JPH09269656A - Sealing material - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sealing material capable of preventing powdery bodies from being scattered in a shaft part, small in coefficient of friction and not increasing the rotary resistance of a shaft. SOLUTION: An adhesive is applied on a surface of a base material 10, and the base material 10 is inserted into an electrostatic fiber flocking device 1. The high voltage static electricity is applied, between the high voltage electrode 4 and the grounding electrode 6 of the electrostatic fiber flocking device, and a pile 3 of a tetra fluoride ethylene fiber is made falling from a canister 12 above. The pile 3 is made soaring toward the base material 10 by the electric field between electrodes, embedded in the adhesive 2. The pile 3 is, embedded on the base material 10, in vertically while uniformly, and fixed on the surface of the base material 10 when the adhesive 2 becomes dry-hardened. Then, the sealing material 5 sticking fibers whose frictional resistance is very small, can be composed, and fitted on the rotary shaft along the shaft outside shape, there by, the powdery bodies can be prevented from being scattered in the shaft part, and that the rotary resistance of the shaft is restrained from being increased.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sealing material in which fibers are raised, and in particular, it adheres closely to a rotating shaft or the like to prevent powder from escaping from a gap between the rotating shafts and reduce contact resistance with the rotating shaft. The present invention relates to a sealing material using polytetrafluoroethylene fiber for the purpose of

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a copying machine or the like for forming an image by using toner, a toner supply roller is rotated in a toner storage unit for storing toner, and toner is supplied to a photoconductor provided opposite to the toner supply roller. The toner is supplied from the roller for developing the latent image on the surface of the photoconductor to make a copy on the paper.

In the toner containing portion, since the toner supplying roller is rotated in a state of being in contact with the toner as well as containing the toner, there is a problem that the toner is easily diffused to the outside through the rotation shaft of the roller. there were. Therefore, a semicircular toner sealing material is brought into close contact with the end of the shaft to prevent the toner from being discharged to the outside through the shaft of the roller.

The toner seal material is closely attached to the shaft in order to surely block the toner emission, but it is necessary to reduce the frictional resistance with the shaft so as not to increase the rotational resistance of the shaft. Used are those obtained by processing fluorinated ethylene fibers into a felt shape and laminating this with wool felt or the like by needle processing, or those obtained by adhering polytetrafluoroethylene fiber felt to a polyurethane foam. Further, a material in which polytetrafluoroethylene fibers are pile-woven is also proposed. (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-16963)

[0005]

However, in the conventional pile woven seal material, polyfluoroethylene fiber is woven into a cloth material as a base material, and the woven polyfluoroethylene fiber is cut into a predetermined length. Since the fibers are raised, there is a problem in that manufacturing takes time and costs. Further, when the polytetrafluoroethylene fiber is processed into a felt shape, the fibers may not come out due to friction with the rotating shaft because the fibers are not entangled with each other firmly. When cut into the shape of material,
There is a problem that the polytetrafluoroethylene fiber may fall out from the cut portion and the like, and the fiber dropped from the base material may be mixed with the toner and stain the image in a copying machine or the like.

Further, a napped material formed by using electrostatic fluffing is known, but there is no example that it is used as a sealing material for toner, and a rotative resistance of the shaft is large in the conventional napped material by electrostatic flocking. Therefore, it does not have sufficient performance as a sealing material for copying machines and the like.

[0007]

In the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, the sealing material is formed as follows.

An adhesive for adhering poly (tetrafluoroethylene) was applied on the base material, and poly (tetrafluoroethylene) fibers having a predetermined length were flocked on the base material by electrostatic flocking to form a sealing material.

The base material is not limited to a cloth material, but a synthetic resin sheet,
Leather, wool felt, metal foil, or not flexible,
A metal plate or a plastic plate may be used. Further, it may be a three-dimensional shape instead of a planar shape. Three-dimensional shapes include polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene and other foams (may be closed cells or open cells), resin molded products, metal processed products (sheet metal, die cast, blocks, etc.), etc. The recess may be formed in advance so that Furthermore, the flocking by electrostatic flocking may not be performed on the entire surface of the base material, but may be limited to a part of the base material and may be performed only at a desired portion. In the case of partially transplanting the hair, the application portion of the adhesive may be limited.

The adhesive is one which can bond polytetrafluoroethylene fiber to obtain sufficient strength, and for example, a synthetic rubber emulsion type is used. As synthetic rubber, chloroprene rubber, SBR, and NBR are generally used.

The polytetrafluoroethylene fiber having a thickness of 2 to 10 denier and a length of about 0.5 to 5 mm is used, preferably 3 to 7 denier, and the length is 1 to 3 mm. The fibers to be transplanted are preferably tetrafluoroethylene (Teflon (trade name)), but other fluororesin fibers may be used, and polytetrafluoroethylene fibers may be appropriately mixed with fibers of other materials. It may be one. Other fibers to be mixed include nylon, polyester, PBT and the like, which is appropriately set depending on the required performance of the sealing material, the manufacturing cost of the sealing material and the like. However, the mixing ratio of fibers other than polytetrafluoroethylene is preferably 50% or less.

It is preferable that the surface of the fibers to be flocked is coated with a surfactant or the like before flocking from the viewpoint of improving flight motion in an electric field. In addition, as the electrostatic flocking method, in addition to the down method in which piles (fibers) are dropped from the upper side to flock the lower substrate, the up method in which the piles are moved from the lower side to the upper side and flocked from the side Either a side method of flocking piles or an up-down method of flocking the base material from both the upper and lower directions may be used.

