Patent Application
20120244469
The present teachings relate generally to coating materials for electrophotographic devices and processes and, more particularly, to coating materials that contain aerogel fillers for providing controllable image gloss levels.
Electrophotographic marking is performed by exposing a light image representation of a desired document onto a substantially uniformly charged photoreceptor. In response to that light image, the photoreceptor discharges to create an electrostatic latent image of the desired document on the photoreceptor's surface. Toner particles are then deposited onto that latent image to form a toner image. That toner image is then transferred from the photoreceptor onto a print medium such as a sheet of paper. The transferred toner image is then fused to the print medium, usually using heat and/or pressure.
Gloss is a property of a surface that relates to specular reflection. Specular reflection is a sharply defined light beam resulting from reflection off a smooth, uniform surface. Gloss follows the law of reflection which states that when a ray of light reflects off a surface, the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. Gloss properties are generally measured in gardner gloss units (ggu) by a gloss meter.
Gloss acceptability levels for copies and prints are dependent on the market segment involved. A particular level of image gloss is typically desired depending on the application, for example, a textbook, or a photo-book and depending on the use environment, for example, for general office printing or graphic arts printing. The level of image gloss is also desired based on geography, e.g., Europe vs. North America, and/or substrates, e.g., matching between different substrates. The level of image gloss is significantly impacted by the toner formulation or the fusing process.
Conventional approaches to adjusting the printed image gloss include changing toner materials by varying the molecular weight of the resins used in the toner design. For example, four toner formulations have been developed to reduce the print gloss from original glossy DC8000 toner to less glossy Murano/DC8002 toner. The development of toner formulations is, however, costly.
Conventional approaches to adjusting the printed image gloss further include using additional equipment, such as dual fuser design or belts, to adjust the image gloss by applying varnish/overcoat to the print. Different gloss levels for varnish may provide varying gloss for the print runs. The additional equipment for conventional approaches, however, increases manufacturing cost.
According to various embodiments, the present teachings include a fuser member that includes a substrate and a topcoat layer disposed over the substrate. The topcoat layer can include a polymer matrix and a plurality of aerogel fillers. The plurality of aerogel fillers can be disposed in the polymer matrix in an amount ranging from about 0.1% to about 30% by weight of the total topcoat layer to provide the topcoat layer with an average surface roughness Sq value ranging from about 0.1 μm to about 15 μm.
According to various embodiments, the present teachings also include a fusing method of reducing gloss level in a final print. In this method, a contact arc can be formed between a coating material of a fuser roll and a pressure member. The coating material can include a plurality of aerogel fillers disposed in a fluoroelastomer. The plurality of aerogel fillers can be present in an amount ranging from about 0.5% to about 20% by weight of the total coating material to provide the coating material with an average surface roughness Sq value ranging from about 0.5 μm to about 10 μm. A print medium can pass through the contact arc such that toner images on the print medium contact the coating material and are fused on the print medium, wherein the fused toner images on the print medium can have a gloss level that is controllable in a range between about 70 ggu and about 10 ggu.
According to various embodiments, the present teachings further include a fuser member. The fuser member can include a substrate and a topcoat layer disposed over the substrate. The topcoat layer can include a plurality of aerogel fillers disposed in a fluoropolymer matrix in an amount to provide the topcoat layer with an average surface roughness Sq value ranging from about 1 μm to about 5 μm. The topcoat layer can be a gloss-controlling topcoat layer configured to fuse a toner image on a print medium with a gloss level ranging from about 70 ggu to about 10 ggu.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the present teachings, as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several embodiments of the present teachings and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present teachings.
It should be noted that some details of the figures have been simplified and are drawn to facilitate understanding of the embodiments rather than to maintain strict structural accuracy, detail, and scale.
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present teachings, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part thereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific exemplary embodiments in which the present teachings may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the present teachings and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present teachings. The following description is, therefore, merely exemplary.
As used herein, the term “aerogel fillers” refers to a highly porous material with low mass density. The aerogel fillers can have high surface area, and high porosities. In one example, the aerogel fillers can be prepared by forming a gel with pore liquid and then removing pore liquid from the gel while substantially retaining a solid phase, i.e., the gel structure. In some cases, the term aerogel is used to indicate gels that have been dried so that the gel shrinks little during drying, preserving its porosity and related characteristics. In particular, aerogels are characterized by their unique structures that include a large number of small inter-connected pores. After the pore liquid is removed, the polymerized material is pyrolyzed in an inert atmosphere to form the aerogel.
