faster.

In addition, when this amorphous carbon film is doped with halogen atoms, the amorphous carbon film exhibits water repellency and has excellent moisture resistance, so by covering the piezoelectric element with this amorphous carbon film, high Deterioration of the piezoelectric element under humidity and deterioration of powder particles such as toner due to leakage of the piezoelectric element are suppressed.

Furthermore, by doping such an amorphous carbon film with appropriate atoms, it becomes possible to control the amount of transport and the amount of charge of the powder particles.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be specifically described based on the accompanying drawings.

Here, in the electric field curtain device (10) shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of electrodes (12), (12),...・
was provided so that a portion thereof was exposed from the surface (lla) of the dielectric layer (11).

Then, three lead wires (13a), (13b), (
13c), and three lead wires (13a).

(13b), (13c) by electrodes (12), (1
2), -... are divided into three types of electrode groups, and these three lead wires (13a).

(13b) and (13c) are respectively connected to a Y-type three-phase alternating voltage power supply (14).

In addition, as described above, each electrode (12>, (12),...
A piezoelectric element (15) is placed on the surface (lla) of the dielectric layer (11) where the - part is exposed, and each of the electrodes (12), (
12), . . . and an amorphous carbon film (16) is formed on the piezoelectric element (15).

Here, in such an electric field curtain device (10), a lead wire (13a
), (13b), (13c) to each of the three types of electrode groups (12), (12),...
When alternating voltages having phases different by π are applied, a traveling wave alternating unequal electric field array is formed, and the piezoelectric element (15) provided on the dielectric layer (11) vibrates.

Then, the powder and granular material such as toner is transferred to this electric field curtain device f.
The amorphous carbon film (16) provided on the surface of (10)
), the contact electric field of this amorphous carbon film (16) is very high, so the powder is instantly and strongly charged by contact.
This acts as a trigger, and the powder particles are affected by the electric field curtain effect due to the traveling wave alternating unequal electric field and the piezoelectric element (1
5) It comes to be conveyed by the vibration.

In this embodiment, the three-phase alternating voltage power supply (14) is used as described above to form a traveling wave unequal electric field, but as shown in FIG.
12>, (12), ... in order, connect the two lead wires (
13a) and (13b), respectively, to separate them into two types of electrode groups, and these two lead wires (13a),
(13b) may be connected to a two-phase alternating voltage power source (14a), or a single-phase power source may be used to form a standing wave alternating unequal electric field array.

Next, a case in which the electric field curtain device as described above is manufactured and used in a developing device in an electrophotographic apparatus will be specifically described.

Here, it is made of polyimide resin with a thickness of 0.5 mm.
As shown in FIG. 3, on the surface (lla) of the dielectric layer (11), a pair of comb-shaped electrodes (12a) made of copper,
(12b) are provided to face each other, and the pair of comb-shaped electrodes (12a) and (12b) are connected to the dielectric layer (11).
) so that a part of the surface (lla) of the surface (lla) is exposed.

Here, the above comb carving type 8i! (12a), (12b)
The thickness is 10 μm, the line width is 0.9 mm, and the pitch between the interdigitated electrodes (12a) and (12b) is 1.5 m.
It was formed so that it became m.

In this way, the comb-shaped electrodes (12a), (12b
) is formed on the surface (lla) of the dielectric layer (11),
As in the example shown in FIG.
An adhesive was inserted into the gap between the surface (lla) and this piezoelectric element (15), and these were press-molded.

Furthermore, in addition to the piezoelectric element (15) formed in this way, a plasma-CVD apparatus (2) as shown in FIG.
0) was used to form a plasma organic polymer film.

Here, in the plasma-CVD apparatus (20) shown in FIG. 4, the first to sixth tanks (201) to (206>
In addition, the raw materials and carrier gas which are in a gas phase at room temperature are sealed, and each of these tanks <201)~
(206), the corresponding first to sixth control valves (
207) to (212) and the first to sixth flow rate controllers (207) to (212).
13) to (218) are connected.

In addition, the first to third containers (219) to (221) include
These containers (219) to (221) contain raw materials that are in a liquid or solid state at room temperature.
) to vaporize each raw material sealed in each container (21
9) to (221), respectively, are provided with first to third temperature regulators (222) to (224). Further, each of these containers (219) to (221) has a corresponding seventh to ninth control valves (225) to (227), and a seventh to seventh control valve (225) to (227), respectively.
~9th flow rate controller (22g) ~ (230) are connected.

After mixing these gases in the mixer (231), they are passed through the main pipe (232) to the reaction chamber (233).
It is designed to be sent to In addition, in the intermediate piping section, a piping heater (234) is placed at an appropriate position in the piping section so that the gas obtained by vaporizing the raw material compound that is in a liquid phase or the same phase state at room temperature does not condense. I'm trying to make it possible.

