JP2011095323A - Sealing member, developing device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To remove developer from the contact face between a sealing member and developer carrier where the developer infiltrates. <P>SOLUTION: The sealing member 20, used in a developing device 200, includes an adhesive face 20b and the contact face 20a. The adhesive face is stuck to the counter face of a sealing member (side sponge 19) to prevent leakage of developer, by coming into contact with an end face of a developer supply member (supply roller 5) for supplying developer to the developer carrier (developing roller 4), with the counter face being opposite to the circumference of the end of the developer carrier, and the contact face coming into contact with the end of the developer carrier along the circumference of the developer carrier. The contact face has one or a plurality of grooves 23, formed at an angle with respect to the rotating direction of the developer carrier. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a seal member, a developing device, and an image forming apparatus provided between a developer carrying member of a developing device and a sealing member that seals a peripheral surface of an end portion thereof.

  A developing device used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus is a developer carrying member that develops a developer (toner) attached to an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of a photosensitive drum as an image carrier. The image forming apparatus includes a developing roller, a supply roller as a developer supply member that supplies the developer to the developing roller, and a storage chamber that stores the developer.

  The developing device has a member constituted by an elastic member such as a urethane foam, called a side sponge, on both sides of the storage chamber. The side sponge is in contact with the end surface of the supply roller, which is a developer supply member, and thereby functions as a sealing member that prevents the developer from leaking from the end surface portion of the supply roller to the outside of the storage chamber. Further, the side sponge is in contact with the peripheral surface of the end portion of the developing roller that is the developer carrying member, thereby preventing the developer from leaking from the peripheral surface portion of the developing roller to the outside of the storage chamber. Also functions as a stop member.

  The side sponge includes a surface (hereinafter referred to as “opposing surface”) that faces the peripheral surface of the end of the developing roller that is a developer carrying member. The facing surface is formed in an arc shape so as to be in suitable contact with the peripheral surface of the developing roller. Some developing devices have a seal member attached to the opposite surface (see Patent Document 1).

  This sealing member is for improving the sealing performance (sealing performance) between the developing roller and the side sponge. That is, the seal member improves the sealability (sealing performance) of the peripheral surface portion of the developing roller by contacting the end portion of the developing roller along the peripheral surface of the end portion of the developing roller, and thus the developing device Improve the developer leakage prevention ability.

JP 2007-121989

  However, in the conventional developing device, when the developer enters the contact surface between the seal member and the developing roller, the developer is melted by ambient heat, and then is dissipated and solidified. As a result, the developer adheres to the contact surface.

The developer adhered to the contact surface scrapes the developing roller as the developing roller rotates.
For this reason, the conventional developing device has a problem that developer leakage may occur due to the influence of the developer fixed on the contact surface.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a seal member that functions to remove from the contact surface the developer that enters the contact surface between the seal member and the developer carrier. It is another object of the present invention to provide a developing device using this seal member and an image forming apparatus using the developing device.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first invention is a seal member used in a developing device, which comes into contact with an end surface of a developer supply member that supplies the developer to the developer carrying member and to the outside of the developer. The adhesive member that is attached to the opposite surface of the sealing member that prevents leakage from the peripheral surface of the end portion of the developer carrier, and the development along the peripheral surface of the end portion of the developer carrier A contact surface that contacts an end portion of the developer carrier, and the contact surface includes one or more grooves, and the one or more grooves correspond to a rotation direction of the developer carrier. The structure is formed to be inclined.

  The seal member guides the developer entering the contact surface between the seal member and the developer carrying member toward a predetermined direction (preferably inside the contact surface) by one or a plurality of grooves. Therefore, this seal member can fulfill the function of removing the developer from the contact surface.

  The second invention is a developing device having a developer carrying member for carrying a developer, a developer supply member for supplying the developer to the developer carrying member, and a storage chamber for storing the developer. Both of the storage chambers having a facing surface facing the peripheral surface of the end portion of the developer carrying member and preventing leakage of the developer to the outside by contacting the end surface of the developer supplying member. A sealing member provided on a side; and a sealing member affixed to the facing surface of the sealing member, the sealing member extending along a peripheral surface of an end portion of the developer carrier. One or more grooves are provided on a contact surface that contacts an end of the developer carrier, and the one or more grooves are formed to be inclined with respect to the rotation direction of the developer carrier. To do.

  This developing device has a configuration in which the seal member of the first invention is attached to the opposing surface of the sealing member. Therefore, this developing device can fulfill the function of the seal member of the first invention (that is, the function of removing the developer from the contact surface).

  The third invention is a developing device having a developer carrying member for carrying a developer, a developer supplying member for supplying the developer to the developer carrying member, and a storage chamber for storing the developer. Both of the storage chambers having a facing surface facing the peripheral surface of the end portion of the developer carrying member and preventing leakage of the developer to the outside by contacting the end surface of the developer supplying member. A sealing member provided on a side; and a sealing member attached to the facing surface of the sealing member, wherein the sealing member is disposed on the facing surface in a rotation direction of the developer carrier. The seal member includes one or more grooves formed to be inclined with respect to the seal member, and the seal member contacts the end portion of the developer carrier along the peripheral surface of the developer carrier. It is set as the structure affixed on the said opposing surface of the said sealing member along several groove | channels

  In this developing device, a sealing member is attached along a groove formed on the opposing surface of the sealing member. Therefore, the surface of the sealing member has a shape including one or more grooves according to the shape of the facing surface of the sealing member. As a result, the developing device can perform the same function as that when the seal member of the first invention is used (that is, the function of removing the developer from the contact surface).

