JPH10104951A - Developing roller and manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain compatibility between high concentricity and high torque resistant strength even in the case of using a resin flange. SOLUTION: This developing roller is formed to have a resin flange 13 caulked at least to one end of a sleeve 12 rotatably laid on the outside of a magnet roller 11. in this case, a faucet machined part 12f for coupling the flange 13 is formed on the sleeve 12, and a non-caulked part 12a for contact with the axial alignment part 13a of the flange 13 as well as an irregularity part 12d forcibly kept in contact with the caulked part 13a of the flange 13 via caulking., is formed in the faucet machined part 12f. According to this construction, the axial alignment part 13a of the flange 13 and the non-caulked part 12a of the sleeve 12 come in contact with each other, thereby attaining axial alignment. In addition, the irregularity part 12d of the sleeve 12 is forcibly kept in contact with the caulked part 13a of the flange 12 and, therefore, compatibility between high concentricity and high torque resistant strength can be attained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a developing roller having a sleeve used in an image forming apparatus or the like, and more particularly to a developing roller for fixing a flange by a caulking method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a two-component developing roller has been known as a developing roller used in an electrophotographic process. A developing roller such as the two-component developing roller is configured such that a sleeve is rotatably arranged outside a magnet roller. Usually, an aluminum drawing material is used for the sleeve, and there are methods of fixing the aluminum sleeve and the flange by bonding or caulking.

[0003] In the method by adhesion, it takes time for drying, and it takes time and effort to control the life of the adhesive, concentration management, and the like, resulting in low productivity and high cost.

[0004] The caulking method does not require much time for drying, unlike the method using bonding, and does not require labor for managing the adhesive.

[0005]

However, recently, in order to cope with the downsizing of the apparatus, the diameter of the developing roller has also been reduced, so that the thickness of the sleeve has been reduced, and the thickness of the sleeve has been reduced. When the thickness is reduced, there is a problem that it is difficult to secure the torque resistance by caulking when fixing the flange.

In order to reduce costs, an injection molded resin flange is increasingly used instead of aluminum or stainless steel. If the flange is made of resin like this, it will not fit well with the aluminum sleeve,
There is a problem that it is difficult to obtain the required torque resistance due to deformation due to the pressure of caulking or the like. In addition, there is a problem that delicate management and adjustment of caulking force is required, and productivity is not improved.

[0007] In addition, there is an increasing demand for the shape accuracy of the developing roller, and in particular, the deflection of the sleeve has a remarkable effect on development unevenness as the diameter is reduced. The deflection of the sleeve is greatly affected by the coaxiality between the bearing of the flange receiving the shaft of the magnet roller and the sleeve, that is, the coaxiality between the sleeve and the flange.

[0008] In order to meet such a requirement, for example, even if a knurl is attached to the flange as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-139676, if the flange is made of resin, the resin knurl will be crushed when crimped, and the sleeve and the sleeve will be damaged. There is no biting of the flange, only the pressing force of the sleeve, and the torque resistance does not increase.

Further, in order to secure the torque resistance only by the pressing force of the sleeve, it is necessary to apply a large force at the time of caulking. For this reason, a deformation occurs in which the outer diameter of the sleeve becomes large in the vicinity of the caulking portion, and it is necessary to finely adjust the caulking force in order to secure the torque resistance and the accuracy of the outer diameter.
That is, it is necessary to inspect the caulked developing roller during mass production and adjust the caulking force, and in this case, there is a problem that productivity is reduced.

In order to ensure the required accuracy of the coaxiality between the sleeve and the flange, it is important to maintain the shape accuracy between the flange portion of the sleeve and the flange. Furthermore, as described above, it is also necessary to ensure torque resistance. If a knurl is added as in the past, it is difficult to maintain shape accuracy, and even if torque resistance can be secured, it is difficult to secure coaxiality accuracy. Rework and defective products had occurred.

Furthermore, recently, in order to reduce the cost, the flange is mostly made of resin (many injection-molded products), so that the flange is easily deformed by caulking force. The step is becoming smaller due to the thinner sleeve. Therefore, the area receiving the caulking force is reduced, and the flange is deformed and easily pushed into the magnet roller side, making it difficult to balance with the torque resistance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and a developing roller capable of achieving both excellent coaxiality and high torque resistance even when a resin flange is used, and a method of manufacturing the same. The aim is to provide a method.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide a developing roller in which a resin flange is caulked at at least one end of a sleeve rotatably disposed outside a magnet roller. In the above, the sleeve is provided with a waxed portion into which the flange is fitted, and a non-crimped portion that comes into contact with a shaft alignment portion of the flange, and an uneven portion that is pressed against the flanged portion by crimping. A developing roller formed on a processed portion.

