JPH01281476A - Toner carrying body - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to the structure of a toner conveying body used in a developing device and conveying toner, which is a developer.

[Prior Art] As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-114163, a conventional toner conveying body charges and conveys toner using a one-component non-magnetic toner as a developer to form a float electrode on a conductive support. Toner transport bodies are known.

[Problem M to be solved by the invention] However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, not only is the process of forming the float electrode on the toner transporting member complicated, resulting in high cost, but also the process of forming the float electrode on the toner transporting member is difficult. When a developing bias voltage is applied between them, the developing electric field becomes non-uniform due to the arrangement of the float electrodes, causing the developed toner I to vary and deteriorating temperature reproducibility.Furthermore, since it is a contact developing method, toner is applied to non-image areas. This has had the problem of causing adhesion and deteriorating image quality.

The present invention is intended to solve these two problems, and its purpose is to provide a toner transporting member that enables a -component non-magnetic non-contact development method. Still another object is to provide a toner conveying body that is simple in structure and low in cost.

Still another object is to provide a toner conveying member that can easily set a developing gap, reduce variations in the developing electric field, and reduce variations in the amount of developed toner.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The toner conveying body of the present invention is a toner conveying body formed by forming an insulating layer on a conductive support, in which the conductive support is formed of a cylindrical conductor. , the insulating layer is formed so that both ends of the conductive support are concave or convex.

[Function] According to the above structure of the present invention, a 1-ner conveyor can be manufactured by a simple process of coating a resin on a cylindrical conductive support, and post-processing is also easy. The thickness of the insulating layer can be made uniform, and by setting a development gap using both ends of the toner conveying body, it is possible to make the development electric field uniform and suppress variations in the amount of developed toner.

[Example] FIG. 1 is a general view of a toner conveying body in an example of the present invention, in which an insulating layer 2 is formed on a cylindrical conductive support 1 made of a conductor, and both ends of the conductive support 10 are exposed. The thickness of the cutout 11112 was 100 μm or less. By adopting the toner conveying body structure shown in FIG. 1, post-processing of the insulating layer 2 can be carried out using both ends of the conductive support 1 as bases, making it extremely easy to use. By making the thickness of layer 2 uniform, variations in the developing electric field can be suppressed.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of a toner conveying body in another embodiment of the present invention. , an insulating layer 4 is formed on a cylindrical conductive support 3 made of a conductor so that convex portions of the insulating layer 4 are formed at both ends of the conductive support 3 and a thin layer is formed at the center. The width of the insulating layer 4 was 20 μm at the central thin layer portion and 220 μm at the convex portions at both ends. By adopting the toner transport structure shown in FIG. 2, the convex portions of the insulating layer 4 at both ends of the four-electrode support 3 are brought into contact with the ffIJ image carrier, and the development gap (200μ
By setting m), a uniform developing electric field is obtained, and the thin layer in the center of the conductive support 3! The toner is transported in the 8a layer 4 part (
The thickness of the toner layer is 100 μm or less) to ensure non-contact development.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the insulating layers 2 and 4 are made of polystyrene, acrylic, phenol, polyester, aromatic, silicone elastomer, polyurethane, epoxy resin, polyimide, or cellulose. When formed from resin such as natural rubber, an insulating layer with high insulation properties, low cost, and excellent moldability can be formed. By forming the insulating layer with a photoconductive material such as photoconductive material, it is possible to remove static electricity from the insulating layer by irradiating it with light, and it is possible to remove static electricity uniformly with a simple structure. This eliminates the need to complicate the structure. Moreover, by forming the conductive supports 1 and 3 from a conductor containing iron, stainless steel, copper, aluminum, etc., it is possible to construct supports that are inexpensive and have excellent workability. Furthermore,
The most popular methods for coating an insulating layer on a conductive support are the method of applying an adhesive layer on the conductive support and then adhering the insulating layer, and the method of inserting the conductive support and applying it to the outer periphery of the conductive support. Accurate insulation can be achieved by methods such as post-processing the outer periphery after injection molding the insulating layer, or immersing the conductive support in a solvent containing the material for the insulating layer, applying the insulating layer, and post-processing as necessary. Layers can be applied.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional schematic view of an image forming apparatus using the toner conveying body of the present invention, in which the latent image carrier 5 is connected to the conductive support section 6.
A photosensitive layer 7 having photoconductivity is coated on top of the photosensitive layer 7, and after the photosensitive layer 7 is charged to a predetermined potential with a charger 8, the light emitted from a light source 9 such as a laser is rotated. The imaging optical system 10 scans multiple surfaces using a lens (not shown).
An image is formed on the photosensitive layer 7 by forming an electrostatic latent image on the latent image carrier 5 by obtaining a potential contrast.
Reference numeral 1 is for charging toner 12, which is an image forming member, and transporting it by a toner transporting member 13. The toner transporting member 13 is formed by forming a thin insulating M 15 on a conductive support member 14. It is similar to that shown in FIG. 1 or 2, and includes a conductive and cylindrical sleeve 16 as a toner conveyance 1 regulating member adjacent to the toner conveying body 13 and a conductive toner conveying regulating member C as well. and a flat blade 17
A voltage applying means 18 is connected between the conductive support 14 and the sleeve 10 and between the conductive support 14 and the blade 17 to generate a high electric field in each gap to bind the toner 12. With the resistance set to IdT, charge is injected into tl-12 from the sleeve 16 or blade 17 to charge the toner-12 to a predetermined amount of charge, and the toner 12 adhering to the sleeve 16 is peeled off by the scraper 19. This prevents the toner 12 from agglomerating in the chamber gap or clogging the gap, and the toner 12 passes through the sleeve 16 and blade 17 and is charged with an electrostatic image force on the toner conveying body 13. The support portion 6 and the conductive support 14 are held and conveyed by the toner support member 6 and the conductive support member 14 .
A voltage is applied between the developing bias applying means 20 and the potential contrast l of the electrostatic latent image on the latent image carrier 5. Accordingly, a disciplined electric field is generated and the charged toner 12 is transferred to the latent image carrier 5. The toner 12 is caused to fly toward the electrostatic latent image to obtain an amount of toner adhering according to the potential contrast to make the latent image visible, and is further attached to the latent image carrier 5 by the transfer device 21.
The toner 12 is electrostatically transferred onto the recording paper 22, and the toner 12 is fixed on the recording paper 22 by means such as pressure or heating to obtain a desired image. In FIG. 3, if the potential of each part is Ov for the support part 6 of the latent image carrier 5, then the electrical potential of the conductive support 14 is 13.
00v, sleeve 16 -900V, blade 17
The gap between each part is 200 μm between the latent image carrier 5 and the toner transport member 13, and 300 μm between the toner transport member 13 and the sleeve 16. - When the distance between the toner conveyor 13 and the blade 17 is set to 150 μm, a toner image with high contrast and high temperature gradation can be formed. M image with excellent area N tonality!・I was able to form a ner image. Further, in FIG. 3, a static eliminating means (not shown) for neutralizing the insulating layer 15 of the toner conveying body 13 is provided upstream of the toner conveying jll regulating members 16 and 17 with respect to the toner conveying direction of the toner conveying body 13. If provided, it is possible to eliminate the risk of discharge due to excessive charging of the exhaustion layer 15 and to perform stable toner charging. In particular, if the insulating layer 15 is made of a photoconductive material and a light emitting diode is used as the static elimination means, the toner can be charged stably. If an array or fluorescent lamp is used, the insulating layer 15 is normally kept in an insulating state using a toner transporter in a dark state, and the entire surface is exposed as necessary to heat the insulating layer 15 in a conductive state. It is possible to eliminate charges that the insulating layer 15 has unnecessarily. Further, in FIG. 3, arrows indicate the rotation direction of each member, but this does not limit the present invention.
Similarly, the above-mentioned numerical values do not limit the present invention, and the method of constructing the photosensitive layer of the latent image carrier 5 is not limited to this figure.

