Cleaning Blade Gradient Elastic Modulus Chipping Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cleaning blades made of polyurethane resin suffer from issues such as increased friction coefficient, blade deformation, chipping, and filming, which affect their performance and longevity in image-forming apparatuses, and existing solutions have not adequately addressed these problems for both printers and process cartridges.
Innovation Solution
A cleaning blade with a surface treatment layer formed by impregnating a rubber base material with a specific surface treatment liquid, controlling the elastic modulus and impregnation depth to achieve enhanced chipping resistance and reduced filming, while maintaining effective cleaning performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the surface hardness of the blade is enhanced to reduce friction, then friction coefficient is reduced, but chipping of the blade occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The blade is designed with different hardness values at different depths: the surface layer (0-10 μm) has a hardness of 80-95 durometer A to reduce friction, while the underlying portion (10 μm or more depth) has a hardness of 60-75 durometer A to prevent chipping. This gradient structure allows each region to perform its specific function optimally.
Solution Approach 2:
The blade employs a composite structure with a surface treatment layer formed by impregnating the polyurethane resin surface with a silane coupling agent, creating a multi-layered material system with distinct mechanical properties at different depths to simultaneously achieve low friction and high chipping resistance.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the friction of the blade surface is reduced to prevent filming, then filming is suppressed, but undesired release of toner occurs resulting in cleaning failure
Solution Approach 1:
The blade surface is designed with a specific hardness range (80-95 durometer A) in the top 0-10 μm layer to reduce friction and prevent filming, while the deeper portion (10 μm or more) maintains higher hardness (60-75 durometer A) to provide sufficient grip for toner removal, thus achieving both filming suppression and effective cleaning.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention precisely controls the hardness parameter across the blade depth, creating a gradient from softer surface to harder substrate, and optimizes the impregnation depth of the silane coupling agent to achieve the desired balance between friction reduction and toner release prevention.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a cleaning blade with excellent chipping resistance, suppressed filming, and improved cleaning performance by controlling the elastic modulus of the surface treatment layer and the underlying rubber base material, ensuring the blade's durability and effectiveness over long-term use.
Implementation Method 1
a surface treatment layer formed by impregnating a surface portion of the elastic body with a surface treatment liquid and hardening the liquid
Implementation Method 2
the friction coefficient between a blade member and a photoreceptor drum increases
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The invention provides a cleaning blade, having an elastic body formed of a rubber base material molded product, and a surface treatment layer on at least an area of the elastic body to be brought into contact with a cleaning object. The surface treatment layer is formed by impregnating a surface portion of the elastic body with a surface treatment liquid containing an isocyanate compound and an organic solvent, and hardening the liquid. The surface treatment liquid concentration of the surface treatment layer has such a profile that the impregnation concentration gradually decreases from the surface toward the depth direction. The surface treatment layer has an elastic modulus of 60 MPa or lower. The elastic body has an elastic modulus of 3 MPa to 35 MPa. The difference in elastic modulus between the surface treatment layer and the elastic body is 1 MPa to 25 MPa. Index M, which is calculated from a breaking elongation (%) of the elastic body at 23°C, a tanδ (1 Hz) peak temperature (°C) of the elastic body, and an impregnation depth (µm) of the surface treatment liquid by the following formula: index M = [breaking elongation (%) of the elastic body at 23°C] × [tanδ (1 Hz) peak temperature (°C)] × (-1) / [impregnation depth (µm) of the surface treatment liquid] is 1 to 1,100.