JPH08110727A - Method and system for fusion and fixation by using amino functional group in siloxane exfoliation agent used togetherwith toner,reacted with amine group,and fusion and fixation member - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve the peeling characteristic of a polyfunctional amino peeling agent to be used for electrostatic recording type printing device by using a specified toner peeling agent. CONSTITUTION: A fixing unit member, which has thermal stabilized FKM hydrofluoric acid-based elastomer fused fixing surface, is included, and the toner peeling agent on the fused fixing surface is expressed by formula I. In the formula, 50<=n<=200, (p) means 1-5, R1-R3 is selected from the group of an alkyl group and arylalkyl group, R4 is selected from the group of an alkyl group and aryalkyl group and polyorganosiloxane chain, and R5 is selected from the group of an alkyl group and arylalkyl group. In the formula, polyorgansiloxane at 85% has (p) equal to 1, and a group of formula II is formed out of the liquid amino functional oil irregularly positioned along the chain. This oil has superior mono-amino functionally per each active molecule, and reacts with the hydrofluoric acid-based elastomer surface so as to form a surface barrier layer on the toner and form a low surface energy film so as to peel the toner form the surface.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fusing fixing system in an electrostatic recording type printing apparatus, a fusing fixing method, and a release agent for the fusing fixing system. In a particular embodiment, it relates to the use of a monoamino functional silicone oil as a release agent in a fuser system where the toner reacts with amines and the fuser member is a heat stable hydrofluoric acid elastomer.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In a typical electrostatographic reproduction apparatus, the original optical image to be copied is recorded on a photosensitive member in the form of an electrostatic latent image which is then recorded. It is visualized by the use of charged thermoplastic resin particles commonly referred to as toner. The visible toner image is then in the form of an unfixed powder, which can be easily disturbed or destroyed. The toner image is usually fixed or melt-fixed onto a support, which may be the photosensitive member itself, or other support sheet such as plain paper.

The use of thermal energy to fix a toner image to a support member is well known. In order to permanently melt and fix the charged toner substance on the surface of the support by heat, it is necessary to raise the temperature of the toner substance to the point where the constituent components of the toner substance adhere and become sticky. This heating causes the toner to flow into the fibers or the pores of the support member to some extent. Thereafter, as the toner material cools, the solidification of the toner material causes the toner material to become firmly attached to the support.

Generally, the thermoplastic resin particles are about 90 ° C. and about 1 ° C. depending on the softening range of the specific resin used for the toner.
It is melt-fixed to the substrate by heating it to a temperature of 60 ° C. or higher. However, raising the temperature of the substrate substantially above about 200 ° C. is not preferred because at such high temperatures, especially when the substrate is paper, the substrate tends to fade.

Several approaches to thermal fusing of charged toner images have been described in the prior art. These methods include applying heat and pressure substantially simultaneously by various means such as a pair of rollers held in pressure contact, a belt member in pressure contact with the rollers, and the like. Heat can be applied by heating one or both of the roller, plate member, or belt member. Melt fusing of the toner particles occurs when the proper combination of heat, pressure, and contact time is provided. Balancing these parameters to accomplish melt fixing of toner particles is well known in the art and they can be tailored to the particular machine or processing conditions. .

Both the toner image and the support were formed between pairs of rollers, or between plate or belt members, while operating a fuser system in which heat was applied to heat fuse the toner particles to the support. Pass between nips. The toner image is fused and fixed onto the support by the heat transfer and the pressure simultaneously applied in the nip. In the fusing process, it is important that toner particles do not offset from the support to the fuser member during normal operation.
Offsetting of the toner particles to the fuser member may cause it to migrate to other parts of the machine, or the support, to add to the background or interfere with what is being copied in subsequent copying cycles. So-called "hot offset" occurs when the temperature of the toner rises to the point where the toner particles are liquefied and the molten toner separates during the fusing operation using the remaining portion on the fuser member. The hot offset temperature, or reduction in hot offset temperature, is a measure of the fuser roller's release characteristics, and therefore it is desirable to produce a fuser surface having low surface energy to provide the required release. To ensure and maintain good release properties of the fuser roller, a release agent is applied to the fuser member to ensure that the toner is completely released from the fuser roller during the fusing operation. Is a habit. Generally, these materials are applied as a thin film of silicone oil, for example, to prevent toner offset.

