Cleaning Blade Hardness Gradient for Toner Escape Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
In image forming apparatuses, the cleaning blade tends to turn up due to uneven toner distribution, leading to toner escape and image defects, particularly at the border between treated and untreated sections on the image bearing and intermediate transfer members.
Innovation Solution
The image forming apparatus includes blade members with sections treated for high hardness at both ends, where the layer thickness of the second blade member is altered more significantly than the first, ensuring the toner is removed effectively and preventing blade turn-up by optimizing the positional relation of treated and untreated sections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If both ends of the cleaning blade are treated with high hardness to prevent blade turn-up, then blade stability is improved, but toner escape occurs at the border between treated and untreated sections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different hardness characteristics to different sections of the cleaning blade. The both ends are treated with high hardness to prevent turn-up, while the central portion maintains original elasticity for effective toner removal. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by optimizing each section's properties for its specific function.
Solution Approach 2:
The cleaning blade is segmented into functionally distinct regions: high-hardness end sections for stability and a softer central section for cleaning effectiveness. This segmentation allows each part to perform its optimized function without the negative effects affecting the other.
2Ease of operation
If the cleaning blade uses uniform elasticity throughout to maintain slippage, then cleaning effectiveness is improved, but blade turn-up occurs at the ends due to insufficient toner distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality differentiation where the central portion of the blade maintains uniform elasticity for effective toner removal and slippage, while the end sections are hardened to prevent turn-up. This resolves the contradiction by allowing each region to have properties optimized for its specific operational requirement.
3Strength
If the section treated with high hardness swells during treatment, then hardness increase is achieved, but difference in level occurs at the border creating toner escape paths
Solution Approach 1:
The patent confines the hardness treatment to specific end sections of the blade, creating localized high-hardness zones. This local treatment approach minimizes the overall impact of swelling and creates controlled transitions between treated and untreated sections, reducing levelness issues compared to full-blade treatment.
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
This configuration effectively inhibits blade turn-up and toner escape, maintaining image quality by ensuring the toner is removed from the intermediate transfer member, preventing defects on the recording material.
Implementation Method 1
a difference in level may occur at an internal end of the treated section (hereinafter, a section treated with high hardness), which is a border between the section treated with the high hardness and an untreated section upon abutting the cleaning blade on the image bearing member, by swelling of the section treated with the high hardness
Data Source
AI summary
A width of an untreated section in a drum blade is shorter than a width of an untreated section in an intermediate transfer member blade in an image forming apparatus using a blade, ends of which a treatment with high hardness is applied to, for both cleaning blades in a drum and an intermediate transfer member.