JP2003091177A - Conductive endless belt and image forming apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a conductive endless belt which has good strength and more particularly good bending durability, has a good electrostatic charging characteristic and more particularly makes it possible to stably obtain an adequate resistance value even when the belt is impressed with a high voltage and an image forming apparatus using the same. SOLUTION: The conductive endless belt for transfer and conveyance of a tandem system which is circulatively driven by a driving member to convey a recording medium held by electrostatic attraction to four kinds of image forming bodies and successively transfers respective toner images to this recording medium is constituted by adding a polymeric ion conducting agent to a base material selected from the group consisting of (a) a thermoplastic polyamide, (b) an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin, (c) a thermoplastic polyacetal, (d) a polymer alloy or polymer blend of any one kind among the above (a) to (c) or >=2 kinds thereof, and (e) a polymer alloy or polymer blend of any one kind among the above (a) to (c) or >=2 kinds thereof and a thermoplastic resin.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the formation of an image on a latent image carrier having an electrostatic latent image on its surface in an electrostatic recording process in an electrophotographic apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, an electrostatic recording apparatus or the like. Conductive endless belt (hereinafter also simply referred to as "belt") used when transferring a toner image formed by supplying a developer to the body surface onto a recording medium such as paper, and image formation using the same Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electrostatic recording process in a copying machine, a printer or the like, first of all, a photoconductor (latent image carrier)
Surface is uniformly charged, an image is projected from the optical system on this photoconductor to erase the electrostatic charge on the exposed part, and then an electrostatic latent image is formed. Is used to form a toner image by electrostatically adhering toner, and the toner image is transferred to a recording medium such as paper, OHP, photographic paper, etc. to perform printing.

In this case, a color printer or a color copying machine basically prints according to the above process, but in the case of color printing, four color toners of magenta, yellow, cyan and black are used. A color tone is reproduced, and a step for superposing these toners at a predetermined ratio to obtain a required color tone is required. Several methods have been proposed for performing this step.

First, when toner is supplied onto a photoconductor to visualize an electrostatic latent image, as in the case of monochrome printing, the four colors of magenta, yellow, cyan, and black are first described. There is a multiple development system in which development is performed by sequentially stacking toner to form a color toner image on a photoconductor. According to this method, it is possible to configure the device relatively compactly, but this method has a problem that it is very difficult to control gradation and high image quality cannot be obtained.

Secondly, four photosensitive drums are provided, and the latent images of the respective drums are developed with magenta, yellow, cyan, and black toners, respectively, so that a magenta toner image, a yellow toner image, and a cyan toner image are formed. By forming four toner images of a black toner image and a black toner image, arranging the photosensitive drums on which these toner images are formed in one row, sequentially transferring each toner image to a recording medium such as paper, and superimposing it on the recording medium, There is a tandem system that reproduces a color image. In this method, although a good image can be obtained, four photosensitive drums and a charging mechanism and a developing mechanism provided for each photosensitive drum are arranged in a line, which makes the apparatus large and expensive. Becomes

FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of the printing unit of the tandem type image forming apparatus. A printing unit composed of the photoconductor drum 1, the charging roll 2, the developing roll 3, the developing blade 4, the toner supply roll 5 and the cleaning blade 6 is provided with 4 units corresponding to respective toners of yellow Y, magenta M, cyan C and black B. Drive rollers (drive members) 9 arranged side by side
The toner is sequentially transferred onto the paper which is circulated and driven by the transfer / transport belt 10 to form a color image. The charging and discharging of the transfer / conveying belt are performed by the charging roll 7 and the discharging roll 8, respectively. An attraction roller (not shown) is used for charging the sheet to attract the sheet to the belt. With these measures, the generation of ozone can be suppressed. The suction roller puts the paper on the transfer / transport belt from the transport path and performs electrostatic attraction on the transfer / transport belt. Further, the sheet separation after the transfer can be performed only by the curvature separation by lowering the transfer voltage to weaken the adsorption force between the sheet and the transfer / transport belt.

As materials for the transfer / conveyance belt 10, there are resistors and dielectrics, each of which has its advantages and disadvantages. Since the resistor belt holds charges for a short time, when used for tandem type transfer, charge injection in transfer is small, and voltage rise is relatively small even in continuous transfer of four colors. Further, the electric charge is released even when it is repeatedly used for the transfer of the next sheet, and the electric reset is not necessary. However, since the resistance value changes due to environmental changes, there are disadvantages that it affects the transfer efficiency and is easily affected by the thickness and width of the paper.

On the other hand, in the case of the dielectric belt, the injected charges are not spontaneously discharged, and the injection and discharge of the charges must be electrically controlled. However, since the electric charge is stably held, the paper can be securely attracted and the paper can be conveyed with high accuracy. Since the permittivity also has low dependency on temperature and humidity, the transfer process is relatively stable even to the environment. The drawback is that the transfer voltage increases because the charge is accumulated on the belt each time the transfer is repeated.

Thirdly, a recording medium such as paper is wound around a transfer drum and is rotated four times, and magenta, yellow, cyan, and black on the photoconductor are sequentially transferred to the recording medium for each revolution to reproduce a color image. There is also a transfer drum system. According to this method, a relatively high image quality can be obtained, but when the recording medium is a thick paper such as a postcard, it is difficult to wind it around the transfer drum, and the recording medium type is limited. There is.

With respect to the above-mentioned multiple development system, tandem system and transfer drum system, good image quality can be obtained, the apparatus does not become particularly large, and the type of recording medium is particularly limited. An intermediate transfer method has been proposed as a non-existent method.