The aerogel fillers can be in a form of particles, powders, or dispersions ranging in average volume particle size of from the sub-micron range to about 50 microns or more. The aerogel fillers 120 can be either formed initially as the desired sized particles, or can be formed as larger particles and then reduced in size to the desired size. For example, formed aerogel materials can be ground, or they can be directly formed as nano to micron sized aerogel particles. In embodiments, the aerogel fillers can have an average particle size of from about 5 nm to about 50 μm, or from about 1 μm or about 30 μm, or from about 5 μm or about 20 μm. In embodiments, the aerogel fillers can include one or more nano-sized primary particles, e.g., having an average particle size ranging from about 5 nm or about 20 nm. The aerogel fillers 120 can appear as well dispersed single particles or as agglomerates of more than one particle or groups of particles within the polymer material 140. In embodiments, the aerogel fillers 120 can have a shape that is spherical, or near-spherical, cylindrical, rod-like, bead-like, cubic, platelet-like, and the like.
The aerogel fillers 120 can have open-celled microporous or mesoporous structures. The aerogel fillers 120 can include a combination of multi-scaled pores including micron-sized pores, micropores (<2 nm), mesopores (between about 2 nm to about 50 nm), and/or macropores (>50 nm). In embodiments, the pores of aerogel fillers can have an average diameter of less than about 500 nm or less, or less than about 200 nm, or from about 1 nm to about 100 nm, or from about 10 nm to about 20 nm.
The aerogel fillers 120 can have porosities of at least about 50%, or more than about 90% to about 99.9%, in which the aerogel can contain 99.9% empty space. For example, the aerogel fillers 120 can suitably have an average porosity of from about 50% to about 99%, or from about 55% to about 99%, or from about 55% to about 90%. The aerogel fillers 120 can have an average surface area of about 100 m2 per gram or greater, or ranging from about 400 m2 per gram to about 1200 m2 per gram, or ranging from about 600 m2 per gram to about 800 m2 per gram. The aerogel fillers 120 can have low mass densities, e.g., ranging from about 1 mg/cc to about 400 mg/cc, or from about 20 mg/cc to about 200 mg/cc, or from about 40 mg/cc to about 100 mg/cc.
Any suitable aerogel fillers can be used. In embodiments, the aerogel fillers can be, for example, selected from inorganic aerogels, organic aerogels, carbon aerogels, and mixtures thereof. In particular embodiments, ceramic aerogel fillers can be suitably used, including, but not limited to, silica, alumina, titania, zirconia, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, and/or tungsten carbide. The aerogel fillers can optionally be doped with other elements such as a metal. In some embodiments, the aerogel fillers can include aerogeis chosen from polymeric aerogeis, colloidal aerogels, and mixtures thereof.
In examples, aerogels can be commercially available from several sources. Aerogels prepared by supercritical fluid extraction or by subcritical drying are available from Cabot Corp. (Billerica, Mass.), Aspen Aerogel, Inc. (Northborough, Mass.), Hoechst, A.G. (Germany), American Aerogel Corp. (Rochester, N.Y.), and/or Dow Corning (Midland, Mich.).
Referring back to
In embodiments, the polymer matrix/material 140 can include one or more polymers selected from the group consisting of a fluoroelastomer, a silicone elastomer, a thermoelastomer, a resin, a fluoroplastic, a fluororesin, and a combination thereof.
