JPH0816056A - Cleaning blade - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the generation of a reversing of a cleaning blade, by forming a fluorine including polymer membrane at least on an edge contacting to a sensitizer, and on two surfaces extending by making the edge as the border, of an about plate form elastic body made of an urethan rubber. CONSTITUTION:This cleaning blade is composed of an about plate form elastic body 30 made of an urethan rubber, and a polymer membrane 32 including the florine formed at least on an edge 31 contacting to a sensitizer, and on two surfaces A and B (the oblique lines parts) extending by making the edge 31 as the border. As the forming material of the fluorine including polymer membrane 32, a compound including the fluorine is used. Tetrafluoroethylene, tetrafluoromethane, hexafluoroethane, hexafluorocyclobutan, hexafluorpropene, octafluorobutene, hexafluorocyclobutene, and the like are availavle. The thickness of the fluorine including polymer membrane 32 is favorable to set 0.1 to 5mum.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention relates to a cleaning blade used for removing residual toner on the surface of a photosensitive drum of an electrophotographic copying machine or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an electrophotographic copying machine, a printer or the like which employs an electrophotographic copying system, generally, a cleaning device 20 shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B is used to remove residual toner on the surface of a photosensitive drum. It is done by physical removal. FIG. 5A is a perspective view showing the configuration of the cleaning device, and FIG. 5B is a sectional view thereof. In these drawings, the cleaning device 20 is configured such that a cleaning blade 22 formed of a rubber elastic body or the like is attached to one end of a support member 21 having a substantially L-shaped cross section. Then, as shown in FIG. 6 (A), the cleaning device 20 is installed inside an electrophotographic copying machine or the like.
The cleaning blade 22 is fixed to a base (not shown) by a supporting member 21 having a substantially L-shaped cross section, and is obliquely arranged so that the tip corner portion (edge portion) of the cleaning blade 22 is in pressure contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 23. When the photosensitive drum 23 rotates in the direction of the arrow in this state, the residual toner 24 is scraped off and the surface of the photosensitive drum 23 is cleaned. Urethane rubber is generally used as a material for forming the cleaning blade 22.

[0003]

The urethane rubber cleaning blade has the advantage that it has a long life due to its excellent wear resistance, but at the start of copying it has a high coefficient of friction with the photosensitive drum. In addition, there is a possibility that the photosensitive drum will be rotated along with the rotation of the photosensitive drum. That is, the friction between the urethane rubber cleaning blade and the surface of the photosensitive drum is large, but after the copying is started, the toner intervenes between them, so the friction is reduced and the cleaning blade Inversion does not occur. However, when there is no toner such as when copying is started, as shown in FIG.
The photosensitive drum 23 is reversed as it rotates. In this way, once the cleaning blade 22 is reversed, the contact resistance with the photosensitive drum 23 increases and the photosensitive drum 23
Does not rotate.

