Patent Grant
11934128
The present disclosure relates to a fixing belt used in an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic method.
In recent years, an on-demand method has been known as a method used in a fixing device for an electrophotographic apparatus. The on-demand method exhibits high heat-transfer efficiency and enables fast start-up of the device. The on-demand method is applied to a fixing device using a belt heating method in which toner on transfer paper is heated by heat from a heater via a fixing belt with a small capacity.
In such a belt type fixing device, a fixedly supported heating member is used as discussed in each of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. S63-313182 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H02-157878. For example, a ceramic heater is used as the heating member. The belt type fixing device further includes a fixing belt as a heat transfer member that slides with the heating member, and an elastic pressure roller as a pressure member that is in pressure contact with the heating member via the fixing belt to form a fixing nip portion. At the fixing nip portion, the fixing belt and the elastic pressure roller nip and convey a recording material that bears an unfixed toner image thereon to apply heat and pressure to the recording material. Accordingly, the unfixed toner image is fixed onto the recording material.
A basic configuration of a conventional fixing belt includes at least a thin-wall cylindrical base member having a small heat capacity, an elastic layer, and a separation layer. In a case where the cylindrical base member is made of a heat resistance resin, an inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical base member serves as a sliding layer sliding with the heating member. In a case where the cylindrical base member contains a metal, the fixing belt includes a sliding layer made of a heat resistance resin to maintain slidability with the heating member. In this case, the fixing belt is configured to arrange the sliding layer, the cylindrical base member, the silicone rubber elastic layer, and the fluororesin separation layer in order from the inner layer to the outer layer.
The belt-type fixing device includes the fixedly supported heating member inside the fixing belt, and uses a method of nipping and conveying the fixing belt and the recording material between the heating member and the elastic pressure roller to fix the toner image onto the recording material. Thus, friction and wear occur between the inner circumferential surface of the fixing belt and the fixedly supported heating member. As a result, through use over time, self-excited vibration called stick slip or torque-up may occur in some cases.
Some conventional fixing belts employ a method of blending a needle-shaped (whisker-shaped or fiber-shaped) filler into an inner surface sliding layer of a fixing belt to increase an orientation rate of the filler in a longitudinal direction (a rotation axis direction) of the fixing belt, thereby increasing slidability, wear resistance, and lubricant retention to achieve prolonged life.
However, in a case where a needle-shaped (whisker-shaped or fiber-shaped) filler having shape anisotropy is oriented in the longitudinal direction, it is difficult to provide wear resistance strength in a belt rotation direction (a circumferential direction) which is a main sliding direction.
Furthermore, in such a case, it is necessary to form surface roughness to reduce a contact area between the fixing belt and a back-up member and retain a lubricant interposed between the fixing belt and the back-up member. It is difficult to achieve desired surface roughness with a small blending amount of the filler. If the blending amount of the filler is increased too much to obtain the desired surface roughness, the wear resistance strength of the sliding layer is rather impaired.
The present disclosure is directed to a fixing belt that achieves desired surface roughness with a small blending amount of filler, thereby increasing wear resistance to prolong durable life.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a fixing belt includes a base member having a cylindrical shape and containing a metal, a sliding layer formed on an inner circumferential surface side of the base member and containing a filler, and a separation layer formed on an outer circumferential surface side of the base member, wherein, assume that (i) a cross section of the sliding layer is obtained by cutting the sliding layer along a thickness direction of the sliding layer serving as a vertical axis and is divided into a plurality of sections each having a length whose value is the same as a value of a thickness of the sliding layer in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction, and (ii) a ratio of an area of the filler to an area of the sliding layer in each of the plurality of sections of the cross section is an area ratio, wherein a period coefficient is calculated using the formula (Ave %−Min %)/Ave %, where an average of area ratios of areas of the filler in all sections of the plurality of sections is Ave % and a minimum of the area ratios is Min %, and wherein a value of the calculated period coefficient is 0.6 or more.
Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the exemplary embodiment, and the exemplary embodiment can be modified without departing from the gist of the present disclosure and such modifications of the exemplary embodiment are included in exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
(1) Overview of Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus
Subsequently, exposure processing is performed on a surface, of the photosensitive drum 101, subjected to the charging processing, using laser light 103 output from a laser optical system 110 based on input image information. The laser optical system 110 outputs the laser light 103 that is modulated (on or off) based on time-series electric digital pixel signals of the target image information from an image signal generation device (not illustrated) such as an image reading device, and scans and exposes the surface of the photosensitive drum 101.
