Toner Surface Coating for Fixability and Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional toner technologies face challenges in achieving both low-temperature fixability and heat-resistant storage stability while preventing contamination of cleaning parts and photoconductors, and maintaining excellent charging stability.
Innovation Solution
A toner formulation featuring fine resin particles and inorganic external additives on the surface of toner particles, with a coverage range of 30% to 70%, where the inorganic additives cover metal element oxides with hydroxides, enhancing charging stability and preventing scattering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If materials with low melting point are used in toners to improve low-temperature fixability, then low-temperature fixability is improved, but heat resistance becomes worse
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by creating a composite resin particle structure where the core contains low melting point materials for low-temperature fixability, while the shell contains high melting point materials for heat resistance. This allows different regions of the same particle to have different thermal properties, simultaneously achieving both low-temperature fixability and heat-resistant storage stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses composite materials by combining resin particles with low melting point and resin particles with high melting point to form composite resin particles. The low melting point resin (e.g., polyester resin) provides low-temperature fixability, while the high melting point resin (e.g., styrene-acrylic resin) provides heat resistance, achieving both properties in a single toner particle.
2Reliability
If external additives are increased to suppress toner scattering, then toner scattering is suppressed, but toner fixability is inhibited
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the parameter of external additive coverage from high to optimized range (30-70%). By controlling the coverage amount rather than maximizing it, the invention achieves sufficient toner scattering suppression while maintaining toner fixability. This parameter optimization resolves the contradiction between scattering suppression and fixability.
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 both low-temperature fixability and heat-resistant storage stability, reduces contamination, and maintains excellent charging stability by using fine resin particles and inorganic external additives to cover metal element oxides with hydroxides.
Implementation Method 1
the inorganic external additive covers a surface of oxide of a metal element with hydroxide of a metal element
Data Source
AI summary
[Summary] An object of the present invention is to provide a toner that has both low-temperature fixability and heat-resistant storage stability, suppresses contamination of cleaning parts and photoconductors, and has excellent charging stability.[Tasks] A toner includes toner based particles containing a binder resin, a colorant, and a wax; and fine resin particles and an inorganic external additive that are present on a surface of the toner based particles, wherein a coverage of the fine resin particles is in a range from 30% to 70%, and wherein the inorganic external additive covers a surface of oxide of a metal element with hydroxide of a metal element.