In order to solve the problem of the reversal of the cleaning blade, for example, a fluororesin fine powder having lubricity is applied to the edge portion of the cleaning blade which comes into contact with the photosensitive drum and dipping is performed to form a lubricating layer. Is being done. However, the method of forming a lubricating layer using this fluororesin fine powder has to go through the above-mentioned lubricating layer forming step in addition to the usual cleaning blade manufacturing step, which complicates the working steps. On the other hand, there has been proposed a cleaning blade in which a low friction layer containing rubber or resin as a main component is formed on the edge portion of the cleaning blade. These cleaning blades are made of silicone rubber,
Coating the low friction layer forming material, which is a mixture of silicon powder, fluororesin powder, with a binder such as silicone resin, fluororubber, fluororesin, nylon, etc., on the photosensitive drum contact part (edge part) of the cleaning blade by dipping method, etc. Then, a low friction layer is formed. By doing this, it is possible to reduce the friction between the photosensitive drum and the cleaning blade, and prevent the cleaning blade from being reversed even when toner is not present on the surface of the photosensitive drum such as when copying is started. become. However, this cleaning blade having the low-friction layer formed is insufficient in preventing reversal when the binder is rubber, and may damage the surface of the photosensitive drum when the binder is resin. Further, many methods have been proposed in which a powder or liquid lubricant is added to urethane rubber which is a material for forming the cleaning blade. However, for example, a cleaning blade made of urethane rubber obtained by adding a powder lubricant becomes hard and may damage the photosensitive drum. Further, when the urethane rubber cleaning blade obtained by adding the liquid lubricant is used, the liquid lubricant exudes to contaminate the photosensitive drum. As described above, the fact is that a method capable of effectively preventing the cleaning blade from being turned over at the initial stage of copying has not yet been obtained. Further, for the purpose of improving the durability of the cleaning blade, a method of forming a plasma polymerized film is also proposed, the cleaning blade obtained by this method,
Since the plasma polymerized film is formed only on one surface including the edge portion, the inversion cannot be prevented.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a cleaning blade capable of preventing the cleaning blade from being reversed at the initial stage of copying.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the cleaning blade of the present invention comprises a substantially plate-shaped elastic body made of urethane rubber as a constituent material, and an edge portion of the substantially plate-shaped elastic body is a photosensitive member. A cleaning blade which is brought into contact with the above-mentioned substantially plate-shaped elastic body, in which a fluorine-containing polymer film is formed on at least an edge portion in contact with the photoconductor and two surfaces extending with the edge portion sandwiched therebetween. Take

[0007]

The present inventors have conducted a series of studies in order to prevent the occurrence of reversal of the cleaning blade. As a result, when the fluorine-containing polymer film is formed on at least the edge portion of the urethane rubber substantially plate-shaped elastic body that contacts the photoconductor and two surfaces extending at the edge portion, the fluorine-containing polymer film has a low friction effect. It was found that the cleaning blade did not reverse at the start of copying. The reason why the fluorine-containing polymer film is formed on both of the two surfaces extending with the edge portion interposed therebetween is as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, when the edge portion of the cleaning blade 22 is pressed against the surface of the photosensitive drum 23, the edge portion is elastically deformed. Due to this elastic deformation, the contact of the cleaning blade 22 with the photosensitive drum 23 is not the line contact of only the edge portion, but the two surfaces A and B extending around the edge portion and sandwiching the same.
It is a surface contact that spans over. Therefore, even if the low-friction layer is formed only on the edge portion or only on the edge portion and either of the two surfaces A and B, a good anti-reversal effect cannot be obtained. Therefore, along with the edge part,
By forming a fluorine-containing polymer film, which is a low-friction layer on both of the two surfaces A and B extending across the edge portion,
The present inventors have found that the effect of preventing reversal of the cleaning blade can be obtained for the first time, and arrived at the present invention by conducting a series of studies.

Next, the present invention will be described in detail.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (cross-sectional view of FIG. 1), the cleaning blade according to the present invention has a substantially plate-like elastic body 30 made of urethane rubber, and at least the above-mentioned substantially plate-like elastic body 30 which is exposed to light. It is composed of an edge portion 31 that comes into contact with the body and a fluorine-containing polymer film 32 formed on both surfaces A and B (hatched portions) extending with the edge portion 31 interposed therebetween. In the figure, reference numeral 21 is a supporting member holding a cleaning blade and having a substantially L-shaped cross section.

The material for forming the substantially plate-shaped elastic body 30 is not particularly limited as long as it is urethane rubber.
Among them, a liquid thermosetting material is used in consideration of the molding step of the cleaning blade. As a manufacturing method, a prepolymer method, a one-shot method and a pseudo one-shot method which is an intermediate therebetween are used.

As the liquid forming material, for example, a material containing a urethane rubber prepolymer and a curing agent as main components is used.

The urethane rubber prepolymer is obtained by partially polymerizing polyisocyanate and polyol.

Examples of the polyisocyanate include, for example, 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (M
DI), isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI),
4,4'-Dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate (water-added MDI), trimethylhexamethylene diisocyanate (TMHDI), tolylene diisocyanate (TDI), carbodiimide modified MDI, polymethylene phenyl polyisocyanate (PAPI), orthotoluidine diisocyanate (TODI), naphthi Diisocyanate (NDI), xylene diisocyanate (XDI), hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMD
I), paraphenylene diisocyanate (PDI), lysine diisocyanate methyl ester (LDI), dimeryl diisocyanate (DDI) and the like. Among these, it is preferable to use MDI, TODI or the like.

