Patent Grant
10969711
The present disclosure relates to electrophotographic belts, and electrophotographic image forming apparatuses including the electrophotographic belts.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-230456 proposes an electro-conductive belt having high conductivity and a small variation in electric resistance even after long-term use. This electro-conductive belt contains an ionic liquid in a thermoplastic resin such as polyester, the ionic liquid containing a fluorinated sulfonimide structure or hexafluorophosphate as an anion.
According to the examination by the present inventors, a toner image carrying surface of the electrophotographic belt according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-230456 were sometimes partially peeled off accompanied by repeated use in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus. When such an electrophotographic belt having a toner image carrying surface partially peeled was continuously used to form electrophotographic images, dot-like white spots were generated in positions corresponding to the peeled portions in the resulting electrophotographic images in some cases. It is believed that such white spots are generated due to a difference in adhesive strength of toners between peeled portions and unpeeled portions of the toner image carrying surface of the electrophotographic belt.
One aspect of the present disclosure is directed to providing an electrophotographic belt whose surface barely peels off even after long-term repeated use. Another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to providing an electrophotographic image forming apparatus which can stably form high-quality electrophotographic images.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an electrophotographic belt including a first layer containing a thermoplastic resin composition containing a thermally melt kneaded product including a thermoplastic polyester resin, an ionic electro-conductive agent having a sulfonimide structure as an anion, and an amide compound having at least two amide groups in one molecule and having a molecular weight of 1000 or less.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an electrophotographic image forming apparatus including the electrophotographic belt as an intermediate transfer belt.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail in accordance with the accompanying drawings.
The electrophotographic belt according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a first layer containing a thermoplastic resin composition containing a thermally melt kneaded product including a thermoplastic polyester resin, an ionic electro-conductive agent having a sulfonimide structure as an anion, and an amide compound having at least two amide groups in one molecule and having a molecular weight of 1000 or less.
The present inventors consider the following reason why irregular peel-off is generated in the toner image carrying surface (hereinafter, also referred to as “outer surface”) of the electrophotographic belt according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-230456.
That is, for example, the polyester resin and the ionic electro-conductive agent contained in the thermoplastic resin composition are not completely compatible, and microscopically, a phase containing the polyester resin (hereinafter, also referred to as “PE phase”) and a phase containing the ionic electro-conductive agent (hereinafter, also referred to as “IA phase”) are mixed. For this reason, it is believed that the interface between the PE phase and the IA phase peels off when the outer surface of the electrophotographic belt is subjected to repeated friction by a cleaning blade or paper sheets.
The present inventors, who have conducted further intensive research in consideration of the above findings, have found that peel-off of the outer surface of the electrophotographic belt can be reduced by containing a thermally melt kneaded product of a thermoplastic polyester resin, an ionic electro-conductive agent having a sulfonimide structure as an anion, and a compound having at least two amide groups in one molecule in the first layer forming the outer surface, in the case of an electrophotographic belt having a monolayer structure, for example.
The present inventors also have found that in an electrophotographic belt having a laminate structure including a first layer as a base layer, and a second layer disposed on the base layer as a surface layer to form a toner image carrying surface, partial peel-off of the second layer together with the first layer can be reduced by containing a thermally melt kneaded product of a thermoplastic polyester resin, an ionic electro-conductive agent having a sulfonimide structure as an anion, and a compound having at least two amide groups in one molecule in the first layer, and thus peel-off of the outer surface of the electrophotographic belt can be reduced.
The present inventors consider the following reason why the peel-off of the outer surface of the electrophotographic belt having the first layer can be reduced even after repeated use thereof. That is, at least one amide group of the compound bonds to an ester bond of the polyester resin through interaction such as a hydrogen bond, and at least one another amide group bonds to a sulfonimide group of the ionic electro-conductive agent through interaction such as a hydrogen bond or sulfonamidation. As a result, the affinity at the interface between the PE phase and the IA phase is enhanced to reduce the interfacial peeling of the PE phase and the IA phase.
