JP4636942B2 - Roller manufacturing method, roller, developing roller, developing device, electrophotographic process cartridge, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a roller used in an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine, an electrophotographic process cartridge, and a method for manufacturing the roller. In particular, the present invention relates to a fixing roller, a pressure roller, a developing roller carrying a developer, a developing device including the developing roller, an electrophotographic process cartridge, and an image forming apparatus.

  A conventional electrophotographic recording apparatus will be described below. An image forming unit is installed in the main body of the apparatus, and an image is formed through processes of cleaning, charging, latent image, development, transfer, and fixing. The image forming unit includes a photosensitive drum as an image carrier, and includes a cleaning unit, a charging unit, a latent image forming unit, a developing unit, and a transfer unit. The image on the photosensitive drum formed by the image forming unit is transferred onto a recording material by a transfer member, conveyed, and then discharged as a fixed and recorded image heated and pressed by a fixing unit.

  In a printer using an electrophotographic system, the photosensitive drum is uniformly charged by a charging roller, and an electrostatic latent image is formed by a laser or the like. Next, the developer in the developing container is uniformly applied on the developing roller with a proper charge by the developer applying roller and the developer regulating member, and the developer is transferred (developed) at the contact portion between the photosensitive drum and the developing roller. Done. Thereafter, the developer on the photosensitive drum is transferred onto a recording sheet by a transfer roller and fixed by heat and pressure (a pressure roller and a fixing roller), and the developer remaining on the photosensitive drum is removed by a cleaning blade. The process is complete.

  In an electrophotographic apparatus, for example, in the case of a developing roller, the developing roller is always in pressure contact with the photosensitive drum and the developer regulating member, and development is performed between the developing roller and the photosensitive drum, and between the developing roller and the developer regulating member. It is in pressure contact with the agent. The developer that is not transferred to the photosensitive drum is peeled off by the developer application roller, returned to the developing container again, stirred in the container, and conveyed again onto the developing roller by the developer application roller. As a result of repeating these steps, the developer is subjected to great stress. Therefore, for the purpose of reducing stress on the developer, the developing roller is formed of a material made of a low-hardness elastic body. In addition, since the developing roller and the charging roller always rotate in contact with other members, it is necessary to keep the contact state stable, and thus high dimensional accuracy is required for the roller. If the contact state cannot be kept stable, the supply amount of the developer varies and the pressure distribution on the photosensitive drum varies, which adversely affects the image. On the other hand, the fixing roller and the pressure roller are also required to have high accuracy as the image quality is improved and the speed of the apparatus is increased. If the dimensional accuracy is poor, the stress applied to other members increases, which causes accelerated wear and deterioration.

  In recent years, there has been an increasing need for colorization and high image quality of electrophotography, and there has been a strict demand for higher accuracy of outer dimensions and deflection (thickness accuracy) and uniformity of surface roughness of an electrophotographic roller. For example, in the contact-type development system, as described above, the developing roller is in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum. The force fluctuates and image defects such as density unevenness occur. Further, if the roller surface roughness is non-uniform, unevenness occurs in the developer transport amount, which also causes image defects such as density unevenness.

  The developing roller used in such a contact developing system is a roller having a configuration in which an elastic layer having a predetermined surface roughness is provided around the shaft core body. Furthermore, there is also a roller having a configuration in which various resin solutions are applied to provide a surface property on the outer peripheral side of the elastic layer and a surface layer is provided as necessary.

  As a method of manufacturing a roller in which an elastic layer having a surface roughness is formed around the shaft core body, a cylindrical mold whose inner peripheral surface has an uneven rough surface shape is used. It is held concentrically with the cylindrical mold, an elastic material is injected between the shaft core body and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical mold, the cylindrical mold is heated, and the elastic body material is cured, so that the shaft core body A method for manufacturing a roller in which an elastic layer having a predetermined surface roughness is formed is disclosed (Patent Document 1). However, since this manufacturing method is mold forming, the dimensional accuracy between the shaft core body and the elastic layer is determined in the step of holding the core metal concentrically with the cylindrical mold. Therefore, in order to increase the holding accuracy, it is necessary to process each with high accuracy so that the cylindrical mold, the lower lid, and the upper lid can be fitted with high accuracy. Of course, the dimensional accuracy of the cylindrical mold itself is also required. That is, in order to achieve high dimensional accuracy, it is necessary to process these lids and cylindrical molds with high accuracy, resulting in a disadvantage in cost. Further, in the mold forming, it is inevitable that the production equipment is expensive because a large number of such highly accurate molds are required.