In embodiments, the polymer matrix/material 140 of the coating materials 100A-B can include fluoroelastomers. In specific embodiments, fluoroelastomers can be from the class of 1) copolymers of two of vinylidenefluoride, hexafluoropropylene, and tetrafluoroethylene; 2) terpolymers of vinylidenefluoride, hexafluoropropylene, and tetrafluoroethylene; and 3) tetrapolymers of vinylidenefluoride, hexafluoropropylene, tetrafluoroethylene, and cure site monomer. These fluoroelastomers are known commercially under various designations such as VITON A®, VITON B®, VITON E®, VITON E 60C®, VITON E430®, VITON 910®, VITON GH®; VITON GF®; and VITON ETP®. The VITON® designation is a Trademark of E.I. DuPont de Nemours, Inc. The cure site monomer can be 4-bromoperfluorobutene-1,1,1-dihydro-4-bromoperfluorobutene-1,3-bromoperfluoropropene-1,1,1-dihydro-3-bromoperfluoropropene-1, or any other suitable, known cure site monomer, such as those commercially available from DuPont. Other commercially available fluoropolymers can include FLUOREL 2170®, FLUOREL 2174®, FLUOREL 2176®, FLUOREL 2177® and FLUOREL LVS 76®, FLUOREL® being a registered trademark of 3M Company. Additional commercially available materials can include AFLAS™ a poly(propylene-tetrafluoroethylene), and FLUOREL II® (LII1900) a poly(propylene-tetrafluoroethylenevinylidenefluoride), both also available from 3M Company, as well as the Tecnoflons identified as FOR-60KIR®, FOR-LHF®, NM® FOR-THF®, FOR-TFS®, TH®, NH®, P757®, TNS®, T439®, PL958®, BR9151®, and TN505®, available from Ausimont.
Examples of three known fluoroelastomers can be (1) a class of copolymers of two of vinylidenefluoride, hexafluoropropylene, and tetrafluoroethylene, such as those known commercially as VITON A®; (2) a class of terpolymers of vinylidenefluoride, hexafluoropropylene, and tetrafluoroethylene known commercially as VITON B®; and (3) a class of tetrapolymers of vinylidenefluoride, hexafluoropropylene, tetrafluoroethylene, and cure site monomer known commercially as VITON GH® or VITON GF®. The fluoroelastomers VITON GH® and VITON GF® can have relatively low amounts of vinylidenefluoride. The VITON GF® and VITON GH® can have about 35 weight percent of vinylidenefluoride, about 34 weight percent of hexafluoropropylene, and about 29 weight percent of tetrafluoroethylene, with about 2 weight percent cure site monomer.
In embodiments, the polymer matrix/material 140 can include polymers cross-linked with an effected curing agent (also referred to herein as cross-linking agent, or cross-linker) to form elastomers that are relatively soft and display elastic properties. For example, when the polymer matrix uses a vinylidene-fluoride-containing fluoroelastomer, the curing agent can include, a bisphenol compound, a diamino compound, an aminophenol compound, an amino-siloxane compound, an amino-silane, and/or a phenol-silane compound. An exemplary bisphenol cross-linker can be VITON® Curative No. 5 (VC-50) available from E.I. du Pont de Nemours, Inc. VC-50 can be soluble in a solvent suspension and can be readily available at the reactive sites for cross-linking with, for example, VITON®-GF (E.I. du Pont de Nemours, Inc.).
In embodiments, the coating materials 100A-B can include at least the above-described aerogel fillers 120 that are at least one of dispersed in or bonded to the polymer material 140. In particular embodiments, the aerogel fillers 120 can be uniformly dispersed in and/or bonded to the polymer material 140, although non-uniform dispersion or bonding can be used in embodiments to achieve specific goals. For example, in embodiments, the aerogel fillers can be non-uniformly dispersed or bonded in the polymer component to provide a high concentration of the aerogel fillers in surface layers, substrate layers, different portions of a single layer, or the like.
In embodiments, various other additive components including, conventional particle fillers, surfactants, defoamer agents, etc. can be optionally included in the disclosed coating materials 100A-B. As exemplarily shown in
The particle fillers 130 can have dimensions on the micron and/or nano-scales. The particle fillers 130 can be organic, inorganic, or metallic and can include conventional composite filler materials of, for example, metals or metal oxides, including copper particles, copper flakes, copper needles, aluminum oxide, nano-alumina, titanium oxide, silver flakes, aluminum nitride, nickel particles, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, etc.
In embodiments, the type, porosity, pore size, and/or amount of aerogel fillers 120 can be chosen based upon the desired properties of the resultant coating materials 100A-B and upon the properties of the polymers and solutions thereof into which the aerogel fillers are combined. For example, conductive aerogel fillers, such as carbon aerogel fillers can be used to provide desirable physical, mechanical, and electrical properties that are otherwise difficult to obtain. In embodiments, aerogel fillers 120 can include nanometer-scale particles, which can occupy inter- and intra-molecular spaces within the molecular lattice structure of the polymer material 140, and thus can prevent water molecules from becoming incorporated into those molecular-scale spaces. In addition, the aerogel fillers 120 can interpenetrate or intertwine with the polymer material and thereby strengthen the polymeric lattice. Further, depending upon the properties of the aerogel fillers, the aerogel fillers can be used as is, or can be chemically modified.
