JPS6128969A - Nonmagnetic one-component developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a uniform contact pressure between a control member and a carrying body by forming the control member for forming a thin layer of a developer, by a soft elastic material in a contact part with the carrying body, and setting its DIN abrasion quantity to a sepcified value or above. CONSTITUTION:A control member 5 has a spring plate material 7, and a rubber member 8 which is adhered to the spring plate material and formed by a soft elastic material, and as for the control member 5, its rubber member 8 contacts a carrying body 4. According to such constitution, a contact part with the carrying body 4 of the control member 5, namely, a contact part of the rubber member 8 is worn out due to friction, etc. of the control member 5 and the carrying body 4. In this way, the rubber member 8 has a uniform contact surface with the carrying body 4, and works on a developer 1 by a uniform pressure, and accordingly, a uniform developer layer 6 can always be obtained stably.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a non-magnetic one-component developing device, in particular, a non-magnetic one-component developing device, in particular, a non-magnetic one-component developing device, in which a developer supplied on a carrier is made into a developer layer of a predetermined thickness by a regulating member,
The present invention relates to a developing device that conveys this developer layer to an electrostatic latent image and develops it into a visible image.

(Prior art) In electronic copying machines, etc., a non-magnetic one-component developing device is used to develop an electrostatic latent image into a visible image. It has been known.

In FIG. 6, the developer 1 is supplied into the hopper 2, and the carrier 4 and the conveyance roll 3 are respectively connected to arrows A
, B, and rotate in the same direction at the contact portion, and the developer 1 is rotated in the direction B.
It is transferred to the carrier 4 by. A layer forming member, that is, a regulating member 5 contacts the carrier 4 with uniform pressure, and the regulating member 5 forms the developer 1 into a developer layer 6 having a predetermined thickness. The developer layer 6 having a predetermined thickness is then conveyed to the electrostatic latent image on a holder (not shown), whereby the electrostatic latent image is developed into a visible image.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In such a conventional developing device, the contact pressure between the regulating member 5 and the carrier 4 is set to 50 to 500 g/CIn; The uniformity of the contact pressure has a great effect on the developer layer 6. That is, if the contact pressure between the regulating member 5 and the carrier 4 is not uniform, the developer layer 6 is not in a uniform state.

When the developer 1 passes between the regulating member 5 and the carrier 4 to form the developer layer 6, the regulating member 5 controls the developer 1.
In other words, the developer 1 is pushed up by mechanical force, and the developer 1 is allowed to pass through. Therefore, when the developing device is used for a long time, the developer 1 will film on the regulating member 5, and a uniform contact pressure will not be obtained for the developer 1 between the regulating member 5 and the carrier 4. Therefore, there is a problem in that it is difficult to maintain the developer layer 6 in a uniform state over time. In addition, in order to apply the developing device to high-speed copying machines,
A similar problem also occurred when the carrier 4 was rotated at high speed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to be able to obtain a uniform contact pressure between the regulating member and the carrier, and to stably obtain a uniform developer layer. The object of the present invention is to provide a non-magnetic one-component developing device that can perform the following.

(Means and effects for solving the problem) The non-magnetic one-component developing device of the present invention supplies developer to a carrier, forms a thin layer of developer on the carrier by a regulating member, and charges the developer. In a non-magnetic one-component developing device that applies a latent electrostatic image to a holder that holds an electrostatic latent image, and develops it into a visible image by depositing a developer on the electrostatic latent image, the regulating member The contact portion with the body is made of a soft elastic body, and the soft elastic body is characterized in that its DIN wear amount is set to about 100 mm 3 or more.

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

FIG. 1 shows a non-magnetic one-component developing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the developing device is equipped with a hopper 2 that stores a developer l, which is a pigment such as carbon or a metal-containing azo dye, etc., contained in various thermoplastic resins such as styrene or acrylic resin. 5-5 with dispersed polarity control agent
They are particles with a size of about 20 microns, and in some cases, 0.5 to 2% of hydrophobic silica is added.

A hopper 2 is provided directly above the carrier 4 in order to feed the developer 1 onto the carrier 4 by gravity. Developer 1
is adhered to the carrier 4 at a constant thickness by the blade-shaped regulating member 5, and is formed into a developer layer 6, and is charged by frictional electrification.

This developer layer 6 is sent to a holder (not shown) such as a photoreceptor by rotating the carrier 40, and is deposited on the electrostatic latent image on the holder. This will be developed into a visible image. Note that the developer layer 6 that was not used for development, that is, the developer l, is transferred to the transport roll (auxiliary roll) 3.
is removed from the surface of the carrier 4 and returned to the hopper 2.
brought back inside.

A characteristic feature of the present invention is that the regulating member is formed of a soft elastic material at the contact portion with the carrier, and the DIN wear amount of the soft elastic material is set to be approximately 100 mm' or more. In the embodiment, the regulating member 5 includes a spring plate material (for example, SUS with a thickness of 0.1 mm) 7 and a rubber member (for example, silicone rubber) 8 bonded to the spring plate material 7 and serving as a soft elastic body. As a result, the rubber member 8 of the regulating member 5 comes into contact with the carrier 4.