That is, in this intermediate transfer system, an intermediate transfer member composed of a drum and a belt for temporarily transferring and holding the toner image on the photosensitive member is provided, and a magenta toner image and a yellow toner image are provided around the intermediate transfer member. A color image is formed on the intermediate transfer member by arranging four photoconductors on which a cyan toner image and a black toner image are formed and sequentially transferring the four color toner images onto the intermediate transfer member. The color image is transferred onto a recording medium such as paper. Therefore, since the toner images of four colors are superposed to adjust the gradation, it is possible to obtain high image quality, and it is not necessary to arrange the photoconductors in one line as in the tandem system. The size of the recording medium is not particularly limited because the recording medium does not need to be wound around a drum and the size of the recording medium is not limited. There is also a tandem intermediate transfer method that combines the tandem method and the intermediate transfer method.

As an apparatus for forming a color image by the intermediate transfer method, an image forming apparatus using an endless belt-shaped intermediate transfer member as an intermediate transfer member is illustrated in FIG.

In FIG. 3, 11 is a drum-shaped photosensitive member,
It is designed to rotate in the direction of the arrow in the figure. The photoconductor 11 is charged by the primary charger 12, then the exposed portion is erased by image exposure 13, and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the first color component is formed on the photoconductor 11.
Further, the electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing device 41 with the magenta toner M of the first color, and the magenta toner image of the first color is formed on the photoconductor 11. Then, the toner image is circulated and driven by the driving roller (driving member) 30 to form the photosensitive member 1.
The image is transferred to the intermediate transfer member 20 that rotates while rotating in contact with 1. In this case, the transfer from the photoconductor 11 to the intermediate transfer member 20 is performed in the nip portion between the photoconductor 11 and the intermediate transfer member 20 by the primary transfer bias applied from the power supply 61 to the intermediate transfer member 20. This intermediate transfer member 2
After the first-color magenta toner image is transferred to 0, the surface of the photoconductor 11 is cleaned by the cleaning device 14, and the developing and transferring operation for the first rotation of the photoconductor 11 is completed. After that, the photoconductor rotates three times, and the developing unit 42 is rotated every revolution.
To 44 are sequentially used to sequentially form a cyan toner image of the second color, a yellow toner image of the third color, and a black toner image of the fourth color on the photoconductor 11, which are superposed and transferred to the intermediate transfer member 20 for each revolution. Then, a composite color toner image corresponding to the target color image is formed on the intermediate transfer member 20. In the apparatus shown in FIG. 3, the developing devices 41 to 44 are sequentially replaced for each revolution of the photoconductor 11 so that development with the magenta toner M, the cyan toner C, the yellow toner Y, and the black toner B is sequentially performed. Has become.

Next, the transfer roller 25 is brought into contact with the intermediate transfer member 20 on which the composite color toner image is formed, and the recording medium 26 such as paper is fed from the paper feed cassette 19 to the nip portion thereof. At the same time, the secondary transfer bias is the power source 29.
Is applied to the transfer roller 25 from the intermediate transfer member 20, and the composite color toner image is transferred from the intermediate transfer member 20 onto the recording medium 26 and heat-fixed to form a final image. After the transfer of the combined color toner image to the recording medium 26, the transfer residual toner on the surface of the intermediate transfer member 20 is removed by the cleaning device 35, and the initial state is restored to prepare for the next image formation.

Conventionally, as the endless belt-shaped intermediate transfer member 20, a semiconductive resin film belt and a rubber belt having a fiber reinforcement are mainly used. Among these, as the semi-conductive resin film belt, for example, one in which carbon black is blended with polycarbonate is known, but recently, a polyalkylene terephthalate base material that is improved in terms of durability against this bending is used as a base material. Resin film belt (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-993)
No. 74) or a resin film belt using thermoplastic polyimide as a base material for improving the elastic surface (JP-A-11-
170389).

[0016]

In the tandem system, the intermediate transfer system and the tandem intermediate transfer system image forming apparatus using the conductive endless belt, the conductive endless belt is mechanically strong enough to withstand repeated continuous use. In particular, it is required to have bending durability. As described above, some of the semiconductive resin film belts have been put into practical use so far, but as the performance of the image forming apparatus becomes higher, today, the above-mentioned required characteristics are better satisfied. Is required.

Further, in such a resin film belt, in order to obtain a desired charging performance as a member, it is common to add a conductive material such as an electronic conductive agent or an ionic conductive agent to adjust the conductivity. Has been done. However, among these, in the belt of an electronic conductive system using an electronic conductive agent including conductive carbon such as carbon black filler,
There is a large voltage dependency when a resistance is applied, and problems such as leakage may occur especially when a high voltage is applied.
In addition, when a low molecular weight antistatic agent is used, the antistatic performance may deteriorate with the passage of electricity and aging, and bleeding out of the low molecular weight ion component may cause contamination of other members that come into contact with the antistatic agent, causing a problem. There was a problem such as doing.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a resin film belt used in a tandem type, an intermediate transfer type and a tandem intermediate transfer type image forming apparatus, which has good strength,
In particular, a conductive endless belt having good bending durability and good charging characteristics, and in particular, capable of stably obtaining an appropriate resistance value even when a high voltage is applied, and an image formation using the same To provide a device.

[0019]

Means for Solving the Problems The inventors of the present invention have conducted extensive studies on various synthetic resins as a belt base material and a conductive material in order to solve the above problems, and as a result, have found that the base of the conductive endless belt is Using a specific polymer material as a material,
Moreover, they have found that the above object can be achieved by using a polymer ion conductive agent as the conductive material, and completed the present invention. That is, the present invention is as shown below.

(1) A tandem transfer method in which a recording medium held by electrostatic attraction is cyclically driven by a driving member, conveyed to four types of image forming bodies, and each toner image is sequentially transferred to the recording medium, In the conductive endless belt for conveyance, (a) thermoplastic polyamide, (b) acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin, (c) thermoplastic polyacetal, (d) any two kinds of (a) to (c) above. A group selected from the group consisting of the above polymer alloy or polymer blend, and (e) a polymer alloy or polymer blend of any one or more of (a) to (c) and a thermoplastic resin. A conductive endless belt comprising a material and a polymer ion conductive agent added to the material.