Any suitable amount of the aerogel fillers 120 can be incorporated into the polymer material 140. For example, the aerogel fillers 120 can be present in an amount ranging from about 0.1% to about 30%, or from about 0.5% to about 20%, or from about 1% to about 10% by weight of the total coating materials 100A-B, to provide the coating materials with desired surface, mechanical and/or thermal properties, such as an average surface roughness Sq value ranging from about 0.1 μm to about 15 μm, or from about 0.5 μm to about 10 μm, or from about 1 μm to about 5 μm. The low density aerogel fillers can cover a significant portion of the polymer surface but do not conform with the exemplary elastomeric material to provide desirable surface roughness. This surface roughness can facilitate controlling of image gloss levels when the coating materials are used as fuser member materials during electrophotographic printing. For example, a series of fuser rolls with varying amounts of aerogel fillers can thus be produced allowing the customer to choose the gloss of the prints by selecting the appropriate fuser roll.
The coating materials 100A-B can provide desirable mechanical properties. For example, the coating materials 100A-B can have a tensile strength ranging from about 100 psi to about 350 psi, or from about 150 psi to about 300 psi, or from about 200 psi to about 250 psi; an ultimate elongation % ranging from about 30% to about 200%, or from about 50% to about 100%, or from about 70% to about 85%; a toughness ranging from about 50 in.-lbs./in.3 to about 300 in.-lbs./in.3, or from about 60 in.-lbs./in.3 to about 150 in.-lbs./in.3, or from about 75 in.-lbs./in.3 to about 125 in.-lbs./in.3; and an initial modulus ranging from about 150 psi to about 1000 psi, or from about 200 psi to about 600 psi, or from about 300 psi to about 500 psi. In one embodiment, the above-described mechanical properties can be measured using the ASTM D412 method as known in the art at a temperature of about 180° C.
The coating materials 100A-B can provide a desirable average thermal diffusivity ranging from about 0.01 mm2/s to about 0.2 mm2/s, or from about 0.02 mm2/s to about 0.1 mm2/s, or from about 0.03 mm2/s to about 0.08 mm2/s; and a desirable average thermal conductivity ranging from about 0.05 W/mK to about 0.2 W/mK, or from about 0.07 W/mK to about 0.17 W/mK, or from about 0.09 W/mK to about 0.15 W/mK. The coating materials 100A-B can provide desirable surface energy ranging from about 15 mN/m2 to about 30 mN/m2, or from about 18 mN/m2 to about 25 mN/m2, or from about 20 mN/m2 to about 23 mN/m2.
In various embodiments, the disclosed coating materials 100A-B can be used in any suitable electrophotographic members and devices including, e.g., a fusing member. The term “fusing member” as used herein refers to fuser members including fusing rolls, belts, films, sheets, and the like; donor members, including donor rolls, belts, films, sheets, and the like; and pressure members, including pressure rolls, belts, films, sheets, and the like; and other members useful in the fusing system of an electrostatographic or xerographic, including digital, machine. The fuser member of the present disclosure can be employed in a wide variety of machines, and is not specifically limited in its application to the particular embodiment depicted herein.
In exemplary embodiments, the coating materials 100A-B can be used as a topcoat layer for a fuser member and/or a pressure member in a fusing system. Prints obtained from such fusing system can thus provide desirable gloss levels, e.g., having a reduced gloss level as compared with prints provided by conventional materials and devices. The topcoat layer using the disclosed coating materials as shown in
As used herein, the term “gloss-controlling topcoat layer” refers to a coating layer configured as a topcoat layer for a fuser member and/or a pressure member used in a fusing system, wherein, after a print medium having unfixed toner images thereon passes through a contact arc formed between the fuser member and the backup member, the fused toner images on the print medium (i.e., the print) can have a controllable gloss level.
The gloss level can be measured by a digital high-precision glossmeter (manufactured by Murakami Color Research Laboratory Co., Ltd.) at an incident angle of 75°. The measured gloss level is therefore referred to as G75 gloss level, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art. In embodiments, the controllable gloss level of a print can be about 90 ggu or less, or range from about 90 ggu to about 1 ggu, or range from about 70 ggu to about 10 ggu, or range from about 60 ggu to about 40 ggu.