As a result of the scan and exposure, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image information is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 101. A mirror 109 deflects the laser light 103 output from the laser optical system 110 to an exposure position of the photosensitive drum 101. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 101 is visualized with yellow toner by a yellow developing device 104Y among developing devices 104. The resulting yellow toner image is transferred to a surface of an intermediate transfer drum 105 at a primary transfer portion T1 that is a contact portion between the photosensitive drum 101 and the intermediate transfer drum 105.
Residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum 101 is cleaned by a cleaner 107. A cycle of the above-described charging, exposure, development, primary transfer, and cleaning processes is similarly repeated to form a magenta toner image (through operation of a developing device 104M), a cyan toner image (through operation of a developing device 104C), and a black toner image (through operation of a developing device 104K). In this manner, the respective color toner images sequentially superimposed on the intermediate transfer drum 105 are secondarily and collectively transferred onto a recording material P (refer to
The cleaner 108 is configured to come into contact with and separate from the intermediate transfer drum 105, and is in contact with the intermediate transfer drum 105 while the intermediate transfer drum 105 is cleaned. The transfer roller 106 is also configured to come into contact with and separate from the intermediate transfer drum 105, and is in contact with the intermediate transfer drum 105 during the secondary transfer. The recording material P, which has passed through the secondary transfer portion T2, is guided into a fixing device 100 serving as an image heating device, and is subjected to fixing processing (image heating processing) for fixing an unfixed toner image t (refer to
(2) Overview of Configuration of Fixing Device
The fixing belt 1 is externally fit on the film guide and heater holder 4 with a certain degree of freedom. The film guide and heater holder 4 is formed of a liquid crystal polymer resin having high heat resistance, and functions to hold the fixing heater 2 and form the fixing belt 1 into a shape that can be separated from the recording material P. The pressure roller 6 has a multi-layer structure in which a silicone rubber layer as an elastic layer with a thickness of about 3 mm and a perfluoroalkoxy alkanes (PFA) resin tube with a thickness of about 40 μm are laminated in this order on a stainless core metal. End portions of the core metal of the pressure roller 6 are rotatably held by bearings between side plates (not illustrated) on a rear side and a front side of a device frame 13. On an upper side of the pressure roller 6, a fixing unit including the fixing heater 2, the film guide and heater holder 4, a fixing belt stay 5, and the fixing belt 1 is disposed.
The fixing unit 1-2 and 4-5 is disposed in parallel to the pressure roller 6 with the fixing heater 2 side facing downward. Each end portion of the fixing belt stay 5 is urged toward the pressure roller 6 with a force of 156.8 N (16 kgf) by a pressing mechanism (not illustrated), i.e., the fixing belt stay 5 is urged toward the pressure roller 6 with a total of 313.6 N (32 kgf). Accordingly, a lower surface (the heating surface) of the fixing heater 2 is pressed against the elastic layer of the pressure roller 6 via the fixing belt 1 with a predetermined pressing force, and the fixing nip portion 14 having a predetermined width suitable for fixing is formed.
A thermistor 3 serves as a temperature detection unit. The thermistor 3 (a heater temperature sensor) is disposed on a back surface (a surface on a side opposite to the heating surface) of the fixing heater 2 serving as a heat source, and has a function of detecting a temperature of the fixing heater 2. The pressure roller 6 is driven to rotate at a predetermined circumferential speed in a direction indicated by an arrow. The fixing belt 1, which is in pressure contact with the pressure roller 6, is driven to rotate by the pressure roller 6 at a predetermined speed. At this time, the fixing belt 1 is in a state of being driven to rotate around an outer circumference of the film guide and heater holder 4 in a direction indicated by an arrow while an inner surface of the fixing belt 1 is in sliding contact with the lower surface of the fixing heater 2.
A semisolid lubricant (described below) is applied to the inner surface of the fixing belt 1, and provides slidability between the film guide and heater holder 4 and the inner surface of the fixing belt 1. The thermistor 3 is disposed in contact with the back surface of the fixing heater 2, and is connected to a control circuit unit (a control unit or a central processing unit (CPU)) 10 via an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 9. The control circuit unit (the CPU) 10 is configured to sample output from the thermistor 3 at predetermined intervals, and reflect temperature information obtained by the sampling into temperature control. In other words, the control circuit unit (the CPU) 10 determines temperature control conditions for the fixing heater 2 based on the output from the thermistor 3, and controls energization of the fixing heater 2 using a heater driving circuit unit 11 serving as a power supply unit so that the temperature of the fixing heater 2 is a target temperature (a set temperature).