The present inventors also have confirmed that the surface peel-off can be reduced by the same mechanism as above even if the thermoplastic resin composition further contain polyether ester amide (PEEA) in addition to the thermally melt kneaded product. PEEA has an ester bond and an amide group in one molecule to function as a high-molecular ionic electro-conductive agent.
<Thermoplastic Resin Composition>
The thermoplastic resin composition can be prepared by thermally melt kneading at least a thermoplastic polyester resin, an ionic electro-conductive agent having a sulfonimide structure as an anion, and a compound having at least two amide groups in one molecule. PEEA may be thermally melt kneaded with these components.
The term “thermal melt kneading” means that a resin contained in the thermoplastic resin composition is melted by heating and kneaded. During thermal melt kneading, the resins can be kneaded at a temperature equal to or higher than the highest melting point such that among the resins contained in the thermoplastic resin composition, the resin having the highest melting point is well kneaded. Any kneading method can be used without limitation, and a single screw extruder, a twin screw kneader extruder, a Banbury mixer, a roll, a Brabender, a Plastograph, or a kneader can be used.
<Thermoplastic Polyester Resin>
The thermoplastic polyester resin can be prepared through polycondensation of a dicarboxylic acid and a diol, polycondensation of an oxycarboxylic acid or lactone, or polycondensation using a plurality of these components, for example. An additional polyfunctional monomer may also be used in combination. The thermoplastic polyester resin may be a homopolyester having one ester bond or may be a copolyester (copolymer) having a plurality of ester bonds.
Suitable examples of the thermoplastic polyester resin include at least one thermoplastic polyester resin selected from the group consisting of polyalkylene terephthalates and polyalkylene naphthalates having high crystallinity and high heat resistance. A copolymer of a polyalkylene terephthalate and a polyalkylene isophthalate can be suitably used.
The copolymer at this time may be in the form of a block copolymer or a random copolymer.
In polyalkylene terephthalate, polyalkylene naphthalate, and polyalkylene isophthalate, alkylenes having 2 or more and 16 or less carbon atoms are preferred from the viewpoint of high crystallinity and heat resistance. More specifically, preferred as the thermoplastic polyester resin are polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, and a copolymer of polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene isophthalate.
The thermoplastic polyester resin has an intrinsic viscosity of preferably 1.4 dl/g or less, more preferably 0.3 dl/g or more and 1.2 dl/g or less. A thermoplastic polyester resin having an intrinsic viscosity of 1.4 dl/g or less has high fluidity during thermal melt kneading. An intrinsic viscosity of 0.3 dl/g or more further facilitates an enhancement of the strength and the durability of the electrophotographic belt.
The intrinsic viscosity of the thermoplastic polyester resin is measured using o-chlorophenol as a solvent for diluting a thermoplastic polyester resin and setting a concentration of an o-chlorophenol solution of the thermoplastic polyester resin at 0.5% by mass and a temperature at 25° C.
The content of the thermoplastic polyester resin in the thermoplastic resin composition is preferably 50% by mass or more, more preferably 60% by mass or more, still more preferably 70% by mass or more based on the total mass of the thermoplastic resin composition. By controlling the content of the thermoplastic polyester resin to 50% by mass or more based on the total mass of the thermoplastic resin composition, the mechanical strength of the thermoplastic resin composition can be readily enhanced.
<Ionic Electro-Conductive Agent Having Sulfonimide Structure>
An ionic electro-conductive agent having a sulfonimide structure as an anion to be used can be an ionic liquid having an anion represented by Structural formula (1). The ionic liquid is a liquid consisting of only ions, and indicates a salt present in the state of a liquid at a wide range of temperature, particularly, a salt formed of a relatively large organic ion species to have a melting point of 100° C. or less.
In Structural formula (1), m and n each independently represent an integer of 1 or more and 4 or less.