In this manner, by adjusting, e.g., amount, property, and/or type of the aerogel fillers that are incorporated in the exemplary polymer material, the resulting coating materials can have adjustable surface/bulk properties and can provide desirable gloss level of the prints.
As shown in
The substrate 205 can be made of a material including, but not limited to, a metal, a plastic, and/or a ceramic. For example, the metal can include aluminum, anodized aluminum, steel, nickel, and/or copper. The plastic can include polyimide, polyester, polyetheretherketone (PEEK), poly(arylene ether), and/or polyamide.
As illustrated, the member 200A can be, for example, a fuser roller including the gloss-controlling topcoat layer 255 formed over an exemplary core substrate 205. The core substrate can take the form of, e.g., a cylindrical tube or a solid cylindrical shaft, although one of the ordinary skill in the art would understand that other substrate forms, e.g., a belt substrate, can be used to maintain rigidity and structural integrity of the member 200A.
The gloss-controlling topcoat layer 255 can include, for example, the coating material 100A-100B as shown in
For example, the member 200B can have a 2-layer configuration having a compliant/resilient layer 235, such as a silicone rubber layer, disposed between the gloss-controlling topcoat layer 255 and the core substrate 205. In another example, the exemplary fuser member can include an adhesive layer (not shown), for example, formed between the resilient layer 235 and the substrate 205 or between the resilient layer 235 and the gloss-controlling topcoat layer 255.
In one embodiment, the exemplary fuser member 200A-B can be used in a conventional fusing system to improve fusing performances as disclosed herein.
The exemplary system 300 can include the exemplary fuser roll 200A or 200B having a gloss-controlling topcoat layer 255 over a suitable substrate 205. The substrate 205 can be, for example, a hollow cylinder fabricated from any suitable metal. The fuser roll 200 can further have a suitable heating element 306 disposed in the hollow portion of the substrate 205 which is coextensive with the cylinder. Backup or pressure roll 308, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art, can cooperate with the fuser roll 200 to form a nip or contact arc 310 through which a print medium 312 such as a copy paper or other print substrate passes, such that toner images 314 on the print medium 312 contact the gloss-controlling topcoat layer 255 during the fusing process. The fusing process can be performed at a temperature ranging from about 60° C. (140° F.) to about 30° C. (572° F.), or from about 93° C. (200° F.) to about 232° C. (450° F.), or from about 160° C. (320° F.) to about 232° C. (450° F.). Optionally, a pressure can be applied during the fusing process by the backup or pressure roil 308. Following the fusing process, after the print medium 312 passing through the contact arc 310, fused toner images 316 can be formed on the print medium 312.
As disclosed herein, the gloss output of the fused toner images 316 on the print medium 310 can be controlled by using the aerogel filler-containing coating materials as the topcoat layer of the fuser member. Depending on the selected aerogel fillers or a selected combination of the aerogel fillers and/or the polymers selected for the polymer matrix, suitable properties of the topcoat layer and suitable levels of image gloss can be obtained as desired. For example, conventional fuser materials produce images with a gloss level limited to between 60 to 90 ggu in iGen configurations, while the exemplary fuser materials including aerogel fillers can produce images with controllable, e.g., reduced, gloss level of the fused or printed images of less than about 90 ggu and covering a controllable range of from about 90 ggu to about 1 ggu as disclosed herein.
Various embodiments can also include methods for forming the disclosed coating materials (see
For example, to form the disclosed fuser member, a liquid coating dispersion can be prepared to include, for example, a desired polymer (e.g., VITON® GF), aerogel filler(s), and other optional additive components in suitable solvent depending on the selected polymer and/or the aerogel fillers.
Various solvents including, but not limited to, water, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK), methyl-tertbutyl ether (MTBB), methyl n-amyl ketone (MAK), tetrahydrofuran (THF), Alkalis, methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, acetone, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, or any other low molecular weight carbonyls, polar solvents, fireproof hydraulic fluids, along with the Wittig reaction solvents such as dimethyl formamide (DMF), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and N-methyl 2 pyrrolidone (NMP), can be used to prepare the liquid coating dispersion.
The liquid coating dispersion can be formed by first dissolving the polymer, e.g., a fluoroelastomer, in a suitable solvent, followed by adding a plurality of aerogel fillers and/or other optional components into the solvent in an amount to provide desired properties, such as a desired fusing properties, thermal conductivities, or mechanical robustness. In another example, the liquid coating dispersion can be formed by first mixing the polymer and a plurality of aerogel fillers, followed by dissolving or dispersing the mixture in an appropriate solvent as described above.
