Toner, toner containing unit, and image forming apparatus
阅读说明：本技术 调色剂,调色剂收纳单元,以及图像形成装置 (Toner, toner containing unit, and image forming apparatus ) 是由 平井优 石井雅之 朱冰 柿本真行 关口良隆 小林翔太 花谷慎也 荻野弘太郎 岩本康敬 于 2019-07-12 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及调色剂,调色剂收纳单元,以及图像形成装置。其课题在于,提供低环境负荷、带电上升性良好、不会附着到感光体、图像品质优异的调色剂。本发明的调色剂包括粘合树脂,含金属偶氮染料,以及季铵盐,上述调色剂的平均圆度为0.85～0.95,上述调色剂不含有具有Sn-C键的锡化合物。(The invention relates to a toner, a toner containing unit, and an image forming apparatus. The problem is to provide a toner which has a low environmental load, good charging rising performance, no adhesion to a photoreceptor, and excellent image quality. The toner of the present invention includes a binder resin, a metal-containing azo dye, and a quaternary ammonium salt, and has an average circularity of 0.85 to 0.95, and does not contain a tin compound having an Sn-C bond.)
1, A toner comprising a binder resin, a metal-containing azo dye, and a quaternary ammonium salt, wherein:
the average circularity of the toner is 0.85 to 0.95;
the toner does not contain a tin compound having an Sn — C bond.
2. The toner according to claim 1, characterized in that:
the toner further comprises silica;
the silica contains silicone oil;
the median diameter of the silica is 10nm to 80 nm.
toner storage units, characterized by storing the toner described in the above <1> or <2 >.
4, an image forming apparatus comprising:
an electrostatic latent image carrier;
an electrostatic latent image forming device for forming an electrostatic latent image on the electrostatic latent image carrier;
a developing device having a toner, and developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the electrostatic latent image carrier with the toner to form a toner image;
a transfer device for transferring the toner image formed on the electrostatic latent image carrier to a surface of a recording medium; and
a fixing device for fixing the toner image transferred to the surface of the recording medium;
the image forming apparatus is characterized in that the toner is the toner according to the above <1> or <2 >.
Technical Field
The invention relates to a toner, a toner containing unit, and an image forming apparatus.
Background
Image forming apparatuses such as a multifunction peripheral (MFP) and a printer that use toner are widely used in various places such as offices, and various demands such as low environmental load are made for the toner as the opportunities for use expand, and contamination of a photoreceptor (OPC) is reduced as the toner is more highly functionalized with the downsizing of the image forming apparatus.
As a catalyst for producing a binder resin contained in a toner, various tin compounds and titanium compounds have been studied in consideration of not only catalytic activity but also influence on toner imparting performance such as chargeability (see, for example, patent documents 1,2, and 3). It has been proposed that the influence on the quality of toner is large depending on the kind of catalyst, and the chargeability of toner is positively controlled by, for example, a charge control agent used in the production of toner (see, for example, patent documents 4 and 5). Further, a technique of imparting more suitable charging characteristics by using both positive and negative charge control agents has been proposed (for example, see patent document 6).
Further, as the output image is colorized, the requirements for high image quality and stabilization of image quality are increased more than ever. Therefore, the toner is required to improve image quality and the like in addition to considering the environment.
[ patent document ]
[ patent document 1 ] Japanese patent laid-open No. 2003-186250
[ patent document 2 ] Japanese patent laid-open No. 2003-201342
[ patent document 3 ] Japanese patent No. 4753685
[ patent document 4 ] Japanese patent No. 5380964
[ patent document 5 ] Japanese patent No. 5205885
[ patent document 6 ] Japanese patent application laid-open No. H10-221879
Disclosure of Invention
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a toner which has a low environmental load, is excellent in charge rising property, does not adhere to a photoreceptor, and is excellent in image quality.