As the polyol to be used together with the above polyisocyanate, polyethylene adipate, polybutylene adipate, polyhexylene adipate, polyester polyol such as a copolymer of ethylene adipate and butylene adipate, polycaprolactone, polyoxytetramethylene and the like. Examples thereof include polyether polyols such as glycol and polyoxypropylene glycol. Among them, the molecular weight is 1500-3000
It is preferable to use one of the following. That is, when it is less than 1500, the physical properties of the resulting urethane rubber tend to be deteriorated, and when it exceeds 3,000, the viscosity of the prepolymer tends to be high and the workability of the cleaning blade molding tends to be deteriorated. Is.

As the above-mentioned prepolymer for urethane rubber, the above polyisocyanate and polyol are used.
It is prepared as follows. First, the above polyisocyanate and polyol are blended and mixed. Next, this mixture is reacted at a temperature of 80 to 120 ° C. for 30 to 90 minutes. This gives a prepolymer.

As a curing agent for the above-mentioned urethane rubber prepolymer, it is preferable to use a low molecular weight polyol having a molecular weight of 300 or less. As such a polyol,
For example, ethylene glycol (EG), diethylene glycol (DEG), propylene glycol (PG), dipropylene glycol (DPG), 1,4-butanediol (14BD), hexanediol (HD), 1,4
-Cyclohexanediol, 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol, xylene glycol (terephthalyl alcohol), triethylene glycol, trimethylolpropane, glycerin, pentaerythritol and sorbitol.

From the viewpoint of easiness of mixing operation and characteristics of the substantially plate-like elastic body 30 which is the base of the obtained cleaning blade, a suitable combination of the prepolymer and the curing agent is MDI as the prepolymer. As a prepolymer composed of and a polyester polyol, and a curing agent, a combination of 1,4-butanediol, trimethylolpropane, and polyester polyol can be mentioned. The optimal combination is a combination of MDI and polyethylene adipate as a prepolymer, and 1,4-butanediol and trimethylolpropane as a curing agent.

A substantially plate-like elastic body 30 made of the urethane rubber.
Is produced by, for example, a prepolymer method using the forming material and the molding die for the cleaning blade.
First, a mold for a cleaning blade is prepared, and a supporting member having a substantially L-shaped cross section is placed on the mold. Meanwhile, a liquid forming material is prepared by mixing a prepolymer for urethane rubber, a curing agent and the like. Next, the liquid forming material is injected into the cleaning blade molding die to be cured by reaction, and the cured product is taken out of the molding die. In this way, it is possible to manufacture a cleaning device in which a substantially plate-shaped elastic body is integrally attached to one edge of a support member having a substantially L-shaped cross section.

The mold for the cleaning blade is not particularly limited, and a mold used for manufacturing a general cleaning blade is used.

A fluorine-containing compound is used as a material for forming the fluorine-containing polymer film 32 formed in a specific region (edge portion and two surfaces extending with the edge portion sandwiched) on the surface of the substantially plate-like elastic body 30. For example, tetrafluoroethylene, tetrafluoromethane, hexafluoroethane, hexafluorocyclobutane, hexafluoropropene,
Octafluorobutene, hexafluorocyclobutene,
In addition to oligomers of perfluoroalkene, monobromotrifluoromethane, trichlorotrifluoroethane,
Examples thereof include halogen-containing compounds other than fluorine such as monochlorotrifluoroethylene.

Compounds containing fluorine, carbon, and hydrogen, which are partially fluorinated hydrocarbons such as monofluoromethane, difluoroethane, trifluoroethane, monofluoroethylene, monofluorobenzene, and other halogens. , Oxygen, sulfur, etc. may be contained. Examples of such compounds include fluorine-containing methacrylates and fluorine-containing acrylates such as 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl methacrylate and 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoropropyl methacrylate.