In various embodiments, when preparing the liquid coating dispersion, a mechanical aid, such as an agitation, sonication and/or attritor ball milling/grinding, can be used to facilitate the mixing of the dispersion. For example, an agitation set-up fitted with a stir rod and Teflon blade can be used to thoroughly mix the aerogel fillers with the polymer in the solvent, after which additional chemical curatives, such as curing agent, and optionally other particle fillers such as metal oxides, can be added into the mixed dispersion.
The fuser member can then be formed by applying an amount of the liquid coating dispersion to a substrate, such as the substrate 205 in
The applied liquid coating dispersion can then be solidified, e.g., by a curing process, to form a coating layer, e.g., the layer 255, on the substrate, e.g., the substrate 205 of
In embodiments, the solidified coating layer, i.e., the topcoat layer of the fuser member can have a thickness ranging from 5 μm to about 100 μm, or from about 10 μm to about 50 μm, or from about 20 μm to about 40 μm. In embodiments, additional functional layer(s) (see 235 of
Silica silicate VM2270 aerogel powder was obtained from Dow Corning (Midland, Mich.). The powder contained about 5-15 μm particles having >90% porosity, about 40-100 kg/m3 bulk density, and about 600-800 m2/g surface area. Topcoat formulations were prepared including VITON-GF fluoropolymer, about 5 pph AO700 crosslinker, and respectively about 0, 3, and 5 pph of VM2270 aerogel powder in a solvent of methyl isobutylketone (MIBK).
Fuser roll topcoat layer was formed by applying a polymer solution including approximately 10-30% total solids weight basis in a pre-metered coating flow, dispensed between a blade and rotating fuser roll surface (rpm range between 40-200). The blade provided flow leveling around the roll circumference of the fuser substrate. The dispensing head and metering blade traversed along the length of the roll having a speed of about 2-20 mm/s so that the entire roll surface was coated in a spiral pattern. Successful flow coating conducted in this manner depended on coating rheology, blade angle, tip pressure, traverse speed, dispense rate and/or other factors as known to one of ordinary skill in the field of liquid film coating. The solvent evaporated from the coated roll leaving a dry film including polymer, aerogel ceramic particles, and/or other additives. After drying, the processed roll was placed in a Grieve oven to thermally cure the formed topcoat over the roll substrate. Standard VITON curing conditions were used.
Table 1 compares gloss levels of prints between fuser rolls having various topcoat layers. As shown, the topcoat layers can have filler materials including, carbon nanotubes (CNT), Teflon (FEP, PEVE, PFA) and the disclosed exemplary aerogel silica fillers having a concentration of about 3% and 5%.
As compared with the topcoat layer containing VITON only (see sample No. 10), and VITON containing non-aerogel fillers (see sample Nos. 20, 30, and 40), use of the topcoat layer containing aerogel silica fillers (see sample Nos. 50 and 60) can significantly reduce the gloss level of the resulting prints.
Unfused images of iGen toner at 0.50 mg/cm2 on exemplary print media of CX+ 90 gsm paper and DCEG 120 gsm paper were fused with the iGen3 fusing fixture over a range of temperatures with the process speed set to about 468 mm/s. Print gloss results are summarized in
Further, FTIR measurements (data not shown) indicated that use of aerogel fillers in the fuser topcoat layer can reduce surface contamination, as compared with conventional fuser rolls.
Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the disclosure are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical value, however, inherently contains certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measurements. Moreover, all ranges disclosed herein are to be understood to encompass any and all sub-ranges subsumed therein.
While the present teachings have been illustrated with respect to one or more implementations, alterations and/or modifications can be made to the illustrated examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. In addition, while a particular feature of the present teachings may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular function. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “including,” “includes,” “having,” “has,” “with,” or variants thereof are used in either the detailed description and the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.”
Further, in the discussion and claims herein, the term “about” indicates that the value listed may be somewhat altered, as long as the alteration does not result in nonconformance of the process or structure to the illustrated embodiment. Finally, “exemplary” indicates the description is used as an example, rather than implying that it is an ideal.
Other embodiments of the present teachings will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the present teachings disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the present teachings being indicated by the following claims.