Therefore, if coarse developer 1, for example coarse toner particles, enters the contact area between rubber member 8 and carrier 4, rubber member 8 will deform only at the portion of the coarse toner particles. The rubber member 8 can pass through the contact area in a form that envelops coarse toner particles. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the stress applied to the toner particles from becoming larger than necessary, and furthermore, in the contact area, the gap between the regulating member 5 and the carrier becomes unnecessarily large, causing other fine particles to become unnecessarily large. It is possible to eliminate the possibility that toner particles may enter, and thereby it becomes possible to always stably supply a uniform developer layer 6 over time.

Further, in the embodiment, the DIN wear amount of the rubber member 8 is set to be approximately 109 mm' or more.

Here, I) INN wear color is as follows,
That is, an abrasive cloth is wrapped around a cylinder, a test piece (for example, a rubber member) is set as l (3 mmφ, thickness 6IT1 m,
The test piece was pressed against the polishing cloth with a load of 1.02 ± 0.02 kg, and the test piece was moved along the axial direction of the cylinder with a lateral movement amount of 4.2 (mm/one rotation of the cylinder) to calculate the wear distance. This refers to the wear volume of a test piece when the length is 40 m.

Therefore, in the embodiment, the DI of the rubber member 8 is
When the N wear amount is set to 100 mm'' or more, it means that the wear volume as described above is set to 100 mm3 or more.

And the DIN wear amount of the rubber member 8 is 10 Qmm'm
m- setting, the contact portion of the restriction member 5 with the support 4, that is, the contact portion of the rubber member 8, is worn out due to friction between the restriction member 5 (rubber member 8) and the support 4, and the like. As a result, the rubber member 8 has a uniform contact surface with the carrier 4 and acts on the developer 1 with uniform pressure, so that the uniform developer layer 6 can be maintained stably at all times. Obtainable.

FIG. 2 shows the continuous rotation time of the carrier 4 until the developer 1 (toner) adheres to the regulating member 5 (rubber member 8) when the value of the DIN wear amount of the rubber member 8 is changed. It is shown. In addition, in FIG. 2, the conditions of the developing device are as follows, that is, the contact pressure of the regulating member 5 is 100
g/cm 2 , and the carrier 4 is made of conductive phenol resin and rotates at a circumferential speed of 150 mm/s.

As is clear from the graph in FIG. 2, when the DIN wear amount of the rubber member 8 is 10 On+m' or more, the developer does not stick to the regulating member 5 and a uniform developer layer is stabilized for a long time. It is recognized that the company can supply

Next, FIG. 3 shows the amount of wear of the rubber member 8 with respect to the continuous rotation time of the carrier 4. FIG. 4.5 shows changes in the amount of developer on the carrier 4 and the amount of charge on the developer over time with respect to the continuous rotation time of the carrier 4. In Fig. 3.4.5, the rubber member 8 is made of silicone rubber, its DIN abrasion value is set to 285 mm3, and the carrier 4 has a circumferential speed of 150 mm.
/S to rotate. As is clear from this Figure 4.5,
Even if the continuous rotation time of the carrier 4 changes (as shown in FIG. 3, the amount of wear on the rubber member 8 also changes in proportion to the continuous rotation time of the carrier 4), the developer on the carrier 4 amount,
It is understood that the amount of charge does not change much and a uniform developer layer is stably formed.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, at the contact portion between the rubber member 8 and the carrier 4, the rubber member 8 is set to be relatively long along the rotational direction of the carrier 4. However, it is also possible to set the rubber member 8 to be relatively short along the rotational direction of the carrier 4, that is, to make the rubber member 8 only the contact portion with the carrier 4. In this way, even when the area (shape) of the rubber member 8 is reduced to the point of contact with the carrier, the same effects as in the embodiment described above can be achieved, and furthermore, there is an advantage that costs can be reduced. have

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, the developer does not stick to the regulating member, and due to the elastic force of the regulating member, the contact pressure is always uniform between the regulating member and the carrier. can be obtained over time, ie, a uniform contact pressure is applied to the developer. Therefore, a uniform developer layer can be stably obtained even when used for a long period of time or when used at high speed rotation.As a result, when the developing device of the present invention is applied to an electrophotographic copying machine, it is possible to obtain clear and sharp layers. It becomes possible to obtain a copy image.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a non-magnetic one-component developing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 shows how the developer is carried until it sticks to the regulating member when the DIN wear amount of the rubber member is changed. Figure 3 is a graph showing the continuous rotation time of the carrier body, Figure 3 is a graph diagram showing the change over time in the wear amount of the rubber member with respect to the continuous rotation time of the carrier body, and Figure 4 is a graph diagram showing the change in wear amount of the rubber member over time with respect to the continuous rotation time of the carrier body. A graph diagram showing the change over time in the amount of developer on the carrier; FIG.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a conventional non-magnetic one-component developing device. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Developer, 2... Hopper, 3... Conveyance roll, 4... Carrier, 5... Regulating member, 6... Developer layer, 7... Spring member, 8 ...Rubber parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A developer is supplied to a carrier, a regulating member forms a thin layer of developer on the carrier, gives an electric charge, and sends this to a carrier holding an electrostatic latent image, and the electrostatic latent image is In a non-magnetic one-component developing device that develops a visible image by depositing a developer on a latent image, the regulating member is formed of a soft elastic material at a contact portion with the carrier, and the soft elastic material is made of a soft elastic material. , that D
A non-magnetic one-component developing device characterized in that an IN wear amount is set to about 100 mm^3 or more.