Image Bearing Member Protection Agent for Abrasion Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing image forming apparatuses face challenges in maintaining the longevity of the image bearing member, charging roller, and cleaning blade while ensuring high-quality image production due to abrasion and toner slip-through issues, particularly in AC charging systems, where the image bearing member is heavily damaged and resources are wasted.
Innovation Solution
An image forming apparatus with a protection agent comprising metal soap and boron nitride, where the boron nitride amount is 0.3 μg/cm2 or less, and a weight ratio of metal soap to boron nitride ranging from 70:30 to 95:5, applied to the image bearing member to form a protection layer, which reduces abrasion and toner slip-through, and includes a filler like aluminum particles for enhanced durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a rubber blade is pressed against the image bearing member to remove attached material, then cleaning property is improved, but mechanical stress and friction cause attrition of the rubber blade and image bearing member surface layer, shortening working life
Solution Approach 1:
A protection agent layer is introduced as an intermediary between the image bearing member surface and the rubber cleaning blade. This protection agent absorbs mechanical stress and friction during the cleaning process, preventing direct contact and attrition between the rubber blade and the image bearing member surface layer, thereby extending the working life of both components while maintaining effective cleaning.
Solution Approach 2:
The protection agent is applied in advance to the image bearing member surface before the cleaning process occurs. This pre-applied layer acts as a cushioning barrier that absorbs mechanical stress and friction during subsequent cleaning operations, preventing direct damage to the image bearing member surface layer and extending its working life.
2Productivity
If the image bearing member is charged using AC voltage overlapped with DC voltage, then charging efficiency is improved, but the image bearing member is easily and heavily damaged due to repeated discharging several hundreds to thousands of times per second
Solution Approach 1:
The protection agent layer is applied in advance to the image bearing member surface before AC charging occurs. This pre-applied layer acts as a cushioning barrier that absorbs the mechanical stress and friction generated during repeated discharging cycles (several hundreds to thousands of times per second), preventing direct damage to the image bearing member surface layer and extending its working life while maintaining charging efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The protection agent serves as an intermediary layer between the image bearing member surface and the charging/discharging process. This intermediary absorbs the mechanical stress generated by repeated AC charging cycles, protecting the image bearing member from damage while allowing the AC charging system to operate at high efficiency.
3Reliability
If metal soap is used as protection agent, then lubricant property is improved and abrasion is reduced, but powder of metal soap slips through the cleaning blade, scatters and attaches to the charging roller, degrading charging
Solution Approach 1:
The protection agent is formulated as a composite material combining metal soap (for lubricant property and abrasion resistance) with inorganic lubricants such as mica and boron nitride (to prevent scattering). This composite formulation maintains the beneficial lubricant properties of metal soap while the inorganic components prevent powder scattering and attachment to the charging roller, eliminating the harmful effects.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the chemical composition parameters of the protection agent by incorporating inorganic lubricants (mica, boron nitride) alongside metal soap. This parameter change transforms the protection agent from a simple metal soap formulation that scatters easily into a composite material with reduced scattering tendency, while maintaining lubricant properties.
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 extends the working life of the image bearing member and cleaning blade, maintains image quality over an extended period, and reduces resource consumption by minimizing abrasion and toner loss, while effectively protecting against AC charging-induced damage.
Implementation Method 1
a protection agent applied to the surface of an image bearing member to form a film layer of the protection agent thereon... the protection agent applied to the surface of an image bearing member reduces the abrasion on the surface of the image bearing member caused by the friction between the cleaning blade and the image bearing member
Implementation Method 2
the dominant charging system currently employed uses a charging roller applying an AC voltage in which an AC voltage is overlapped with a DC voltage to the surface of the image bearing member
Implementation Method 3
boron nitride prevents oxidization deterioration of the image bearing member by discharging
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming apparatus including an image bearing member that bears a latent image and has a surface layer; a charging device that charges the surface of the image bearing member: a latent image forming device that forms the latent image on the surface of the image bearing member; a development device that develops the latent image formed on the surface of the image bearing member with a development agent to form a toner image thereon; a transfer device that transfers the toner image to a transfer medium; a cleaning device that removes residual toner remaining on the surface of the image bearing member after transferring the toner image to the transfer medium; and a protection agent supplying device that supplies a protection agent to the surface layer of the image bearing member that forms a protection layer thereon, wherein the protection agent comprises a metal soap and boron nitride and the amount of the boron nitride in the protection layer applied to the image bearing member after image formation is 0.3 μg/cm2 or less.