Specific examples of the anion satisfying Structural formula (1) include bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ion, bis(perfluoroethanesulfonyl)imide ion, bis(perfluoropropanesulfonyl)imide ion, bis(perfluorobutanesulfonyl)imide ion, trifluoromethanesulfonylperfluoropropanesulfonylimide ion, and trifluoromethanesulfonylperfluorobutanesulfonylimide ion.
The counterpart of the anion represented by Structural formula (1) can be any cation without limitation. Examples of such cations include ammonium ions, imidazolium ions, pyridinium ions, piperidinium ions, pyrolidinium ions, and phosphonium ions. Among these, preferred are ammonium ions, particularly quaternary ammonium ions and imidazolium ions from the viewpoint of cost.
Specific examples of the ammonium ions include N,N,N-trimethyl-N-propylammonium ion (TMPA), N,N,N-tributyl-N-methylammonium ion, N,N,N-trioctyl-N-methylammonium ion, N-butyl-N,N,N-trimethylammonium ion, N-(tert-butyl)-N,N,N-trimethylammonium ion, N-phenyl-N,N,N-trimethylammonium ion, and N-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-N,N,N-trimethylammonium ion.
Specific examples of the imidazolium ions include 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ion, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium ion, 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium ion, 1-methyl-3-octylimidazolium ion, 1-(tert-butyl)-3-methylimidazolium ion, 1-phenyl-3-methylimidazolium ion, and 1-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-3-methylimidazolium ion.
Specific examples of the pyridinium ions include 1-ethylpyridinium ion, 1-butylpyridinium ion, 1-hexylpyridinium ion, 1-(tert-butyl)pyridinium ion, 1-phenylpyridinium ion, and 1-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)pyridinium ion.
Specific examples of the piperidinium ions include N-methyl-N-ethylpiperidinium ion, N-methyl-N-propylpiperidinium ion, N-(tert-butyl)-N-methylpiperidinium ion, N-phenyl-N-methylpiperidinium ion, and N-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-N-methylpiperidinium ion.
Specific examples of the pyrolidinium ions include N-methyl-N-propylpyrolidinium ion, N-methyl-N-butylpyrolidinium ion, N-(tert-butyl)-N-methylpyrolidinium ion, N-phenyl-N-methylpyrolidinium ion, and N-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-N-methylpyrolidinium ion.
Specific examples of the phosphonium ions include trimethylpropylphosphonium ion, tributylmethylphosphonium ion, triethylpentylphosphonium ion, (tert-butyl)-trimethylphosphonium ion, phenyl-trimethylphosphonium ion, and (2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-trimethylphosphonium ion.
These anions and cations may be used alone or in combination. The ionic electro-conductive agent can be composed of a combination of one or more these anions and cations.
From the viewpoint of the electric resistance of the electrophotographic belt, the content of the ionic electro-conductive agent in the first layer is preferably 0.5% by mass or more based on the total amount of the thermoplastic resin composition. An amount of more than 15% by mass leads to difficulties in further reducing the electric resistance. Thus, the content of the ionic electro-conductive agent is preferably 15% by mass or less from the viewpoint of the molding properties.
<Amide Compound Having at Least Two Amide Groups in One Molecule>
The amide compound having at least two amide groups in one molecule (hereinafter, simply referred to as “amide compound”) has a molecular weight of 1000 or less. The amide compound has a molecular weight of particularly preferably 200 or more and 800 or less.
It is considered that the amide compound having a molecular weight within this range interacts with the polyester resin and the ionic electro-conductive agent in the first layer to enhance the affinity at the interface between the PE phase and the IA phase.
The amide compound is preferably a compound that melts at a heating temperature during thermal melt kneading.
The melting point is preferably 70° C. or more and less than 200° C., more preferably 100° C. or more and less than 170° C. An amide compound having a melting point within this range can have high dispersibility and distributional ability in the thermoplastic resin composition during thermal melt kneading, can be readily arranged between molecules of the thermoplastic polyester resin and the ionic electro-conductive agent, and barely decomposes due to thermal degradation. For these reasons, the effect of reducing the peel-off of the outer surface of the electrophotographic belt can be further enhanced.
