JPS62144980A - Toner-fixing belt and manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure that a loop form base material can be brought into close contact with the outer periphery of a mandrel and uniform quality can be obtained, by thermally shrinking a loop form woven fabric with heat-shrinkable fibers set in a circumferential direction to form the loop form base material. CONSTITUTION:A loop form base material 12 is a heat-shrinkable woven fabric in which heat-shrinkable fibers and heat-nonshrinkable fibers are set orthogonal to each other, and the heat-shrinkable fibers are set in the circumferential direction. The heat-shrinkable fibers are fibers of a polyamide, a polyester or the like, preferably, having a shrinkage factor at 100-200 deg.C of 5-20%. The heat-nonshrinkable fibers are polyamide fibers, polyester fibers or the like having a heat shrinkage factor at 100-200 deg.C of not more than 5%. The loop form woven fabric is fitted over a mandrel, and is shrunk by heating to form the loop form base material.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a toner fixing belt used for fixing toner charged by electrostatic phenomenon onto a printed paper surface by heat, and a method for manufacturing the same.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, machines such as PPCs (plain paper copying machines) and laser printers that are comprised of electrography complete printing systems use a combination of a fixing roller and a heat roller to charge toner using an electrostatic phenomenon. A mechanism fixes it on the print paper surface.

However, the fixing roller has the following drawbacks. ■
In order to improve the fixability of the toner to the paper surface, the diameter of the roller must be increased and a high pressing force is required, resulting in an increase in the size of the machine. ■Since it is limited to a roll shape, there is little freedom in design and it is not possible to meet the demand for miniaturization. ■Since it is in a roll shape, it is heavy and there are limits to how much weight it can be reduced.

Therefore, a belt-like device was required in place of the roller.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The belt-like product may be one in which a silicone rubber layer is provided on the surface of a base material made of annular woven fabric. However, in this belt-like product, the silicone rubber layer must be molded by placing the annular base material in close contact with the core material for molding, so it is easy to attach the annular base material to the core material for molding. However, if the diameter of the annular base material is slightly increased to facilitate its adhesion, it will become too loose, causing wrinkles, distortions, etc. in the annular base material when molding the silicone rubber layer. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to obtain uniform quality even if the inner diameter is constant.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a toner fixing belt having a structure that allows uniform quality to be obtained, and a method for manufacturing the same.

(Means for Solving the Problems) This invention provides a woven fabric in which heat-shrinkable fibers and non-heat-shrinkable fibers are orthogonal to each other, with the heat-shrinkable fibers oriented in the circumferential direction; The present invention is characterized in that the toner fixing belt is constructed from a heat-shrinked annular base material and a silicone rubber layer laminated on the surface of the base material.

The method for producing the toner fixing belt is as follows: (1) Covering a core material for molding with a circular woven fabric in which heat-shrinkable fibers and non-heat-shrinkable fibers are orthogonal to each other and the heat-shrinkable fibers are in the circumferential direction; Heat-shrink it to form an annular base material, ■ Lay an unvulcanized silicone rubber layer on the annular base material surface,
It is characterized by vulcanizing, and removing the core material for molding.

(Example) The present invention will be explained below based on Examples.

FIG. 1 shows a toner fixing belt 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part showing an example of use of the toner fixing belt shown in FIG. 1.

The toner fixing belt 10 includes an annular base material 12, a silicone rubber layer 14, a reinforcing layer 16, and a driving gear hole 18.

The annular base material 12 is made by heat-shrinking a woven fabric made of orthogonal heat-shrinkable fibers and non-heat-shrinkable fibers into a ring shape with the heat-shrinkable fibers oriented in the circumferential direction. As the heat-shrinkable fibers, polyamide or polyester fibers are used, and among them, those having a shrinkage rate of 5-20% at 100-200°C are preferable. Further, as non-heat shrinkable fibers, polyamide fibers, polyester fibers, fluorine fibers, aramid fibers, cotton, rayon fibers, etc. are used. Incidentally, the term "non-heat-shrinkable fiber" refers to a fiber that is generally said not to shrink by heat, and refers to a fiber whose heat-shrinkage rate at 100 to 200°C is 5% or less.

This annular base material 12 has the function of suppressing elongation of the toner fixing belt during use and increasing durability.

The silicone rubber layer 14 is integrally laminated on the surface of the annular base material 12 . This silicone rubber layer 14 is made of silicone rubber from the viewpoints of heat resistance, durability, and low friction.

The reinforcing layer 16 is for the purpose of reinforcing the drive gear hole 18 portion, and is formed on the outer surface, that is, the surface of the silicone rubber layer 14, or as in this example, the inner surface, that is, the surface 12a of the annular base material 12, or If necessary, it is adhesively laminated on both surfaces of the annular base material or between the annular base material and the silicone rubber layer, on one end or both ends of the annular base material. As this reinforcing layer 16, a flexible band-like material such as cloth, rubber, or plastic is used. Note that this is not necessary if no gear hole is provided.

The drive gear hole lI3 is for engaging with the teeth 20a when the drive roll 20 has teeth 20a around it, as shown in FIG. 2 showing an example of use of the toner fixing belt 10. Therefore, if the drive roll 20 has teeth 20a only on one side, the gear hole 18 may also be provided only on one side of the toner fixing belt 10. Further, if the drive roll 20 does not have teeth 20a, the gear hole 18 is not necessary. The shape of this gear hole is circular, square, etc. depending on the shape of the teeth 20a. For example, if the tooth 20a is made of a circular bottle, it may be circular.

The toner fixing belt 10 having such a structure is used as shown in FIG. In this figure, 22 is a heat roll, and 24 is a driven roll.