(2) The toner image formed on the surface of the image forming body is temporarily transferred and held on the surface of the image forming body, which is disposed between the image forming body and the recording medium and is circularly driven by a driving member. A conductive endless belt for an intermediate transfer member, which transfers (a) a thermoplastic polyamide, (b) an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin, (c) a thermoplastic polyacetal, and (d) the above (a).
To (c) any two or more polymer alloys or polymer blends, and (e) the above (a) to
A polymer ion conductive agent is added to a base material selected from the group consisting of a polymer alloy or polymer blend of any one or more of (c) and a thermoplastic resin. Is a conductive endless belt.

(3) The conductive endless belt according to (1) or (2) above, wherein the thermoplastic resin is a thermoplastic elastomer.

(4) In the electroconductive endless belt according to any one of (1) to (3) above, the polymeric ionic electroconductive agent contains a polyetheramide component or a polyetheresteramide component. is there.

(5) In the electroconductive endless belt of (4), the polymeric ionic electroconductive agent contains a low molecular ionic electroconductive agent component.

(6) In the conductive endless belt of (5), the polyether component of the polyether amide component or the polyether ester amide component is (C
H ₂ —CH ₂ —O), the polyamide component contains nylon 12 or nylon 6, and the low molecular weight ionic conductive agent is NaClO _4, which is a conductive endless belt.

(7) In the electroconductive endless belt according to any one of (1) to (6), the amount of the polymer ionic electroconductive agent added is 1 to 50 with respect to 100 parts by weight of the base material.
It is a conductive endless belt in the range of 0 parts by weight.

(8) In the electroconductive endless belt according to any one of (1) to (7), the volume resistance value is 10 ⁷ to.
It is a conductive endless belt of 10 ¹⁴ Ω · cm.

(9) In the electroconductive endless belt according to any one of (1) to (8), the electroconductive endless belt has a fitting portion for mating with the driving member on a surface of the electroconductive endless belt which is in contact with the driving member. It is a belt.

(10) In the electroconductive endless belt according to (9), the fitting portion is an electroconductive endless belt which is a ridge continuously projecting along the rotation direction.

(11) An image forming apparatus using the conductive endless belt according to any one of (1) to (10).

The electroconductive endless belt of the present invention has good strength, especially good bending durability, as well as high molecular weight ionic conductive agent by using the base material made of the above-mentioned specific polymer material. By using, it has good performance in terms of charging characteristics and does not cause a problem as in the prior art. Further, when the driving member and the conductive endless belt are provided with fitting portions for fitting each other, it is possible to prevent the conductive endless belt stretched around two or more shafts from shifting in the width direction with rotation. can do. Therefore, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention using such a conductive endless belt of the present invention, it is possible to provide a good image without causing defects even when used for a long period of time.

[0032]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The conductive endless belt is generally classified into a jointed type and a jointless type (so-called seamless belt), but any type may be used in the present invention. A seamless belt is preferable. As described above, the conductive endless belt of the present invention can be used as a transfer member of a tandem system, an intermediate transfer system, and a tandem intermediate transfer system. When the conductive endless belt of the present invention is, for example, a transfer / conveying belt shown by reference numeral 10 in FIG. 2, the toner is sequentially transferred onto a recording medium conveyed by being driven by a driving member such as a driving roller 9. Then, a color image is formed.

Further, when the conductive endless belt of the present invention is, for example, an intermediate transfer member indicated by reference numeral 20 in FIG. 3, it is circulated and driven by a driving member such as a driving roller 30 to form a photosensitive drum (latent image). By disposing it between the holding body) 11 and the recording medium 26 such as paper, the photosensitive drum 1
The toner image formed on the surface of No. 1 is once transferred and held, and then transferred to the recording medium 26. The apparatus of FIG. 3 performs color printing by the intermediate transfer method as described above.

As the base material of the conductive endless belt of the present invention, (a) thermoplastic polyamide (PA), (b) acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resin, (c) thermoplastic polyacetal (POM), ( d)
Polymer alloy or polymer blend of any two or more of these (a) to (c), or (e) Any one or more of these (a) to (c) and (a) Polymer alloys or polymer blends with thermoplastic resins other than (c) to, in particular, thermoplastic elastomers are used. In the present invention, by using any one of these polymer materials as the base material, a belt having good strength, particularly good bending durability can be obtained.

The thermoplastic polyamide (a) according to the present invention is one of the resins which has been used as a material having good wear resistance for a long time, and is excellent in strength and impact resistance, and is marketed. It can be easily obtained at. Although there are several types of PA, nylon 12 (hereinafter referred to as “PA12”), for example, manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc., trade name: Rilsan AESN O TL or Daicel Huls Co., Ltd. Product name: Daiamide L210
1, Daiamide L1940 and the like can be preferably used. PA12 is superior to other PAs in dimensional stability under environmental changes. PA6 is also suitable. By using such a thermoplastic polyamide as the base material of the conductive endless belt, it is possible to obtain a conductive endless belt having no resistance variation and having excellent strength, particularly bending durability. As the PA 12 used in the present invention,
The number average molecular weight is preferably 7,000 to 100,000, and more preferably 13,000 to 40,000.

Among the polymer alloys of PA and the thermoplastic elastomer, preferred are block copolymer alloys of PA12 and thermoplastic polyethers. Thereby, in addition to the dimensional stability, an excellent effect can be obtained in improving the low temperature characteristics. Such P
A polymer alloy of A12 and a thermoplastic polyether is also available on the market, and representative examples thereof include Daiamide X4442 manufactured by Daicel Huls Co., Ltd.