In order to solve the above problems, the present inventors propose, as a means for solving the above problems, a toner of the present invention comprising a binder resin, a metal-containing azo dye, and a quaternary ammonium salt, characterized in that:
the average circularity of the toner is 0.85 to 0.95;
the toner does not contain a tin compound having an Sn — C bond.
The following describes the effects of the present invention:
the toner of the present invention, having the above-described configuration, can provide a toner having a low environmental load, good charge rising property, no adhesion to a photoreceptor, and excellent image quality.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
Detailed Description
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below, and other embodiments, additions, corrections, deletions, and the like may be modified within the scope of the present invention as appreciated by those skilled in the art, and any embodiment may be included in the scope of the present invention as long as the operation and effect of the present invention are achieved.
(toner)
The toner of the present invention comprises a binder resin, a metal-containing azo dye, and a quaternary ammonium salt, preferably silica and silicone oil, and further contains other components as required.
In addition, the toner of the present invention does not contain a tin compound having an Sn — C bond.
The toner having a low environmental load is variously defined, and in the present invention, the low environmental load means that an organic Sn catalyst represented by a tin compound having an Sn — C bond is not used. That is, the binder resin is synthesized without using a tin compound having an Sn — C bond (organic Sn catalyst).
Adhesive resin
The binder resin is not particularly limited, and may be appropriately selected according to the purpose, and is preferably a polyester resin from the viewpoint of low-temperature fixability and environmental safety (VOC due to residual monomers).
Polyester resin
The polyester resin is obtained by a polycondensation reaction of an alcohol and a carboxylic acid, which is generally known as , and uses a catalyst in the polycondensation reaction.
As such a catalyst, a Sn-C bond-containing tin compound (organotin compound) has been known from the past and is widely used as , and the organotin compound is a compound having a structure in which carbon atoms having a functional group of at least 1 carbon atom to a 4-valent tin atom are bonded to each other.
However, the organotin compounds described above have been difficult to use in recent years due to environmental problems.
Therefore, in the present invention, a tin compound containing no Sn — C bond is used as a binder resin of the catalyst. The toner contains no tin compound having an Sn — C bond by using a binder resin of a tin compound having no Sn — C bond (hereinafter, also referred to as "tin catalyst having no Sn — C bond") and a titanium catalyst.
Examples of the tin catalyst not containing the Sn — C bond include a tin (II) compound having an Sn — O bond, a tin (II) compound having an Sn — X (X represents a halogen atom) bond, a titanium catalyst not containing an Sn — C bond, and the like. Among them, tin (II) compounds having Sn — O bonds are preferable.
Examples of the tin (II) compound having the Sn — O bond include tin (II) carboxylates having a carboxyl group having 2 to 28 carbon atoms, tin (II) alkoxides having an alkoxy group having 2 to 28 carbon atoms, tin (II) oxide, and tin (II) sulfate.
Examples of the tin (II) carboxylate having the carboxyl group having 2 to 28 carbon atoms include tin (II) oxalate, tin (II) acetate, tin (II) octanoate, tin (II) 2-ethylhexanoate, tin (II) laurate, tin (II) stearate, and tin (II) oleate.
Examples of the alkoxytin (II) having 2 to 28 carbon atoms include octyloxytin (II), lauryloxytin (II), stearyloxytin (II), and alkenylacyloxytin (II).
Examples of the tin (II) compound (tin (II) halide) having the Sn — X (X represents a halogen atom) bond include tin (II) chloride and tin (II) bromide.
Among them, (R) is preferably used from the viewpoint of charge rising property and catalytic performance3COO)2Sn (herein, R)3A tin (II) carboxylate represented by an alkyl group or an alkenyl group having 5 to 19 carbon atoms, or a tin (II) carboxylate represented by (R)4O)2Sn (herein, R)4An alkoxy tin (II) represented by an alkyl group or an alkenyl group having 6 to 20 carbon atoms, and a tin (II) oxide, more preferably (R)3COO)2The fatty acid tin (II) and tin (II) oxide represented by Sn, and further steps are more preferably tin (II) octylate, tin (II) 2-ethylhexanoate, tin (II) stearate, and tin (II) oxide, and particularly preferably tin (II) 2-ethylhexanoate.