Next, an example of a method for manufacturing the toner fixing bell 10 will be described according to its steps.

■ Molding process of circular base material As shown in Fig. 3, a circular woven fabric 12b in which heat-shrinkable fibers and non-heat-shrinkable fibers are perpendicular to each other and the heat-shrinkable fibers are in the circumferential direction is placed on the core material 28 for molding. The woven fabric 12b is then heated and contracted, and as shown in FIG. 4, the annular base material 12 is molded by closely contacting the outer periphery of the molding core material 28.

Due to this contraction, the annular base material 12 always has a constant size.

As the heat-shrinkable fibers, polyamide or polyester fibers are used as mentioned above, and as the non-heat-shrinkable fibers, polyamide fibers, polyester fibers, cotton, rayon fibers, etc. are used as mentioned above.

The molding core material 28 is made of metal such as iron, and has an outer diameter of
It is set to be the same as the desired belt inner diameter. An example of this is a diameter of 80+nlO.

The heating temperature varies depending on the type of heat-shrinkable fiber, but is usually 100 to 200°C. For example, if the heat-shrinkable fiber is polyester fiber (manufactured by DuPont) and the non-heat-shrinkable fiber is Kevlar (manufactured by DuPont), 1
80°C is preferred.

(2) Lamination step of silicone rubber layer After cooling, the surface of the annular base material 12 is subjected to a brimer treatment, and then unvulcanized silicone rubber is laminated in layers on the surface of the annular base material. Subsequently, vulcanization is performed to form a silicone rubber layer 14. As an example of silicone rubber and vulcanization conditions, hardness is 60.
℃ silicone rubber (manufactured by Toshiba Silicon Co., Ltd.) as a circular base material 1
Here is an example in which the material was wrapped around No. 2 and vulcanized at 180° C. for 20 minutes.

The primer treatment is an operation for increasing the adhesiveness between the silicone rubber layer 14 and the annular base material 12, and is usually performed by applying an adhesive.

(Decoring process) After vulcanization, the integrally molded product of the annular base material 12 and the silicone rubber layer 14 is extracted from the core material 28 for molding.

0 Surface Treatment Step The integral molded product is attached to a core material for surface polishing, and the surface of the silicone rubber layer 14 is polished. Thereafter, the integral molded product is extracted from the core material for surface polishing and immersed in silicone oil at 70° C. for 24 hours to perform impregnation.

This makes the surface of the silicone rubber layer 14 smoother.

(Lamination of reinforcing layer, driving gear hole forming process) Reinforcing layers 16 are adhesively laminated on both ends of the integrally molded product taken out from silicone oil. As the reinforcing layer 16, a flexible strip made of cloth, rubber, plastic, etc. is used. Thereafter, both ends are trimmed and gear holes 18 are punched at both ends to obtain the desired toner fixing belt.

In addition, in the step (2), a reinforcing layer 16 is formed on the surface of the annular base material 12.
After laminating, unvulcanized rubber is laminated and vulcanized,
A reinforcing layer 16 is provided between the annular base material 12 and the silicone rubber layer 14.
may be formed. In this case, the work of laminating the reinforcing layer in step (2) becomes unnecessary.

Further, the operations after the surface treatment step (2) may not be necessary depending on the surface condition of the silicone rubber layer 14 after vulcanization, whether the gear hole 18 is necessary, etc.

(Effects of the Invention) The toner fixing belt according to the present invention includes an annular base material formed by heat-shrinking an annular woven fabric having heat-shrinkable fibers in the circumferential direction;
It consists of a silicone rubber layer on the surface of the base material. Therefore, when manufacturing the belt, by covering the molding core material with an annular woven fabric and heat-shrinking it, the annular base material can be brought into close contact with the outer periphery of the molding core material. The material will not warp or wrinkle on the surface of the core material for molding. As a result, it is possible to create a belt that has a uniform inner diameter and a stable driving state. In addition, since the molding operation of the annular base material is carried out by covering the molding core material with a larger annular woven fabric, the work of applying it is easy.

Furthermore, unlike conventional rollers, the toner fixing belt according to the present invention is lightweight because it is in a belt shape, and can be used while being bent, so that the machine can be made smaller.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings relate to embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a toner fixing belt, FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the main part of the toner fixing belt when it is in use, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an annular woven fabric. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the main part of the core material attached to the molding core material, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the main part showing the annular base material and the molding core material after heat shrinkage. 12 annular base material, 12 b annular woven fabric, 14 silicone rubber layer, 28 molding core material patent applicant Inoue MBC Co., Ltd. Figure 1 n Figure 2

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A woven fabric in which heat-shrinkable fibers and non-heat-shrinkable fibers are perpendicular to each other is made into a ring shape with the heat-shrinkable fibers oriented in the circumferential direction, and a ring-shaped base material made by heat-shrinking the fabric; A toner fixing belt consisting of a silicone rubber layer laminated on the surface of a base material. (2) The toner fixing belt according to claim 1, wherein a drive gear hole is provided at one end or both ends. (3) The toner fixing belt according to claim 2, wherein a reinforcing layer is laminated on at least one of the inner and outer surfaces or between the annular base material and the silicone rubber layer in the driving gear hole. (4) In a method for manufacturing a toner fixing belt in which a silicone rubber layer is laminated on the surface of an annular base material made of woven fabric, [1] heat-shrinkable fibers and non-heat-shrinkable fibers are orthogonal to each other, and the heat-shrinkable fibers are An annular woven fabric with the circumferential direction of is placed over a core material for molding and heat-shrinked to form an annular base material; [2] an unvulcanized silicone rubber layer is laminated on the surface of the annular base material and vulcanized; [3] A method for manufacturing a toner fixing belt, which comprises removing a core material for molding.