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus using any one of the developing devices of the second and third aspects.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a seal member that functions to remove the developer that enters the contact surface between the seal member and the developer carrier from the contact surface.
According to the second invention, a developing device using the seal member of the first invention can be provided.
Further, according to the third invention, the developing device having the same function as that when the seal member of the first invention is used (that is, the function of removing the developer from the contact surface between the seal member and the developer carrier). Can be provided.
In addition, according to the fourth invention, an image forming apparatus using any one of the developing devices of the second invention and the third invention can be provided.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming unit including a developing device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 6A is a diagram (1) illustrating an assembly process of an image forming unit including the developing device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6B is a diagram (2) illustrating an assembly process of the image forming unit including the developing device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6C is a diagram (3) illustrating an assembly process of the image forming unit including the developing device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6B is a diagram (4) illustrating an assembly process of the image forming unit including the developing device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram (5) illustrating an assembly process of the image forming unit including the developing device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6C is a diagram (6) illustrating an assembly process of the image forming unit including the developing device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram (7) illustrating an assembly process of the image forming unit including the developing device according to the first embodiment. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a seal member according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is explanatory drawing (1) of the sealing member which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is explanatory drawing (2) of the sealing member which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is explanatory drawing (3) of the sealing member which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a seal member according to Embodiment 2. FIG. It is explanatory drawing (1) of the sealing member which concerns on Embodiment 3. It is explanatory drawing (2) of the sealing member which concerns on Embodiment 3. FIG.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “the present embodiment”) will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Each figure is only schematically shown so that the present invention can be fully understood. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated example. Moreover, in each figure, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the common component and the same component, and those overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

[Embodiment 1]
<Configuration of image forming apparatus>
Hereinafter, the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional configuration of an image forming apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment. Here, the image forming apparatus 201 will be described as an electrophotographic printer.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 201 includes an image forming unit 1, an exposure device 17, a paper tray 202, a conveyance belt 203, a transfer roller 205, a fixing device 210, a stacker 212, and the like. Here, the image forming apparatus 201 has an operation unit (not shown), a manual feed tray (not shown) for manually taking a recording medium into the image forming apparatus 201 on the front side shown in FIG. As a thing, I will explain.

  The image forming unit 1 is a mechanism that forms a toner image, which is a developer image, on the surface of a photosensitive drum 2 described later. In the present embodiment, four image forming units 1 are provided on the conveyor belt 203 along the conveyor belt 203. Each image forming unit 1 has the same structure. However, each image forming unit 1 accommodates toner, which is a developer of a different color, and forms an image of a corresponding color. The image forming unit 1 includes a developing device 200 described later. Details of the image forming unit 1 will be described in the section “Configuration of Image Forming Unit Including Development Device”.

  The exposure device 17 is an electrostatic latent image forming unit that exposes the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 2. A total of four exposure devices 17 are provided for each image forming unit 1 so as to face each photosensitive drum 2. The photosensitive drum 2 on which the electrostatic latent image is formed by the exposure device 17 is visualized (developed) as a toner image by the toner adhering to the surface. The exposure device 17 is configured by, for example, a digital LED head (see FIG. 2).

  The paper tray 202 is a storage unit that stores a recording medium in advance. The recording medium is unwound from the paper tray 202 and is transported to the transport belt 203, and is transported to the fixing device 210 while being in contact with the respective photosensitive drums 2 of the four image forming units 1. At that time, a toner image formed on the surface of each photosensitive drum 2 is transferred to the recording medium.

  The conveyance belt 203 is a conveyance unit that conveys the recording medium to the fixing device 210. The conveyance belt 203 conveys the recording medium such that the recording medium comes into contact with the photosensitive drums 2 of the four image forming units 1.

  The transfer roller 205 is a transfer unit that transfers a toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 to a recording medium. A total of four transfer rollers 205 are provided for each image forming unit 1 on the inner periphery of the conveyance belt 203 so as to face each photosensitive drum 2 via the conveyance belt 203. Each transfer roller 205 is formed on the surface of each photosensitive drum 2 by being charged with a polarity different from that of the toner image formed on the surface of each photosensitive drum 2 when the conveying belt 203 conveys the recording medium. The toner image is attracted and transferred to the recording medium.

The fixing device 210 is a fixing unit that fixes the toner image to the recording medium by heating and pressurizing and melting the toner image transferred to the recording medium.
The stacker 212 is a storage unit that stores a recording medium on which an image is fixed by the fixing device 210.

<Configuration of image forming unit including developing device>
Hereinafter, the configuration of the image forming unit 1 including the developing device 200 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming unit including the developing device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional configuration of the image forming unit 1.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming unit 1 includes a photosensitive drum 2, a charging roller 3, a developing roller 4, a supply roller 5, a developing blade 6, a base frame 7, a toner storage chamber 10, a toner cartridge 11, and an upper frame 12. And a lower film 13, a seal sponge 14, a stirring bar 15, a cleaning unit 16, and the like. Among these components, the developing roller 4, the supply roller 5, the developing blade 6, the base frame 7, the toner storage chamber 10, the toner cartridge 11, the upper frame 12, the lower film 13, the seal sponge 14, the stirring bar 15, and the like The constituent elements constitute a developing device 200 that forms a toner image by attaching toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 2.

The photosensitive drum 2 is an image carrier on which an electrostatic latent image and a toner image are formed on the outer peripheral surface.
The charging roller 3 is a member that uniformly charges the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 2. The charging roller 3 is in contact with the photosensitive drum 2 and rotates in accordance with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 2 in a charged state, thereby uniformly charging the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 2. The photosensitive drum 2 whose surface is charged is partially exposed by the exposure device 17, whereby an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface.

  The developing roller 4 is a developer carrying member that carries toner as a developer. The developing roller 4 is in contact with the photosensitive drum 2 and rotates in a state where the toner is carried, thereby attaching the toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 2. As a result, the developing roller 4 visualizes (develops) the electrostatic latent image as a toner image.

  The supply roller 5 is a developer supply member that supplies toner to the developing roller 4. The supply roller 5 is provided in the toner storage chamber 10 so as to be in contact with the lateral outer periphery of the developing roller 4. The supply roller 5 rotates to supply the toner in the toner storage chamber 10 to the developing roller 4.

The developing blade 6 is a member that regulates the layer thickness of the toner that is in pressure contact with the developing roller 4 and adheres to the surface of the developing roller 4.
The base frame 7 is a support member to which each member is attached.
The toner storage chamber 10 is a storage unit that stores toner.
The toner cartridge 11 is a storage unit that stores toner in advance. The toner cartridge 11 is detachably mounted above the toner storage chamber 10 and supplies toner into the toner storage chamber 10.

  The upper frame 12 is a support member to which the toner cartridge 11 is attached. The upper frame 12 is provided above the toner storage unit 10, and the toner cartridge 11 is detachably mounted thereon. The upper frame 12 is provided with an opening 12a. The toner accommodated in the toner cartridge 11 is supplied into the toner storage unit 10 through the opening 12a. Hereinafter, the opening 12a is referred to as a “toner supply port 12a”.