Examples of the titanium catalyst not containing the Sn-C bond include diisopropyl di (triethanolamine) titanate [ Ti (C)6H14O3N)2(C3H7O)2Di (diethanolamine) diisopropyl titanate [ Ti (C)4H10O2N)2(C3H7O)2Di (triethanolamine) diisoamyl titanate [ Ti (C)6H14O3N)2(C5H11O)2Di (triethanolamine) diethyl titanate [ Ti (C) ]6H14O3N)2(C2H5O)2Di (triethanolamine) dihydroxyoctyl titanate [ Ti (C) ]6H14O3N)2(OHC8H16O)2Di (triethanolamine) distearyl titanate [ Ti (C)6H14O3N)2(C18H37O)2Tri-isopropyl triethanolamine titanate [ Ti (C)6H14ON)(C3H7O)3Tri (triethanolamine) isopropyl titanate [ Ti (C)6H14O3N)3(C3H7O), etc.
Of these, di (triethanolamine) diisopropyl titanate, di (diethanolamine) diisopropyl titanate, and di (triethanolamine) diisoamyl titanate are preferred, and are available as commercial products from MATSUMOTO, Inc., for example.
Specific examples of other preferable titanium catalysts include tetrabutyl titanate [ Ti (C)4H9O)4Tetraisopropyl titanate [ Ti (C) ]3H7O)4Tetra-stearyl titanate [ Ti (C)18H37O)4Titanium tetrakisimidazolate [ Ti (C) ]14H29O)4Tetraoctyl titanate [ Ti (C) ]8H17O)4Dioctyldihydroxyoctyl titanate [ Ti (C)8H17O)2(OHC8H16O)2Stilbene dioctyl titanate [ Ti (C)14H29O)2(C8H17O)2And the like. Among them, tetrastearyl titanate, tetraimidazolium titanate, tetraoctyl titanate, and dioctyldihydroxyoctyl titanate are preferable.
These can be obtained by, for example, reacting a titanium halide with a corresponding alcohol, or can be obtained as a commercially available product from Nippon Soda company or the like.
The polyester resin may be any one obtained by a polycondensation reaction of an alcohol and a carboxylic acid, which is generally known as .
Examples of the alcohol include glycols, etherified bisphenols, and 2-valent ethanol monomers and polyhydric alcohol monomers having a valence of 3 or more, which are obtained by substituting these with a saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon group having 3 to 22 carbon atoms.
Examples of the glycols include polyethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, 1, 2-propanediol, 1, 3-propanediol, 1, 4-propanediol, neopentyl glycol, and 1, 4-butenediol.
Examples of the etherified bisphenol include 1, 4-bis (hydroxymethyl) cyclohexane, bisphenol a, hydrogenated bisphenol a, polyoxyethylated bisphenol a, and polyoxypropylene bisphenol a.
Examples of the polyhydric alcohol monomer having a valence of 3 or more include sorbitol, 1,2,3, 6-hexane, 1, 4-sorbitan, pentaerythritol, dipentaerythritol, tripentaerythritol, sucrose, 1, 24-butanetriol, 1,2, 5-pentanetriol, glycerol, 2-methylpropanetriol, 2-methyl-1, 2, 4-butanetriol, trimethylolethane, trimethylolpropane and 1,3, 5-trimethylolbenzene.
These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.
Examples of the carboxylic acid include -membered carboxylic acid, a 2-valent organic acid monomer, anhydrides of these acids, a dimer of a lower alkyl ester and linoleic acid, and a 3-or more-valent polycarboxylic acid monomer.
Examples of the -membered carboxylic acid include palmitic acid, stearic acid, and oleic acid.