These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

Further, as a material for forming the fluorine-containing polymer film 32, in addition to the above-mentioned fluorine-containing compound, a hydrocarbon compound is used in combination with the above-mentioned fluorine-containing compound from the viewpoint of excellent film forming efficiency of the fluorine-containing polymer film 32. Preferably.

Examples of the above hydrocarbon compounds include saturated hydrocarbons, unsaturated hydrocarbons, alicyclic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, ketones, carboxylic acids, amines, amides and esters. And ethers, halogenated hydrocarbons and the like. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

Examples of the saturated hydrocarbons include methane, ethane, propane, butane, pentane, hexane, heptane, octane, nonane, decane, undecane, dodecane, tridecane, tetradecane, pentadecane, hexadecane, heptadecane, octadecane, nonadecane. , Normal paraffin such as eicosane, heneicosane, docosane and tricosane, and isobutane, isopentane, neopentane, isohexane, neohexane, 2,3-dimethylbutane, 2-methylhexane, 3
-Ethyl pentane, 2,2-dimethyl pentane, 2,4
-Dimethylpentane, 3,3-dimethylpentane, tributane, 2-methylheptane, 3-methylheptane,
2,2-dimethylhexane, 2,2,5-trimethylhexane, 2,2,3-trimethylpentane, 2,2,4
-Isoparaffins such as trimethylpentane, 2,2,3-trimethylpentane, 2,3,4-trimethylpentane, isonanone and the like.

Examples of the unsaturated hydrocarbons include, for example,
Ethylene, propylene, isobutylene, 1-butene, 2
-Butene, 1-pentene, 2-pentene, 2-methyl-
1-butene, 3-methyl-1-butene, 2-methyl-2
-Butene, 1-hexene, tetramethylethylene, 1-
Olefins such as heptene, 1-octene, 1-nonene and 1-decene, and triolefins such as allene, methylarene, butadiene, pentadiene and hexatriene, and acetylene, methylacetylene, 1-butyne, 2-butyne, 1 -Pentin, 1-hexyne, 1-
Examples include heptin, 1-octyne, 1-nonine, 1-decine and the like.

Examples of the alicyclic hydrocarbons include:
Cycloparaffins such as cyclopropane, cyclobutane, cyclopentane, cyclohexane, cycloheptane, cyclooctane, cyclononane, cyclodecane, cycloundecane, cyclododecane, cyclotridecane, cyclotetradecane, cyclopentadecane, cyclohexadecane, and cyclopropene, cyclobutene, Examples thereof include cycloolefins such as cyclopentene, cyclohexene, cycloheptene, cyclooctene, cyclononene and cyclodecene, and terpenes and steroids.

Examples of the above-mentioned aromatic hydrocarbons include:
Examples thereof include benzene, toluene, xylene and the like.

As a material for forming the fluorine-containing polymer film 32, a fluorine-containing compound such as tetrafluoroethylene, tetrafluoromethane, hexafluoroethane, etc., from the viewpoint of good film forming efficiency and low toxicity,
It is particularly preferable to use unsaturated hydrocarbons such as ethylene and propylene.

The cleaning blade of the present invention uses the above-prepared substantially plate-shaped elastic body 30 to perform a plasma polymerization method or a chemical vapor deposition method.
n: CVD) method, sputtering, ion plating or the like. Then, for example, it is manufactured by performing plasma treatment using a high frequency power source under reduced pressure. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, first, the substantially plate-shaped elastic body 10 integrally attached to the support member having the substantially L-shaped cross section is arranged in the plasma processing chamber 7.
Then, by the vacuum pump 14, 1.0 × 10 ^{-2 to} 1.0
After depressurizing / evacuating to a range of × 10 ^-1 Torr to remove impurities in the chamber, a fluorine-containing compound gas that is a compound for forming a fluorine-containing polymerized film is introduced to increase the internal pressure of the plasma processing chamber 7 to 0.1 to 0.1 10 Torr range, preferably 0.
Set in the range of 5 to 1 Torr. And, by the high frequency power source 12, in the range of 1 to 1000 MHz, preferably 5
Applied to electrodes 8 and 9 at a frequency in the range of ˜50 MHz,
Range of 10-1000W, preferably 100-500W
Plasma processing is performed by generating a plasma in the electrodes 8 and 9 with an output in the range. This processing time is
It is appropriately determined depending on the thickness of the formed fluorine-containing polymer film. In the figure, 1 and 2 are forming material gas cylinders for forming a fluorine-containing polymer film, 3, 4 and 13 are valves, 5 is a variable valve, 6 is a pressure gauge, and 11 is a matching box. In addition to the above method, examples of the method for generating plasma include an internal electrode method using a high frequency power source, an external electrode method, a microwave plasma method, and the like.