In addition, in the reaction chamber (233), a reaction chamber heater (251) is installed around the reaction chamber (233) so that the gas obtained by vaporizing the raw material compound that is in a liquid or solid phase at room temperature does not condense.
are placed so that they can be heated.

In this reaction chamber (233), a ground electrode (235) and a power application electrode (236) are installed to face each other, and both of these electrodes (235),
(236) are each provided with an electrode heater (237),
Both electrodes ('235) and (236) can be heated.

Here, a high frequency power matching device (23g) is connected to the power application electrode (236) via a connection selection switch (244).
a high frequency power source (239) provided with a high frequency power source (239), a low frequency power source (241> provided with a matching box for low frequency power (240),
DC power supply (2) equipped with a low-pass filter (242)
43), and press the connection selection switch (244).
This makes it possible to appropriately select and apply power having different frequencies.

In addition, a pressure control valve (245> is provided to adjust the pressure inside the reaction chamber (233>), and the reaction chamber (233>
When reducing the internal pressure, use the exhaust system selection valve (246)
through the diffusion pump (247>, oil rotary pump (247)
48) or by a cooling exclusion device (249), a mechanical booster pump (250).

This is done using an oil rotary pump (248).

Furthermore, regarding exhaust gas, an appropriate exclusion device (25
After making it safe and harmless through 3>, it is exhausted into the atmosphere.

Furthermore, in these exhaust system piping, pipe heaters (2
34') is placed at an appropriate position so that it can be heated.

Example 1 In this example, the plasma-CVD apparatus (20
) of the dielectric layer (11) as described above.
In forming the plasma organic polymer film on the piezoelectric element (15) formed in the dielectric layer (11
) A substrate (252') having a piezoelectric element (15) formed on its surface (lla) is placed in a grounded chamber provided in the reaction chamber (233). (235) set on top.

After that, the inside of this reaction chamber (233) is
45) to reduce the pressure inside the reaction chamber (233') to 1
After creating a high vacuum state of about O-6 Torr, the first
．． Second and third control valves (207).

(20g) and (209) are opened and hydrogen gas is transferred from the first tank (201) to the second tank (202).
) from the third tank (20
3') to supply tetrafluoroethylene gas at an output pressure of 1.
0kg/crd, 1st. It was made to flow into each of the second and third flow rate controllers (213), (214), and (215).

And each flow controller (213), (214), (21
Adjust the scale in 5) until the hydrogen gas flow rate is 40 seconds.
The flow rate of 1,3-butadiene gas is set to 30 seconds, and the flow rate of tetrafluoroethylene gas is set to 60 seconds, and after these gases are introduced into the mixer (231) and mixed, the main pipes (23, 2 ) through the reaction chamber (233)
I made it flow inside.

After the inflow of each gas is stabilized in this way,
The pressure regulating valve (245) was adjusted so that the pressure inside the reaction chamber (233) was 0.9 Torr.

On the other hand, the substrate (252) set on the ground electrode (235) as described above is heated to 100°C in advance, and when the gas flow rate and pressure are stable, power is applied in advance by the connection selection switch (244). The high-frequency power source (239) connected to the electrode (236) is turned on, and 120 W of power at a frequency of 100 KHz is applied from the high-frequency power source (239) to the power application electrode (236), and the plasma polymerization reaction is carried out for about 2 minutes. A fluorine-containing plasma organic polymer film having a thickness of 0.32 μm was formed on the piezoelectric element (15) of the substrate (252).

After forming the plasma organic polymer film containing fluorine in this manner, the application of power from the high frequency power source (239) is stopped, and the pressure regulating valve (245'
) was opened and the gas in the reaction chamber (233) was sufficiently exhausted, and then the electric field curtain device on which a fluorine-containing plasma organic polymer film was formed was taken out.

In addition, when CHN quantitative analysis was performed on the fluorine-containing plasma organic polymer film obtained in this way, the amount of hydrogen atoms contained was approximately 34 at% based on the total amount of carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms. Auger analysis revealed that the amount of halogen atoms, ie, fluorine atoms, contained was 7.1 at % based on the total constituent atoms.

Example 2 In this example, hydrogen gas is used as a carrier gas, propylene gas is used as a raw material gas, the flow rate of hydrogen gas is set to 101005e, the flow rate of propylene gas is set to 45 seconds, and the high frequency power source (239
), a power of 100 W at a frequency of 500 KHz was applied to the power application electrode (236') for about 2 minutes, and other than that, in the same manner as in Example 1 above, 0.
．． A plasma organic polymer film of 9 μm was formed.