Examples of the organic acid monomer having a valence of 2 include maleic acid, fumaric acid, methacrylic acid, salicylic acid, terephthalic acid, cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid, succinic acid, adipic acid, phthalic acid, malonic acid, and those obtained by substituting these with a saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon group having 3 to 22 carbon atoms.
Examples of the polyvalent carboxylic acid monomer having a valence of 3 or more include 1,2, 4-benzenetricarboxylic acid, 1,2, 5-benzenetricarboxylic acid, 2,5, 7-naphthalenetricarboxylic acid, 1,2, 4-butanetricarboxylic acid, 1,2, 5-hexyltricarboxylic acid, 1, 3-dicarboxyl-2-methyl-methylenecarboxypropane, tetrakis (methylene) methane, 1,2, 7, 8-octyltetracarboxylic acid, Empol (registered trademark) trimer acid, and anhydrides of these acids.
These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.
< Metal-containing azo dyes >
The above metal-containing azo dye functions as a negative charge control agent in the toner.
The metal-containing azo dye is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected according to the purpose, and examples thereof include an iron azo complex, a chromium azo complex, and a cobalt azo complex. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more. Among them, iron azo complexes are preferred from the viewpoint of charge stability.
The content of the metal-containing azo dye is preferably 0.5 to 5 parts by mass, and more preferably 1.0 to 3 parts by mass, based on 100 parts by mass of the binder resin. When the content is 0.5 to 5 parts by mass, the composition is excellent in that good charge rising property can be provided.
< quaternary ammonium salt >
The quaternary ammonium salt functions as a positive charge control agent in the toner.
The quaternary ammonium salt is not particularly limited as long as it is a component generally used for toner, and may be appropriately selected according to the purpose.
The content of the quaternary ammonium salt is preferably 0.1 to 3 parts by mass, and more preferably 0.5 to 2 parts by mass, based on 100 parts by mass of the binder resin. When the content is 0.1 to 3 parts by mass, it is excellent in that the toner charge can be prevented from excessively increasing with the passage of time.
< other ingredients >
The other components are not particularly limited as long as they are used in a general toner, and may be appropriately selected according to the purpose, and include a colorant, a release agent, an external additive, and the like.
Coloring agent
As the colorant, a known pigment or dye that can provide toner of each color of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black can be used. Examples thereof are shown below.
Examples of the yellow pigment include cadmium yellow, mineral fast yellow, cinnamon yellow, navel yellow, naphthol yellow S, hansa yellow G, hansa yellow 10G, benzidine yellow GR, quinoline yellow lake, permanent yellow NCG, and tartrazine lake.
Examples of orange pigments include molybdate orange, permanent orange GTR, pyrazole orange, baldry orange, indanthrene brilliant orange RK, benzidine orange G, indanthrene brilliant orange GK, and the like.
Examples of red pigments include iron red, cadmium red, permanent red 4R, red blood, pyrazolone red, red calcium salt, color red D, brilliant carmine 6B, eosin lake, rhodamine lake B, alizarin lake, brilliant carmine 3B, and the like
Examples of the violet pigment include fast violet B and methyl violet lake.
Examples of the cyan pigment include cobalt blue, alkali blue, victoria blue, phthalocyanine blue, metal-free phthalocyanine blue, phthalocyanine blue partial chloride, th day blue, and indigo blue BC.
Examples of the green pigment include chromium green, chromium oxide, pigment green B, and malachite green lake.
Examples of the black pigment include azine-based pigments such as carbon black, oil furnace black, moire black, lamp black, acetylene black, and aniline black, metal oxides, and composite metal oxides.
These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.
The content of the colorant is preferably 1 to 30 parts by mass, more preferably 3 to 20 parts by mass, based on the binder resin component of the toner.
