Gradient Silicone Toner for Thick Paper Fixing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing toners face challenges in maintaining image quality and durability, particularly when printing on thick paper, as they struggle to balance low-temperature fixability with high-temperature adhesion and folding resistance, leading to issues like toner offset and paper adhesion.
Innovation Solution
A toner composition with a binder resin containing a polyester resin A, having a specific structure represented by formula (1), which gradiently reduces silicone segments from the surface to the interior, maintaining low surface free energy while preserving intermolecular cohesion, thereby enhancing both image release properties and folding resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a polyester resin grafted with silicone oil is used to improve release properties, then the release properties of the fixed image surface are improved, but the folding resistance of the fixed image on thick paper deteriorates due to reduced intermolecular cohesion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a gradient structure where silicone segments are concentrated at the surface of the toner particle (X1: X2 ratio ≥ 1.05) rather than uniformly distributed. This allows the surface to have low surface free energy for release properties while the interior maintains high intermolecular cohesion for folding resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the spatial distribution parameter of silicone segments from uniform to gradient-based, controlling the concentration profile from surface to interior. This parameter change enables simultaneous optimization of release properties (surface) and folding resistance (interior).
2Temperature
If the toner is softened at low temperature for easy fixing, then low-temperature fixability is improved, but toner offset and paper adhesion increase at high temperatures due to increased adhesion force
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the thermal transition parameters of the binder resin by incorporating polyester resin with specific glass transition temperature (Tg: 50-90°C) and melting temperature (Tm: 80-150°C). This enables the toner to soften at low temperatures for fixing while maintaining stability at high temperatures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite binder resin system combining polyester resin (50-80 mass%) with other resins (20-50 mass%), creating material with optimized thermal properties that balance low-temperature fixability and high-temperature stability.
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 toner achieves improved image release properties and folding resistance on thick paper, ensuring media-constant speed printing without toner offset or paper adhesion, while maintaining low-temperature fixability and high-temperature performance.
Implementation Method 1
maintaining low surface free energy while preserving intermolecular cohesion, thereby enhancing both image release properties and folding resistance
Implementation Method 2
In analysis of the toner particle with an X-ray photoelectron spectrometer, when X is a ratio of the number of silicon atoms attributable to silicone segments
Data Source
AI summary
A toner comprising a toner particle containing a binder resin containing at least 50 mass % of a polyester resin, wherein the polyester resin contains a polyester resin A having a silicone segment, and in XPS analysis, when X is a ratio of the number of silicon atoms attributable to silicone segments relative to a total number of measured atoms, X1 is a value of the X on the toner particle surface, X2 is a value of the X at a depth of 30 nm from the surface, Z is a ratio of the number of carbon atoms attributable to ester bonds relative to a total number of measured atoms, Z1 is a value of the Z on the toner particle surface and Z2 is a value of the Z at a depth of 30 nm from the toner particle surface, X1, Z1, X2 and Z2 satisfy a specific relationship.