The thermoplastic elastomer which can be preferably used for polymer blending with PA has a Young's modulus of 98,000 N / cm ² or less, preferably 980.
Polymers of up to 49000 N / cm ² are known, and polyester-based, polyamide-based, polyether-based, polyolefin-based, polyurethane-based, styrene-based, acrylic-based, polydiene-based elastomers can be used. By blending such a thermoplastic elastomer, the number of folding endurance increases and the durability against cracks can be enhanced. A polymer blend of PA12 and a thermoplastic elastomer is also commercially available, and for example, Daicel Huls Co., Ltd., trade name: Daiamide E1947 can be mentioned.

The blending ratio in the polymer alloy and the polymer blend of PA and the thermoplastic elastomer in the present invention is as follows when PA is PA12:
Preferably, the thermoplastic elastomer is 100 parts by weight or less with respect to 100 parts by weight of PA12.

The (b) acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resin as the base material according to the present invention is a thermoplastic resin having excellent impact resistance and dimensional stability, and can be easily obtained on the market. it can. In particular,
For example, Daicel Polymer KK-made, trade names: Sevian V320, Sevian V680 and the like can be typically used. By using such an ABS resin as the base material of the conductive endless belt, it is possible to obtain a conductive endless belt having no resistance variation, excellent strength, particularly excellent bending resistance, and high dimensional accuracy.

Preferred polymer alloys and polymer blends of such ABS resin are thermoplastic polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), thermoplastic polycarbonate (PC) or thermoplastic polyamide (P).
Mention may be made of polymer alloys with A). Polymer alloys and polymer blends of such ABS resin and thermoplastic resin are also available on the market, for example, polymer alloys manufactured by Daicel Polymer Ltd., trade names: Novalloy B1500 and B1700 (PBT /
ABS resin), Novalloy S1100 (PC / ABS resin), Novalloy A1500 (PA6 / ABS resin), and the like, which are heat resistant, chemical resistant, and rigid (PBT / ABS resin), respectively. The effect of improving heat resistance, impact resistance and rigidity (PC / ABS resin), impact resistance and chemical resistance (PA6 / ABS resin) can be obtained.

The (c) thermoplastic polyacetal according to the present invention may be a homopolymer or a copolymer, but a copolymer is preferable from the viewpoint of thermal stability. POM has strength, wear resistance, dimensional stability,
Since it is well-balanced in terms of formability, it is an engineering plastic often used for plastic gears, etc., and can be easily obtained on the market. For example, Asahi Kasei Corporation
Typical examples are manufactured and trade names: Tenac 2010. By using such a POM as the base material of the conductive endless belt, it is possible to obtain a conductive endless belt which has no resistance variation, is excellent in strength, particularly in bending durability and creep resistance, and has high dimensional accuracy.

Among the polymer alloys of POM, a polymer alloy with thermoplastic polyurethane can be cited as a preferable example, and thereby, in addition to the above-mentioned properties, excellent impact resistance can be obtained. Polymer alloys of POM and thermoplastic polyurethane are also available in the market, for example, Asahi Kasei Corp., trade name: Tenac 4
012 and the like can be typically mentioned.

The thermoplastic elastomer which can be preferably used in the polymer blend with POM includes
The same as in the case of PA described above can be mentioned.
Also in this case, due to the effect of the blending with the thermoplastic elastomer, the number of folding endurance increases and the durability against cracks can be enhanced.

In the present invention, a polymer ion conductive agent as a conductive material is added to the base material made of such a polymer component. Examples of such a polymer ion conductive agent include, for example, JP-A-9-227717, JP-A-10-120924, and JP-A-2000-3.
The material described in Japanese Patent No. 27922 can be used, but is not particularly limited.

Specifically, (A) an organic polymer material,
(B) ion-conductive polymer or copolymer,
And (C) an inorganic or low molecular weight organic salt,
The component (A) is a polyamine.
Acrylic ester, polymethacrylic ester, poly
Acrylonitrile, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl alcohol
Cate, polyamide, polyurethane or polyester
And component (B) is an oligoethoxylated acrylate.
Or methacrylate, aromatic ring
Toxylated styrene, polyether urethane, poly
Ether urea, polyether amide, polyether s
A teramide or a polyether ester, and
Component (C) is an inorganic or low molecular weight organic protonic acid
Lucari metal, alkaline earth metal, zinc or ammonium
Salt, preferably LiClO_Four, LiCF₃SO
₃, NaClO_Four, LiBF_Four, NaBF_Four, KBF_Four, N
aCF₃SO₃, KClO_Four, KPF₆, KCF₃SO₃, K
C_FourF₉SO₃, Ca (ClO_Four)₂, Ca (PF₆)₂, M
g (ClO_Four)₂, Mg (CF₃SO₃)₂, Zn (Cl
O _Four)₂, Zn (PF₆)₂Or Ca (CF₃SO₃)₂etc
Is.

Among these, a polymer ion conductive agent containing a polyether amide component or a polyether ester amide component is preferable as the component (B), and in addition to this, a low molecular weight ion as the component (C). It is preferable to contain a conductive agent component. Further, as the polyether amide component and the polyether ester amide component, those in which the polyether component contains (CH ₂ —CH ₂ —O) and the polyamide component contains nylon 12 or nylon 6 are particularly preferable. Particularly preferred is a polymer ion conductive agent containing as a component (B) and further containing NaClO ₄ as a low molecular weight ion conductive agent component of the component (C). Such a suitable polymeric ion conductive agent is
Irgastat (registered trademark) P18 and Irgastat (registered trademark) P22 (both Ciba
Specialty Chemicals Incorporated), Pelestat NC6321 (Sanyo Kasei Co., Ltd.)
Can be obtained as.