In the manufacturing method, first, an adhesive is applied to the base material,
The substrate is moved into the electrostatic field. Further, polytetrafluoroethylene fiber is supplied into the electrostatic field, and the fiber is moved toward the base material by electrostatic force to be vertically embedded in the adhesive on the base material. When the applied adhesive dries and hardens, poly 4
The fluorinated ethylene fibers are fixed on the base material to form the sealing material. By using such a sealing material as a sealing material on the shaft portion of the powder such as the toner supply shaft, the rotation resistance can be reduced and the powder of the toner or the like can be reliably sealed at the shaft portion.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An example of flocking polytetrafluoroethylene fibers on a cloth material by electrostatic flocking will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an electrostatic flocking device.

The electrostatic flocking device 1 shown in FIG.
Is arranged on the upper side, the ground electrode 6 is provided on the lower side, and the base material 10 is sequentially moved to the vicinity of the ground electrode 6 toward the right side of the drawing. It is a device.

A container 12 containing a pile 3 of polytetrafluoroethylene fiber is provided above the high-voltage electrode 4, and the pile 3 is appropriately dropped on the bottom surface of the container 12.
A hole having a predetermined size is provided. A vibrating device may be connected to the container 12 so that the pile 3 continuously drops. The pile 3 is cut into a predetermined length, and when it is dropped from the container 12, it is charged to the positive electrode by the high-voltage electrode 4 provided below the container 12, and faces the ground electrode 6 side, that is, the base material 10. To fly. The force F received by the pile 3 from the electric field is a voltage V between electrodes and a distance d between electrodes,
If the electric charge of is represented by q, then it is expressed by the force F = Vq / d.

The substrate 10 is a polyurethane foam,
The adhesive 2 is applied to the surface by the application device 14, and is moved to the right in FIG. 2 at a predetermined speed by a winding and conveying device (not shown). The adhesive 2 is a synthetic rubber, and the inter-electrode voltage and the transfer speed of the base material 10 are set so that the fiber density is 200 to 400 g / m ² .

Next, the operation of the electrostatic flocking device 1 will be described.

First, the adhesive 2 is applied to the base material 10 by the application device 14, and the base material 10 is moved between the high voltage electrode 4 and the ground electrode 6 at a predetermined speed by the winding and conveying device. The container 12 is vibrated by the vibrating device and the contained pile 3 falls. The dropped pile 3 is charged to the positive electrode by the high-voltage electrode 4, and the charged pile 3 is pulled by the negative ground electrode 6 and flies, and is vertically flocked to the adhesive 2 of the base material 10. The flocking of the piles 3 is sequentially performed as the base material 10 is conveyed, and the base material 1 is firmly solidified by the drying and curing of the adhesive 2.
0 is attached.

The sealing material 5 thus formed is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the sealing material 5 is attached to the shaft 15
By sticking to the concave portion 19 formed according to the diameter of the toner via an elastic body such as polyurethane resin, it is possible to configure the toner sealing material 17 that has low friction and surely blocks the toner.

Another embodiment of the sealing material is shown in FIG.
The sealing material 7 is obtained by applying an adhesive to the recess 11 of the base 9 made of polyurethane foam, and
1. Polytetrafluoroethylene fiber is flocked to the above-mentioned 1 by the electrostatic flocking device 1. When the sealing material 7 is formed in this manner, the polytetrafluoroethylene fibers are directly transplanted into the recesses 11 of the base 9 formed of polyurethane foam, and the sealing material in which the polytetrafluoroethylene fibers are transplanted is transferred into the recesses. It is possible to easily and surely form the toner seal material 7 by omitting the time and effort for sticking.

[0023]

According to the sealing material of the present invention, since polytetrafluoroethylene fiber is formed by flocking by electrostatic flocking, the fluffed fiber has low friction and powder such as toner is used for the shaft part. It is possible to prevent the powder from diverging by surely shutting off in the case of

Moreover, since polytetrafluoroethylene fibers can be transplanted at a predetermined position by electrostatic flocking, for example, by directly flocking polytetrafluoroethylene fibers in the recesses of the molded product, a cloth-like sealing material can be obtained. It is possible to reduce the time and labor required for manufacturing the device and attaching the sealing material to a predetermined place, and to greatly reduce the manufacturing time and cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a sealing material of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an electrostatic flocking device that forms the sealing material shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a usage state of a sealing material.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another example of a sealing material.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Electrostatic Flocking Device 2 Adhesive 3 Pile 4 High Voltage Electrode 5, 7, 17 Sealing Material 6 Grounding Electrode 9 Base 10 Base Material 11, 19 Recess 12 Container 14 Coating Device

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A polytetrafluoroethylene fiber having a predetermined length is flocked to the surface of the substrate by an electrostatic flocking method in which an electrostatic electric field is applied to a substrate coated with an adhesive to flock the fiber. Sealing material characterized by being manufactured by 2. The sealing material according to claim 1, wherein the base material is a planar member. 3. The sealing material according to claim 1, wherein the base material is a member formed in a predetermined shape. 4. The adhesive according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive is applied to a desired portion, and the polytetrafluoroethylene fiber is transplanted only to the desired portion. Seal material. 5. The sealing material is brought into close contact with a support shaft of a rotating member that rotates in a toner accommodating portion of a printer that performs printing using toner, and prevents passage of toner that is diffused to the outside through the support shaft. The sealing material according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the sealing material is formed as described above. 6. A mixed fiber of the polytetrafluoroethylene fiber and a fiber other than the polytetrafluoroethylene fiber is planted on the base material. The sealing material according to the item.