In addition, the control circuit unit (the CPU) 10 controls a sequence of estimating life of the fixing belt 1 (described below) and is connected to a driving motor (not illustrated) of the pressure roller 6 via the A/D converter 9. The fixing heater 2 includes an alumina substrate and a resistance heating element above the alumina substrate. A conductive paste containing silver and palladium is uniformly applied to the resistance heating element by using a screen print method so that a film thickness of the paste is about 10 μm. Furthermore, the fixing heater 2 is coated with pressure-resistant glass above the resistance heating element to serve as a ceramic heater.
(3) Overview of Configuration of Fixing Belt
A metal such as steel use stainless (SUS), nickel, or a nickel alloy is suitably used for the cylindrical base member 1c in light of heat resistance and bending resistance. The cylindrical base member 1c is to have higher mechanical strength while maintaining a smaller heat capacity, and thus a thickness thereof is desirably 20 to 50 μm, more desirably 25 to 45 μm. In the present exemplary embodiment, SUS with an inner diameter of 24 mm and a thickness of 30 μm is used as the cylindrical base member 1c.
(3-2) Inner Surface Sliding Layer 1b
A resin having both high durability and high heat resistance such as a polyimide resin is suitable for use as the inner surface sliding layer 1b. In the present exemplary embodiment, the inner surface sliding layer 1b is formed as follows. A polyimide precursor solution 23 (refer to
A thickness of the inner surface sliding layer 1b is desirably about 5 to 25 μm. Especially, the thickness of about 7 to 20 μm makes it easier to provide compatibility between wear resistance at the fixing nip portion 14 and heat conductivity for transferring heat from the fixing heater 2 to the cylindrical base member 1c.
(3-2-1) Polyimide Precursor Solution 23
Typical examples of the aromatic tetracarboxylic dianhydride include pyromellitic dianhydride, 3,3′,4,4′-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride, 3,3′,4,4′-benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride, and 2,3,6,7-naphthalenetetracarboxylic dianhydride. Each of these types of the aromatic tetracarboxylic dianhydride can be used independently or two or more types thereof can be used in combination.
Typical examples of the aromatic diamine include 4,4′-oxydianiline (4,4′-ODA), paraphenylenediamine (PPDA), and meta-phenylenediamine (MPDA). Each of these types of the aromatic diamine can be used independently or two or more types thereof can be used in combination.
Examples of the above-described organic polar solvent include N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), dimethylformamide (DMF), and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP).
(3-2-2) Filler 1a
The filler 1a can be blended into the inner surface sliding layer 1b in order to improve wear resistance. To improve wear resistance, a fluororesin such as polytetrafluoroethylene, molybdenum disulfide, graphite, or the like can be blended as the filler 1a. Any of these is appropriately selected based on a combination of sliding materials. Because the lubricant is used based on combination with a ceramic material as a sliding material in the present exemplary embodiment, the filler 1a to be blended is to have cleavage and appropriate hardness, and a mica material is suitable for use as the filler 1a.
Fluorine phlogopite (KMg3(AlSi3)O10F2), which is non-swelling synthetic mica, potassium four silicon mica (KMg2.5Si4O10F2), sodium four silicon mica (NaMg2.5Si4O10F2), which is swelling synthetic mica, sodium bentonite (Na0.33Mg2.67Li0.33Si4O10F2), silica(SiO2) hexagonal boron nitride (BN), graphite, graphene, or the like can be used as the filler 1a.
Examples of a method for dispersing the filler 1a into the polyimide precursor solution 23 to form the filler dispersion solution 24 (refer to
An optimal blending amount of the filler 1a depends on a type of the polyimide precursor solution 23 or a type of the filler 1a, but is desirably 7% by volume or more and 15% by volume or less with respect to a volume of the inner surface sliding layer 1b, which is a range that allows adjustment of surface roughness of the inner surface sliding layer 1b in an appropriate range and that does not impair wear resistance strength of the inner surface sliding layer 1b.