By performing such plasma treatment,
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the fluorine-containing compound gas is applied to both the edge portion 31 of the substantially plate-shaped elastic body 30 and the two surfaces A and B (hatched portions) extending with the edge portion 31 interposed therebetween. Fluorine-containing polymer film 3 produced by plasma polymerization
2 is formed. In this way, the cleaning blade of the present invention is manufactured.

As the conditions for the plasma polymerization reaction by the above plasma treatment, since the substantially plate-like elastic body 30 on which the fluorine-containing polymer film 32 is formed is made of urethane rubber and is relatively inferior in heat resistance, low temperature plasma is used. It is preferable to perform the treatment, and specifically, it is preferable to set the temperature inside the plasma treatment chamber 7 to 40 ° C. or lower.

The thickness of the fluorine-containing polymer film 32 formed by the plasma polymerization reaction is preferably set to 0.1 to 5 μm. When the thickness is 0.1 μm, it is too thin and a part where the fluorine-containing polymer film 32 is not formed is generated, and it is difficult to give a sufficient lubricating action. When the thickness exceeds 5 μm, the lubricating action is improved. This is because not only is there no tendency to be seen, but also the processing time becomes longer and the deterioration of the urethane rubber tends to be accelerated. And
The thickness of the fluorine-containing polymer film 32 is appropriately controlled by the concentration of the fluorine-containing compound gas that is the material for forming the fluorine-containing polymer film, the plasma treatment time, and the like.

In the above plasma polymerization reaction, a single-layer fluorine-containing polymer film is formed, but in order to provide more effective reversal prevention by forming a low friction layer on the cleaning blade, forming a fluorine-containing polymer film in multiple layers. However, it is preferable from the viewpoint that a —CF ₃ group having a large content of fluorine atoms can be formed more selectively. As a method of forming the above-mentioned fluorine-containing polymer film in multiple layers, for example, first, one layer of the fluorine-containing polymer film is formed by the above plasma treatment. Then, a method of evacuating the fluorine-containing polymer film forming material and introducing an argon-containing gas into the plasma treatment system to perform the plasma treatment can be mentioned. By this treatment, the surface of the fluorine-containing polymer film is etched. Then, there is a method of forming a new fluorine-containing polymer film by performing the above-mentioned plasma polymerization reaction on the surface of the fluorine-containing polymer film whose surface has been subjected to etching treatment. By repeating the above etching treatment and the formation of the fluorine-containing polymer film by the plasma polymerization reaction, a multilayer fluorine-containing polymer film can be formed on the surface of the substantially plate-like elastic body. Also in this fluorine-containing polymer film having a multilayer structure, the thickness of the entire fluorine-containing polymer film is preferably set in the same thickness range as above.

The fluorine-containing polymer film formed as described above preferably has a fluorine atom number ratio of 70% or more and an oxygen atom number ratio of 3% or less on the surface thereof. That is, since the oxygen atom is a factor that imparts tackiness and the fluorine atom is a factor that imparts non-tackiness, when the oxygen atom exceeds 3% and the fluorine atom is less than 70%, the reversal of the cleaning blade may occur. This is because there is a tendency to occur. The presence and number ratio of oxygen atoms and fluorine atoms distributed on the surface of the fluorine-containing polymer film can be confirmed by an X-ray photoelectron spectrophotometer (ESCA).