  The lower film 13 is a sealing member that prevents the toner in the toner storage chamber 10 from leaking to the photosensitive drum 2 side. The lower film 13 is disposed along the longitudinal direction of the developing roller 4 so as to uniformly contact the lower outer periphery of the developing roller 4. The lower film 13 is made of, for example, thermoplastic urethane, and is pressed against the developing roller 4 to function as a belt-like body for preventing toner leakage.

The seal sponge 14 is a member that partitions the toner storage chamber 10 and the toner cartridge 11. The seal sponge 14 is attached on the upper frame 12 so as to surround the toner supply port 12 a located above the toner storage chamber 10.
The stirring bar 15 is a member that stirs the toner in the toner storage chamber 10. The agitation bar 15 agitates the toner in the toner storage chamber 10 to keep the toner in the toner storage chamber 10 in a granular shape and prevent the toner from becoming a lump.

  The cleaning unit 16 is a mechanism for cleaning the surface of the photosensitive drum 2. The cleaning unit 16 scrapes off the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 by bringing the blade member into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 after the transfer process. Thereby, the cleaning unit 16 cleans the surface of the photosensitive drum 2.

  The image forming unit 1 is assembled, for example, according to the procedure shown in FIGS. 3 to 9 are diagrams illustrating an assembling process of the image forming unit including the developing device according to the first embodiment.

  Here, with respect to each component constituting the image forming unit 1, a component arranged on the right side of the central portion as viewed from the front side of the image forming unit 1 is distinguished from a component arranged on the left side. In addition, at the end of the code representing each component, either the symbol “-R” indicating that the component is arranged on the right side or the symbol “-L” indicating that the component is arranged on the left side It demonstrates as what attaches one. A component having a symbol “-R” at the end of the symbol (a component disposed on the right side) and a component having a symbol “-L” at the end of the symbol (a component disposed on the left side) Are mutually symmetrical with each other or have the same configuration.

  3 to 9 show configurations viewed from the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. 1 (that is, the rear side direction). Therefore, in each figure, the component having the symbol “-R” at the end of the symbol and the component having the symbol “-L” at the end of the symbol are in the front side direction (see FIGS. 1 and 2). ) Is shown in the reverse direction.

  First, as shown in FIG. 3, the supply roller assembly 8 is assembled. The supply roller assembly 8 is an assembly in which the supply roller 5 and surrounding members are integrated. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, the supply roller assembly 8 includes a supply roller 5, a stirring bar 15, and a seal unit 9 -R / L.

The seal unit 9-R / L is a unit for preventing the toner from leaking from the toner storage chamber 10 (see FIGS. 2 and 8). The seal unit 9 -R / L is provided on both sides of the toner storage chamber 10 in order to seal both sides of the toner storage chamber 10.
Each seal unit 9 includes a side plate 18, a side sponge 19, a seal member 20, a side sponge 26 (see FIG. 11), and the like.

  The side plate 18 is a support member that supports the supply roller 5, the stirring bar 15, the side sponge 19, the seal member 20, and the side sponge 26 (see FIG. 11). The side plate 18 rotatably supports the supply roller 5 and the stirring bar 15. Further, the side plate 18 fixedly supports the side sponge 19, the seal member 20, and the side sponge 26. The side plate 18 is made of a resin such as plastic.

  The side sponge 19 is a sealing member that contacts the end surface of the supply roller 5 and prevents the toner from leaking from the end surface portion of the supply roller 5 to the outside of the toner storage chamber 10. The side sponge 19 is configured by a foam member having elasticity such as urethane foam. The side sponge 19 includes a facing surface 19 a (see FIG. 11) that faces the peripheral surface of the end portion of the developing roller 4. The facing surface 19 a is formed in an arc shape whose curvature radius is substantially equal to the radius of the developing roller 4 according to the shape of the peripheral surface of the developing roller 4. The side sponge 19 is in contact with the peripheral surface of the end portion of the developing roller 4 at the facing surface 19a.

  The seal member 20 is a member that improves the sealing performance (sealing performance) between the developing roller 4 and the side sponge 19. The seal member 20 is attached to the facing surface 19a of the side sponge 19 (strictly speaking, the facing surface 19a of the side sponge 19 and the inner wall surface 18a of the side plate 18 (see FIG. 11)). Details of the seal member 20 will be described in the section “Configuration of Seal Member”.

  The side sponge 26 (see FIG. 11) is in contact with the end surfaces of the developing roller 4 and the seal member 20 to prevent the toner from leaking from the end surface portions of the developing roller 4 and the seal member 20 to the outside of the toner storage chamber 10. It is a stop member. Hereinafter, the side sponge 19 may be referred to as a “first sealing member” and the side sponge 26 may be referred to as a “second sealing member”. The side sponge 26 is configured by a foam member having elasticity, such as urethane foam, like the side sponge 19. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the side sponge 19 has a surface bonded to the inner wall surface 18 a of the side plate, a surface bonded to the inner diameter surface 29 a of the curved guide 29 formed on the side plate, and the developing roller 4. It has a shape including a surface that contacts the peripheral surface of the rotation shaft and a surface that contacts the end surfaces of the developing roller 4 and the seal member 20.

  The supply roller assembly 8 is mounted inside the base frame 7. At the position where the supply roller assembly 8 of the base frame 7 is mounted, a film pasting slope 7 a is provided along the longitudinal direction of the supply roller assembly 8. The lower film 13 is affixed to the film affixing slope 7a. The lower film 13 is, for example, double-sided bonded from the position where the seal member 20-R of the seal unit 9-R of the supply roller assembly 8 is inserted to the position where the seal member 20-L of the seal unit 9-L is inserted. It is affixed on the film affixing slope 7a by an adhesive member such as a tape.