Release agent
The release agent is not particularly limited, and may be suitably selected from known release agents according to the purpose. Examples of the release agent include low molecular weight polyolefin waxes such as low molecular weight polyethylene and low molecular weight polypropylene; synthetic olefin waxes such as Fischer-Tropsch wax; natural waxes such as beeswax, carnauba wax, candelilla wax, rice wax, and montan wax; petroleum waxes such as paraffin and microcrystalline paraffin; higher fatty acids such as stearic acid, palmitic acid and myristic acid, and metal salts and amides thereof; synthesizing ester wax; and various modified waxes thereof. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.
The content of the release agent is preferably 1 to 8 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the binder resin. By setting the content of the release agent to 1 to 8 parts by mass, the following disadvantages can be prevented:
since the content of the releasing agent contained in the toner is small, a sufficient releasing effect cannot be obtained in the fixing step;
when the content of the release agent contained in the toner is large, the heat-resistant storage stability of the toner is lowered, and a filming occurs on the photoreceptor.
External additive
The external additive is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected according to the purpose, and examples thereof include a lubricant and inorganic particles.
The inorganic particles are not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected according to the purpose, and examples thereof include silica, alumina, titanium oxide, barium titanate, magnesium titanate, calcium titanate, strontium titanate, fluorine compounds, iron oxide, copper oxide, zinc oxide, tin oxide, quartz sand, clay, mica, wollastonite, diatomaceous earth, chromium oxide, cerium oxide, barium sulfate, barium carbonate, calcium carbonate, silicon carbide, and silicon nitride. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more. When two or more kinds are used in combination, it is preferable to select inorganic particles having resistance to development stress such as idling.
Among them, silica is preferable.
The median particle diameter of the silica is preferably 10nm to 80 nm. The median particle diameter is in the range of 10nm to 80nm, which prevents the following problems:
a problem that the cleaning blade passes through the cleaning blade and causes silica adhesion to the photoreceptor;
the photoreceptor is damaged.
The inorganic particles are excellent in the aspect of adjusting the charge amount of the toner by hydrophobizing the surface thereof.
Examples of the method for hydrophobizing the inorganic particles include a method of chemically treating the inorganic particles with an organic silicon compound which reacts with or physically adsorbs the inorganic particles. The organic silicon compound may be a silicone oil.
The silicone oil is not particularly limited and may be suitably selected according to the purpose, and examples thereof include dimethyl silicone oil, alkyl-modified silicone oil, α -methylstyrene-modified silicone oil, fluorine-modified silicone oil, and methylhydrogen silicone oil.
The method of the silicone oil treatment may be, for example, a method of directly mixing silica particles and silicone oil using a mixer such as a henschel mixer, or a method of spraying silicone oil to raw silica particles while stirring, or a method of dissolving or dispersing silicone oil in an appropriate solvent (preferably organic acid or the like adjusted to pH4), mixing with raw silica particles, and removing the solvent, or a method of adding raw silica particles to a reaction tank, adding ethanol water while stirring under a nitrogen atmosphere , introducing a silicone oil-based treatment liquid into the reaction tank, performing a surface treatment, and heating and stirring to remove the solvent.
The inorganic particles containing silicone oil can be obtained by treating the inorganic particles with silicone oil.
For example, when silica is treated with silicone oil, silica containing silicone oil can be obtained.
Lubricants
The lubricant is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected according to the purpose, and examples thereof include fatty acid metal salts. Examples of the fatty acid metal salts include lead oleate, zinc oleate, copper oleate, zinc stearate, cobalt stearate, iron stearate, copper stearate, zinc palmitate, copper palmitate, and zinc linolenate. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.
Among them, zinc stearate is preferable.
The lubricant may be added externally after a composition containing a binder resin, a colorant, and the like is melt-kneaded, pulverized into particles.
< characteristics of toner >
The toner of the present invention has an average circularity of 0.85 to 0.95. If the average circularity of the toner is higher than 0.95, the cleanability when the toner is attached to the photoreceptor may be reduced. Further, if the average circularity of the toner is less than 0.85, transfer failure may occur, which may cause deterioration in image quality.