On the other hand, a method for manufacturing a roller in which the outer peripheral surface layer of the elastic layer has a predetermined surface roughness is also disclosed. Unevenness is imparted to the surface of the surface layer by pressing the surface layer against a metal member having unevenness in a heated state in advance (Patent Document 2).
Japanese Patent No. 3539114 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-074835

  An object of the present invention is to manufacture a low-cost roller having a predetermined surface roughness and high dimensional accuracy, a roller and a developing roller manufactured by this manufacturing method, a developing device including the developing roller, an electrophotographic process cartridge, an image It is to provide a forming apparatus.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention has the following configuration. That is, the present invention provides a roller manufacturing method comprising an elastic layer having a roughened surface and a thickness exceeding 1 mm on the outer periphery of the shaft core body.
(A) forming an uncured liquid rubber material layer on the outer periphery of the shaft core;
(B) heat-treating the uncured liquid rubber material layer to form a semi-cured rubber material layer;
(C) having a step of roughening and curing the rubber material to form an elastic layer by bringing a heating member having a roughened contact surface into contact with the semi-cured rubber material layer. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a roller.

Further, in the present invention, the MD1 hardness T1 of the layer surface of the semi-cured rubber material and the MD1 hardness T2 of the semi-cured rubber material at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core in the thickness direction are T1> T2. It is preferable that the relationship is

Furthermore, in the present invention, the heat treatment is preferably infrared heating .

  Furthermore, the present invention provides the semi-cured rubber at a position where the MD1 hardness T1 of the layer surface of the semi-cured rubber material is 10.0 to 50.0 ° and 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core in the thickness direction. The MD1 hardness T2 of the material is preferably 7.0 to 45.0 °.

  Furthermore, the present invention provides the semi-cured rubber at a position where the MD1 hardness T1 of the layer surface of the semi-cured rubber material is 17.0 to 28.0 ° and 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core in the thickness direction. The MD1 hardness T2 of the material is preferably 15.0 to 25.0 °.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the contact surface of the heating member has a convex portion having an average height of 1 to 1000 μm based on the maximum depth and an average pitch of 1 to 1000 μm.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the contact surface of the heating member has a convex portion having an average height of 5 to 50 μm based on the maximum depth and an average pitch of 50 to 200 μm.

Furthermore, in the present invention, (a) the step of forming a layer of an uncured liquid rubber material comprises :
A ring-shaped coating head is arranged on the outer peripheral side of the shaft core so as to be concentric with the shaft core, and the coating is performed while moving the shaft core in the axial direction relative to the coating head. A step of applying a liquid rubber material on the outer periphery of the shaft core body from the work head is preferable.
The present invention also relates to a developing roller manufactured by the method for manufacturing a roller.

The present invention also includes a developing roller, a developer layer is formed on the surface of the developing roller, the developer roller is brought into contact with the photosensitive drum, and the developer is supplied to the surface of the photosensitive drum. in the developing apparatus for forming a visualized image,
The developing roller is the developing roller.

The present invention also provides a rotatable photosensitive drum , a charging roller that is brought into contact with the photosensitive drum to supply charges to the surface of the photosensitive drum, and a developer that is brought into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum to supply the developer. in an electrophotographic process cartridge and a developing roller to form a visualized image,
The present invention relates to an electrophotographic process cartridge, wherein the developing roller is the developing roller.

  As described above, according to the present invention, (a) a step of forming an uncured liquid rubber material layer on the outer periphery of the shaft core, and (b) a heat treatment is performed on the uncured liquid rubber material layer. A step of forming a semi-cured rubber material layer, and (c) a rough surface of the rubber material by bringing a heating member having a roughened contact surface into contact with the semi-cured rubber material layer. It is possible to provide a low-cost roller manufacturing method having a predetermined surface roughness and improved dimensional accuracy by including the steps of forming and curing to form an elastic layer. Further, by using a roller manufactured using this manufacturing method, it has become possible to provide a developing roller, a fixing roller, and a pressure roller having excellent characteristics. Furthermore, by using these rollers, it has become possible to provide a developing device, an electrophotographic process cartridge, and an image forming apparatus having excellent characteristics.

  Hereinafter, a roller manufacturing method according to the present invention, a developing roller manufactured by the manufacturing method, a roller such as a fixing roller and a pressure roller, a developing device including the developing roller, an electrophotographic process cartridge, and an image forming apparatus will be described in detail. Explained.

  The method for producing a roller according to the present invention includes: (a) a step of forming a cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured liquid rubber material layer on the outer periphery of a shaft core; and (b) the uncured liquid rubber. A step of heat-treating the material layer to form a semi-cured rubber material layer; and (c) contacting a heating member having a contact surface having a convex portion with the semi-cured rubber material layer. And the step of roughening the surface of the semi-cured rubber material layer and completing the curing of the semi-cured rubber material layer to form an elastic layer.