The amount of the polymeric ionic conductive agent added is preferably 1 to 500 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the substrate.
More preferably, it is in the range of 10 to 400 parts by weight, whereby the volume resistance value of the elastic material layer is preferably 10 ⁷ to 1
0 ¹⁴ Ω · cm, more preferably 10 ⁸ to 10 ^12.5 Ω · c
It can be adjusted to m. The present invention is characterized in that, by using the above-mentioned polymer ion conductive agent as a conductive material, a belt resistivity of 10 ¹¹ Ω · cm or less can be achieved. If the amount of the polymeric ion conductive agent added is less than 1 part by weight, such a resistance level cannot be achieved, while if it exceeds 500 parts by weight, physical properties such as bending durability may be affected. , Not preferable.

A compatibilizing agent may be added to the electroconductive endless belt of the present invention in order to improve the compatibility between the base material and the polymeric ionic electroconductive agent. Examples of the compatibilizer that can be preferably used in the present invention include EV
A / EPDM / polyolefin graft copolymer,
Polyolefin graft copolymer and reactivity (G
MA, MAH-containing) polyolefin graft copolymer, P (St-co-GMA), EGMA, P (Et-
co-EA-co-MAH), olefin-based graft copolymer, maleated polyolefin, SEBS and maleated products thereof, oxazoline group-containing styrene-based or acrylonitrile-styrene-based polymer, maleated EPDM, maleated PE, maleated PP, maleated. EVA, styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer, SA
N-grafted EPDM, reactive polystyrene, polycaprolactone-b-polystyrene, reactive styrene / acrylonitrile copolymer, imidized polyacrylate, ethylene / glycidyl methacrylate acrylic acid copolymer, chlorinated polyethylene, reactive phenoxy, silane compound, peroxide polymer, poly Caprolactone, E
VA / EPDM / polyolefin-based graft polymer and the like (abbreviations in the above list are EVA: ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, EPDM: ethylene-propylene-diene copolymer, EGMA: ethylene-glycidyl methacrylate copolymer, respectively). Polymers, SEBS: styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene copolymer, GMA: glycidyl methacrylate, MAH: maleic anhydride, EA: ethyl acrylate) and the like. Total amount of material and high molecular weight ionic conductive agent 100
By adding 0.1 to 20 parts by weight to the parts by weight, the compatibility of both is improved, and the polymer ionic conductive agent can be dispersed uniformly and satisfactorily in the substrate. The electroconductive endless belt can be obtained.

Further, in the present invention, it is possible to supplementally add and adjust the conductivity by adding another conductive material as a functional component to the base material. Such a conductive material is not particularly limited, lauryl trimethyl ammonium, stearyl trimethyl ammonium, octadecyl trimethyl ammonium, dodecyl trimethyl ammonium, hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium, perchlorate of modified fatty acid dimethyl ethyl ammonium,
Cationic surfactants such as quaternary ammonium such as chlorates, borofluorides, sulphates, ethosulfates, benzyl halides (verdil bromide, benzyl chloride etc.); aliphatic sulfonic acids , Higher alcohol sulfate ester salt, higher alcohol ethylene oxide addition sulfate salt, higher alcohol phosphate ester salt and other anionic surfactants; various betaine and other zwitterionic surfactants; higher alcohol ethylene oxide, polyethylene glycol fatty acid ester, polyvalent Antistatic agents such as nonionic antistatic agents such as alcohol fatty acid esters, LiCF ₂ S
Metal salts of Group 1 of the periodic table such as O ₂ , NaClO ₄ , LiBF ₄ and NaCl; Metal salts of Group ₂ of the periodic table such as Ca (ClO ₄ ) ₂ ; and these antistatic agents react with isocyanate And a group having at least one group having active hydrogen (hydrogen group, carboxyl group, primary or secondary amine group, etc.). Furthermore, these and polyhydric alcohol (1,
4-butanediol, ethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, propylene glycol, etc.) or a derivative thereof, or an ion conductive agent such as a complex with ethylene glycol monomethyl ether, ethylene glycol monoethyl ether, etc .; Ketjen black, acetylene black, etc. Conductive carbon; SAF, ISAF,
HAF, FEF, GPF, SRF, FT, MT and other rubber carbons; oxidized color ink carbons, pyrolytic carbons, natural graphite, artificial graphite, etc .; tin oxide, titanium oxide, zinc oxide, nickel,
Examples thereof include metals such as copper and metal oxides; conductive polymers such as polyaniline, polypyrrole, and polyacetylene.

The amount of addition of these other conductive materials depends on the base material 1.
Preferably 0.01 to 30 parts by weight with respect to 00 parts by weight,
More preferably, it is about 0.1 to 20 parts by weight.

Further, in the present invention, other functional components can be added in addition to the above components within a range that does not impair the effects of the present invention. For example, various fillers, coupling agents, antioxidants, etc. , A lubricant, a surface treatment agent, a pigment, an ultraviolet absorber, an antistatic agent, a dispersant, a neutralizing agent, a foaming agent, a cross-linking agent and the like can be appropriately mixed. Coloring may be performed by adding a coloring agent.

The thickness of the conductive endless belt of the present invention is appropriately selected according to the form of the transfer / conveying belt or the intermediate transfer member, but preferably 50 to 20.
It is within the range of 0 μm.

Further, the conductive endless belt of the present invention, as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 1, has a side which comes into contact with a driving member such as the driving roller 9 in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 2 or the driving roller 30 of FIG. May be formed with a fitting portion that fits with a fitting portion (not shown) formed in the drive member. The conductive endless belt of the present invention is provided with such a fitting portion, It is possible to prevent the conductive endless belt from shifting in the width direction by fitting it into a fitting portion (not shown) provided on the driving member and running the same.

