JP2006213960A - Method and device for producing endless belt - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for highly efficiently releasing an endless belt produced on a cylindrical mold by an electroforming process. <P>SOLUTION: A liquid injection nozzle 6 provided on the outer circumferential face at one end of a cylindrical metal mold 1 is masked with a masking material 3, and thereafter, an electrodeposited film 2 is formed including a part of the masking material. At the time when a liquid is fed from a liquid feed tube 5, a high pressure liquid is injected from the injection nozzle 6, releases the electrodeposited film formed at the end part of the masking material so as to thrust up the same, and further progresses to release the electrodeposited film from the cylindrical metal mold. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a cylindrical metal matrix and a method for releasing an electrodeposited film from the cylindrical metal matrix when an endless belt formed on a metal matrix by electroforming is manufactured. The present invention relates to a fixing belt used in an image forming apparatus such as an electrostatic recording apparatus, and means relating to the manufacture of a belt base material serving as a substrate such as an organic photoreceptor.

  In an electroforming process, a method of forming a release coating is mainly used as a method of releasing an electrodeposition coating from a mother mold after forming an electrodeposition coating of a predetermined thickness on a mother die or an electroforming mold by electroplating. ing. As a method for forming a release film, there are a mechanically treated film method in which wax or grease is applied, a chemical treatment film method in which an anodic electrolysis in a 10% NaOH solution or a chemical treatment solution such as a chromic acid solution is used.

  However, these treatment coating methods have a problem that the cost of treating the waste liquid of the treatment agent is high, the environmental resistance is poor, and the coating accuracy is low. As chemical treatment methods, mold release agents based on organic iodine-based chemicals (for example, see Patent Document 1) that have been improved in terms of environmental resistance and coating accuracy, and drugs made from thiourea derivatives (see Patent Document 2) have been proposed. ing. Furthermore, a chemical oxide film forming method (see, for example, Patent Document 3) that can form a release film by a completely dry method has been proposed.

  All of these are methods of releasing treatment by forming a release film on the surface of the mold in advance, and the range of application is wide. However, in the case of releasing from cylindrical objects such as endless belt members, an electrodeposition film is formed. Due to the influence of the stress generated on the film due to the bath prescription and electrodeposition conditions, the adhesion to the mold becomes more severe, and the release can be released by these release film forming methods is limited by the stress adjustment by additives etc. It had a coating characteristic. In the case of this method, a process for forming a release film before electroforming and its dedicated equipment are required.

  On the other hand, as a mold release treatment method in the endless belt form system, after the electrodeposition film is formed as a mold release method from the cylindrical mother mold, the end face part after electroforming is peeled and cut to facilitate the mold release process. (For example, see Patent Document 4), and in addition, a method for releasing mold by supplying compressed air into the electrodeposited film that is in close contact after the end face treatment has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 5). Yes. In the case of this method, an end face peeling process is required to facilitate mold release before the mold release process, which complicates the matrix structure and increases costs. In addition, a stress reducing agent is added to control the stress of the film. For endless belts that require limited amount and limited coating properties and require coating properties with high hardness and toughness, there is a limit to obtaining reliable release properties, and high-efficiency release processing Has become difficult.

  On the other hand, the nickel alloy plating film electrodeposited on the cylindrical mother mold is released by using electromagnetic induction heating and heating only the plating film directly to generate a thermal expansion difference between the mother mold and the coating film. A method (see, for example, Patent Document 6) has been proposed. In this method, a high-frequency inverter with an output of 100 KHz is applied to control the heating, but the operating frequency is normally restricted to a range from 20 KHz to 100 KHz by the radio wave method, and considering the efficiency, it is several tens of KHz. It is desirable to operate at a certain operating frequency, and it is considered that less than 40 KHz is more preferable in view of avoiding the influence on standard telephone signals such as telegraphic Morse signals.

  However, as the film thickness of the film to be released becomes thinner, the operating frequency must be set higher due to the relationship with the heat generation skin depth due to the inherent characteristics of the film. It becomes difficult. In addition, in order to increase the heat generation efficiency, it is necessary to make the gap between the plating film surface and the heating element as small as possible, and it is necessary to increase the positional accuracy of the jig relative to the heating device. There is a problem that it is necessary to manage the position of the jig with high accuracy, and management in manufacturing is difficult and costly.