In a case where the volume of the filler 1a is less than 7% by volume, it is difficult to obtain the surface roughness for decreasing a true contact area with the mating sliding material and obtaining the retention of the intervening lubricant.
In a case where the volume of the filler 1a is more than 15% by volume, the polyimide of the polyimide precursor solution 23 in the inner surface sliding layer 1b becomes hard and brittle due to the filler 1a blended into the polyimide precursor solution 23. As a result, the wear resistance strength of the inner surface sliding layer 1b is impaired, and it is difficult to maintain appropriate surface roughness, i.e., slidability and lubricant retention of the inner surface sliding layer 1b over the durable period.
(3-2-3) Formation of Inner Surface Sliding Layer 1b
To make the thickness of the inner surface sliding layer 1b about 12 μm, the inner surface of the cylindrical base member 1c is coated using a ring-coating method or the like so that a thickness of the polyimide precursor solution 23 blended with the filler 1a is about 70 to 80 μm.
A work moving device 26 on which a work hand 25 holding the cylindrical base member 1c is formed is provided on the support 202. The work moving device 26 can be moved upward or downward by a motor provided on the support 202, and the work hand 25 formed on the work moving device 26 can also be moved upward or downward by the movement of the work moving device 26.
A slit portion (not illustrated) orthogonal to a circular cylinder axis is formed at an outer periphery of the coating head 22. The polyimide precursor solution 23 uniformly blended with the filler 1a is supplied from the slit portion, the cylindrical base member 1c is moved along the outer periphery of the coating head 22, and the coating of the inner surface of the cylindrical base member 1c is thereby performed. In the coating apparatus, the thickness of the inner surface sliding layer 1b is determined depending on the coating amount. Changing a clearance, a supply speed of the polyimide precursor solution 23, and a moving speed of the work moving device 26 enables obtaining a desired coating amount.
After the polyimide precursor solution 23 blended with the filler 1a is applied to the inner surface of the cylindrical base member 1c, the organic polar solvent contained in the polyimide precursor solution 23 is evaporated by heating, and viscosity of the polyimide precursor solution 23 is increased by the evaporation to maintain a shape of the polyimide precursor solution 23.
For example, as illustrated in
When the organic polar solvent is evaporated, ventilation is to be performed to maintain the organic polar solvent at less than a lower explosive limit. The ventilation is performed in such a manner that the air is supplied from an intake port 34 illustrated in
After the organic polar solvent is reduced to less than about 30% by volume, the cylindrical base member 1c is left and dried in a hot air circulating furnace, for example, at a temperature of 200° C. for 30 minutes, and is then left and burned in a hot air circulating furnace at a temperature from 300 to 400° C., which is a temperature range that does not decrease fatigue strength of the cylindrical base member 1c, for 20 to 120 minutes. As a result of the heating, drying, and burning process, the inner surface sliding layer 1b can be formed of the polyimide resin into which the filler 1a was dispersed by a dehydrative ring-closing reaction.
(3-3) Silicone Rubber Elastic Layer 1d
The silicone rubber elastic layer 1d functions as an elastic layer that is borne by a fixing member in order to apply uniform pressure to a toner image and an uneven surface of paper at the time of fixing. To implement such a function, addition reaction cross-linking type liquid silicone rubber is desirably used as the material of the silicone rubber elastic layer 1d because of easiness in work, workability with high dimension accuracy, non-occurrence of a reaction by-product at the time of heat curing, and the like. This is also because adjustment of a degree of cross-linking based on a type or an addition amount of the filler 1a, which will be described below, enables adjustment of elasticity.
Generally, the addition reaction cross-linking type liquid silicone rubber contains (i) organopolysiloxane having an unsaturated aliphatic group, (ii) organopolysiloxane having active hydrogen bonded to silicon, and (ii) a platinum compound as a cross-linking catalyst.
Organopolysiloxane having active hydrogen bonded to silicon forms a cross-linking structure by reaction with an alkenyl group of the organopolysiloxane component having the unsaturated aliphatic group using catalyst action of the platinum compound.
The silicone rubber elastic layer 1d may contain a filler in order to increase heat conductivity, strength, heat resistance, and the like of the fixing belt 1.
Especially, to increase the heat conductivity, it is desirable that the filler should have high heat conductivity. More specifically, examples of such a filler include an inorganic material, particularly, a metal or a metallic compound.