In this case, the fitting portion is not particularly limited, but as shown in FIG. 1, it is a continuous ridge along the circumferential direction (rotational direction) of the belt, which is a driving roller or the like. It is preferable that the driving member is fitted in a groove formed along the circumferential direction on the circumferential surface of the driving member.

Although FIG. 1 (a) shows an example in which one continuous convex strip is provided as the fitting portion, this fitting portion has a large number of convex portions in the circumferential direction (rotational direction) of the belt. May be provided so as to be lined up in a line along with, and two or more fitting portions may be provided (FIG. 1B), or may be provided at the central portion in the width direction of the belt. Further, a groove extending along the circumferential direction (rotational direction) of the belt is provided as the fitting portion instead of the ridge shown in FIG. 1, and the groove is formed on the circumferential surface of the driving member such as the driving roller along the circumferential direction. You may make it fit with the said convex line.

The conductive endless belt of the present invention is not particularly limited, but the surface roughness is 10 μm or less, particularly 6 μm or less, particularly 3 μm in terms of JIS 10-point average roughness Rz.
It is preferable that the thickness is not more than μm.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention using the conductive endless belt of the present invention is of the tandem type shown in FIG. 2, the intermediate transfer type shown in FIG. 3, or the tandem intermediate transfer type. However, the present invention is not limited to these. In the case of the apparatus of FIG. 3, a voltage can be appropriately applied from the power supply 61 to the driving roller or the driving gear that rotates the intermediate transfer member 20 of the present invention. In this case, the voltage is DC only or DC. The application conditions such as the application of weighting the alternating current can be appropriately selected.

Further, the method for producing the conductive endless belt of the present invention is not particularly limited, and, for example, the resin component of the base material and the functional component such as the conductive material are kneaded by a biaxial kneader, The obtained kneaded product can be produced by extrusion molding using a ring die. Alternatively, a powder coating method such as electrostatic coating, a dipping method, or a centrifugal casting method can be preferably used.

[0059]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in detail below based on specific examples. Example 1 Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin (manufactured by Daicel Polymer Ltd., trade name: Sebian V680) 90
Trade name: I as a polymer ion conductive agent based on parts by weight
10 parts by weight of rgastat P18 (manufactured by Ciba Specialty Chemicals Incorporated) were mixed and melt-kneaded by a twin-screw kneader at a predetermined molding temperature (see Table 2 below, also for the following Examples and Comparative Examples). . The obtained kneaded product is extruded by an annular die attached to the head of a single-screw extruder to have an inner diameter of 140 m.
m, thickness 100 μm, width 247 mm to obtain a conductive endless belt.

Examples 2 to 6 The amount of ABS resin was 85, 75, 70, 65 and 50 parts by weight, respectively, and the amount of Irgastat P18 was 15, respectively.
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the amount was 25, 30, 35, and 50 parts by weight.

Example 7 The amount of ABS resin was 70 parts by weight, while the polymer ion conductive agent was traded under the trade name of Irgasat P1.
8 (made by Ciba Specialty Chemicals Incorporated), trade name: Irgastat P2
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that 30 parts by weight of 2 (manufactured by Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Inc.) was mixed.

Example 8 The amount of ABS resin was 60 parts by weight, while the polymer ion conductive agent was traded under the trade name of Irgasat P1.
8 (made by Ciba Specialty Chemicals Incorporated), trade name: Pelestat NC632
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that 40 parts by weight of 1 (manufactured by Sanyo Kasei Co., Ltd.) was mixed.

Example 9 As the ABS resin, trade name: Sevian V680 (manufactured by Daicel Polymer Ltd.) in place of trade name: Cebian V680
0 (manufactured by Daicel Polymer Ltd.) was used to prepare a conductive endless belt in the same manner as in Example 1 except that 20 parts by weight of Irgasat P18 was mixed with 80 parts by weight of ABS resin.

Examples 10 to 12 The amount of ABS resin was 70, 65 and 60 parts by weight, respectively, and I
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 9 except that the amounts of rgastat P18 were changed to 30, 35, and 40 parts by weight, respectively.

Example 13 A thermoplastic polyamide (PA1) was used instead of the ABS resin (manufactured by Daicel Polymer Ltd., trade name: Sebian V680).
2) 70 parts by weight (trade name: Daiamide L1940, manufactured by Daicel Huls Co., Ltd.) was used, and Irga
Example 1 except that 30 parts by weight of stat P18 was mixed.
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in.

Examples 14 to 16 The amount of PA12 was 60, 50 and 30 parts by weight, respectively, and Ir
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 13 except that the amounts of gastat P18 were changed to 40, 50 and 70 parts by weight, respectively.

Example 17 The amount of PA12 was set to 50 parts by weight, while the polymer ion conductive agent was traded under the trade name of Irgastat P18.
Product name: Irgastat P22 in place of (Ciba Specialty Chemicals Incorporated)
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 13 except that 50 parts by weight (manufactured by Ciba Specialty Chemicals Incorporated) were mixed.

Example 18 The amount of PA12 was set to 50 parts by weight, while a polymer ion conductive agent was traded under the trade name of Irgastat P18.
(Ciba Specialty Chemicals Incorporated) product name: Perestat NC6321
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 13 except that 50 parts by weight (manufactured by Sanyo Kasei Co., Ltd.) was mixed.

Example 19 A thermoplastic polyacetal (manufactured by Polyplastics Co., Ltd., trade name: DURACON M25-) was used instead of an ABS resin (manufactured by Daicel Polymer Ltd., trade name: Cebian V680).
34) 80 parts by weight, in contrast to Irgasta
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that 20 parts by weight of tP18 was mixed.

Example 20 The amount of POM was 70 parts by weight, and Irgasat P1 was used.
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 13 except that the amount of 8 was 30 parts by weight.