Some recent developments in fuser members, release agents, and fusing systems have been reported by Lenz.
tz) et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,181
U.S. Pat. No. 4, granted to Lentz
257,699, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,272,179 issued to Seanor. All of these patents are commonly assigned to the assignee of the present application. These patents describe a fuser member and a method of fusing and fixing a thermoplastic resin toner image to a substrate. Here, a polymeric release agent having a functional group is applied to the surface of the fuser member. The fuser member is
It is composed of a base member having an elastomeric surface with a metal-containing filler, which is cured by a nucleophilic addition curing agent.
A typical such fuser member is poly (vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) cured with a bisphenol hardener and containing dispersed lead oxide filler.
An aluminum base member having a copolymer and utilizing a mercapto-functional polyorganosiloxane oil as a release agent. In those melt-fixing methods, the polymeric release agent interacts with the elastomer on the surface of the fuser member or the metal-containing filler dispersed in the resin substance to release the thermoplastic resin toner, and It has a functional group (also called a chemically reactive functional group) that forms a heat stable film that prevents the resin toner from contacting the elastomeric substance itself. Elastomer on the fuser member surface, or metal oxide dispersed in resin,
Metal salts, alloys, or other suitable metal compound fillers interact with the functional groups of the polymeric release agent. The metal-containing filler material preferably does not decompose or have any adverse effect on the polymeric release agent having functional groups. Due to the reaction between the elastomer having a metal-containing filler and the polymeric release agent having a functional group, excellent peeling can be achieved even if the speed of the electrostatic recording copying machine is high.
And the production of high quality copies is achieved.

Although the mechanism involved is not completely clear, the surface of the fuser member having an elastomer surface and a metal oxide, metal salt, metal, alloy, or other metal compound dispersed therein, When a certain polymer liquid having a functional group is applied, the interaction between the metal of the filler in the elastomer and the polymer liquid having a functional group (chemical reaction, coordination complex, hydrogen bond, or other mechanism)
Thus, polymeric release agents having functional groups in liquid or liquid form provide excellent release surfaces with the excellent property of remaining on the surface of the fuser member. Regardless of the mechanism, it appears that a different film is formed on the elastomer surface than the composition of the elastomer or the composition of the polymeric release agent having functional groups. However, this film has a greater affinity for metal compound-containing elastomers than toner, thereby providing excellent release coatings on elastomer surfaces. The release coating has an adhesive force between the heated toner and the substrate to which it is applied, and a cohesive force that is less than the cohesive force of the toner.

A functional group-containing high-functional group which interacts with the fuser member to form a self-cleaning layer which has excellent release characteristics for the charged thermoplastic resin toner and is stable to heat. The use of molecular release agents is imperative
U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,827 granted to U.S.A.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,686 granted to Strella et al., And U.S. Pat. No. 4,1 also granted to Strella et al.
No. 85,140. All of these patents are commonly assigned to the assignee of the present invention. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,827 is directed to the use of mercapto-functional polyorganosiloxanes as release agents. US Pat. Nos. 4,101,686 and 4,185,140 are directed to polymeric strippers having functional groups such as carboxy, hydroxy, epoxy, amino, isocyanate, thioether and mercapto groups as strippers. ing. Some of these fusing systems have enjoyed significant commercial application. For example, Viton E45 filled with lead oxide.
Fuser rollers made from (copolymer of 77 weight percent vinylidene fluoride and 23 weight percent hexafluoropropylene) have been successfully used in fusing systems using mercapto-functional polyorganosiloxane release agents.

[0010]

A mercapto-functional polyorganosiloxane release agent is available as Xerox 5
When used in a 775 color copier, an unexpected and unacceptably low peel life of only about 30,000 copies was obtained, so research into alternative fusing systems containing other functional release agents has been undertaken. It was planned. One of the first alternative stripping agents studied is 3 to 5 per active molecule.
Was an amino-functional polyorganosiloxane release agent having a relatively large number of functional amino groups on the order of. The release agent was evaluated on a Xerox 5775 color copier using four new rollers,
In all cases, peeling failure was observed after printing about 3,000 sheets.