Specific examples of the material of the highly heat-conductive filler include silicon carbide (SiC), silicon nitride (Si3N4), boron nitride (BN), aluminum nitride (AlN), alumina (Al2O3), zinc oxide (ZnO), magnesium oxide (MgO), silica (SiO2), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), silver (Ag), iron (Fe), and nickel (Ni).
These materials can be used independently or two or more types thereof can be used in combination. An average particle diameter of the highly heat-conductive filler is desirably 1 μm or more or 50 μm or less in terms of handling and dispersibility.
As a shape of the highly heat-conductive filler, for example, a spherical shape, a pulverized shape, a plate-like shape, or a whisker shape is used, but the spherical shape is desirable in terms of dispersibility.
A desirable thickness range of the silicone rubber elastic layer 1d is 100 μm or more and 500 μm or less, more desirably 200 μm or more and 400 μm or less in terms of contribution to surface hardness of the fixing belt 1 and efficiency in heat conductivity to unfixed toner at the time of fixing.
In the present exemplary embodiment, alumina is used as the highly heat-conductive filler, the heat conductivity of the silicone rubber elastic layer 1d is 1.0 W/mK, and the thickness of the highly heat-conductive filler is 300 μm.
(3-4) Fluororesin Separation Layer 1e
As the fluororesin separation layer 1e, for example, a resin, such as a tetrafluoroethylene perfluoro (alkyl vinyl ether) copolymer (PFA), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and a tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer (FEP), formed into a tube shape is used. Among the above-mentioned materials, PFA is desirably used in terms of formability and toner separability.
A thickness of the fluororesin separation layer 1e is desirably 50 μm or less. This is because it is possible to maintain elasticity of the silicone rubber elastic layer 1d, which is a lower layer, at the time of lamination, and prevent the surface hardness of the fixing member from becoming too high.
Preliminarily subjecting the inner surface of the fluororesin tube to sodium treatment, excimer laser treatment, ammonia treatment, or the like can increase adhesion.
In the present exemplary embodiment, the PFA tube having a thickness of 20 μm that is obtained by extrusion molding is used as the fluororesin separation layer 1e. The inner surface of the PFA tube is subjected to ammonia treatment to improve wettability with an adhesive (described below).
The silicone rubber adhesive layer that fixes the PFA tube as the fluororesin separation layer 1e to the silicone rubber elastic layer 1d is formed of a cured material of an addition curing silicone rubber adhesive applied to the surface of the silicone rubber elastic layer 1d. The addition curing silicone rubber adhesive contains addition curing silicone rubber blended with a self-adhesive component represented by silane containing a functional group such as an acryloxy group, a hydrosilyl group (SiH group), an epoxy group, or an alkoxysilyl group.
Subsequently, the addition curing silicone rubber adhesive is heated using a heating device, such as an electric furnace, for a predetermined time to be cured and adhered, and each end thereof is cut to a desired length, so that the fixing belt 1 as the fixing member according to the present exemplary embodiment can be obtained.
In the present exemplary embodiment, fluorine phlogopite having an aspect ratio of 50 (an average particle diameter of 6 μm and a particle thickness of 100 nm) serving as the scale-like filler 1a is blended into the polyimide precursor solution 23 “U-Varnish-S” (manufactured by UBE Corporation) which uses 3,3′,4,4′-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride as aromatic tetracarboxylic dianhydride and paraphenylenediamine as aromatic diamine so that the volume of the filler 1a is 7% by volume with respect to the whole volume of the solid content to be formed as the inner surface sliding layer 1b. The filler dispersion solution 24 is prepared by directly adding the scale-like filler 1a (fluorine phlogopite) in the polyimide precursor solution 23 (“U-Varnish-S”), preliminarily stirring the polyimide precursor solution 23 using a mixer, and then dispersing the scale-like filler 1a into the polyimide precursor solution 23 using a three-roll mill.
The inner surface of the cylindrical base member 1c is coated with the polyimide precursor solution 23 into which the filler 1a is dispersed, using the ring-coating method so that the coating thickness is 77 μm.
After the coating, the coated film is heat-dried in the heat drying furnace 30 in which the temperature of the high-temperature oil is set to 160° C.