The amide compound is preferably a fatty acid bisamide. The fatty acid bisamide has a fatty acid group (preferably a long-chain fatty acid group) and amide groups in the molecule, has high miscibility with the thermoplastic polyester resin, and is thermally and chemically relatively stable. From the viewpoint of the miscibility with the thermoplastic polyester resin and the thermal and chemical stability, the long-chain fatty acid group preferably has 7 to 23 carbon atoms. An aromatic bisamide may be used as the compound having at least two amide groups. The aromatic bisamide has a fatty acid group and amide groups in the molecule, where the amide groups bond to each other with an aromatic hydrocarbon.
Examples of usable fatty acid bisamides include alkylene fatty acid bisamides such as ethylene fatty acid bisamide. Specific examples include methylene bisstearamide (melting point (Tm): 142° C.), ethylene biscapric acid amide (Tm: 161° C.), ethylene bislauric acid amide (Tm: 157° C.), ethylene bisstearamide (Tm: 145° C.), ethylene bishydroxystearamide (Tm: 145° C.), ethylene bisbehenic acid amide (Tm: 142° C.), hexamethylene bisstearamide (Tm: 140° C.), hexamethylene bisbehenic acid amide (Tm: 142° C.), hexamethylene bishydroxystearamide (Tm: 135° C.), N,N′-distearyladipic acid amide (Tm: 141° C.), N,N′-distearylsebacic acid amide (Tm: 136° C.), ethylene bisoleamide (Tm: 115° C.), ethylene biserucamide (Tm: 120° C.), hexamethylene bisoleamide (Tm: 110° C.), N,N′-dioleyladipic acid amide (Tm: 118° C.), and N,N′-dioleylsebacic acid amide (Tm: 113° C.).
The content of the amide compound is preferably 0.5% by mass or more and 50.0% by mass or less based on the amount of the ionic electro-conductive agent having a sulfonimide structure. The content is more preferably 0.8% by mass or more and 30.0% by mass or less.
The content of 0.5% by mass or more is preferred because a large number of amide groups interacts with the thermoplastic polyester resin and the ionic electro-conductive agent to enhance the peel strength. The content of 50.0% by mass or less suppresses a reduction in melt viscosity of the thermoplastic resin composition, and readily suppresses a reduction in strength of the electrophotographic belt. A reduction in mobility of the ionic electro-conductive agent is suppressed, and an increase in resistance of the electrophotographic belt is readily suppressed.
<Polyether Ester Amide (PEEA)>
Examples of the PEEA include compounds containing, as a main component, a copolymer composed of a polyamide block unit and a polyether ester unit, such as nylon 6, nylon 66, nylon 11, and nylon 12. Examples thereof include copolymers derived from salts of lactams (such as caprolactam and lauryllactam) or aminocarboxylic acids, polyethylene glycol, and dicarboxylic acids. Specific examples of the dicarboxylic acids include terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, adipic acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid, undecanedioic acid, and dodecanedioic acid. The PEEA can be produced by a known polymerization method such as melt polymerization. Of course, any other PEEA can be used without limitation. The PEEA may be a blend or an alloy of two or more PEEAs.
According to the present disclosure, the amide compound having at least two amide groups in one molecule indicates a low molecular compound having a molecular weight of 1000 or less. In contrast, the PEEA is a high molecular compound having a molecular weight larger than that, and does not correspond to the amide compound having at least two amide groups in one molecule according to the present disclosure.
In the thermoplastic resin composition containing the PEEA, the content of the compound having at least two amide groups in one molecule is preferably 0.3% by mass or more and 15.0% by mass or less based on the total amount of the ionic electro-conductive agent having a sulfonimide structure and the PEEA. The content is more preferably 0.6% by mass or more and 12.0% by mass or less. The content of 0.3% by mass or more is preferred because a large number of amide groups interacts with the thermoplastic polyester resin, the ionic electro-conductive agent, and the PEEA to enhance the peel strength. The content of 15.0% by mass or less suppresses a reduction in melt viscosity of the thermoplastic resin composition, and readily suppresses a reduction in strength of the electrophotographic belt. A reduction in mobility of the ionic electro-conductive agent is suppressed, and an increase in resistance of the electrophotographic belt is readily suppressed.