[0011]

Even though there is a small amount of polyfunctionality in the release agent, it reacts with both the toner and the hydrofluoric acid elastomer to form a gap between the toner and the hydrofluoric acid elastomer. Insufficient to form any significant amount of adhesion. This poor adhesion reacts with either the toner or the hydrofluoric acid elastomer, but not both,
Theory because of the large number of functionalities on some chains, or because of some dynamic equilibrium between the oil and the toner that first adsorbs on the roller surface and is mechanically scraped from the roller surface. Attached.

In accordance with the present invention, a fusing system and method for fusing an image of a toner capable of reacting with an amine to a substrate comprises a fuser member having a heat stable FKM hydrofluoric acid elastomer fusing surface. And a toner release agent on the fuser surface is of the formula

Embedded image (Here, 50 ≦ n ≦ 200, p is 1 to 5, and R
1, R2 and R3 are selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms and an arylalkyl group, and R4 is an alkyl group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms and an arylalkyl group; Selected from the group consisting of polyorganosiloxane chains having 1 to 100 organosiloxy repeating units, and R5
Is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, an alkyl group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms and an arylalkyl group), wherein at least 85% of the polyorganoamino functional siloxane chains have p equal to 1. And again

[Chemical 4] Consist of liquid amino-functional oils that are randomly located along the chain. The oil has a predominantly monoamino functionality per active molecule to interact with the hydrofluoric acid elastomer surface to release an interfacial barrier layer to and from the toner and from the surface. Provides a low surface energy film.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, the toner has unsaturated olefinic bonds capable of reacting with amino.

In yet another aspect of the invention, the toner is an unsaturated polyester.

In yet another aspect of the invention, the amino functional oil reacts with either the toner or the hydrofluoric acid elastomer surface only.

An exemplary fuser member of the present invention is described with the fuser assembly shown in FIG.

The numeral 1 here is a hollow cylinder or core made of a suitable metal, such as aluminum, anodized aluminum, steel, nickel, copper, etc., which is arranged in the hollow part of the cylinder. A suitable base member 4 having a suitable heating element 6 coextensive with
1 shows a fuser roller consisting of an elastomeric surface 2 on top. The backup or pressure roller 8 forms a nip, or contact arc 10, with the fuser roller 1 on which copy paper or other support 12 is provided, with the toner image 14 thereon the elastomer surface of the fuser roller 1. Pass so that it contacts 2. As shown in Figure 1,
The backup roller 8 has a rigid steel core 16 with a soft surface layer 18 thereon. In sump 20,
Contains a polymeric release agent 22 which may be solid or liquid at room temperature but liquid at operating temperature.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 for applying polymeric release agent 22 to elastomeric surface 2,
To carry release agent 22 from sump 20 to the elastomeric surface, two release agent delivery rollers 17 and 19 are provided which are mounted to rotate in the directions shown. As shown in FIG. 1, the roller 17 is partially immersed in the sump 20 and rests on its surface to carry release agent from the sump to the delivery roller 19. By using the metering blade 24, a layer of polymeric release liquid is first applied to the delivery roller 19 and then to the elastomer 2.
In addition, it can be applied in a controlled thickness in the range of sub-micrometer to several micrometers. Thus, the measuring blade 24 can apply a stripping solution having a thickness of about 0.1 to 2 micrometers or more to the surface of the elastomer 2.

As used herein, the term fuser member is a roller, belt, flat surface, or other suitable shape used to secure a thermoplastic toner image to a suitable substrate. You may It can take the form of a fuser member, a pressure member, or a release agent donating member, but is preferably in the form of a cylindrical roller.
Generally, the fuser member is made of a hollow cylindrical metal core, such as copper, aluminum, steel, etc., and also has an outer layer of selected cured fluoroelastomer. Alternatively, there may be one or more intermediate layers between the substrate and the outer layer of cured elastomer, if desired. Representative materials with suitable thermal and mechanical properties for such layers include silicone elastomer, fluoroelastomer, EPDM, and Teflon PFA sleeve mounted rollers.