Method of measuring average circularity of toner
For the measurement of the average circularity, a flow type particle image analyzer FPIA-3000 manufactured by SYSMEX corporation is used, for example.
Specifically, the average circularity is measured by adding 0.1 to 0.5mL of a surfactant (alkylbenzene sulfonate) as a dispersant to 100 to 150mL of water from which solid impurities in a container have been removed in advance. Then, about 0.1g to 0.5g of a measurement sample is added. The suspension of the dispersed sample was dispersed with an ultrasonic disperser for about 1 to 3 minutes to set the dispersion concentration at 3,000 to 10,000 particles/μ L, and the average circularity was measured by the above-mentioned apparatus. The circularity can be obtained by the expression "circularity (circumference equal to the projected area)/(circumference of the projected image)".
< method for producing toner >
The toner of the present invention can be obtained by producing toner base particles containing a binder resin, a metal-containing azo dye, a quaternary ammonium salt, and the like, and adding an external additive as needed.
The toner matrix particles can be obtained by various production methods such as a pulverization method and a polymerization method (suspension polymerization, emulsion polymerization, dispersion polymerization, emulsion aggregation, emulsion bonding, etc.).
Next, inorganic particles are added to the outside of the toner base particles. The toner base particles and the inorganic particles are mixed and stirred by a stirrer, and the inorganic particles as an external additive are pulverized and coated on the surfaces of the toner base particles.
The mixing device that can be used is not particularly limited as long as it can mix the powder, and known devices can be used, and examples thereof include a V-type mixer, a swing mixer, a ledy mixer, a natta mixer, a henschel mixer, and a Q mixer. These mixing devices are preferably provided with a jacket or the like, and the internal temperature can be adjusted.
The strength of adhesion of the inorganic particles to the surface of the toner matrix can be controlled by changing the peripheral speed of the rotating blade of the mixing device or the mixing and stirring time, and further, when the inorganic particles are added while applying heat to in the mixing device, the surface is softened and the inorganic particles can be embedded in the surface of the toner matrix, so that the strength of adhesion to the surface of the toner matrix can be controlled.
< developer >
The developer of the present invention contains at least the above toner, and if necessary, contains other components appropriately selected such as a carrier.
Therefore, the transfer property, the charging property, and the like are excellent, and a high-quality image can be stably formed. The developer may be a one-component developer or a two-component developer.
The carrier is appropriately selected according to the purpose, and examples thereof include a magnetic carrier and a resin carrier.
The magnetic fine particles include, for example, spinel ferrites such as magnetite and gamma iron oxide, spinel ferrites containing at least kinds of metals other than iron (Mn, Ni, Zn, Mg, Cu, etc.), ferrites such as barium ferrites, and iron or alloy particles having an oxide layer on the surface.
The carrier may be any of kinds of granular, spherical and needle-like carriers, and in consideration of chemical stability, magnetite-type ferrite such as spinel ferrite containing magnetite and gamma iron oxide, barium ferrite and the like is preferably used, and a resin carrier having a desired magnetization can be used by selecting the kind and content of the ferromagnetic fine particles, and the magnetic property of the carrier in this case is preferably 30emu/g to 150emu/g in 1,000 oersters.
Such a resin carrier can be produced by spraying a melt-kneaded product of magnetic fine particles and an insulating binder resin with a spray dryer. Specifically, the resin carrier having magnetic fine particles dispersed in the condensation-type binder can be produced by reacting and curing a monomer or a prepolymer in an aqueous medium in the presence of the magnetic fine particles.
Positively or negatively charged fine particles or conductive fine particles are bonded to the surface of the magnetic carrier, or a resin is applied to the surface of the magnetic carrier, whereby the charging properties can be controlled.
The surface coating material may be a silicone resin, an acrylic resin, an epoxy resin, a fluorine-based resin, or may contain positively or negatively charged fine particles or conductive fine particles, and is preferably a silicone resin or an acrylic resin.