  FIG. 4 shows a state in which the supply roller assembly 8 is mounted inside the base frame 7. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the main part Aa shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the supply roller assembly 8 is mounted so that the lower end of the seal member 20 is under the lower film 13.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the photosensitive drum 2, the charging roller 3, and the developing roller 4 are mounted inside the base frame 7.
Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the side frames 36 and 37 are bases so that the side frame 36 is outside the seal unit 9-R and the side frame 37 is outside the seal unit 9-L. It is attached to the frame 7. The side frames 36 and 37 are support members that support components such as the developing blade 6 (see FIGS. 2 and 8) and the toner cartridge 11 (see FIG. 2). The side frames 36 and 37 have bearings for various rollers (not shown) and can position the various rollers.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 8, the developing blade 6 is attached to the side frames 36 and 37. As a result, the space between the developing blade 6 and the developing roller 4 and the space between the developing blade 6 and the seal units 9-R / L at both ends are sealed, and the toner storage chamber 10 is formed.

  Finally, as shown in FIG. 9, the upper frame 12 is mounted on the seal unit 9 -R / L so as to cover the upper part of the toner storage chamber 10. Therefore, the toner storage chamber 10 is sealed by the upper frame 12 at the upper part, the lower film 13 at the lower part, and the seal unit 9-R / L on both sides. The upper frame 12 is provided with a toner supply port 12a.

  Thereafter, the seal sponge 14 is attached on the upper frame 14 so as to surround the periphery of the toner supply port 12a. A toner cartridge 11 (see FIG. 2) is mounted on the upper frame 12 and the seal sponge 14. Thereby, the assembly of the image forming unit 1 is completed.

<Configuration of seal member>
Hereinafter, the configuration of the seal member 20 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the seal member according to the first embodiment. 10A shows the configuration of the seal member 20-R on the contact surface 20a side, and FIG. 10B shows the seal member 20-R viewed from the inside direction (see FIG. 10A). The configuration is shown. FIG. 10C shows the configuration of the seal member 20-L viewed from the inner direction (see FIG. 10D), and FIG. 10D shows the contact surface 20a of the seal member 20-L. The structure of the side is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the sealing member 20 has the elastic member 21 as a center, the film member 24 is disposed on the contact surface 20a, and the adhesive member 25 is disposed on the adhesive surface 20b which is the back surface of the contact surface 20a. Yes. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the elastic member 21 is made of urethane foam, the film member 24 is made of Teflon (registered trademark) film, and the adhesive member 25 is made of double-sided adhesive tape with crisp paper. Yes.

  The urethane foam 21 has a flat plate shape having a length of about 25 mm, a width of about 5 mm, and a thickness of about 3 mm. The surface of the urethane foam 21 (the surface on the contact surface 20a side) has a shape in which a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) protrusions 22 are formed from the outside to the inside. On the other hand, the back surface (surface on the adhesive surface 20b side) of the urethane foam 21 is a flat surface.

  Each protrusion 22 has a height of about 0.5 mm and a width of about 1 mm. Each protrusion 22 forms a groove 23 between adjacent protrusions 22. Therefore, the surface of the urethane foam 21 has a shape having a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) protrusions 22 and one to a plurality of grooves 23. The number of grooves 23 is the number obtained by subtracting “1” from the number of protrusions 22 (three in the illustrated example). The shape including the protrusion 22 and the groove 23 of the urethane foam 21 is formed by foam molding or machining.

  The plurality of protrusions 22 and the plurality of grooves 23 are formed so as to be inclined from the outer side to the inner side in the longitudinal direction of the developing roller 4 from the upstream side to the downstream side in the rotation direction B of the developing roller 4. ing. That is, the plurality of protrusions 22 and the one to plurality of grooves 23 are inclined such that the outer side is the upstream side in the rotation direction B of the developing roller 4 and the inner side is the downstream side in the rotation direction B of the developing roller 4. Is formed. The inclination angles of the protrusions 22 and the grooves 23 are preferably 15 to 30 degrees, respectively.

  The Teflon film 24 is a thin film member made of a fluororesin and has a flat plate shape with a length of about 20 mm, a width of about 5 mm, and a thickness of about 0.05 mm. The Teflon film 24 is attached to the surface of the urethane foam 21 along each protrusion 22 and each groove 23 of the urethane foam 21. Therefore, similarly to the surface of the urethane foam 21, the surface of the Teflon film 24 has a shape having a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) protrusions 22 and one to a plurality of (three in the illustrated example) grooves 23. It has become. When the urethane foam 21 is deformed, the Teflon film 24 is deformed accordingly. The Teflon film 24 is a member that is harder than the urethane foam 21. The Teflon film 24 has the shape of the protrusions 22 and the grooves 23 so that a sufficient space for the toner to flow is secured even when the seal member 20 comes into contact with the developing roller 4 and receives pressure from the developing roller 4. To maintain.

  The double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive tape 25 has a flat plate shape having a length of about 25 mm, a width of about 5 mm, and a thickness of about 0.1 mm. The double-sided adhesive tape 25 is affixed to the flat back surface of the urethane foam 21. Therefore, the surface on the adhesive surface 20b side of the double-sided adhesive tape 25 is a flat surface. When the urethane foam 21 is deformed, the double-sided adhesive tape 25 is deformed accordingly.

<How to use the seal member>
Hereinafter, a method of using the seal member 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13 are explanatory diagrams of the seal member according to Embodiment 1, respectively. FIG. 11 shows the structure of the seal unit 9 in a disassembled state including the side sponge 19 to which the seal member 20 is attached. FIG. 12 shows the configuration of the seal unit 9 in an assembled state. FIG. 12A shows the configuration of the seal unit 9-R on the contact surface 20a side, and FIG. 12B shows the seal unit 9-R viewed from the inside direction (see FIG. 10A). The configuration is shown. FIG. 12C shows the configuration of the seal unit 9-L viewed from the inner direction (see FIG. 10D), and FIG. 12D shows the contact surface 20a of the seal unit 9-L. The structure of the side is shown. FIG. 13 shows the positional relationship between the seal unit 9 and the developing roller 4. FIG. 13A shows the positional relationship between the seal unit 9 and the developing roller 4 as viewed from the rear side direction (see FIG. 2). FIG. 13B shows the positional relationship between the seal unit 9 and the developing roller 4 as viewed from the inner direction (see FIG. 10A).

  As shown in FIG. 11, the seal unit 9 includes a side plate 18, a side sponge 19 that is a first sealing member, a seal member 20, and a side sponge 26 that is a second sealing member. 11 shows the configuration of the right seal unit 9-R, the configuration of the left seal unit 9-L is the same.