In this configuration, the axial alignment portion of the flange and the non-crimped portion of the sleeve are brought into contact with each other to perform axial alignment, and the uneven portion of the sleeve is pressed against the crimped portion of the flange by crimping. A developing roller that can achieve both coaxiality and high torque resistance can be provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the developing roller according to the first aspect, the uneven portion of the enameled portion has
It is characterized by comprising a large number of projections. In this configuration, since the projections and depressions are formed of a large number of projections, the projections can be easily bitten into the resin flange at the time of caulking, and the torque resistance can be improved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the developing roller according to the first aspect, the uneven portion of the enameled portion is
It is characterized by comprising a large number of grooves. In this configuration, since the concave and convex portions are formed of a large number of grooves, the resin flange can be cut into the grooves at the time of caulking to improve the torque resistance.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a developing roller in which a resin flange is swaged at least at one end of a sleeve rotatably disposed outside a magnet roller. A method of manufacturing a developing roller, comprising: after bringing an axially aligned portion of the flange into contact with each other, plastically deforming a crimped portion of the sleeve and pressing an uneven portion of the sleeve against the crimped portion of the flange.

In this configuration, after the axially aligned portion of the flange is brought into contact with the non-crimped portion of the sleeve, the crimped portion of the sleeve is plastically deformed and the concave and convex portion of the sleeve is pressed against the crimped portion of the flange. The mating part and the non-crimped part of the sleeve are in contact with each other to align the axis, and the concave and convex part of the sleeve is pressed against the crimped part of the flange by crimping, so both excellent coaxiality and high torque resistance are compatible. Can be provided.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a developing roller according to the fourth aspect, at least the swaging portion of the sleeve is heated when the swaging portion of the sleeve is plastically deformed. I have.

In this configuration, by heating the sleeve at the time of caulking, even if the working force of caulking is small, the heat shrinkage of the sleeve after caulking and the unevenness of the sleeve easily penetrate into the resin flange, resulting in high torque resistance. Power is gained.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a developing roller according to the fifth aspect, the heating temperature of at least the swaged portion of the sleeve is set to a value obtained by adding a heat deformation temperature to a heat deformation temperature of a resin forming the flange. It is characterized by being within the range of 10 degrees.

In this configuration, by setting the heating temperature of at least the crimped portion of the sleeve within the range from the heat deformation temperature of the resin to the heat deformation temperature plus 10 degrees, a high torque resistance without impairing the shape accuracy of the resin flange. And excellent coaxiality can be obtained.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a view showing the entire configuration of the developing roller according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the developing roller 1 supports a core 15 serving as a rotating shaft, a magnet roller 11 formed on the core 15, and the core 15 rotatably via a bearing. A pair of flanges 13 and 14 and a pair of flanges 1
3, 14 and a sleeve 12 having both ends fixed. The flange may be fixed to only one end of the sleeve 12. Further, the support of the metal core 15 can be performed without disposing a bearing separate from the flanges 13 and 14, and the flange 1 can be used.
It is also possible to use a material of No. 3 or No. 14 directly rotatably and support it as a bearing.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are enlarged views showing a main part of the developing roller according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A shows a state in which a flange is inserted into a sleeve, and FIG. The state which fixed the flange is shown.

As shown in FIG. 2, an enameled portion is formed near the end of the inner surface of the sleeve 12. The enameled portion has a large diameter portion 12 into which the flange 13 is fitted.
f and a stepped portion 12b which abuts the flange 13 in the axial direction to receive the caulking force.

The large diameter portion 12f is brought into contact with the cylindrical shaft aligning portion 13a on the outer periphery of the flange 13 so that the sleeve 1
A cylindrical shaft aligning portion 12a for holding the shaft 2 coaxially with the flange 13 and an uneven portion 12d closer to the end than the shaft aligning portion 12a are formed.

The flange 13 has an abutting surface 13b at a tip end perpendicular to the axis thereof, an axis aligning portion 13a having a cylindrical surface orthogonal to the abutting surface 13b and parallel to the axis, and an axial aligning portion 13a. A chamfered portion 13a on the more proximal side is formed.

When the flange 13 is inserted into the large-diameter portion 12f of the sleeve 12, the step 12b of the sleeve 12 and the contact surface 13b of the flange 13 come into contact with each other. The shaft aligning surface 12a comes into contact, and the chamfered portion 13a of the flange 13 and the uneven portion 12d of the sleeve 12 face each other at a predetermined angle (chamfered angle).