The fluorine-containing polymer film formed on the surface of the cleaning blade thus obtained is relatively flexible and scarcely damages the surface of the photoconductor in contact with the portion containing the fluorine-containing polymer film.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning blade of the present invention serves as a cleaning device held by a supporting member 21 having a substantially L-shaped cross section, in which the edge portion 31 of the cleaning blade is pressed against the surface of the photosensitive member. used.

[0038]

As described above, according to the cleaning blade of the present invention, at least the edge portion of the urethane rubber substantially plate-like elastic body which comes into contact with the photosensitive member and the two surfaces extending with the edge portion interposed therebetween contain fluorine. A polymer film is formed. Therefore, the above-mentioned fluorine-containing polymer film plays a role of a low friction action, and it is possible to prevent the cleaning blade from being turned over at the start of copying. Further, since the fluorine-containing polymer film is formed on both surfaces extending along the edge part, the scraped toner is not deposited between the cleaning blade and the photosensitive drum, and the recovery efficiency of the residual toner is improved. . Along with this, the cleaning effect is improved.

Next, examples will be described together with comparative examples.

[Production of Elastic Plate] First, each component shown in Table 1 below was mixed to prepare a liquid forming material. This forming material was poured into a cleaning blade mold incorporating a plate-shaped holding material, and heat-treated at 130 ° C. Then, the cured product was released from the mold to prepare a plate-like elastic body to which a supporting member having a substantially L-shaped cross section was attached.

[0041]

[Table 1]

[0042]

Examples 1 to 4 First, as shown in FIG. 3, a plate-like elastic body 10 to which a supporting member having a substantially L-shaped cross section was attached was placed in a plasma processing chamber 7. Then, the pressure is reduced to 0.1 Torr by the vacuum pump 14, and then CF ₄ , C ₂ H ₄ and C _{2 are} added.
Mixed gas of F ₄ [mixing ratio: CF ₄ / C ₂ H ₄ /
C ₂ F ₄ = 7/1/2 (weight ratio)] was introduced to set the internal stress in the plasma processing chamber 7 to 1 Torr. Then, plasma was generated under the conditions of a frequency of 13.56 MHz and an output of 100 W, and plasma processing was performed for the processing time shown in Table 2 below. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the fluorine-containing polymer film 3 is formed on the edge portion 31 of the plate-like elastic body 30 and the two surfaces A and B extending with the edge portion 31 interposed therebetween.
A cleaning blade formed with No. 2 (in the figure, a supporting member 21 having a substantially L-shaped cross section is integrally attached) was manufactured.

In Example 1, after the first layer fluorine-containing polymer film was formed, the mixed gas was exhausted, and argon gas was newly introduced into the plasma processing chamber 7 to generate plasma under the following conditions. By doing so, the surface of the fluorine-containing polymer film was etched. Then, a plasma polymerization reaction was performed on the surface of the etched fluorine-containing polymer film under the same conditions as above to form a fluorine-containing polymer film. This operation is repeated to form a cleaning blade having a fluorine-containing polymer film composed of three layers.

[Etching condition for plasma generation] Internal pressure: 0.5 Torr Processing time: 2 minutes

Further, Example 2 is a cleaning blade in which the same etching treatment as in Example 1 above was performed and a fluorine-containing polymer film consisting of two layers was formed.

Further, Examples 3 and 4 are cleaning blades on which the above-mentioned plasma treatment is performed once and on which a single layer fluorine-containing polymer film is formed.

[0047]

Comparative Example 1 The plate-like elastic body was used as a cleaning blade without forming a fluorine-containing polymer film by a plasma polymerization reaction.

[0048]

Comparative Example 2 An edge portion of a plate-like elastic body to which a supporting member having a substantially L-shaped cross section is attached and one of two surfaces extending at the edge portion are masked with Teflon tape.
Then, by performing the same plasma treatment as in Example 2 above, as shown in FIG.
The fluorine-containing polymer film 32 was formed on only one surface. Thus, a cleaning blade having the two-layer fluorine-containing polymer film 32 formed thereon was produced.