The amount of hydrogen atoms in the plasma organic polymerized film thus obtained was about 47 atomic %.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the electric field curtain device (10) formed in Example 1 and Example 2 is placed in a developing device (31) in an electrophotographic device (30). A bottom part of the housing part C311),
A conventional electric field curtain device (10') without a piezoelectric element (15) or a plasma organic polymer film is used for the remaining electric field curtain device. I did it like that.

Here, in such an electrophotographic apparatus (30),
An electric field curtain device (1) provided in the developing device (31)
0), (10') both comb-shaped electrodes (12a)
.

(12b) are applied with two-phase AC voltages whose phases are shifted from each other to charge the toner contained in the toner storage portion (311) and supply it onto the developing sleeve (312).

On the other hand, the surface of the photoreceptor (32) to which toner is supplied from the developing device (31) is charged by a charger (33), and then an appropriate location on the charged surface of the photoreceptor (32) is charged. Then, light is irradiated from an optical system (34) to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoreceptor (32).

In the developing device (31), a developing bias voltage (3) is applied to the developing sleeve (312) supplied with toner.
13), and the charged toner on this developing sleeve (312) is supplied to the electrostatic latent image location on the surface of the photoreceptor (32) to form a toner image.

Thereafter, the toner image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor (32) as described above is transferred onto the recording paper (37) via the transfer charger (35) and the separation charge remover (36), while Clean the toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor (32) with the cleaner unit (
38), then the eraser lamp (39)
The surface of the photoreceptor (32) is charged with electricity.

Next, in the electric field curtain devices (10) and (10') provided in the developing device (31) as described above, the vehicle peak value of the voltage is applied to both the comb-shaped electrodes (12a) and (12b), respectively. v P-P is 600V, frequency is 8
A two-phase alternating current voltage with a phase shift of π/2 is applied at 00 Hz, thereby charging the toner accommodated in the toner storage section (311) and transporting the toner onto the developing sleeve (312). This developing sleeve (
312) to measure the amount of charge on the supplied toner.

Here, as mentioned above, on the piezoelectric element (15),
The electric field curtain device (10) according to this embodiment in which a plasma organic polymer film is formed is attached to the bottom part of the toner storage section (311) that stores toner and the developing sleeve (312).
A developing bag installed in the upper part of the! In order to compare with (31), as a comparative example, we used a conventional electric field curtain device in which a plurality of electrodes were simply provided on the dielectric layer without forming a piezoelectric element (15) or a plasma organic polymer film! (10''') is used.

Using these developing devices, the amount of charge of the toner supplied onto each developing sleeve was measured after 30 seconds, 1 minute, and 10 minutes. This measurement result is
The results were as shown in Table 1 below.

As is clear from this result, the developing device partially provided with the electric field curtain device W (10) according to this example has a higher development rate than the developing device only provided with the conventional electric field curtain device (10'). The amount of charge of the toner supplied onto the sleeve has increased, and the charging rise speed of the toner has also been significantly slowed, and the contact charging properties of the toner have been improved, and the toner transportability has been significantly improved.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, in the electric field curtain device according to the present invention, piezoelectric elements are provided in contact with a plurality of electrodes that are insulated from each other, and a piezoelectric element with a high contact electric field is provided on the surface side. Because a crystalline carbon film is provided, when particles such as toner come into contact with this amorphous carbon film, they are instantly and strongly charged by contact, and the transport rise speed of the particles dramatically increases, resulting in the transfer of electrons. When used in developing devices and the like in photographic equipment, the responsiveness has been significantly improved and speeds have been increased.

In addition, in this electric field curtain device, when the amorphous carbon film provided on the surface side is doped with halogen atoms, this amorphous carbon film exhibits water repellency and improves moisture resistance. Even when used, this amorphous carbon film suppresses deterioration of the piezoelectric element, and also prevents the piezoelectric element from leaking and deteriorating powder particles such as toner.

Furthermore, by doping such an amorphous carbon film with appropriate atoms, it is possible to easily control the amount of transport and charge of the powder, making it compatible with various types of developing devices. became.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an electric field curtain device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of forming a standing wave alternating unequal electric field array in the electric field curtain device of the same embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of an electrode used in the electric field curtain device according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a plasma-CVD device used in manufacturing the electric field curtain device according to the present invention. , FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view showing an example in which the electric field curtain device according to the present invention is used in a developing device of an electrophotographic device. (10)...Electric field curtain device, (12)...Electrode, (15)...Piezoelectric element, (16)...Amorphous carbon film. 2b

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an electric field curtain device that applies an alternating voltage to a plurality of mutually insulated electrodes to form an unequal alternating electric field, a piezoelectric element is provided in contact with the electrodes, and an amorphous carbon film is provided on the surface side. An electric field curtain device characterized by being provided with.