As shown in FIG. 2B, the end of the sleeve 12 is bent toward the flange 13 and the flange 13 is pressed by the sleeve 12, whereby the sleeve 12 is caulked.
At this time, the sleeve 12 has an enameled portion, and receives the caulking force by holding the flange 13 at the step portion 12b.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of the first embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a half sectional view having a section including a shaft,
FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. First of the present invention
In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the uneven portion 12 d is provided near the end of the waxed portion of the sleeve 12 (near the entrance).
(12e) is provided. With this configuration,
Axial alignment part 1 which is a straight part of flange 13 in FIG.
Since the positioning is performed between the shaft 3a and the shaft aligning portion 12a which is a portion of the sleeve 12 having no unevenness, excellent coaxiality can be secured.

Further, when the end of the sleeve 12 is plastically deformed and caulked, the uneven portion 12d (12e) of the brazing portion of the sleeve 12 bites into the chamfered portion 13a chamfered of the flange 13 so as to have high resistance. Torque force can be secured.

Accordingly, even if the flange 13 of the developing roller 1 is made of resin for cost reduction, even if the diameter of the developing roller 1 and the thickness of the sleeve are reduced, the step portion 12b becomes smaller and the area receiving the caulking force becomes smaller. , Flange 1
3 can be prevented from being deformed and pushed toward the magnet roller 11, and the balance with the torque resistance can be easily achieved. In the above embodiment, the case where one of the flanges 13 is caulked has been described, but the same applies to the case where the other flange 14 (see FIG. 1) is caulked.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part of a second embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a half cut sectional view having a section including a shaft,
(B) is a sectional view taken along line BB in (a). In the second embodiment shown in FIG.
e is different from that of the first embodiment only in that the configuration is different from that of the first embodiment. In the second embodiment,
Since the concave and convex portions are formed of a large number of grooves 22e, the resin of the flange bites into the grooves 22e when crimping, and a high torque resistance can be obtained. In addition, in FIG. 4, 22b is a step part.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part of a third embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a half cut sectional view having a section including an axis, and (b) is a sectional view taken along line CC in (a) of FIG. It is sectional drawing. The third embodiment shown in FIG. 5 differs from the first embodiment only in that the uneven portion of the sleeve 32 is composed of a large number of projections 32e, and the other configurations are the same as the first embodiment. In the third embodiment, the projections and recesses are composed of a large number of projections 32e, so that the projections 32e bite into the resin of the flange when crimped,
High torque resistance can be obtained. In FIG. 5, 3
2b is a step.

In the above embodiment, at the time of caulking, at least the caulked portions 12c, 2c of the sleeves 12, 22, 32 are used.
When the sleeves 2c and 32c are heated, the sleeves 12, 22, 3
2, the sleeves 12, 22, 3
Even if the crimping portions 12c, 22c, and 32c are not strongly pressed, the sleeve 12, 12 can be cooled and shrunk after crimping.
At the same time that the flanges 22 and 32 bite into the flanges, the surfaces of the flanges are softened so that the sleeves 12, 22, 32 and the flanges bite with a smaller crimping force than at the normal temperature, so that a high torque resistance can be obtained.

The optimum heating temperature varies depending on the resin used for the flange. However, if the heating temperature greatly exceeds the thermal deformation temperature of the resin, the deformation of the flange itself increases, and the crimping resistance and the coaxiality deteriorate. As a result, torque resistance and coaxiality can be obtained with less caulking force to determine an optimum temperature than required torque resistance and coaxiality, with the upper limit being the heat deformation temperature used for the flange plus 10 degrees. Therefore, the heating temperature is desirably in the range of the heat deformation temperature of the resin used as the material of the flange to the heat deformation temperature plus 10 degrees, and within this range, the flange material,
It is appropriately determined from the required torque resistance and coaxiality.

According to this configuration, since the concave and convex portions are provided on the sleeve surface in contact with the flange, when the resin flange is used for caulking, the convex portion of the sleeve bites into the resin, or the resin becomes concave. By digging into
Increased torque resistance of flange and sleeve.

In addition, if there are irregularities in the entire portion of the waxed portion, it is difficult to obtain the coaxial shape of the bearing of the flange, the magnet roller, and the outer shape of the sleeve. By forming it, it is easy to obtain the coaxiality by receiving the outer peripheral surface of the flange at the straight part (axis alignment part) of the hot-wax processing part, and to achieve the torque resistance at the uneven part near the entrance of the hot-wax processing part. Can be.

Further, by heating the sleeve at the time of caulking, even if the working force of caulking is small, the mountain of the sleeve is easily cut into the resin flange due to the thermal contraction of the sleeve after caulking.