  The side plate 18 has a notch that contacts the rotation shaft of the developing roller 4 (see FIG. 2), a hole into which the rotation shaft of the supply roller 5 (see FIG. 2) is inserted, and the rotation shaft of the stirring bar 15 (see FIG. 2). Is provided with a hole or the like. Further, the side plate 18 is provided with a curved guide 29, one to a plurality of protrusions 31 and the like on the inner surface. The curved guide 29 is a support portion that supports the developing roller 4 so as to face the peripheral surface of the end portion of the developing roller 4. The surface of the curved guide 29 that faces the peripheral surface of the end of the developing roller 4 (hereinafter referred to as “inner diameter surface 29 a”) has a curvature radius of the developing roller 4 according to the shape of the peripheral surface of the developing roller 4. It is formed in an arc shape substantially equal to the radius. The protrusion 31 is a positioning portion that is inserted into a hole 32 provided in the side sponge 19 to position the side plate 18 and the side sponge 19.

  The side sponge 19 is disposed at a position on the inner side of the side plate 18 and on the front side (see FIG. 2) than the curved guide 29. In addition, FIG. 11 has shown the structure of the seal unit 9 seen from the rear side (refer FIG. 2). Therefore, in FIG. 11, the front side is the back side of the drawing, and the rear side is the front side of the drawing. The side sponge 19 includes a facing surface 19a facing the body portion of the developing roller 4 (see FIG. 2), a hole 30 into which the rotation shaft of the supply roller 5 (see FIG. 2) is inserted, and one or more protrusions of the side plate 18. One or a plurality of holes 32 into which 31 is inserted, a groove 33 formed in the facing surface 19a into which the curved guide 29 of the side plate 18 is fitted, and a rotating shaft of the stirring bar 15 (see FIG. 2) are inserted. A hole 34 or the like is provided. The side sponge 19 is positioned with respect to the side plate 18 by fitting the curved guide 29 of the side plate 18 into the groove 33 and inserting the protrusion 31 of the side plate 18 into the hole 32 of the side sponge 19.

  The sealing member 20 is affixed to the opposing surface 19 a of the side sponge 19 with a double-sided adhesive tape 25. A groove 33 is provided on the facing surface 19 a of the side sponge 19. Therefore, the portion of the adhesive surface 20b of the seal member 20 that faces the groove 33 of the side sponge 19 is not adhered. The side sponge 19 is attached to the side plate 18. At this time, the curved guide 29 of the side plate 18 is fitted into the groove 33 of the side sponge 19. The non-adhesive portion of the seal member 20 is attached to the inner diameter surface 29 a of the curved guide 29 of the side plate 18.

The side sponge 26 is disposed at a position on the inner side of the side plate 18 on the rear side (see FIG. 2) than the curved guide 29. The side sponge 26 is provided with a contact surface that comes into contact with the rotation shaft of the developing roller 4 (see FIG. 2), a bonding surface that is bonded to the inner diameter surface 29a of the curved guide 29 of the side plate 18, and the like. The side sponge 26 is positioned with respect to the side plate 18 by affixing the affixing surface to the inner diameter surface 29 a of the curved guide 29 of the side plate 18.
The seal unit 9 assembled by these members has a shape shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the seal unit 9 is attached to both ends of the supply roller 5 and the stirring bar 15, and constitutes a supply roller assembly 8 together with the supply roller 5 and the stirring bar 15. The supply roller assembly 8 is mounted inside the base frame 7 and constitutes the image forming unit 1 (see FIGS. 2 and 9). The image forming unit 1 is mounted at a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus 201 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 201 rotates the photosensitive drum 2 in the direction of the arrow during image formation. The developing roller 4 and the supply roller 5 rotate in accordance with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 2. At this time, the supply roller 5 supplies toner from the toner storage chamber 10 to the developing roller 4, and the developing blade 6 regulates the layer thickness of the toner attached to the surface of the developing roller 4. As a result, a toner layer having a predetermined thickness is formed on the surface of the body portion of the developing roller 4.

  Incidentally, both ends of the developing roller 4 are pressed against the seal member 20-R / L of the seal unit 9-R / L with a predetermined pressure, as shown in FIG. Thus, the image forming apparatus 201 prevents the toner from entering the contact surface 20a (see FIG. 12) of the seal member 20. However, a small amount of toner may pass through the gap between the seal member 20 and the developing roller 4 and enter the contact surface 20a of the seal member 20 along the arrow I shown in FIG.

  A protrusion 22 and a groove 23 are provided on the contact surface 20a. When comparing the portion provided with the protrusion 22 (hereinafter referred to as “protrusion 22 portion”) and the portion provided with the groove 23 (hereinafter referred to as “groove 23 portion”), the pressure received from the developing roller 4 is The protrusion 22 portion is stronger than the groove 23 portion. Therefore, the toner that has entered the contact surface 20a is guided along the groove 23 having a low pressure.

  As described above, the protrusion 22 and the groove 23 are formed so as to be inclined from the outer side to the inner side in the longitudinal direction of the developing roller 4 from the upstream side to the downstream side in the rotation direction B of the developing roller 4. (See FIG. 10). Therefore, the toner that has entered the contact surface 20a is guided from the outside to the inside of the contact surface 20a (that is, in the direction of arrow F shown in FIG. 13). A toner storage chamber 10 is provided on the inner side of the contact surface 20a. Therefore, the seal member 20 guides the toner that has entered the contact surface 20 a into the toner storage chamber 10.

  As described above, the sealing member 20 is formed by attaching the film member (here, the Teflon film 24) to the substantially flat surface on which the protrusions 22 and the grooves 23 of the elastic member (here, the urethane foam 21) are formed. ,It is formed. In the seal member 20, the outer side of the protrusion 22 and the groove 23 is on the upstream side (see FIG. 10) in the rotation direction B of the developing roller 4, and the inner side is on the downstream side (see FIG. 10) in the rotational direction B of the developing roller 4. In this way, it is affixed to the opposing surface 19 a of the side sponge 19 and the inner diameter surface 29 a of the curved guide 29 of the side plate 18.