In this way, in the production of endless belt-shaped members used for fixing belts, the releasability from the cylindrical matrix greatly changes depending on the prescription and electrodeposition conditions at the time of film formation, and it can be produced from the aspect of releasability The types of electrodeposition coatings are limited, and it has been difficult to produce a thin-walled endless belt having coating properties with more excellent wear resistance and bending resistance by a manufacturing method that fully considers environmental properties. .
Japanese Patent No. 2933986 JP 2000-129484 A Japanese Patent No. 2632812 JP 2003-55787 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-98487 JP-A-6-75489

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned problems and to fix a wide range of electric power which can be improved in performance such as heat resistance, wear resistance, and bending resistance, which has been difficult to manufacture with conventional methods in fixing belt members and the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple and highly efficient demolding method in consideration of environmental characteristics that enables the production of a belt member having an analysis coating characteristic.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have conducted intensive studies, and as a result, have found a method for producing an endless belt in which an electrodeposited film electroformed on a cylindrical metal matrix is released from the cylindrical metal matrix. Then, a liquid ejection hole formed at one end of the side surface of the cylindrical metal matrix is covered with a conductive masking material so as to be separated from the cylindrical metal matrix, and further, the cylindrical metal matrix The other end is covered with an insulating member, and then immersed in the electroforming liquid so that a part of the masking material is exposed from the electroforming liquid with the other end of the cylindrical metal matrix facing down. An electrodeposited film is formed on the surface of the metal mold and the masking material, and then the liquid is transferred to the interface between the electrodeposited film and the cylindrical metal mold via the ejection holes provided in the cylindrical metal mold. A release coating at the interface between the electrodeposited coating and the cylindrical metal matrix Formed, then completed the present invention by finding method comprising releasing the electrostatic 析被 layer from the cylindrical metal mold possible with high efficiency.

  Furthermore, the present invention is an endless belt manufacturing apparatus for forming an endless belt by releasing an electrodeposited film electroformed on a side surface of a cylindrical metal matrix from the cylindrical metal matrix. The metal matrix is an endless belt having a liquid ejection hole for ejecting liquid from the metal matrix, and a conductive masking material covering the ejection hole formed through the gap with the cylindrical metal matrix. It can be manufactured by a manufacturing apparatus.

  In the conventional mold release method, the present invention enables the release of a belt having high hardness and coating properties in a high strength region, which is difficult to release, and is required for a fixing belt or the like. In addition, it has become possible to provide an endless belt base material having a wide range of coating characteristics from a base material having higher durability and abrasion resistance and coating characteristics.

  The mold release method according to the present invention has the highest merit as the mold release method of an endless belt that has high hardness and strength, a small coefficient of thermal expansion, and is subjected to strong stress on the adhesion to the mother mold. It can also be applied to general mold release methods.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a mold release method according to the first embodiment, and shows a state in which an electrodeposition film 2 is formed after a masking material 3 is attached to a cylindrical metallic mother die 1. . In FIG. 1, the liquid ejection hole 6 provided on the outer peripheral surface of one end of the cylindrical metal matrix 1 is masked in advance with the masking material 3, and then a part of the masking material 3 is included by electroforming ( (Refer to FIG. 2A for details) An electrodeposited film 2 having a predetermined thickness is formed. A gap is formed between the masking material 3 and the cylindrical metal matrix 1.

  When forming the electrodeposited film 2, the other end of the cylindrical metallic matrix 1 is prevented from being formed by the insulating ring 4.

  When the electrodeposited film 2 is released from the cylindrical metallic matrix 1, the insulating ring 4 is removed and the liquid is supplied to the liquid supply pipe 5 from a liquid supply unit (not shown). The liquid supplied from the liquid supply pipe 5 is ejected from the ejection hole 6, and the liquid ejected from the ejection hole 6 is electrodeposited at the end of the masking material 3 from the gap between the cylindrical metal matrix and the masking material 3. The film 2 is reached.

  FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of part A in FIG. 1, and the arrows indicate the direction in which the liquid flows. The electrodeposition film 2 formed on the end of the masking material 3 is released so that the cylindrical metal matrix 1 is pushed up by the pressure of the liquid, and the liquid further enters from the release part of the electrodeposition film 2, The deposited film 2 is released from the cylindrical metal matrix. Since the liquid is sandwiched between the electrodeposited film 2 and the cylindrical metal matrix 1, the electrodeposited film 2 released from the cylindrical metal matrix 1 is separated from the cylindrical metal matrix 1. be able to.

  The base material as an endless belt is produced by cutting unnecessary portions at both ends including the masking material after release.