Further, by heating the sleeve when caulking, even if the working force of caulking is small, the resin flange easily bites into the groove of the sleeve due to thermal contraction of the sleeve after caulking, and a high torque resistance is obtained. Can be

Further, by setting the heating temperature to the heat deformation temperature of the resin or the heat deformation temperature plus 10 degrees or less, the shape accuracy of the resin flange is not impaired, and even if the crimping force is small, the sleeve after crimping can be formed. The resin shrinks easily into the groove of the sleeve due to the heat shrinkage, and high torque resistance and concentricity can be obtained.

[0043]

As apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a developing roller in which a resin flange is caulked at at least one end of a sleeve rotatably disposed outside a magnet roller. The enameled portion in which the flange is fitted is provided on the sleeve, and a non-crimped portion that comes into contact with the axially aligned portion of the flange, and an uneven portion that is pressed against the caulked portion of the flange by the crimping portion. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to provide a developing roller that can achieve both excellent coaxiality and high torque resistance even when a resin flange is used.

According to the invention of claim 2, according to claim 1,
3. The developing roller according to claim 1, wherein the uneven portion of the enameled portion comprises a large number of protrusions, and in addition to the effect of claim 1, the protrusion of the sleeve can be easily bitten into the resin flange during crimping. Having.

According to the invention of claim 3, according to claim 1,
In the developing roller described above, since the uneven portion of the enameled portion is composed of a large number of grooves, it has an effect that the resin flange can be cut into the grooves at the time of caulking to improve the torque resistance.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a developing roller, wherein a resin flange is swaged at least at one end of a sleeve rotatably disposed outside a magnet roller. After the axially aligned portion of the flange is brought into contact with the portion, the caulked portion of the sleeve is plastically deformed and the uneven portion of the sleeve is pressed against the caulked portion of the flange, so that both excellent coaxiality and high torque resistance are achieved. And a method of manufacturing a developing roller that can perform the method.

According to the invention of claim 5, according to claim 4,
In the method for manufacturing a developing roller according to the above, since at least the swaged portion of the sleeve is heated when the swaged portion of the sleeve is plastically deformed, a high torque resistance can be obtained even if the working force of the swage is small. Has an effect.

According to the invention of claim 6, according to claim 5,
In the method for manufacturing a developing roller according to the above, since the heating temperature of at least the swaged portion of the sleeve is set within a range from the heat deformation temperature of the resin constituting the flange to the heat deformation temperature plus 10 degrees, the shape accuracy of the resin flange is reduced. High torque resistance and excellent coaxiality can be obtained without loss.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a developing roller according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are enlarged views showing a main part of a developing roller according to the embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 2A shows a state where a flange is inserted into a sleeve, and FIG. Shows a state in which is fixed.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of the first embodiment of the present invention,
(A) is a half cut sectional view having a cross section including a shaft, and (b) is an AA sectional view in the (a) view.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part of a second embodiment of the present invention,
(A) is a half cut sectional view having a cross section including a shaft, and (b) is a BB sectional view in (a) view.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part of a third embodiment of the present invention,
(A) is a half cross-sectional view having a cross-section including a shaft, and (b) is a CC cross-sectional view in (a).

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Developing roller 11 Magnet roller 12 Sleeve 12a Alignment part of sleeve 12b Alignment part (non-crimping part) 12d Irregular part (irradiating part) 12f Large diameter part (irradiating part) 12e Irregular part 13 Flange 13a Flange 13a Axis alignment part 14 Flange 22e Groove part 32e Projection

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A developing roller having a resin-made flange caulked at least at one end of a sleeve rotatably disposed outside a magnet roller, wherein a sleeve-working portion into which the flange is fitted is provided on the sleeve. And a non-crimping portion that contacts the axially aligned portion of the flange and a concave and convex portion that presses against the caulking portion of the flange by crimping. 2. The developing roller according to claim 1, wherein the uneven portion of the enameled portion comprises a number of protrusions. 3. The developing roller according to claim 1, wherein the uneven portion of the enameled portion comprises a large number of grooves. 4. A method of manufacturing a developing roller in which a resin flange is swaged at least at one end of a sleeve rotatably disposed outside a magnet roller, wherein a non-swaging portion of the sleeve is provided with an axially aligned portion of the flange. A method for manufacturing a developing roller, wherein after the contact is made, the caulked portion of the sleeve is plastically deformed, and the uneven portion of the sleeve is pressed against the caulked portion of the flange. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein at least the caulked portion of the sleeve is heated when the caulked portion of the sleeve is plastically deformed. 6. The developing roller according to claim 5, wherein a heating temperature of at least a crimped portion of the sleeve is set within a range from a heat deformation temperature of the resin constituting the flange to a heat deformation temperature plus 10 degrees. Manufacturing method.