Comparative Example 100 Polycarbonate resin (manufactured by Teijin Kasei Co., Ltd., trade name: Panlite K1300Y) in place of ABS resin (manufactured by Daicel Polymer Ltd., trade name: Sebian V680) 100
In contrast to the trade name: Irgastat P18 (manufactured by Ciba Specialty Chemicals Inc.) as a polymer ion conductive agent, trade name: FEF carbon (manufactured by Asahi Carbon Co., Ltd.) 30
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that parts by weight were mixed.

The conductive endless belts obtained in Examples 1 to 20 and Comparative Example were measured according to the following procedure. <Measurement of Dynamic Tensile Elastic Modulus (E ′)> The dynamic tensile elastic modulus was measured under the following conditions. Equipment: Toyo Seiki Co., Ltd. Rheographs
solid rheology meter sample shape: 5mm width x 0.15-0.22mm thickness x
30 mm (distance between chucks)

<Measurement of volume resistivity> Measured at a temperature of 23 ° C. and a relative humidity of 50% using a resistance meter R8340A manufactured by ADVANTEST and a sample chamber R12704A connected thereto. The volume resistivity at a voltage of 100 V was measured. Further, under the same conditions, the same device measures the measured voltage 100.
The volume resistivity at 0 V was measured, and the number of digits of voltage dependence was calculated by the following formula. (In the formula, R _100V and R _1000V are 100V and 1000, respectively.
It is the volume resistivity (Ω · cm) at V. )

<Measurement of Bending Resistance> Toyo Seiki Co., Ltd.
The number of times of bending resistance was measured by using a manufactured MIT fatigue resistance tester, and the result is shown by an index with Comparative Example being 20.
The larger the number, the better the result.

<Image Characteristics> Each belt was mounted on a tandem type image forming apparatus using the transfer / transport belt shown in FIG. 2, and the transfer operation was repeated to perform a durability test on 100,000 A4 sheets. The results of this test were evaluated for image quality and stain resistance. Table 1 below shows the blending contents of each Example and Comparative Example.
Table 2 below shows the results of each molding temperature and each measurement.
, Respectively.

[0076]

[Table 1]

[0077]

[Table 2]

Example 21 Thermoplastic polyamide (PA12) (manufactured by Ube Industries, Ltd.,
Trade name: UBESTAT 3024U) 60 parts by weight and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin (manufactured by Daicel Polymer Ltd., trade name: Sebian V680) 4
Trade name as high molecular weight ionic conductive agent for 0 parts by weight:
Twenty-five parts by weight of Irgasat P18 (manufactured by Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Inc.) was mixed and melt-kneaded by a twin-screw kneader at a predetermined molding temperature (see Table 4 below, the same applies to the following examples).
The obtained kneaded product was extruded and molded by an annular die attached to the head of a single-screw extruder to have an inner diameter of 140 mm and a thickness of 100.
A conductive endless belt having a size of μm and a width of 247 mm was obtained.

Example 22 The amount of PA12 was 65 parts by weight, and the amount of ABS resin was 35 parts.
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 21 except that the parts by weight were used.

Example 23 The amount of PA12 was 70 parts by weight, and ABS resin was used as trade name: Sebian V680 (manufactured by Daicel Polymer Ltd.).
In place of the above, trade name: Techno ABS25 (manufactured by Techno Polymer Co., Ltd.) is set to 30 parts by weight, and Irga is added to these.
25 parts by weight of stat P18 was mixed, and a filler (TiO ₂ as an additive, manufactured by Ishihara Techno Co., Ltd.,
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 21, except that 5 parts by weight of the product name: ET500W) was added.

Example 24 The amount of PA12 was 10 parts by weight, and the amount of ABS resin was 90 parts by weight.
Parts by weight, the amount of Irgasat P18 is 20 parts by weight, and as an additive, a trade name: ET500
Filler (TiO ₂ , manufactured by Ishihara Sangyo Co., Ltd., trade name: CR60) instead of W (TiO ₂ , manufactured by Ishihara Techno Co., Ltd.)
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 23 except that 5 parts by weight and 5 parts by weight of a compatibilizer (manufactured by Asahi Kasei Corp., trade name: Tuftec M1913) were added.

Example 25 The amount of PA12 was 10 parts by weight, and the amount of ABS resin was 90 parts by weight.
Parts by weight, the amount of Irgastat P18 is 18 parts by weight, and as an additive, ET500W (Ti
Instead of O ₂ , Ishihara Techno Co., Ltd., a filler (Ti
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 23 except that 5 parts by weight of O ₂ (trade name: CR60, manufactured by Ishihara Sangyo Co., Ltd.) was added.

Examples 26 to 29 The amount of PA12 was 15, 30, 40 and 70 parts by weight respectively, the amount of ABS resin was 85, 70, 60 and 30 parts by weight respectively, and the amount of Irgasat P18 was 18, 2 and 2, respectively.
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 25 except that 1, 22, 25 parts by weight were used.

Example 30 The amount of PA12 was 60 parts by weight, and the amount of ABS resin was 40 parts.
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 23 except that the amount of Irgasat P18 was 25 parts by weight, and that no additive was added.

Examples 31 and 32 A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 30 except that the amounts of PA12 were 65 and 70 parts by weight, respectively, and the amount of ABS resin was 35 and 30 parts by weight, respectively. .

Example 33 A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 21 except that PA12 was not used, the amount of ABS resin was 100 parts by weight, and the amount of Irgastat P18 was 19 parts by weight.

Example 34 As PA12, trade name: UBESTAT 3024U
Product name: Daiamide L1 in place of (manufactured by Ube Industries, Ltd.)
940 (manufactured by Daicel Degussa Co., Ltd.) is 70 parts by weight, the amount of ABS resin is 30 parts by weight, and a filler (TiO ₂ as an additive, manufactured by Ishihara Techno Co., Ltd., trade name: ET500W) 5 A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 21 except that parts by weight were added.