The mixing ratio of the toner for electrophotography of the present invention to the magnetic carrier is preferably 2 to 10% by mass as the toner concentration.
(toner storing Unit)
In the present disclosure, the toner containing unit is a unit having a function of containing toner. Examples of the form of the toner containing unit include a toner container, a developing device, and a process cartridge.
In the present disclosure, the toner container means a container for containing toner.
The developing device is a device having means for storing and developing toner.
The process cartridge is a cartridge that is made up of at least an electrostatic latent image carrier (also referred to as an image carrier or a photoreceptor) and a developing means , contains toner, and is attachable to and detachable from an image forming apparatus, and the process cartridge may further include steps of at least selected from a charging means, an exposure means, and a cleaning means.
When the toner containing unit of the present invention is attached to an image forming apparatus to form an image, the toner has a low environmental load, is excellent in charge rising property, does not adhere to a photoreceptor, and is excellent in image quality.
(image Forming apparatus and image Forming method)
The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes at least an electrostatic latent image carrier, an electrostatic latent image forming means, and a developing means, and further includes other means as necessary.
The image forming method according to the present invention includes at least an electrostatic latent image forming step and a developing step, and further includes other steps as necessary.
The image forming method may be suitably performed by the image forming apparatus, the latent electrostatic image forming step may be suitably performed by the latent electrostatic image forming means, the developing step may be suitably performed by the developing means, and the other steps may be suitably performed by the other means.
The image forming apparatus of the present invention preferably includes: an electrostatic latent image carrier; an electrostatic latent image forming means for forming an electrostatic latent image on an electrostatic latent image carrier; a developing means containing the toner for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the electrostatic latent image carrier with the toner to form a toner image; a transfer means for transferring the toner image formed on the electrostatic latent image carrier onto a surface of a recording medium; and a fixing means for fixing the toner image transferred on the surface of the recording medium.
More preferably, the image forming method of the present invention includes: an electrostatic latent image forming step of forming an electrostatic latent image on an electrostatic latent image carrier; a developing step of developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the electrostatic latent image carrier with the toner to form a toner image; a transfer step of transferring the toner image formed on the electrostatic latent image carrier onto a surface of a recording medium; and a fixing step of fixing the toner image fixed on the surface of the recording medium.
Preferably, the toner image is formed by using a developer containing the toner, and further contains other components such as a carrier as necessary.
Electrostatic latent image carrier
The material, structure, and size of the electrostatic latent image carrier (hereinafter also referred to as a photoreceptor) are not particularly limited, and may be appropriately selected from known products, and examples of the material include inorganic photoreceptors such as amorphous silicon and selenium, and organic photoreceptors such as polysiloxane and phthalide polymethine.
Electrostatic latent image forming means
The electrostatic latent image forming means is not particularly limited as long as it is a means for forming an electrostatic latent image on the electrostatic latent image carrier, and may be appropriately selected according to the purpose, and examples thereof include a means including at least a charging member for charging the surface of the electrostatic latent image carrier and an exposure member for exposing the surface of the electrostatic latent image carrier to light to form an image.
Developing means
The developing means is not particularly limited as long as it is a developing means provided with a toner for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the electrostatic latent image carrier to form a toner image as a visible image, and may be appropriately selected according to the purpose.
Other means
Examples of the other means include a transfer means, a fixing means, a cleaning means, a power eliminating means, a reusing means, and a control means.
Next, describes a mode of a method of forming an image by the image forming apparatus of the present invention with reference to fig. 1 .
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of examples of an image forming apparatus, surrounding a photoreceptor drum (hereinafter referred to as "photoreceptor") 110 as an image carrier, a charging
The developing
The developing
Since the constitution of each developing unit is the same, only the
Next, referring to the drawing, the operation of the image forming apparatus will be described, the side of the
In the rotation direction of the