The number of layers of the fluorine-containing polymer film, the thickness of the entire film, and the friction coefficient of the cleaning blades of the example product and the comparative product thus obtained were measured.
Further, each cleaning blade was incorporated into an electrophotographic copying machine, and the presence or absence of inversion due to the first copy and the durability were evaluated. Further, oxygen atoms distributed on the surface of each cleaning blade (the surface of the fluorine-containing polymer film in the products of Examples 1 to 4 and the product of Comparative Example 2 and the surface of the elastic body in the product of Comparative Example 1),
The ratio of fluorine atoms and carbon atoms was measured using an X-ray photoelectron spectrophotometer (ESCA). The results are shown in Tables 2 and 3 below.

[Friction Coefficient] The friction coefficient was measured using the apparatus shown in FIG. That is, the cleaning blade 25 (thickness 2 mm × width 10 mm) 25 is held by a holder 26, and a polyester film 27 placed on a support (not shown) is attached to a tip corner portion (edge portion) of the cleaning blade 25. Crimped. Load of this pressure contact (W)
Is 50 g, and the direction of the load is a direction perpendicular to the polyester film 27 (direction of arrow X).
A friction coefficient measuring machine 28 (manufactured by Kyowa Co., Ltd.) was connected to the holder 26. In this state, the polyester film 27 is run in the arrow Y direction at a constant speed (2 mm / sec), and the stress (F) measured by the friction coefficient measuring machine 28 at this time and the load (W) are used. The friction coefficient (μs) (maximum static friction coefficient) was calculated by the following formula. The stress (F) is the peak 29 of the curve diagram shown in FIG.
Was used.

Friction coefficient (μs) = F / W

[Durability] 6000 by electrophotographic copying machine
Sheet (A4) copies were passed.

[0053]

[Table 2]

[0054]

[Table 3]

From the results shown in Tables 2 and 3, the cleaning blades of all the examples had a low coefficient of friction and no reversal occurred. Also, no abnormality occurred in the durability evaluation test. From this, it can be seen that the cleaning blade of the example product has excellent slidability and does not cause reversal or the like. On the other hand, the cleaning blade of Comparative Example 1 in which the fluorine-containing polymer film was not formed had a large friction coefficient and reversal occurred. Further, the product of Comparative Example 2 had a low coefficient of friction because the fluorine-containing polymer film was formed on only one surface, but the reversal occurred and the durability evaluation test could not be performed. In addition, the manufacturing process of the cleaning blades of all the above-described examples was not complicated and was simple.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cleaning blade of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a cleaning blade of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a plasma processing apparatus used for forming a fluorine-containing polymer film.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of elastic deformation of a cleaning blade pressed against a photosensitive drum.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of a conventional cleaning blade, and FIG. 5B is a sectional view thereof.

FIG. 6A is a configuration diagram showing a state in which residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum is removed using a cleaning blade, and FIG. 6B is a configuration diagram showing a state in which the cleaning blade is reversed.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a cleaning blade of a comparative example in which a fluorine-containing polymer film is formed on only one surface.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a method of measuring a friction coefficient of a cleaning blade.

FIG. 9 is a curve diagram showing the relationship between stress (F) and time.

[Explanation of symbols]

 30 substantially plate-like elastic body 31 edge portion 32 fluorine-containing polymer film

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kazuhide Tsuda 3600 Amagatsu, Kita Sotoyama, Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture Tokai Rubber Industry Co., Ltd. Tokai Rubber Industry Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning blade comprising a substantially plate-shaped elastic body made of urethane rubber as a constituent material, wherein an edge portion of the substantially plate-shaped elastic body is brought into contact with a photoconductor, and at least the substantially plate-shaped elastic body is provided. A cleaning blade characterized in that a fluorine-containing polymer film is formed on an edge portion in contact with the photoconductor and two surfaces extending with the edge portion sandwiched therebetween. 2. The fluorine-containing polymer film has a thickness of 0.1.
The cleaning blade according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning blade is set in a range of ˜5 μm. 3. The fluorine-containing polymer film is at least 2
The cleaning blade according to claim 1 or 2, which is a polymer film having a multilayer structure including layers. 4. The fluorine atom number ratio on the surface of the fluorine-containing polymer film is set to 70% or more, and the oxygen atom number ratio is set to 3% or less. Cleaning blade.