Examples 35 and 36 The procedure of Example 34 was repeated, except that the amounts of PA12 were 65 and 70 parts by weight, respectively, and the amount of ABS resin was 35 and 30 parts by weight, respectively, and no additive was added. A conductive endless belt was produced.

Example 37 As an ABS resin without using PA12, a trade name: Techno ABS25 (manufactured by Techno Polymer Co., Ltd.) was used instead of trade name: Sebian V680 (manufactured by Daicel Polymer Co., Ltd.).
00 parts by weight, and the amount of Irgastat P18 is 15
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 21 except that the parts by weight were used.

Example 38 As PA12, trade name: UBESTAT 3024U
Product name: Daiamide L1 in place of (manufactured by Ube Industries, Ltd.)
940 (manufactured by Daicel Degussa Co., Ltd.) is 40 parts by weight, and the ABS resin is traded under the trade name: Sebian V680 (manufactured by Daicel Polymer Co., Ltd.) under the trade name: Techno AB
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 21 except that S25 (manufactured by Techno Polymer Co., Ltd.) was used in an amount of 60 parts by weight.

Examples 39 to 41 The amount of PA12 was 60, 70 and 90 parts by weight, respectively, and AB
A conductive endless belt was produced in the same manner as in Example 38 except that the amounts of S resin were 40, 30, and 10 parts by weight, respectively.

The conductive endless belts obtained in Examples 21 to 41 were measured in the same manner as in Examples 1 to 20. Table 3 below shows the formulation contents of each Example and Comparative Example, and Table 4 below shows the results of each molding temperature and each measurement.

[0093]

[Table 3]

[0094]

[Table 4]

[0095]

As described above, according to the present invention, it has good strength, especially good bending durability, and good charging performance, and is suitable even when a high voltage is applied. It is possible to provide a conductive endless belt that can stably obtain various resistance values. Further, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention using the conductive endless belt of the present invention, it is possible to provide a good image that does not cause a defect even when used for a long period of time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction of a conductive endless belt according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a tandem type image forming apparatus using a transfer / conveying belt as an example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an intermediate transfer device using an intermediate transfer member as another example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 photoconductor drum 2 charging roll 3 developing roll 4 Development blade 5 Toner supply roll 6 cleaning blade 7 charging roll 8 Antistatic roll 9 Drive roller (drive member) 10 Transfer conveyor belt 11 Photoconductor (drum) 12 Primary charger 13 Image exposure 14,35 Cleaning device 19 paper cassettes 20 Intermediate transfer member 25 Transfer roller 26 recording media 29,61 power supply 30 drive roller 41, 42, 43, 44 developing device

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hiroshi Akabane             1 Kashio-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Stock             Company Bridgestone Yokohama factory F-term (reference) 2H200 FA16 FA18 GA12 GA23 GA47                       GB25 HB12 HB22 JA02 JB06                       JB10 JB45 JB46 JC03 JC15                       JC16 LC03 MA04 MA11 MA17                       MA20 MB01 MB04 MC03                 4J002 AA01X BN15W BN15X CB00W                       CB00X CF07X CG00X CK02X                       CL00W CL00X CL08Y DE196                       DH006 DK006 EV256 FD11Y                       FD110 FD116 GQ02

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A tandem transfer and transport method in which a recording medium held by electrostatic attraction is cyclically driven by a driving member to be transported to four types of image forming bodies and each toner image is sequentially transferred to the recording medium. For a conductive endless belt for use in (a) thermoplastic polyamide, (b) acrylonitrile-
Butadiene-styrene resin, (c) thermoplastic polyacetal, (d) polymer alloy or polymer blend of any two or more of (a) to (c), and (e) (a) to (c). A polymer ionic conductive agent is added to a base material selected from the group consisting of a polymer alloy or a polymer blend of any one or more of the above and a thermoplastic resin. Sex endless belt. 2. A toner image formed on the surface of the image forming body is temporarily transferred and held on the surface of the image forming body, which is disposed between the image forming body and the recording medium and is circularly driven by a driving member. A conductive endless belt for an intermediate transfer member, which transfers to a recording medium, comprises: (a) thermoplastic polyamide; (b) acrylonitrile-
Butadiene-styrene resin, (c) thermoplastic polyacetal, (d) polymer alloy or polymer blend of any two or more of (a) to (c), and (e) (a) to (c). A polymer ionic conductive agent is added to a base material selected from the group consisting of a polymer alloy or a polymer blend of any one or more of the above and a thermoplastic resin. Sex endless belt. 3. The conductive endless belt according to claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic resin is a thermoplastic elastomer. 4. The conductive endless belt according to claim 1, wherein the polymer ion conductive agent contains a polyether amide component or a polyether ester amide component. 5. The conductive endless belt according to claim 4, wherein the high molecular weight ionic conductive agent contains a low molecular weight ionic conductive agent component. 6. The polyether amide component or the polyether ester amide component, the polyether component contains (CH ₂ —CH ₂ —O), the polyamide component contains nylon 12 or nylon 6, and The conductive endless belt according to claim 5, wherein the low molecular weight ionic conductive agent is NaClO ₄ . 7. The conductive material according to claim 1, wherein the amount of the polymeric ionic conductive agent added is in the range of 1 to 500 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the base material. Endless belt. 8. The conductive endless belt according to claim 1, which has a volume resistance value of 10 ⁷ to 10 ¹⁴ Ω · cm. 9. The conductive endless belt according to claim 1, further comprising a fitting portion that fits with the driving member, on a surface that is in contact with the driving member. 10. The conductive endless belt according to claim 9, wherein the fitting portion is a ridge that is continuously provided in a protruding manner along the rotation direction. 11. An image forming apparatus using the electroconductive endless belt according to claim 1. Description: