JPS62183314A - Manufacture of elastic roller and its device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the titled method to provide an elastic roller easily, by a method wherein a linear member for forming a hollow hole is arranged in parallel with a core metal member within a mold having a cylindrical hole, an elastic material is cast within the mold under a state wherein tension has been applied to the linear member and the linear member is pulled out after cure of an elastic member. CONSTITUTION:A linear member 32 fixed to a tension plate 33 is inserted into the hole of a support member 36. Then a core metal member 26 is inserted into a support part 30 and a support piece 22 is fitted to support pats 28, 34 in an insertion state so that the right end part 26A and line member 32 are protruded respectively. The same is inserted into a cylindrical hole 12 of a mold 10 from left. A linear member fixing plate 19 is fitted to the line member 32 protruded from the support piece 22 in the insertion state and locked in a longitudinal direction. The same is made into an enclosed space by fitting a lid body 18 in the cylindrical hole 12. Tension is applied to the linear member 32 by applying force in the direction of an arrow P to the tension plate 33. Then a low viscosity rubber material is cast into the enclosed space under pressure through a casting port 18A provided on the lid body 18. An elastic roller is obtained by removing the mold 10 and pulling out the linear member in an axial direction after the mold 10 has been cooled after cure of the rubber.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an elastic roller that elastically contacts a counterpart and an apparatus therefor.

(Prior Art and Problems) When an elastic roller comes into pressure contact with an opponent, it is required to elastically deform at the contact portion. In many cases, such elastic rollers are desired to be easily elastically deformed, have a large contact area, and have nearly uniform contact pressure at any position within that range. Further, such an elastic roller may be rotating at a constant speed, and in this case, the contact portion moves, but it is required that the contact pressure is always constant over time. For example, examples of elastic rollers that rotate at a constant speed include a pressure roller of a fixing device in a copying machine, a cleaning roller for a photoreceptor, and examples of elastic rollers that are used in a non-rotating state include a platen roller.

Conventionally, as an elastic roller for the above-mentioned purpose, a roller having a rubber layer having a constant hardness as a surface layer and a sponge layer between the rubber layer and a core inside the rubber layer has been used. The above-mentioned sponge is formed by foaming, but it is difficult to make the dimensional stability, hardness, foam density, porosity, foam structure, etc. uniform, which adversely affects the uniformity of the properties as an elastic roller.

Therefore, it is conceivable to extrude a normal elastic rubber roller without using the above-mentioned sponge to form a continuous structure with holes parallel to the core metal member, but if such a shape is formed with an extruder, the holes will Dimensional accuracy cannot be ensured due to non-uniformity or deformation before curing. Therefore, there has been a demand for the development of a method for forming the above structure.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems and provides a manufacturing method and apparatus for easily molding an elastic roller having holes in a continuous structure. It is composed as follows.

First, regarding the manufacturing method, a shaft-shaped core member is arranged concentrically with the cylindrical hole in a molding die having a cylindrical hole passing through, and a core member is placed between the outer surface of the core member and the inner surface of the cylindrical hole. Within the space formed, at positions spaced apart in the radial and circumferential directions,
A plurality of linear members extending substantially parallel to the core metal member are arranged, tension is applied to the linear members in the longitudinal direction, and in this state, a rubber material is introduced into the space by press-fitting or vacuuming. After the rubber material has hardened, the above-mentioned linear member is pulled out to form an elastic layer having holes in a continuous structure. a mold with a mold, a lid attached to openings at both ends of the cylindrical hole to seal the cylindrical hole, and a support piece disposed on an axially inner surface of the lid, the support piece comprising: A first support part in which a shaft-shaped cored metal member is disposed concentrically with the cylindrical hole, and a plurality of support parts arranged approximately parallel to the cored metal member at positions spaced apart from each other in the radial and circumferential directions around the cored metal member. a second support part on which the filament member is disposed, and the support piece is capable of fixing both ends of the filament member and is movable in a direction that applies tension to the filament member, The lid body is provided with an injection port for molding.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of this embodiment, showing how an elastic roller is formed by the apparatus. The elastic roller molded by this device is shown in FIG. 2, and the state of each member incorporated into the mold during molding is shown in FIG. 3.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a molding die having a cylindrical hole 12 extending therethrough. The cylindrical hole 12 is honed to ensure the precision of the outer surface of the elastic roller after molding. Openings 14.1 at both ends of the cylindrical bore 12
6 is a tapered hole whose diameter gradually increases toward the end surface.

A lid 18.20 is fitted into the opening 14.16 and has an outer tapered surface that matches the tapered hole of the opening 14.16.

Note that the lids 1B and 20 will be explained later. A support piece 22 is arranged inside the right lid 18 via a linear member fixing plate 19, which will be described later, and a support piece 24 is arranged inside the left lid 20 at a position directly in contact with the inner surface. has been done. The support pieces 22 and 24 are attached to the lid 1.
Although not shown in the drawings, when the wire member fixing plate 1 is placed on the axially inner side of the wire member fixing plate 20, the engaging step portion, etc.
9 and the lid body 18 and 20, their centers are aligned with each other. The support pieces 22 and 24 have both ends 26A and 26B of the shaft-shaped core member 26 of the elastic roller inserted into the cylindrical hole 12.
The first support part 28.30 of the penetrating thank you note is supported concentrically with
are provided for each. The support pieces 22.24 further include a plurality of linear members 3 for forming consecutive holes in the elastic roller around the first support portion 28.30.
There are second supports 34, 36 for holding 2, respectively. The plurality of linear members 32 are fixed to the tension plate 33 at the left end by welding or the like and positioned so as to be arranged at the second support portion as described above. In this embodiment, the filament member 32 is a relatively thin linear member. Note that the cross-sectional shape of the filament member is not limited to a circular shape, but may be a rectangular shape.

The supports forming the second support part 34.36 of the support piece 22.24 are distributed around the first support part 28.30 at radially and circumferentially spaced positions. Therefore, each member of the plurality of linear members 32 is assembled into the support piece 18, 20 together with the core metal member 26 as shown in FIG. When placed, it is held approximately parallel to the core metal member 26 and spaced apart from others in the radial and circumferential directions.The right support piece 22 has a molding inlet that penetrates through it. 22A is provided.

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, the filament member fixing plate 19 consists of a pair of discs 19A and 19B. The outer circumferential surfaces of both the side discs 19A and 19B match the tapered inner surface of the right opening 14 of the molding die 10, or the centers of the side discs 19A and 19B match with the lid body 18 due to an unillustrated retaining step. .

The side discs 19A, 19B are provided with holes 21^, 21B, which are slightly larger than the filament member 32, at positions corresponding to the return of the second support portion of the support piece 22. - At the end of the filament member 32 inserted into the cough openings 21A and 21B, there is a groove 32A that locks into one of the holes 21A and 21B.
(See Figure 4).

Next are the lids 18 and 20, the lid 18 located on the right side
is provided with an inlet 18A that communicates with the inlet 22A of the support piece 22 to the outside, and a line is provided on the lid body 20 located on the left side at a position corresponding to the return of the second support part 36 of the support piece 24. A guide hole 23 for slidingly guiding the strip member 32 is provided.

Next, the procedure for forming an elastic roller using the apparatus of this embodiment as described above will be explained.

■ First, the linear member 32 whose left end is fixed to the tension plate 33
is inserted into the guide hole 23 of the lid body 20 and then into the hole of the second support part 36 of the support piece 24.

■ Next, the core member 26 whose circumferential surface has been coated with adhesive in advance
The left end portion 26B of the core member 26 is inserted into the first support portion 30 of the support piece 24, and the right end portion 26A of the core metal member 26 is inserted into the cylinder support portion 28, and the wire member 32 is inserted into the second support portion 34.
Insert the support piece 22 from the right side so that it protrudes.

(2) The assembly assembled as described above is then inserted into the cylindrical hole 12 of the molding die IO from the left side. The insertion is continued until the tapered portion of the lid 20 comes into close contact with the tapered opening 16 of the cylindrical hole 12. Then, the portion of the filament member 32 that protrudes from the support piece 22 comes to be located at the tapered hole-shaped opening 14 of the cylindrical hole 14.

■ After that, the linear member 32 protrudes from the support piece 22.
To, disk 19B and disk 19A of the filament member fixing plate 19
are inserted in sequence. Then, the side discs 19A and 19B are rotated relative to each other to lock the linear member 32 in its longitudinal direction.

(2) Next, fit another lid 18 into the opening 14 on the right side of the cylindrical hole 12. Thus, the cylindrical hole 1
2 is a closed space. Incidentally, the state of each member assembled in the mold as described above is shown in FIG. 3 with the mold removed. However, only two linear members are shown, and the others are omitted.

(2) Further, a force in the direction of arrow P in FIG. 1 is applied to the tension IF 53 to apply tension to the filament member 32. In this state, a low viscosity rubber material, such as LTV silicone rubber, is injected under pressure into the sealed space from the injection port 188 provided in the lid 18 through the injection port 22A of the support piece 22. that time,
The LTV silicone rubber is degassed by stirring until the two parts are thoroughly mixed before injection.

(2) Finally, after the rubber has hardened, the mold 10 is cooled in, for example, cold water, the cough mold is removed, and then the filament member 32 is pulled out in the axial direction from the molded rubber.
An elastic roller as shown in FIG. 2 is obtained.

In this example, the tension on the filament member was obtained by fixing one end of the filament member and pulling the tension plate, which fixes the other end, in the longitudinal direction of the filament member. It can also be obtained by positioning both ends in the longitudinal direction and twisting in the circumferential direction.

In addition, if the inner diameter of the cylindrical hole in the molding die is finished to a dimension that takes into account shrinkage during hardening of the rubber, the final grinding of the molded elastic roller can be omitted, improving productivity and reducing costs. can be achieved. Furthermore, the injection of the rubber material does not depend on press-fitting, but can also be performed by vacuuming.

The elastic roller shown in this embodiment can be widely used as a general elastic roller, and examples of its use include a pressure roller of a fixing device in a copying machine, a cleaning roller for a photoreceptor, a platen roller, and the like.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, in order to form holes extending in the axial direction in an elastic roller, the holes are formed in a mold having a cylindrical hole along with a core member in parallel with the core member. Arranging a linear member for forming the roller, injecting an elastic material into a mold while applying tension to the linear member, and pulling out the linear member after the elastic member hardens to produce the elastic roller. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the above-mentioned elastic roller with a simple mold structure, and since the linear member does not deform during material injection, it can be formed into an accurate shape, and moreover, it can be formed into a thin It becomes possible to use a linear member, and it becomes possible to provide a large number of small holes in the elastic roller. The elastic roller thus obtained can be sufficiently and uniformly deformed upon contact with the other party. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of elastic rollers is reduced,
This brings about the effect of improving the performance of a device using the elastic roller.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the apparatus during the molding process, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of an elastic roller made by the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. The figure is a perspective view showing the state of assembly of each member arranged in the molding die of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial perspective view showing the vicinity of the fixed portion of the linear member shown in FIG. 10......Molding mold 12...Cylindrical hole

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A shaft-shaped cored metal member is disposed concentrically with the cylindrical hole in a molding die having a cylindrical hole passing through the mold, and a space is formed between the outer surface of the cored metal member and the inner surface of the cylindrical hole. Therein, at radially and circumferentially spaced positions,
A plurality of linear members extending substantially parallel to the core metal member are arranged, tension is applied to the linear members in the longitudinal direction, and in this state, a rubber material is introduced into the space by press-fitting or vacuuming. A method of manufacturing an elastic roller, which comprises pulling out the filamentous member after the rubber material has hardened to form an elastic layer having pores having a lotus stem structure. (2) a molding die having a penetrating cylindrical hole; a lid body that is attached to openings at both ends of the cylindrical hole to seal the cylindrical hole;
a support piece disposed on the inner surface in the axial direction of the lid; A second supporting portion is provided around the periphery, in which a plurality of linear members are arranged approximately parallel to the core metal member at positions spaced apart from each other in the radial direction and the circumferential direction, and the supporting pieces are arranged at both ends of the linear member. An elastic roller molding device capable of fixing and displacing in a direction that applies tension to the linear member, wherein the molding die or the lid is provided with an injection port for molding.