Although the embodiments have been described above, the present invention can be applied not only to the above embodiments but also to image forming apparatuses such as electrophotographic recording devices as a toner conveying means of a developing device. Full-color printers, copiers, and telephones for recording
It is effective if applied to image forming apparatuses that use developers that do not require magnetism, such as video printers that record /visual images, monochrome copying machines and page printers that use non-magnetic single-component toner.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a conductive support is formed of a cylindrical conductor, and an insulating layer is formed leaving both ends of the four-conductor support, thereby making it possible to easily With this structure, it is possible to create a toner conveying body for a developing device in which the post-processing of the insulating layer is easy and the development gap can be easily set, and the development of the non-magnetic toner with the -component is possible.
This has the effect of providing a low-cost toner conveying body with T performance.

In addition, the conductive support is formed of a cylindrical conductor, and both ends of the conductive support are convex. By forming ilN, it is possible to set the development gap simply by bringing the toner conveying member into contact with the latent image carrier, and a developing device capable of non-contact development with a simple structure can be realized. This has the effect of providing a low-cost toner conveying body that can develop toner.

Furthermore, by forming the insulating layer with 111 resin, the toner transport body can be constructed of an insulating material that is inexpensive, has excellent moldability, and does not easily deteriorate its insulation properties, and is a toner transport member that can develop -component non-magnetic toner. It has the effect that the body can provide.

Furthermore, by forming the insulating layer with a photoconductor, it is possible to provide a toner transporting member that can be easily neutralized and that does not cause image deterioration due to unnecessary charges.

Further, according to the present invention, development using a -component non-magnetic toner is easily possible, so that full-color images can be obtained with a simple structure and high quality using the toner one-way conveyor of the present invention. This has the advantage that a forming device can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a general view of a toner conveying body in an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a general view of a toner conveying body in another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a general view of a toner conveying body in a still further embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus using a conveyor. 1, 3. 14; Conductive support 2, 4.
15: Insulation 1 13: Toner transport body 12: Toner and above Applicant Seiko Epson Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Masayoshi Kamiyanagi (1 other person) l Fuden a hook body 02 diagram

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) In a toner conveying body formed by forming an insulating layer on a conductive support, the conductive support is formed of a cylindrical conductor, and the conductive support is A toner transport body characterized by forming an insulating layer. (2) In a toner transporting body formed by forming an insulating layer on a conductive support, the conductive support is formed of a cylindrical conductor, and both ends of the conductive support are convex. A toner transporting body characterized in that the insulating layer is formed as follows. (3) The toner conveying body according to item 1 or item 2, wherein the insulating layer is formed of resin. (4) The toner conveying body according to items 1 and 2, wherein the insulating layer is formed of a photoconductor.