The monoamino predominant functional oil remover according to the present invention has the formula

Embedded image (Here, 50 ≦ n ≦ 200, p is 1 to 5, and R
1, R2 and R3 are selected from the group consisting of alkyl and arylalkyl groups having 1 to 18 carbon atoms, R4 is alkyl and arylalkyl groups having 1 to 18 carbon atoms, and organo Selected from the group consisting of polyorganosiloxane chains having 1 to 100 siloxy repeat units, and R5 is
Hydrogen, selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups having 1 to 18 carbon atoms and arylalkyl groups). Wherein at least 85%, preferably about 93% of the polyorganoamino functional siloxane chains are 1
With p equal to

[Chemical 6] Are irregularly located along the chain. The oil has active molecules predominantly monoamino and has a low surface energy to interact with the hydrofluoric acid elastomer surface to release an interfacial barrier layer to and from the toner. Bring the film. If the amino groups react only with the toner, an interfacial barrier layer is also formed that is carried away with the copy paper, at least in part. Amino functional oils can react with hydrofluoric acid elastomers, or toners by a similar reaction, the main reaction being the double bond addition reaction. In the ideal case, p in the above equation
Is equal to 1, but in practice it is difficult to limit p to 1 for all chains, so p = 1-5
The small range is specified as a condition. By the term monoamino predominant functional oil we mean that more than 85%, preferably about 93% of the functional oil molecules have one and only one amino group on the silicone oil molecule,
It is therefore meant that less than 15% of the active silicone oil molecules have more than one amino group conjugated to them. It may have a polyfunctionality of 10 when b = 10 and is 100% of the active silicone oil molecule.
Are significantly opposed to the organopolysiloxanes of formula II in US Pat. No. 5,157,445 cited above, which have more than one amino group conjugated to them.

The amino-functional oil may be prepared separately as a concentrate and then diluted with a non-functional polyorganosiloxane oil to form a mixture of amine distributed within the large groups of the siloxane. A wider distribution of mono-, di-, and tri-amino amine functionality is obtained when making the concentrate. Alternatively, and preferably, in formulating the monoamino functional oil, the desired level of amine concentration and final molecular weight are determined and also monomers containing appropriate amounts of amine, monomers containing no amine, trimethylsiloxy endblocking. The agent and the polymerization catalyst are added to the reaction vessel. This procedure maximizes the monoamino functionality per active molecule. If the concentrate is prepared first as opposed to this procedure, there is a greater chance that more parts will be polyfunctional, as the concentrate is being prepared,
There are also more amine groups in the initial concentrate, which gives the opportunity for greater amino functionality per active chain. In contrast, in batch, one-pot, or one-shot methods, the amount of ingredients added is
Each active molecule provides a monoamino functionality or can be varied to maximize it. The batch method or the one-shot method is preferable, but it is also possible to produce the monoamino functional oil according to the present invention by a continuous production method while appropriately controlling the timing and amount of the components to be added. Regarding the production of amino-functional oils by the batch method or the one-shot method, the above-mentioned "Fusing System With Mon.
US Patent Application No. (D / 93569I) entitled "Oamino Functional Silicone Release Agent)"
Will be noticed. This is specifically and generally incorporated herein by reference into the present application.

By the term active molecule as used herein, we intend to define a silicone oil molecule having an amino functional group as part of its chemical structure.
Representative substantially monoamino functional polyorganosiloxanes include, among others, methylaminopropylmethylsiloxane, ethylaminopropylmethylsiloxane, benzylaminopropylmethylsiloxane, dodecylaminopropylmethylsiloxane, aminopropylmethylsiloxane. These monoaminopolyorganosiloxanes generally have from about 100 to about 1, at 20 ° C.
It has a viscosity of 000 centipoise. This facilitates handling of the oil, especially when delivering it to the fuser roller.

In a preferred embodiment, the amino functionality is provided by the aminopropylmethylsiloxy group. As can be seen from the formula, the functional amino groups are at some irregularities in the backbone of the polyorganosiloxane next to the trimethylsiloxy end groups. Also, as can be seen from the formula, the amino group can be a primary or secondary amine in which one of the hydrogens has been replaced by R5.

It will be appreciated, of course, that the above monoaminofunctional siloxanes can be used with nonfunctional organosiloxane oils if the aminofunctional organosiloxane chain contains a total of about 0.01 to 0.30 mole percent of organosiloxy groups. Will.

The FKM hydrofluoric acid elastomers according to the present invention are those defined in ASTM D1418-90 and are polymethylene type fluorine having fluoro and perfluoroalkyl or perfluoroalkoxy substituents in the polymer chain. Refers to rubber.