  That is, according to the present invention, when the endless belt formed by electroforming on the surface of the cylindrical metallic mother die 1 is released from the mother die, the liquid is sprayed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical metallic mother die 1. A predetermined die-deposited film 2 is formed after forming a cylindrical masking material 3 so as to cover the injection hole 6 on the injection hole 6 using a mother die having the injection hole 6 to be formed. By releasing and supplying liquid from the inner surface of the cylindrical metallic mother die 1 through the ejection holes 6, a release film is formed by a thin film liquid at the interface between the cylindrical metallic mother die 1 and the formed electrodeposition coating 2. In this way, the mold is released from the mother die (hereinafter referred to as the water jet method).

  There are Ni, Ni-Fe, Ni-Fe, Ni-Fe-Co alloy, etc. as the material of the electrodeposition film formed by the electroforming method. For example, iron, an alloy thereof, copper or an alloy thereof, cobalt, or , Its alloys, tungsten alloys, fine particle dispersed metals, etc.

  In the present invention, the liquid ejection hole portion on the surface of the cylindrical metallic matrix 1 having the liquid ejection structure is covered with the masking material 3 having conductivity in advance. The masking material 3 is used as an auxiliary material for securing a liquid ejection path at the time of mold release performed later, and a continuous endless belt is formed by electroforming simultaneously with a part of the masking portion at the time of electrodeposition coating formation. .

  The thickness of the electrodeposition coating 2 is about 10 to 200 μm as a belt form.

  Since the masking material in the present invention fits into the cylindrical metal matrix, it is preferable that the masking material has a similar shape to the cylindrical metal matrix, and the dimensions need to be slightly larger than the cylindrical matrix. is there.

  If it is too large than the cylindrical metal matrix, the gap between the cylindrical metal matrix and the masking material becomes too large, and it may not be possible to ensure the uniformity of the joint after electrodeposition, so the gap is 0.02 mm or less. It is preferable that the gap is too narrow, so that fitting with the cylindrical metal matrix becomes difficult.

  The thickness of the masking material is preferably 10 μm to 200 μm, which is the film thickness of the electrodeposited film. If the film thickness of the masking material is too thin, workability at the time of attachment is deteriorated, and if it is too thick, end face processing in post-processing may be difficult.

  Regarding the masking material, it is necessary to ensure adhesion with the electrodeposited film. When the electrodeposited film is Ni, Ni-Fe, Ni-Fe, Ni-Fe-Co alloy, etc., nickel, nickel alloy Or a Fe-Cr-Ni series stainless steel alloy (SUS) material etc. are preferred.

  In this embodiment, it is preferable that it is a form which has electroconductivity in the cross-sectional part used as a junction part with an electrodeposition coating film at least. This is because a high-pressure liquid is supplied from the liquid jetting hole to the interface between the matrix and the electrodeposited film through the masking material, and it is necessary to ensure a complete bonding state between the cross-sectional portion of the masking material and the electrodeposited film. The width of the masking material is not particularly limited as long as the injection holes are masked and it is easy to form an electrodeposited film, but it is preferably 10 mm or more in view of workability and wraparound of the injection liquid. If the upper limit is too wide, the apparatus becomes large, or an unnecessary electrodeposited film is electrodeposited on the masking material. Therefore, the upper limit is preferably 50 mm or less.

  Since the electrodeposited film only needs to be in close contact with at least the end of the masking member, it is needless to say that the end of the masking member may be made of the above-described material.

  The material of the masking material is preferably close to the material properties of the film to be electroformed to ensure adhesion. For example, nickel and nickel alloy, and iron-based electroformed film include nickel, Ni alloy, and stainless steel. Alloys are preferred, and copper, phosphor bronze, etc. are preferred for the copper alloy system.

  The mounting position is preferably the center position of the masking material with respect to the spray holes so that the spray liquid is supplied to the electrodeposition coating surface in a well-balanced manner.

  The high-pressure liquid in the present invention preferably has a surface tension of 100 mN / m or less from the viewpoint of permeability to the interface, silicone oil (TSF451-100): 20.9 mN / m, toluene: 28.4 mN / m, It is possible to use liquids such as mineral oil: 29.7 mN / m, glycerin: 63.1 mN / m, pure water: 72.0 mN / m (20 to 30 mN / m when a small amount of surfactant is mixed), Pure water is preferable in terms of easy handling and environmental friendliness. Surfactants mixed in pure water include fatty acid sodium, fatty acid potassium, sodium alphasulfo fatty acid ester sodium, linear alkylbenzene-based linear alkylbenzene sulfonate sodium, etc., higher alcohol-based alkyl sulfate sodium, alkyl ether sulfate sodium , Anionic surfactants such as sodium alpha olefin sulfonate and sodium alkyl sulfonate, sucrose fatty acid ester, sorbitan fatty acid ester, polyoxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid ester, fatty acid alkanolamide, polyoxyethylene alkyl ether, polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl ether Amphoteric surfactants such as cationic surfactants such as alkylamino fatty acid sodium, alkylbetaine, and alkylamine oxide , And can be used alkyltrimethylammonium salt, a nonionic surfactant such as dialkyl dimethyl ammonium salts.