As described above, according to the seal member 20 according to the first embodiment, the toner that enters the contact surface 20a is contacted along the groove 23 without leaking to the outside due to the rotation of the opposing developing roller 4. Guiding from the outside to the inside of the surface 20a. Therefore, according to this seal member 20, the function of removing toner from the contact surface 20a can be achieved.
Since the toner is removed from the contact surface 20a, the toner does not adhere to the contact surface 20a. Therefore, according to the seal member 20, it is possible to prevent the developing roller 4 from being scraped by toner, thereby preventing the occurrence of developer (toner) leakage.

  Further, the sealing member 20 simply forms an elastic member (here, urethane foam 21) so as to have the protrusion 22 and the groove 23 by foam molding or machining, and a film member (here, Teflon film 24). Does not require any special processing. Therefore, the seal member 20 can be manufactured by substantially the same material as the conventional seal member and by the same manufacturing process as the conventional seal member. Therefore, according to this seal member 20, it is possible to realize a function of removing toner from the contact surface 20a at a cost comparable to that of a conventional seal member.

[Embodiment 2]
The seal member 20 according to the first embodiment is deformed from a flat plate shape to an arc shape when being attached to the opposing surface 19a of the side sponge 19 and the inner diameter surface 29a of the curved guide 29 of the side plate 18. For this reason, the seal member 20 may cause wrinkles in the inner side Teflon film 24, and the developer (toner) may leak from the wrinkles. Thus, the second embodiment provides a seal member 40 that prevents wrinkles from occurring on the Teflon film 24.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the seal member 40 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the configuration different from the seal member 20 according to the first embodiment will be mainly described, and a detailed description of the same configuration (see FIG. 10) as the seal member 20 according to the first embodiment will be omitted.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a seal member according to the second embodiment. 14A shows the configuration of the sealing member 40-R on the contact surface 20a side, and FIG. 14B shows the configuration of the sealing member 40-R viewed from the inside direction (see FIG. 14A). The configuration is shown. FIG. 14C shows the configuration of the seal member 40-L viewed from the inner direction (see FIG. 14D), and FIG. 14D shows the contact surface 20a of the seal member 40-L. The structure of the side is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the sealing member 40 according to the second embodiment has a radius of curvature of the urethane foam 41, which is an elastic member, as compared with the sealing member 20 according to the first embodiment. Is different in that it is formed in an arc shape substantially equal to the radius of the developing roller 4.

  Like the urethane foam 21 of the sealing member 20 according to the first embodiment, the surface of the urethane foam 41 (the surface on the contact surface 20a side) has a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) protrusions 22 and one to a plurality of (illustrated examples). Then, three) grooves 23 are provided. The shape including the protrusion 22 and the groove 23 of the urethane foam 41 is formed by foam molding or machining.

  The plurality of protrusions 22 and the plurality of grooves 23 are formed so as to be inclined from the outer side to the inner side in the longitudinal direction of the developing roller 4 from the upstream side to the downstream side in the rotation direction of the developing roller 4. Yes.

  The surface of the urethane foam 41 is affixed with a Teflon film 24 having a thickness of 0.05 mm, for example, like the urethane foam 21 of the sealing member 20 according to the first embodiment. The Teflon film 24 is affixed to the surface of the urethane foam 41 along each protrusion 22 and each groove 23 of the urethane foam 41. Therefore, similarly to the surface of the urethane foam 41, the surface of the Teflon film 24 has a shape including a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) protrusions 22 and one to a plurality of (three in the illustrated example) grooves 23. It has become.

  Also, the back surface of the urethane foam 41 (the surface on the adhesive surface 20b side) is affixed with a double-sided adhesive tape 25 with adhesive paper, which is an adhesive member, like the urethane foam 21 of the sealing member 20 according to the first embodiment. Yes.

  Similar to the seal member 20 according to the first embodiment, the seal member 40 is attached to the opposing surface 19a of the side sponge 19 and the inner diameter surface 29a of the curved guide 29 of the side plate 18 (see FIG. 11). As a result, the seal member 40 constitutes the seal unit 9 shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 instead of the seal member 20 according to the first embodiment. The seal unit 9 including the seal member 40 functions in the same manner as when the seal member 20 according to the first embodiment is included. Therefore, detailed description of the operation of the seal unit 9 is omitted.

As described above, according to the sealing member 40 according to the second embodiment, as the sealing member 20 according to the first embodiment, the toner that enters the contact surface 20a is removed from the external surface by rotating the opposing developing roller 4. Without being leaked, the guide is guided along the groove 23 from the outside to the inside of the contact surface 20a. Therefore, according to the seal member 40, the function of removing the toner from the contact surface 20a can be achieved.
Further, according to the seal member 40, it is possible to prevent the developing roller 4 from being scraped by toner, thereby preventing the occurrence of developer (toner) leakage.

  Further, according to the seal member 40, only the elastic member (here, the urethane foam 21) is formed in a circular arc shape so as to have the protrusion 22 and the groove 23 by foam molding or machining. Similar to the seal member 20 according to the first embodiment, the function of removing the toner from the contact surface 20a can be realized at a cost comparable to that of the conventional seal member.

  Furthermore, according to this seal member 40, the curvature surface is formed in an arc shape that is substantially equal to the radius of the developing roller 4 in accordance with the shape of the peripheral surface of the opposing developing roller 4, so that the opposing surface of the side sponge 19 Unlike the seal member 20 of the first embodiment, when being attached to 19a, it does not deform from a flat plate shape to an arc shape. Therefore, according to the seal member 40, it is possible to prevent wrinkles from being generated in the Teflon film 24, and it is possible to prevent developer (toner) leakage from the wrinkles.

[Embodiment 3]
The third embodiment provides a seal member in which protrusions and grooves are provided on a side sponge and are attached to the side sponge. Hereinafter, the configuration of the seal member 50 according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16. Here, the configuration different from the seal member 20 according to the first embodiment will be mainly described, and a detailed description of the same configuration (see FIG. 10) as the seal member 20 according to the first embodiment will be omitted.

15 and 16 are diagrams illustrating the configuration of the seal member according to the third embodiment.
FIGS. 15A and 15B show the configuration of the side sponge 51-R to which the seal member 50-R is attached. FIGS. 15C and 15D show the seal member. The structure of the side sponge 51-L to which 50-L is affixed is shown. Specifically, FIG. 15A shows the configuration of the side sponge 51-R on the facing surface 51a (see FIG. 15B) side, and FIG. The structure of the side sponge 51-R seen from a) is shown. FIG. 15C shows the configuration of the side sponge 51-L viewed from the inner direction (see FIG. 15D), and FIG. 15D shows the facing surface 51a of the side sponge 51-L. The structure of the side (refer FIG.15 (c)) is shown.

  On the other hand, FIGS. 16A and 16B show the configuration of the seal unit 59-R using the side sponge 51-R, and FIGS. 16C and 16D show the side sponge 51-R. The structure of the seal unit 59-L using -L is shown. Specifically, FIG. 16A shows a configuration of the seal unit 59-R on the facing surface 51a (see FIG. 16B) side, and FIG. 16B shows the inner direction (FIG. 16B). The structure of the seal unit 59-R viewed from a) is shown. FIG. 16C shows the configuration of the seal unit 59-L viewed from the inner direction (see FIG. 16D). FIG. 16D shows the facing surface 51a of the seal unit 59-L. The structure of the side (refer FIG.16 (c)) is shown.

  As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the side sponge 51 to which the sealing member 50 according to the third embodiment is attached includes a facing surface 51 a that faces the peripheral surface of the end portion of the developing roller 4. The facing surface 51 a is formed in an arc shape whose curvature radius is substantially equal to the radius of the developing roller 4 in accordance with the shape of the peripheral surface of the developing roller 4. The facing surface 51a has a shape in which a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) protrusions 52 are formed on a flat surface from the outside to the inside.

  Each protrusion 52 is formed to have a size of about 0.5 mm in height and about 1 mm in width. Each protrusion 52 forms a groove 53 between the adjacent protrusions 52. Therefore, the surface of the side sponge 51 has a shape having a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) protrusions 52 and one to a plurality of grooves 53. The number of grooves 53 is the number obtained by subtracting “1” from the number of protrusions 52 (three in the illustrated example).

Further, the side sponge 51 has a hole 54 into which the curved guide 29 of the side plate 18 is inserted inside the facing surface 51a. When the side sponge 51 is attached to the side plate 18, the curved guide 29 of the side plate 18 is inserted into the hole 54 as shown in FIG. Thereby, the side sponge 51 is positioned with respect to the side plate 18.
The shape including the protrusion 52, the groove 53, and the hole 54 of the side sponge 51 is formed by foam molding or machining. In other words, the side sponge 51 is integrated with a foam material (specifically, the elastic member 41 (see FIG. 14) of the seal member 40 according to the second embodiment) to which the Teflon film 24 is attached. .

  The plurality of protrusions 52 and the one to a plurality of grooves 53 are formed so as to be inclined from the outer side to the inner side in the longitudinal direction of the developing roller 4 from the upstream side to the downstream side in the rotation direction of the developing roller 4. Yes. That is, the plurality of protrusions 52 and the one to a plurality of grooves 53 are inclined so that the outer side is the upstream side in the rotation direction B of the developing roller 4 and the inner side is the downstream side in the rotation direction B of the developing roller 4. Is formed. The inclination angles of the protrusions 52 and the grooves 53 are preferably 15 to 30 degrees, respectively.

  On the other hand, the sealing member 50 according to the third embodiment is composed of only a film member (for example, a Teflon film 24 having a thickness of 0.05 mm). The seal member 50 is attached to the facing surface 51 a of the side sponge 51 along each protrusion 52 and each groove 53 of the side sponge 51. Therefore, like the surface of the side sponge 51, the surface of the seal member 50 has a shape having a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) protrusions 52 and one to a plurality of (three in the illustrated example) grooves 53. Become. The Teflon film 24 constituting the seal member 50 is a member that is harder than the side sponge 51. The Teflon film 24 has the shape of the protrusions 52 and the grooves 53 so that a sufficient space can be secured for the toner to flow even when the seal member 50 comes into contact with the developing roller 4 and receives pressure from the developing roller 4. To maintain.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the side sponge 51 to which the seal member 50 is attached is attached to the side plate 18 together with the side sponge 26 to constitute a seal unit 59. The seal unit 59 functions in the same manner as the seal unit 9 according to the first embodiment. Therefore, detailed description of the operation of the seal unit 59 is omitted.

As described above, according to the seal member 50 according to the third embodiment, the surface of the seal member 50 is similar to the surface of the side sponge 51, and a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) protrusions 52 and one to a plurality ( In the example shown in the figure, the shape has three grooves 53, so that the function of removing the toner from the contact surface 20a can be achieved.
Further, according to the seal member 50, it is possible to prevent the developing roller 4 from being scraped by the toner, thereby preventing the occurrence of developer (toner) leakage.

  In addition, according to the seal member 50, the Teflon film 24 is directly attached to the opposing surface 51a of the side sponge 51. Therefore, when the Teflon film 24 is attached to the opposing surface 51a of the side sponge 51, the teflon film 24 is Can be prevented, and developer (toner) leakage from wrinkles can be prevented.

  Further, according to the seal member 50, the side sponge 51 to be attached is, to speak, a foam material to which the Teflon film 24 is attached (specifically, the elastic member 41 of the seal member 40 according to the second embodiment ( (See FIG. 14)). Therefore, according to this sealing member 50, compared with the sealing member 40 according to the second embodiment, the double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive tape 25 is not required, and the number of members and the manufacturing cost of the members are reduced, and the number of work steps is reduced. be able to.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.
For example, the seal members 20, 40, and 50 can be used not only in printers but also in electrophotographic image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, facsimile machines, and MFPs. Note that “MFP” is an abbreviation for Multi Function Peripheral, and is an apparatus in which a facsimile function, a scanner function, a copy function, etc. are added to a printer.

  For example, in Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2, the elastic members 21 and 41 of the seal members 20 and 40 are made of urethane foam, the film member 24 is made of Teflon film, and the adhesive member 25 is a double-sided adhesive tape. It is constituted by. However, each member of the seal members 20 and 40 may be configured by a member other than the urethane foam, the Teflon film, and the double-sided adhesive tape.

  Further, for example, in the first embodiment, the groove 23 of the seal member 20 is formed by providing the protrusion 22 on the surface of the elastic member 21. However, the groove 23 can also be formed directly on the surface of the elastic member 21. Similarly, the groove 23 of the seal member 40 according to the second embodiment can be directly formed on the surface of the elastic member 41. Further, the groove 53 of the seal member 50 according to the third embodiment can be directly formed on the facing surface 51 a of the side sponge 51.

1 Image forming unit 2 Photosensitive drum (image carrier)
3 Charging roller 4 Developing roller (developer carrier)
5 Supply roller (developer supply member)
6 Developing blade 7 Base frame 8 Supply roller assembly 9 Seal unit 10 Toner storage chamber (storage chamber)
11 Toner cartridge 12 Upper frame 12a Toner supply port 13 Lower film 14 Seal sponge 15 Stirring bar 16 Cleaning unit 17 Exposure unit (LED head)
18 Side plate 19, 26, 51 Side sponge (blur suppression member)
20, 40, 50 Seal member 21, 41 Urethane foam (elastic member)
22, 52 Protrusion 23, 53 Groove 24 Teflon film (film member)
25 Double-sided adhesive tape 29 Curved guide 30, 32, 34, 54 Hole 36, 37 Side frame 200 Developing device 201 Image forming device 202 Paper tray 203 Conveying belt 205 Transfer roller 210 Fixing device 212 Stacker

Claims (15)

A seal member used in the developing device,
The sealing member that contacts the end surface of the developer supply member that supplies the developer to the developer carrying member and prevents leakage of the developer to the outside faces the peripheral surface of the end portion of the developer carrying member. An adhesive surface to be attached to the opposite surface;
A contact surface in contact with the end of the developer carrier along the peripheral surface of the end of the developer carrier;
The contact surface includes one or more grooves,
The seal member is characterized in that the one or more grooves are formed to be inclined with respect to the rotation direction of the developer carrier. The seal member according to claim 1,
The one or more grooves are formed so as to incline from the outer side to the inner side in the longitudinal direction of the developer carrying member as it goes from the upstream side to the downstream side in the rotation direction of the developer carrying member. A sealing member. In the sealing member according to claim 1 or claim 2,
An elastic member having elasticity, wherein the one or more grooves are formed on the surface;
A film member constituting the contact surface, affixed to the surface of the elastic member along the one or more grooves;
A sealing member, comprising: an adhesive member that is attached to a back surface of the elastic member and constitutes the adhesive surface. The sealing member according to claim 3,
A sealing member, wherein the film member is a member harder than the elastic member. In the seal member according to claim 3 or 4,
The elastic member is formed in a substantially planar shape,
When the sealing member is attached to the opposing surface, the elastic member is deformed into an arc shape in accordance with the shape of the opposing surface of the sealing member, and the film member and the adhesive member are the elastic member. A seal member that is deformed along with the deformation of the seal member. In the seal member according to claim 3 or 4,
The elastic member is formed in an arc shape according to the shape of the facing surface of the sealing member,
The sealing member, wherein the film member and the adhesive member are attached to the elastic member along an arc shape of the elastic member. In a developing device having a developer carrying member for carrying a developer, a developer supplying member for supplying the developer to the developer carrying member, and a storage chamber for storing the developer.
On both sides of the storage chamber, provided with an opposing surface that faces the peripheral surface of the end portion of the developer carrying member, and that contacts the end surface of the developer supply member to prevent leakage of the developer to the outside. A provided sealing member;
A sealing member attached to the facing surface of the sealing member;
The seal member includes one or more grooves on a contact surface that comes into contact with the end portion of the developer carrier along the peripheral surface of the end portion of the developer carrier.
The developing device according to claim 1, wherein the one or more grooves are formed to be inclined with respect to a rotation direction of the developer carrying member. The developing device according to claim 7,
The sealing member is
The one or more grooves are formed so as to incline from the outer side to the inner side in the longitudinal direction of the developer carrying member as it goes from the upstream side to the downstream side in the rotation direction of the developer carrying member. A developing device. The developing device according to claim 7 or 8,
The sealing member is
An elastic member having elasticity, wherein the one or more grooves are formed on the surface;
A film member constituting the contact surface, affixed to the surface of the elastic member along the one or more grooves;
A developing device, comprising: an adhesive member that is attached to the back surface of the elastic member and forms an adhesive surface that is attached to the facing surface of the sealing member. The developing device according to claim 9, wherein
In the sealing member, the shape of the facing surface is formed in an arc shape, and
The sealing member is
The elastic member is formed in a substantially planar shape,
When the sealing member is attached to the opposing surface, the elastic member is deformed into an arc shape in accordance with the shape of the opposing surface of the sealing member, and the film member and the adhesive member are the elastic member. The developing device is deformed into an arc shape in accordance with the deformation. The developing device according to claim 9, wherein
In the sealing member, the shape of the facing surface is formed in an arc shape, and
The sealing member is
The elastic member is formed in an arc shape in accordance with the shape of the facing surface of the sealing member,
The developing device, wherein the film member and the adhesive member are attached to the elastic member along an arc shape of the elastic member. In a developing device having a developer carrying member for carrying a developer, a developer supplying member for supplying the developer to the developer carrying member, and a storage chamber for storing the developer.
On both sides of the storage chamber, provided with an opposing surface that faces the peripheral surface of the end portion of the developer carrying member, and that contacts the end surface of the developer supply member to prevent leakage of the developer to the outside. A provided sealing member;
A sealing member attached to the facing surface of the sealing member;
The sealing member includes one or a plurality of grooves formed on the facing surface so as to be inclined with respect to the rotation direction of the developer carrier.
The seal member is affixed to the facing surface of the sealing member along the one or more grooves so as to come into contact with an end portion of the developer carrier along the peripheral surface of the developer carrier. A developing device. The developing device according to claim 12, wherein
The one or more grooves are formed so as to incline from the outer side to the inner side in the longitudinal direction of the developer carrying member as it goes from the upstream side to the downstream side in the rotation direction of the developer carrying member. A developing device. The developing device according to any one of claims 7 to 13,
Further, the developing apparatus further comprises another sealing member that contacts the end face of the developer carrying member to prevent the developer from flowing out to the outside of the seal member. An image forming apparatus using the developing device according to claim 7.

Images