Fluorine elastomers useful in the practice of this invention are those described in detail in US Pat. No. 4,257,699 granted to Lentz cited above, as well as commonly assigned. US Pat. No. 5,017,4 granted to co-pending Eddy et al.
No. 32, and Finster Walder
U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,
No. 965. As described therein, these fluoroelastomers, especially those from the class of copolymers and terpolymers of vinylidene fluoride, hexafluoropropylene and tetrafluoroethylene, are known as Viton A, Viton.
on) E60C, Viton E430, Viton 910, Viton GH,
And various names such as Viton GF and are known commercially. The name Viton is EI DuPont de
Nemours, Inc. ) Is a registered trademark. Other commercially available materials include Fluorel (Fluore).
l) 2170, Fluorel 217
4, Fluorel 2176, Fluorel 2177, and Fluorel (F
luorel) LVS76 is included. Fluorel (F
luorel is a registered trademark of 3M Company. Still other commercially available materials include Montedison Spe
ciality Chemical Co. ), FOR-60KIR, FOR-LHF, NM, FO available from
In addition to technoflon such as R-THF, FOR-TFS, TH, and TN505, 3M
Poly (propylene tetrafluoroethylene) Aflas available from 3M Company
s) and poly (propylene tetrafluoroethylene-vinylidene fluoride) Fluorel II
(LII900) is also included. Generally, these fluoroelastomers are commercially available from Lentz, cited above.
And nucleophilic addition cure systems such as the bisphenol crosslinkers and organophosphonium salt accelerators described in further detail in US Pat. No. 5,017,432 granted to Eddy et al. Hardened.

[0027] In a particularly preferred embodiment, the fluoroelastomer is made of EI DuPont de
Nemours, Inc. ), Such as Viton GF available from E. Co., Ltd.). Viton GF
Has 35 weight percent vinylidene fluoride, 34 weight percent hexafluoropropylene, 29 weight percent tetrafluoroethylene, and 2 weight percent cure site monomer. It is usually cured with conventional aliphatic peroxide curing agents.

It is believed that the amino functional oil is capable of reacting with any toner capable of reacting with amino groups, and fluoroelastomer fuser roller surfaces. Polyfunctional aminosilicone oil molecules can react simultaneously with both unsaturation in the toner and the fuser roller surface, thereby adhering the toner to the fuser roller surface and creating a bias that further causes toner offset. Reduce the functional life of the fuser roller. Thus, the polyfunctional amino oil can act as an adhesive between the toner and the FKM hydrofluoric acid elastomer fuser roller surface. The monofunctional amino oil molecule can react with either the toner or the fluoroelastomer roller surface, but not both, so it cannot act as a toner / fixer roller adhesive. Furthermore, it is believed that the amino group attacks the hydrofluoric acid elastomer chain and replaces the fluorine atom of the hydrofluoric acid elastomer chain, thereby forming a chemical bond between the nitrogen atom and the chain (“fluorine polymer”). (Fluoropolymers)
L. Wall, 294, Wiley-Interscience, 19
1972). While some of the functional oils are either carried away by the paper or consumed up and consumed, the continuous resupply of release agent ensures that the chemical bond between the amino groups and the hydrofluoric acid elastomer is retained. Guarantee that

A fuser when the crosslinked unsaturated polyester toner resin is melted into an amino functional release agent of the present invention having only one functional group per active chain, or an oil (0.07 mole percent amino functionality). The life of the roller is 500K or more, but the number of active chains is the same, but amino functional oil having 3 amino groups per active chain (amine content 0.2 mol%)
Generally, a defect occurs when the number of copies is less than several thousand. This indicates that keeping the number of active chains the same while increasing the number of amino groups by increasing the number of amino groups per active chain dramatically reduces the fuser subsystem life. . This reduction in fuser subsystem life is due to the ability of the amino groups in the silicone release agent to react with the toner on the one hand, while the DuPont (E.I.
I. DuPont de Nemours Compa
Most significant if it can react with a fuser member such as FKM hydrofluoric acid elastomer available from ny). If each silicone chain in the release agent has more than one amine functional group, it can react with both the Viton surface and the toner, resulting in adhesion of the toner to the Viton surface. . As a result, the oil acts as an adhesive to fix the toner on the surface, and also raises the surface energy, resulting in defective peeling in a short period of time. However, in the case of an active chain containing only one functional amine group or only one functional amine group, the viton (Vi
Ton) The reaction occurs with the siloxane chain with either the surface or the toner, but not both. Amino functional oils that react only with the hydrofluoric acid elastomer surface contribute to coating the surface with a low energy liquid that enhances exfoliation, while
The amino-functional oil that reacts with the toner is carried on paper and carried off harmlessly, and has little effect on peeling.

An example of a toner containing activated olefinic groups is a resin which is a copolymer of bisphenol A, 1,2-propanediol, and fumaric acid.

[Chemical 7]

The double bond of the fumaric acid component of the resin can react with the amine group of the fixer oil by nucleophilic addition. Two or more amine groups on each silicone chain allow oil and toner and oil and biton (V
The possible reactions on the surface of the iton roller effectively bind the toner to the surface, resulting in faster delamination. Therefore, the bond between the oil and the toner and the oil and the surface of the Viton fuser roller is as shown below, so that the amino-functional silicone oil should have only one functional amino group per active chain. Is considered necessary.

Embedded image

However, such reactions of amino-functional silicone oils are not limited to toner resins containing olefin groups, since it is also known that amines react with esters of carboxylic acids. As shown below, polyester resins can attack amines as follows.

[Chemical 9] Similarly, to avoid the impact that all amino-functional silicone oils react simultaneously with polyester toners and fuser rollers, amino-functional silicone oils contain one and only one functional amino group per chain. I have to This is best achieved by batch or one pot synthesis without subsequent dilution with non-functional oil.

Although there is a small amount of polyfunctionality in the release agent, it reacts with both the toner and the hydrofluoric acid elastomer to cause any significant amount of adhesion between the toner and the hydrofluoric acid elastomer. Is not sufficient to form This lack of adhesion is due to the large number of functionalities on some chains that react with either the toner and the hydrofluoric acid elastomer, but not both, or with the oil, first adsorbed on the roller surface, and also on the roller. It is theorized to be due to some dynamic equilibrium with the toner that is mechanically abraded from the surface.

This combination of hydrofluoric acid elastomer and monoamino functional polyorganosiloxane is present on the fusing surface to act as an anchor site for the release agent, as is the case with mercaptopolyorganosiloxane release agents. Metals, metal oxides,
Or it has some major advantages, such as the lack of other reactive fillers. In addition to simplifying the fabrication of the fusing surface, the effect of reducing the performance of the charge control agent on the fluoroelastomer is reduced to improve the fusing performance, and the consideration of safety due to the use of heavy metals is eliminated. It Further, it does not have the odor of a mercapto functional stripper in that it does not have a sulfur odor as a result of the presence of hydrogen sulfide. In addition, the monoamino functional polyorganosiloxane can react with any part of the hydrofluoric acid elastomer and does not require the presence of reactive sites, such as copper oxide, that are commonly present in many of these materials. . Monoamino functional oils can, of course, be used with hydrofluoric acid elastomer fusing surfaces containing reactive sites for metals or metal oxides. Moreover, mercapto-functional release agents start with relatively small reactive sites that must be spread, require anchor sites, and because the release solution must bridge the sites, the mercapto-functional release solution Makes it more difficult to completely cover the entire fusing surface. Thus, for the same total number of amino groups, there are more active chains and the amino groups are distributed as a relatively thin monolayer across the fusing surface.

The following examples further clarify and describe the fusing system, method, and release agent according to the present invention. All parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise noted. All tests were performed in the same manner and with the same equipment unless otherwise noted.

[0036]

EXAMPLES The release agents described were evaluated on a 3 inch tabletop web fixture with the web running continuously at 20 cm / sec. The fuser roller coating was cured using a DePont VC-50 cure system that did not contain any copper oxide and was 0.050 mm Viton.
n) consisted of 1.5 mm of thermally conductive silicone rubber with a release overcoat of GF. Biton (Vi
The ton) GF layer did not contain heavy metal oxides. The fuser roller has a diameter of 50 mm, a surface speed of 20 cm / sec, and a temperature that allows fixing of the image to 3
Operated at an operating temperature of 360 ° F, which was 0 ° F higher.

Polyester toner was used and the image coverage was 50%. The level of toner as an image on the paper carrier was 1.0 mg / cm @ 2. It was unsaturated because the polyester was produced using fumaric acid. The toner contained an appropriate amount of Aerosil to promote toner flow, and a charge control agent to provide the tribological properties required for toner development. When a part of the toner image comes to adhere to the fixing device roller and is then transferred to the paper by the next rotation of the fixing device roller, a defect or hot offset occurs.

The following are viable synthetic examples of the two amino functional silicone oil release agents used in the above experiments.

Example 1 Production of 350 cs Amino Functional Silicone Oil (Undiluted Example) 13.5 kg of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, 11.7 g of aminopropylmethylsiloxane, 180 g of trimethylsilanol, and 0.01% by weight of silanolate. A sufficient amount of potassium silanolate to produce a mixture is added to a reaction vessel equipped with a reflux column and heated at 150 ° C. for 7 hours. Cool, neutralize with ammonium bicarbonate, average molecular weight 13.65 kg
/ Mol, 0.055 mol% aminosilicone oil having a viscosity of 350 cs is produced. The proportion of amino-functional silicone oil molecules having only one amino group and only one amino group is calculated to be 96%. The amino oil made by this general procedure did not cause hot offset after printing 500K sheets when used in the above test.

Example 2 Production of 350 cs amino-functional silicone oil (diluted example) 1.35 kg of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, 14.4 g of aminopropylmethylsiloxane, 18 g of trimethylsilanol, and potassium silanolate of 0.
A sufficient amount of potassium silanolate to produce a 01 wt% mixture is placed in a reaction vessel fitted with a reflux column and heated at 150 ° C. for 7 hours. Cool and neutralize with ammonium bicarbonate to produce 0.67 mol% aminosilicone oil having an average molecular weight of 13.65 kg / mol and a viscosity of 350 cs. The portion of the amino-functional silicone oil molecule having one amino group and only one amino group is calculated to be 62%. All of this amino oil concentrate (1.382 kg) was then added to 350 cs of non-functional polydimethyl silicone oil 12.438 kg.
Is added to the desired level of 0.067
Mol%. Amino oils made similar to this general procedure produced hot offsets after only 53K prints when used in the above test.

Example 3a For comparison, an amino having about 0.21 mole percent of aminopropylmethylsiloxy groups having an average of about 3 functional groups per activated siloxane chain and only 18% of the active chains being monoamino. When the functional polyorganosiloxane release agent was subjected to the same test, it had a very low release life of less than 2,000 printed sheets.

[Example 3b] As a comparison, Example 3b
Similar to a, but with an aminopropylmethylsiloxy group of about 0.2 resulting in about 3 functional groups per activated silicone chain.
An amino functional polyorganosiloxane release agent having 07 mole percent was evaluated. Again, 18% of the active chain
Only was monoamino. When I went to the same test,
The function of this release agent deteriorated after printing about 1,000 sheets.

Example 4 Also, as a comparison, the same web fixing test was performed on Xerox 5090 mercapto functional oil at a slower processing speed of 6.25 cm / sec. With this speed, the nip pause is
8 compared to 21 ms in other web fixation tests
0 ms and due to the slower speed the fuser temperature was 305 ° F. The Viton GF / Fuser roller had 15 pph of copper oxide. When used together with the polyester toner as described in the above example, a defect was recognized within 5 printed sheets.

[0044]

As can be readily seen from the above examples, a release agent having one polyorganoamino functional group and an aminofunctional silicone oil molecule having only one polyorganoamino functional group has high capacity, high speed and high quality. Even when printing 500K sheets, which is a feature of the life required for an electrostatic recording type machine, it provides a dramatically long life without hot offset. Example I illustrates this with a 96% portion of the amino-functional oil molecule having one and only one amino group. The amino functional oil was prepared by the batch method.

By way of comparison, the concentrate of Example 2 was prepared such that 62% amino-functional silicone oil molecules with one and only one amino group were prepared, then diluted and only printed 53K sheets. Caused a defect. Although clearly acceptable for certain applications, it is unacceptable in high volume, high speed machines that produce high quality prints. Examples 3a and 3b show 18% active chain
It illustrates that the peel life of amino-functional oils is very low when only monoamines are present. Example 4 illustrates that the conventional mercapto-functional oil has virtually no peel life. Examples 1, 2, and 3
A comparison of a and 3b shows that as monofunctionality decreases, there is a corresponding decrease in life to failure.