  The pressure at the time of spraying varies depending on the material and thickness of the electrodeposition film to be released, but if the pressure is too weak, the formation of the release film for releasing becomes insufficient and the effect is small, and if the pressure is too high, the electrodeposition is Since film tearing occurs, it is necessary to adjust the injection pressure in a timely manner, and by optimizing the injection pressure, it becomes possible to deal with release of a film having a wide range of dimensions and materials.

  The injection holes are preferably provided on concentric circles on the outer peripheral surface so that the injection liquid is uniformly supplied to the interface between the matrix and the coating. The angle of the injection hole at this time may be an injection hole having an inclination angle that is positively supplied to the electrodeposited film side.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples. However, the present invention is not limited only to the embodiment.

  First, two types of endless belts made of electroformed nickel and an electroformed nickel-iron alloy having a length of 350 mm, an inner diameter of 24 mm, and a thickness of 30 μm were produced as the belt to be released under the following conditions. The coating characteristics of the produced endless belt were as follows.

  The material was a stainless alloy, and the dimensions were a cylindrical metal matrix with a diameter of 24 mm and a length of 450 mm. The cylindrical metal mother die has eight ejection holes formed at a uniform interval of φ1 mm on a concentric circle of 180 mm from one end.

  The masking material is a cylindrical nickel material that has a thickness of 30 μm, a width of 20 mm, and an inner diameter dimension of plus 0.015 μm with respect to the mother die, and the masking position coincides with the center of the injection hole and the width of the masking material. Set and set in an electroforming bath so that the coating film after electroforming is formed up to the center position of the masking material, and after producing an endless belt of a predetermined thickness, conditions of liquid jet pressure 0.8 to 1.6 Mpa I released the mold. Here, the jet pressure is the discharge pressure from the jet nozzle.

  As a comparative example of releasability, in order to ensure releasability after electroforming, a part of both end face parts were combined in the same manner under the following electroforming conditions in combination with those that were peeled off and those that were not. Then, the release property after the immersion treatment in a 10 ° C. pure water bath was evaluated. All belts were prototyped under the same conditions.

<Electroforming conditions of electroformed nickel-iron alloy belt>
Nickel sulfate (140 g / l),
Ferrous sulfate (7 g / l),
Boric acid (30 g / l),
Sodium chloride (25 g / l),
Saccharin sodium (0.3 g / l),
Sodium lauryl sulfate (0.02 g / l)
Bath temperature 40 ° C,
PH 2.75
Current density 1.7A / dm2
<Electrocast nickel-iron alloy belt coating characteristics>
Hardness Hv (0.1 kg) 500-600
Tensile strength 1500-2100MPA
<Electroforming conditions of electroformed nickel belt>
Nickel sulfamate tetrahydrate (450 g / l),
Nickel chloride 10g / l)
Boric acid (40 g / l)
Saccharin (0.05-0.1 g / l),
2-butyne 1,4 diol (0.3-0.5 g / l)
Pit inhibitor, bath temperature 50 ° C,
PH 4
Current density 7A / dm2
<Characteristics of electroformed nickel belt coating>
Hardness Hv (0.1 kg) 250-400
Tensile strength 800-1200MPa
(Examples 1-2)
As a result of releasing the electroformed nickel endless belt produced by the method according to the present invention by the water jet method, there was a slight resistance when the discharge pressure was 0.8 Mpa, but there was no resistance after the discharge pressure of 1.0 Mpa. It was confirmed that mold release was possible.

(Examples 3 to 4)
As a result of releasing the electroless nickel-iron alloy endless belt produced by the method according to the present invention by the water jet method, the liquid supply pressure was 1.4 Mpa, but there was some resistance, but the release was possible. It was confirmed that the mold could be released without any resistance after the operation at 1.6 Mpa.

(Example 5)
The electrodeposited film thickness was set to 10 μm, 100 μm, and 200 μm under the conditions of the example. As a result of releasing the electroless nickel and electroless nickel-iron alloy endless belts by the water jet method, the release was possible by adjusting the jet pressure from the nozzle.

(Example 6)
As a result of releasing the electroless nickel and the electrocast nickel-iron alloy endless belt produced by setting the thickness of the masking material to 10 μm, 100 μm, and 200 μm under the conditions of the examples by the water jet method, the mold release is no problem. It was possible.