Subsequently, the cylindrical base member 1c is left and dried in the hot air circulating furnace at a temperature of 200° C. for 30 minutes, and is then left and burned in another hot air circulating furnace at a temperature of 400° C. for 30 minutes to form the inner surface sliding layer 1b.
The thickness of the inner surface sliding layer 1b formed on the inner surface of the cylindrical base member 1c is 12 μm.
The surface of the cylindrical base member 1c is coated with the hydrosilyl group silicon primer “DY39-051 A/B” (manufactured by Dow Corning Toray Co., Ltd.) and is heat-cured at a temperature of 200° C. for five minutes. The outer circumferential surface thereof is coated with addition reaction cross-linking type liquid silicone rubber with a thickness of 300 μm, and is heat-cured at a temperature of 200° C. for 30 minutes to form the silicone rubber elastic layer 1d. Furthermore, the outer circumferential surface thereof is covered with the PDF tube having a thickness of 20 μm as the fluororesin separation layer 1e via the silicon adhesive “SE1819 CV A/B” (manufactured by Dow Corning Toray Co., Ltd.) and is heat-cured at a temperature of 200° C. for two minutes.
A comparative example of the present exemplary embodiment will be described. In the present comparative example, the fixing belt 1 is made similarly to the present exemplary embodiment except that the fluorine phlogopite, having the aspect ratio of 50 (an average particle diameter of 6 μm and a particle thickness of 100 nm) and serving as the scale-like filler 1a is changed to the one having an aspect ratio of 80 (an average particle diameter of 8 μm and a particle thickness of 100 nm) and blended.
[Filler 1a Distribution in Inner Surface Sliding Layer 1b]
Regarding the distribution of the scale-like filler 1a blended into the inner surface sliding layer 1b, a cross section of the inner surface sliding layer 1b is obtained by cutting the inner surface sliding layer 1b along a thickness direction thereof serving as a vertical axis and is divided into a plurality of sections each having a width the same as the thickness thereof in a direction orthogonal to the thickness direction. In the present exemplary embodiment, the cross section of the inner surface sliding layer 1b is divided into 20 or more sections. In a case where an area ratio of the scale-like filler 1a in each of the sections is converted into numbers, a period coefficient is calculated using the formula (Ave %−Min %)/Ave %, where an average of the area ratios of the scale-like filler 1a in all the sections is Ave % and a minimum of the area ratios is Min %.
It is assumed that, in each of the sections, the whole area of the cross section portion of the inner surface sliding layer 1b is 100% and a ratio of an area of the cross section portion of the scale-like filler 1a to the whole area is the area ratio.
In the present exemplary embodiment, the fixing belt 1 is cut in a rotational direction (a circumferential direction), sectional milling is performed on the inner surface sliding layer 1b of the cut surface using the ion milling apparatus (“IM4000PLUS” manufactured by Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation) and then observation and image processing is performed on the cross section using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), so that the numerical conversion is performed.
[Roughness of Inner Circumferential Surface of Inner Surface Sliding Layer 1b]
According to the present exemplary embodiment and the comparative example, for example, use of fillers for the filler 1a different in aspect ratio and average particle diameter enables formation of sliding films different in period coefficient and change of surface roughness. Although a mechanism thereof has yet to be clarified accurately, it is presumed that, regarding the convection flow of the applied liquid generated in the coating film drying process at the time of film formation, there is case where the filler moves into the convection flow and there is a case where the orientations of the particles change along the convection flow because of filler characteristics.
The configuration according to the present exemplary embodiment makes it possible to increase the surface roughness of the inner surface sliding layer 1b even with the same amount of filler 1a, thereby effectively adding roughness on the sliding surface side (the inner circumferential surface side). Furthermore, the configuration makes it possible to increase wear resistance in the fixing belt rotational direction (refer to
The exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure makes it possible to provide a cylindrical fixing belt Lin which at least three layers, an inner surface sliding layer 1b, a metal base member 1c, and a separation layer 1e are arranged in order from the inner side, and the inner surface sliding layer 1b has slidability, wear resistance, and a lubricant retention ability and is capable of preventing torque-up and stick slip.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure 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. 2021-123506, filed Jul. 28, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-123506 | Jul 2021 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20140348559 | Miyahara | Nov 2014 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| S63313182 | Dec 1988 | JP |
| H02157878 | Jun 1990 | JP |
| 2014228729 | Dec 2014 | JP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20230031844 A1 | Feb 2023 | US |