Thus, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a substantially improved melt fixing system, method, and release agent, particularly a system with dramatically improved release performance of a polyfunctional amino release agent. In addition, the number of functional amino groups per polyorganosiloxane chain should be at least 85
%, Preferably about 93%, by limiting to one, and only one, the release agent reacts with both the hydrofluoric acid elastomer fusing surface and the toner to adhere the two, The offset prevents the opportunity for the desired properties of delamination to be compromised by the offset. Most importantly, this high degree of amino monofunctionality in the silicone release agent allows the fusing system according to the present invention to be widely used in high speed, high volume, and high quality printing presses. Moreover, no metal or metal oxide filler acting as a reactive site for immobilizing the mercapto-functional solution is required in the fusing surface, thus reducing manufacturing costs and reducing reactivity with charge control agents. Along with odorlessness, it is achieved in addition to the performance improvements mentioned above.

Although the present invention has been described in detail by way of specific and preferred embodiments, various modifications and changes will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore,
All modifications and aspects that would be readily
It is intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a fuser system that can use a fuser member according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Fuser Roller 2 Elastomer Surface 4 Base Member 6 Heating Element 8 Pressure Roller 10 Nip 12 Support 14 Toner Image 16 Rigid Steel Core 17 Delivery Roller 18 Surface Layer 19 Delivery Roller 20 Sump 22 Release Material 24 Metering Blade

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] December 22, 1994

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be amended] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Claims]

Embedded image (Here, 50 ≦ n ≦ 200, p is 1 to 5, and R
1, R2 and R3 are selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms and an arylalkyl group, and R4 is an alkyl group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms and an arylalkyl group; Selected from the group consisting of polyorganosiloxane chains having 1 to 100 organosiloxy repeating units, and R5
Is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, an alkyl group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms and an arylalkyl group), wherein at least 85% of the polyorganoamino functional siloxane chains have p equal to 1. And again

Embedded image Comprises a liquid amino-functional oil randomly distributed along the chain, the oil having predominantly monoamino functionality per active molecule, which interacts with the hydrofluoric acid elastomer surface. An imaging system that provides an interfacial barrier layer to the toner and a low surface energy film to strip the toner from the surface.

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor David H. Pan The New York, USA 14625 Rochester Westfield Commons 10 (72) Inventor George Jay Heaks, New York, USA 14617 Rochester Oak Crest Drive 72 (72) Inventor Clifford Oh Eddie, New York, USA 14581 -1321 Webster Shorewood Drive 248 (72) Inventor, Chee Shi Cho, United States New York, USA 14526 Penfield Valley Green Drive 286 (72) Inventor, Santo Ques Badescha, USA New York State 14534 Pittsford Bromley Road 48 (72) Inventor Arnold W Henry Henry of the United States New York 14534 Pittsford Dier Creek 43 (72) Inventor Donald A. Sina New York, USA 14534 Pittsford Guernsey Road 264

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A means for forming an image of unmelted, amine-reactive toner on a substrate, a heat stable FKM.
It comprises a heated fuser member having a hydrofluoric acid elastomer melt-fixing surface and a backup pressure member for melt-fixing the toner to the substrate, the substrate being the fuser and the pressure member. Comprising means for melt-fixing the toner to the substrate as it passes through and a means for delivering a release agent to the surface, the release agent having the formula: (Here, 50 ≦ n ≦ 200, p is 1 to 5, and R
1, R2 and R3 are selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms and an arylalkyl group, and R4 is an alkyl group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms and an arylalkyl group; Selected from the group consisting of polyorganosiloxane chains having 1 to 100 organosiloxy repeating units, and R5
Is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, an alkyl group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms and an arylalkyl group), wherein at least 85% of the polyorganoamino functional siloxane chains have p equal to 1. And the group Comprises a liquid amino-functional oil randomly distributed along the chain, the oil having predominantly monoamino functionality per active molecule, which interacts with the hydrofluoric acid elastomer surface. An imaging system that provides an interfacial barrier layer to the toner and a low surface energy film to strip the toner from the surface. 2. The imaging system of claim 1, wherein about 93% of the polyorganoamino functional siloxane chains have a p equal to 1.