<Additives>
The thermoplastic resin composition may contain other components in the range not impairing the effects of the present disclosure. Examples of the other components include conductive high-molecular compounds, antioxidants, ultraviolet absorbing agents, organic pigments, inorganic pigments, pH adjusters, cross-linking agents, compatibilizers, mold release agents, cross-linking agents, coupling agents, lubricants, insulation fillers, and conductive fillers. These additives may be used alone or in combination. The amounts of the additives to be used can be appropriately set without limitation.
<Electrophotographic Belt>
Other examples thereof include a laminate structure, as illustrated in
Examples of the second layer include layers containing cured products of active energy beam-curable resins and having high resistance to wear. Such a second layer can be disposed, for example, by applying a composition containing an active energy beam-curable resin, such as a photo-curable resin, onto the outer peripheral surface of the first layer, and curing the resin.
Examples of the third layer include resin layers for reinforcing the first layer, and electro-conductive layers for imparting electro-conductivity to the inner circumferential surface of the electrophotographic belt.
The first layer in the form of an endless belt can be prepared by the following method, for example.
i) A method of melt extruding a mixture of a thermoplastic polyester resin, an ionic electro-conductive agent having a sulfonimide structure as an anion, and a compound having at least two amide groups in one molecule into a cylindrical shape.
ii) A method of molding pellets of the thermoplastic resin composition into a shape of an endless belt using a molding method such as injection molding, stretch blow molding, or inflation molding.
Among these, examples of the method i) include an inner cooling mandrel method of a downward extrusion type enabling high precision control of the inner diameter of an extruded tube, and a vacuum sizing method.
The method of producing an electrophotographic belt by stretch blow molding in the method ii) involves the following steps. That is, a step of molding a preform of the thermoplastic resin composition; a step of heating the preform; a step of attaching the preform after heating to a metal mold for molding an endless belt, and subsequently, introducing a gas into the metal mold to perform stretch blow molding; and a step of cutting the stretch molding product prepared by stretch blow molding to prepare an endless belt.
The first layer has a thickness of preferably 40 μm or more and 500 μm or less, particularly preferably 50 μm or more and 100 μm or less.
To improve the appearance of the surface of the electrophotographic belt and the releasing properties of the toner, a treatment agent may be applied to the surface of the thermoplastic resin composition layer, or a surface treatment such as polishing may be performed thereon. An outermost layer may be disposed on the surface of the thermoplastic resin composition layer by sputtering.
The electrophotographic belt can be used in any application without limitation. For example, the electrophotographic belt is suitably used as an intermediate transfer belt for temporary transfer and carry of a toner image, or a conveying transfer belt for conveying a recording material as a transfer material. In particular, the electrophotographic belt can be suitably used as an intermediate transfer belt. If the electrophotographic belt is used as an intermediate transfer belt, the electrophotographic belt preferably has a surface intrinsic resistivity of 1×103Ω/□ or more and 1×1012Ω/□ or less. If the surface intrinsic resistivity is 1×103Ω/□ or more, a reduction in resistance can be prevented, a transfer electric field can be readily obtained, and lack or roughness of images can be effectively prevented. If the surface intrinsic resistivity is 1×1012Ω/□ or less, an increase in transfer voltage can be more effectively suppressed, and an increase in electrical power source and/or an increase in cost can be effectively suppressed.
<Electrophotographic Image Forming Apparatus>
An example of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus including the electrophotographic belt according to one aspect of the present disclosure as an intermediate transfer belt will now be described. As illustrated in
In
The developing apparatuses 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4k contain the toners of color components of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (k), respectively. The developing apparatus 4 to be used is selected based on the image information to develop the developer (toner) on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 1. Thus, the electrostatic latent image is visualized as a toner image. The present embodiment uses a reversal development method of developing the toner applied to exposed portions of the electrostatic latent image. Moreover, such a charging apparatus, exposure apparatus, and developing apparatus form an electrophotographic image forming means.