(Comparative Examples 1-2)
Molded endless belt made of electroformed nickel and partly peeled off both ends of the electroformed film before releasing from the mother mold and part not peeled off by conventional immersion in pure water As a result, it was possible to release the material subjected to the end face peeling treatment, but the one not subjected to the end face releasing treatment had a high resistance at the time of releasing and could not be released.

(Comparative Examples 3-4)
An electroless nickel-iron alloy endless belt was prepared, and both of the electroformed coating end faces were peeled before being released from the mother mold, and those that were not peeled were treated with a conventional pure water solution. As a result of performing the mold release, the mold release was impossible at all regardless of the presence or absence of the end face peeling treatment.

(Comparative Example 5)
The electrodeposition film thickness was 8 μm, 210, and 250 μm under the conditions of the example.
As a result of releasing the endless belt of electroformed nickel and electroformed nickel-iron alloy by the water jet method, some of the 8μm thin film has a broken electrodeposition film.
When the film thickness was 210 μm or 250 μm, the resistance was remarkably increased at the time of releasing, and releasing was difficult.

(Comparative Example 6)
As a result of releasing the endless belts of electroformed nickel and electrocast nickel-iron alloy produced by setting the thickness of the masking material to 5 μm, 8 μm, 210 μm, and 300 μm under the conditions of the examples by the water jet method, When the thickness is extremely thin, such as 5μm and 8μm, it is easy to deform, and the workability of masking fit becomes difficult. Also, due to the decrease in rigidity, the escape of liquid during jet flow increases, and the phenomenon of reduced mold release efficiency is observed. It was. On the contrary, when the thickness is 210 μm or 300 μm, there is no problem with the mold release itself, but the end face processing after the mold release is difficult.

<Releasability criteria>
○: Completely release without resistance at a predetermined time Δ: Resisting in the middle but possible to release ×: Not available for release From the above results, the release method by the water jet method using the mother die of the present invention is Endless belt made of electroformed nickel and the conventional method has been difficult to release without the need for end face peeling to facilitate releasability after conventional electroforming. High hardness and elastic deformation. It was confirmed that the endless belt can be released from an electroformed nickel-iron alloy that is difficult to peel.

It is an example of a block diagram which shows the mold release method of a mother die and an endless belt. It is sectional drawing which shows the positional relationship with the cross-sectional shape and liquid injection hole which show the state which formed the endless belt including the cylindrical masking material.

Explanation of symbols

1 Master mold 2 Endless belt (Electrodeposition coating)
3 Cylindrical masking material 4 Insulating ring 5 Liquid ejection hole

Claims (6)

An endless belt manufacturing apparatus for forming an endless belt by releasing an electrodeposited film electroformed on a side surface of a cylindrical metal matrix from the cylindrical metal matrix,
The cylindrical metal matrix has a liquid ejection hole for ejecting liquid from the metal matrix,
An apparatus for manufacturing an endless belt, comprising: the cylindrical metal matrix; and a conductive masking material covering the ejection holes formed through a gap.   The endless belt manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the masking material is a nickel alloy or a stainless alloy, and the electroforming is nickel or a nickel alloy.   The endless belt manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cylindrical metal matrix is an iron alloy or a stainless alloy. A method for producing an endless belt in which an electrodeposited film electroformed on a cylindrical metal matrix is released from the cylindrical metal matrix,
so,
The liquid ejection hole formed at one end of the side surface of the cylindrical metal matrix is covered with a conductive masking material while being spaced apart from the cylindrical metal matrix, and further, the other end of the cylindrical metal matrix Covered with an insulating material,
Thereafter, the electroplating solution is immersed so that a part of the masking material is exposed from the electroforming solution with the other end of the cylindrical metal die facing down, and the surface of the cylindrical metal die and the masking material An electrodeposition film is formed on
Thereafter, the liquid is supplied to the interface between the electrodeposited film and the cylindrical metal matrix through an ejection hole provided in the cylindrical metal matrix, thereby the interface between the electrodeposited film and the cylindrical metal matrix. A release film is formed on
Thereafter, the electrodeposition coating is released from the cylindrical metal matrix.   2. The apparatus for manufacturing an endless belt according to claim 1, wherein the masking material has a thickness in a range of 10 μm to 200 μm, and is a cylindrical structure portion having conductivity at least in a cross-section portion to be joined.   The endless belt manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical metal matrix has an injection hole for supplying a liquid on an outer peripheral surface of one end portion of a cylindrical portion forming an electrodeposition coating.

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