The intermediate transfer belt 6 having an endless belt shape is arranged in contact with the surfaces of the photoreceptor drums 1, and extends on a plurality of extension rollers 20, 21, and 22. The intermediate transfer belt 6 is configured to rotate in the direction of the arrow G. In the present embodiment, the extension roller 20 is a tension roller which controls the tension of the intermediate transfer belt 6 to a predetermined tension, the extension roller 22 is a drive roller for the intermediate transfer belt 6, and the extension roller 21 is a facing roller for secondary transfer. Primary transfer rollers 5Y, 5M, 5C, and 5k are arranged in primary transfer positions facing the photoreceptor drums 1, respectively, with the intermediate transfer belt 6 interposed therebetween.
The unfixed toner images of the corresponding colors formed on the photoreceptor drums 1 are sequentially primarily transferred in an electrostatic manner onto the intermediate transfer belt 6 by applying a primary transfer bias having a polarity opposite to the charged polarity of the toners to the primary transfer rollers 5 from a constant voltage source or a constant current source. Thus, a full-color image formed of a laminate of the unfixed toner images of the four colors is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 6. The intermediate transfer belt 6 rotates while carrying the toner images transferred from the photoreceptor drums 1. The surfaces of the photoreceptor drums 1 are cleaned by the corresponding cleaning apparatuses 11 to remove transfer residual toners for every one rotation of the photoreceptor drum 1 after primary transfer, and then the image forming process is repeated.
A secondary transfer roller (transfer unit) 9 is disposed by pressure welding on the side of the toner image carrying surface of the intermediate transfer belt 6 in the secondary transfer position of the intermediate transfer belt 6 facing the conveying path of a recording material 7. The facing roller 21 is arranged on the side of the rear surface of the intermediate transfer belt 6 in the secondary transfer position thereof. The facing roller 21 forms a counter electrode of the secondary transfer roller 9, and a bias is applied to the facing roller 21. When the toner image of the intermediate transfer belt 6 is transferred onto the recording material 7, a bias having the same polarity as that of the toner, for example, −1000 to −3000 V, is applied to the facing roller 21 by a transfer bias applying unit 28, and a current of −10 to −50 μA flows. The transfer voltage at this times is detected by a transfer voltage detection unit 29. Furthermore, a cleaning apparatus (belt cleaner) 12 is disposed downstream of the secondary transfer position to remove residual toners on the intermediate transfer belt 6 after secondary transfer.
The recording material 7 is conveyed through a convey guide 8 in the direction of the arrow H, and is introduced to the secondary transfer position. The recording material 7 introduced to the secondary transfer position is held and conveyed in the secondary transfer position. At this time, a constant voltage bias (transfer bias) controlled to a predetermined value is applied from the secondary transfer bias applying unit 28 to the facing roller 21 for the secondary transfer roller 9. By applying the transfer bias having the same polarity to that of the toner to the facing roller 21, the full-color image (toner image) formed of the four colors layered on the intermediate transfer belt 6 at the transfer site is transferred in batch onto the recording material 7 to form an unfixed full-color toner image on the recording material. The recording material 7 having the transferred toner image is introduced into a fixing unit (not illustrated), and is fixed by heating.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an electrophotographic belt whose surface barely peels off even after long-term repeated use can be obtained. According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus which can stably form high-quality electrophotographic images can be obtained.
Examples and Comparative Examples will now be shown to specifically describe the present disclosure, but the present disclosure should not be limited to the configuration embodied in Examples.
The materials shown in Tables 1 to 4 were prepared as materials (the thermoplastic polyester resin, the ionic electro-conductive agent, the amide compound, and polyether ester amide) used in preparation of the electrophotographic belts according to Examples and Comparative Examples. Amide compounds 1 to 5 shown in Table 3 correspond to the compound having at least two amide groups in one molecule. In contrast, Amide compound 6 does not correspond to the compound.
(Methods of Measuring and Evaluation Property Values)
Methods (1) to (4) of evaluating the electrophotographic belts according to Examples and Comparative Examples will now be described. The recording material used in the image formation for the evaluation below was a paper sheet of size A4 having an arithmetic average roughness Ra of 4 μm and a ten-point height of irregularities Rzjis of 15 μm after left in an environment at a temperature of 23° C. and a relative humidity of 45% for one day.
(1) Surface Intrinsic Resistivity
The surface intrinsic resistivity of the electrophotographic belt was measured by a method according to JIS-K6911. The measurement apparatus used was a high resistance meter (trade name: Hiresta UPMCP-HT450; manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Analytech Co., Ltd.) including a main electrode having an inner diameter of 50 mm, a guard ring electrode having an inner diameter of 53.2 mm, and a probe (trade name: UR-100; manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Analytech Co., Ltd.) having an outer diameter of 57.2 mm.
A prepared electrophotographic belt was left in a test room to stand for 12 hours in an environment controlled to a temperature of 23° C. and a relative humidity of 50%. Subsequently, a voltage of 250 V was applied to the target electrophotographic belt for 10 seconds under an environment at a temperature of 23° C. and a relative humidity of 50%, and the surface intrinsic resistivity thereof was measured at four places of the electrophotographic belt in the circumferential direction thereof. The average (ρs) of the obtained surface intrinsic resistivities was converted into a logarithm log ρs (where the base was 10), which was defined as an index for electric resistance. The value shown under “Surface intrinsic resistivity” in Table 7 is the value of log ρs.
(2) The Initial Number of Surface Peels
Using an adhesive properties tester (trade name: Multi-cross hatch cutter 295; manufactured by ERICHSEN GmbH & Co. KG), a 10 mm×10 mm square region of the surface of a prepared electrophotographic belt was cut in the longitudinal direction and the traverse direction at a width of 1 mm and a depth of about 10 μm. A polyester adhesive tape (trade name: No. 31B., manufactured by NITTO DENKO CORPORATION) was strongly pressed against with a finger and bonded to the cut square region, and was left to stand for about 1 minute. The adhesive tape had a length of 130 mm and a width of 22 mm.
Subsequently, an end of the adhesive tape was fixed to a light load type adhesive/coating film peel analyzer (trade name: VPA-3., manufactured by Kyowa Interface Science Co., Ltd.) while the angle of the end was kept at 45°, and the adhesive tape was peeled at a rate of 150 mm/sec. Among the cuts in the 100 squares within the square region, the number of cuts adhering to the adhesive tape was counted.
(3) The Number of Surface Peels after Durability Test
A prepared electrophotographic belt was mounted on a drum cartridge of a full-color electrophotographic image forming apparatus (trade name: LBP-5200, manufactured by Canon Inc.) as an intermediate transfer belt. Using the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a cyan toner and a magenta toner were layered to form a violet solid image, and 20000 sheets of a recording material having such a violet solid image were output. Subsequently, the electrophotographic belt was removed from the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and the toners were removed from the surface thereof by air blowing air. Thereafter, the same test as in (2) above was performed.
(4) The Number of Images Having White Spots after Durability Test
The number of images having white spots was visually measured in the image formed on the 20000th sheet of recording material output in “(3) The number of surface peels after durability test” above.
The materials were preblended according to the composition shown in Table 5. Using a twin screw extruder (trade name: TEX44a, manufactured by The Japan Steel Works, Ltd.), the materials were thermally melt kneaded to prepare a thermoplastic resin composition in the form of pellets. The temperature for thermal melt kneading was controlled within the range of 270° C. or more and 300° C. and less, and the time for thermal melt kneading was about 3 minutes.
The resulting thermoplastic resin composition in the form of pellets was dried at a temperature of 140° C. for 6 hours. In the next step, the dried thermoplastic resin composition in the form of pellets was placed into a hopper 48 of an injection molding apparatus (trade name: SE180D, manufactured by Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.) having the configuration illustrated in
The temperature of the cylinder was set to 290° C., and the thermoplastic resin composition was melted inside screws 42 and 42A. The melted thermoplastic resin composition was injection molded through a nozzle 41A into a metal mold (not illustrated) to prepare a preform 104 (see
In the next step, the preform 104 was placed in a 500° C. heater 107 of a primary blow molding apparatus illustrated in
In the next step, the resulting blow bottle 205 was set in a nickel cylindrical metal mold 201, which was prepared by electrocasting, in the secondary blow molding apparatus illustrated in
Subsequently, the nickel cylindrical metal mold was cooled to normal temperature by blowing air thereto, and the pressure applied into the blow bottle was released to obtain a blow bottle having a size improved by annealing. The blow bottle was cut at both ends to obtain an electrophotographic belt having a monolayer structure composed of only a first layer. The resulting electrophotographic belt had a thickness of 70 μm. The results of evaluations (1) to (4) performed on the electrophotographic belts are shown in Tables 5-1 to 5-2.
Electrophotographic belts each having a laminate structure including a first layer and a second layer coating the outer peripheral surface of the first layer were prepared as follows.
That is, first, each electrophotographic belt including only a first layer was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the composition according to Table 6 was used. In the next step, a surface layer containing a cured product of an acrylic resin, which was an active energy beam-curable resin, was disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the electrophotographic belt as follows.
The following materials were mixed.
The mixture was diluted with methyl ethyl ketone to give a resin solid content of 6% by mass, and was stirred with a stirrer to prepare a coating material for forming a surface layer. The coating material was applied by spraying to the outer peripheral surface of the electrophotographic belt prepared above to form a coating. The coating was dried at a temperature of 60° C. for 1 minute to remove the solvent. Using an ultraviolet light irradiator (trade name: UE06/81-3, manufactured by Eye Graphics Co., Ltd.), the coating was cured by irradiating the coating with ultraviolet light until the accumulated light amount reached 1000 mJ/cm2. Thus, an electrophotographic belt having a laminate structure in which the outer peripheral surface of the first layer was coated with the second layer containing a cured product of the active energy beam-curable resin was prepared. The second layer had a thickness of 2 μm. The results of evaluations (1) to (4) of the resulting electrophotographic belts are shown in Table 6.
As shown in Tables 5-1, 5-2, and 6, in all the electrophotographic belts in Examples 1 to 20, only slight surface peel was observed in the evaluation of surface peel, and preferable image quality after the solid image was output after the durability test was obtained.
Electrophotographic belts were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the type of material and the compounding amount were as shown in Table 7. The results of evaluations are shown in Table 7.
In Comparative Examples 1 and 4, the first layer did not contain any amide compound.
In Comparative Examples 2, 3, and 5 to 10, the first layer contained stearic acid monoamide having one amide group.
Furthermore, in Comparative Example 11, the first layer contained nylon having two or more amide groups but having a molecular weight which was significantly larger than 1000.
In these Comparative Examples, a large number of surface peels was observed in the evaluations of surface peel at the initial stage and after the durability test, and a large number of images having white spots was observed as a result of evaluation of the image after the solid image was output onto 20000 sheets of paper.
From these results, it is understood that it is essential to a reduction in peel of the outer surface of the electrophotographic belt that an amide compound having at least two amide groups in one molecule and having a molecular weight of 1000 or less is contained in a first layer including a thermoplastic polyester resin and an ionic electro-conductive agent having a sulfonimide structure as an anion.
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-123618, filed Jul. 2, 2019, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP2019-123618 | Jul 2019 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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| 9034476 | Uchida et al. | May 2015 | B2 |
| 9753411 | Uchida et al. | Sep 2017 | B2 |
| 9933713 | Uchida | Apr 2018 | B2 |
| 20200174405 | Uchida | Jun 2020 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
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| 2007-241307 | Sep 2007 | JP |
| 2008-274286 | Nov 2008 | JP |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20210003944 A1 | Jan 2021 | US |