  In the present specification, the “uncured liquid rubber material” represents a liquid material that has not been subjected to any treatment and has not undergone a curing reaction. “Semi-cured rubber material” refers to a material whose viscosity or hardness is higher than that of a liquid rubber material due to partial curing reaction of the liquid rubber material after heat treatment of the uncured liquid rubber material (semi-fluid). It represents a material having a viscosity / hardness higher than that of the state or uncured state but not in a completely solid state). Further, “cured” represents a state in which the curing reaction is almost completed and the rubber material becomes solid and has a higher hardness than the semi-cured rubber material.

  The shaft core used in the present invention functions as an electrode and a support member. The shaft core is made of, for example, a metal or alloy such as aluminum, copper alloy, or stainless steel, iron, synthetic resin, or the like plated with chromium, nickel, or the like. The shape is preferably a columnar shape or a cylindrical shape with a hollow center. The outer diameter of the shaft core can be determined as appropriate, but is usually in the range of 4 to 20 mm.

  In the step (a) of forming a cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured product (layer of uncured liquid rubber material) made of liquid rubber on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured product Examples of the method of forming (1) include a ring coating method and (2) a blade coating method.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a ring coater used in the ring coat method. In the ring coat machine shown in FIG. 1, a column 2 is mounted substantially vertically on a gantry 1, and a precision ball screw 3 is mounted substantially vertically on the gantry 1 and the column 2. Reference numeral 14 denotes a linear guide, two of which are attached to the column 2 in parallel with the precision ball screw 3. The LM guide 4 connects the linear guide 14 and the precision ball screw 3, and a rotary motion is transmitted from the servo motor 5 through the pulley 6 so that the LM guide 4 can move up and down. A ring-shaped coating head 8 for applying an uncured liquid rubber on the outer periphery of the shaft core body is attached to the column 2 on the outer periphery side of the shaft core body 102.

  Further, a bracket 7 is attached to the LM guide 4, and a shaft core lower holding shaft 9 that holds and fixes the shaft core 102 is attached to the bracket 7 substantially vertically. Further, the central axis of the shaft core upper holding shaft 10 that holds the shaft core body 102 of the opposite roller is attached to the upper portion of the bracket 7, and the shaft core upper holding shaft 10 faces the shaft core lower holding shaft 9. And it arrange | positions so that it may become substantially concentric, and the shaft core body is hold | maintained. Further, the center axis of the ring-shaped coating head 8 is supported so as to be parallel to the moving direction of the shaft core lower holding shaft 9 and the shaft core upper holding shaft 10. Further, when the shaft core lower holding shaft 9 and the shaft core upper holding shaft 10 are moved up and down, the central axis of the discharge port formed in an annular slit opened inside the coating head 8 and the shaft core lower holding shaft 9 are arranged. In addition, the central axis of the shaft core holding shaft 10 is adjusted so as to be substantially concentric. With such a configuration, the central axis of the discharge port formed in the annular slit of the coating head 8 can be substantially concentric with the central axis of the shaft core, and the inner peripheral surface of the ring-shaped coating head and the shaft A uniform gap is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the core body 102.

  The liquid rubber supply port 11 is connected to a material supply valve 13 via a liquid rubber conveying pipe 12. The material supply valve 13 includes a mixing mixer, a material supply pump, a material fixed amount discharge device, a material tank, and the like in front of the material supply valve 13 so that a fixed amount (a constant amount per unit time) of liquid rubber can be discharged. The liquid rubber is weighed from a material tank by a material dispensing device and mixed by a mixing mixer. Thereafter, the liquid rubber mixed by the material supply pump is sent from the material supply valve to the supply port via the pipe 12.

  Further, the liquid rubber passes through the liquid rubber flow path in the ring-shaped coating head and is discharged from the nozzle of the ring-shaped coating head. In order to make the thickness of the liquid rubber constant, the discharge amount from the ring-shaped coating head nozzle and the supply amount from the material supply pump are made constant, and the shaft core body holding shaft is set in the vertical direction (the central axis of the shaft core body). The shaft core body moves in the axial direction relative to the coating head 8 by moving up and down in the direction), and a cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured product made of liquid rubber on the outer periphery of the shaft core body. Layers are formed. At this time, the clearance between the shaft core and the ring-shaped coating head nozzle is preferably set to a clearance equal to or larger than the desired thickness of the elastic layer because the liquid rubber shrinks due to curing. In particular, the clearance is preferably about 1.1 times the layer thickness.

  FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a blade coater used in the blade coat method. The blade coating machine shown in FIG. 2 includes a shaft core holding member (not shown), a shaft core rotating member (not shown), a liquid rubber material supply member 15, and a layer thickness regulating blade 16. The The liquid rubber material (elastic layer material) is discharged from the liquid rubber material supply member 15, and the liquid rubber material is supplied onto the rotating shaft core. By scraping off the excess liquid rubber material with the layer thickness blade, a cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer made of the liquid rubber material is formed on the outer periphery of the shaft core body. The clearance between the shaft core body and the material supply member is preferably a clearance exceeding the desired thickness of the elastic layer because the liquid rubber material shrinks upon curing. In particular, the clearance is preferably about 1.1 times the layer thickness.

  In the step (b) in which the uncured material layer is heat-treated into a semi-cured material, after the cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured material layer made of a liquid rubber material is formed on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, The uncured layer having a shape (roll shape) is subjected to a heat treatment to semi-cure the uncured cylindrical shape (roll shape) made of a liquid rubber material formed on the outer periphery of the shaft core.

  At this time, since the surface of the cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured material layer made of a liquid rubber material has adhesiveness, it is preferable to perform the heat treatment by a non-contact heat treatment method. Also, in order to express high dimensional accuracy in the next step, a heat treatment method in which only the surface is heated because the portion of the liquid rubber material close to the shaft core body must be in a semi-cured state with lower hardness. . That is, a heat treatment method capable of heating only the surface without contact is suitable.

  Examples of the heat treatment method include an infrared heating method, a hot air heating method, and a nichrome heat heating method. In particular, infrared heating is preferable because the apparatus is simple and the layer of the uncured liquid rubber material can be uniformly heat-treated in the longitudinal direction. At this time, heat treatment is uniformly performed in the circumferential direction by fixing the infrared heating device and rotating the axial core body provided with a cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured material layer made of a liquid rubber material in the circumferential direction. . The heat treatment temperature on the surface of the liquid rubber material is preferably 100 to 250 ° C. at which the curing reaction starts although it depends on the liquid rubber material to be used.

  Here, the heat-treated cylindrical core (roll-shaped) semi-cured layer made of the rubber material on the outer periphery of the shaft core has an MD1 hardness T1 on the surface and 1 mm in the thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core. It is preferable that the MD1 hardness T2 at the position is in a relationship of T1> T2. By adopting such a hardness structure, when the semi-cured material layer surface of the liquid rubber on the outer periphery of the shaft core body is processed into a predetermined surface roughness by a heating member having a convex portion, the rubber material flows to a certain degree. Therefore, uneven thickness of the semi-cured product layer can be effectively corrected. In order to make the MD1 hardness T1> T2 in this way, heat treatment may be performed so that heat is concentrated on the surface rather than inside the rubber material. For example, when performing infrared heating, the distance between the infrared heating device and the layer of the uncured liquid rubber material, the output, etc. may be adjusted according to the characteristics of the material (thermal conductivity, specific heat, etc.). Moreover, what is necessary is just to adjust the temperature and direction of a hot air when performing hot air heating.

  At this time, the MD1 hardness T1 of the surface of the semi-cured product layer is 10.0 to 50.0 °, and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm in the thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body is 7. 0 to 45.0 ° is preferable.

  Further, the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured material layer surface is 17.0 to 28.0 °, and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm in the thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body is 15.0 to 25.0 °. It is more preferable that

  Furthermore, the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured material layer surface is 17.0 to 23.0 °, and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core toward the thickness direction is 16.0 to 20.0. It is preferable to be °.

  When the MD1 hardness T1 exceeds 50.0 °, the semi-cured material layer is excessively hardened when the semi-cured material layer is brought into contact with the heating member having a convex portion in the next step (c). May not be roughened. Further, when the MD1 hardness T1 is less than 10.0 °, the liquid rubber has strong adhesiveness, and when the semi-cured product layer is brought into contact with the heating member having a convex portion in the next step (c), the heating is performed. In some cases, the surface of the semi-cured material layer adheres to the member, making processing difficult.

  Further, when the MD1 hardness T2 is less than 7.0 °, the fluidity is large, and when the layer of the semi-cured product is brought into contact with a heating member having a convex portion in the next step (c), it is driven to rotate. However, the center axis of the shaft core and the semi-cured product layer may be eccentric, making it difficult to make the elastic layer a layer with high dimensional accuracy. . On the other hand, if it exceeds 45.0 °, the curing of the semi-cured product layer has progressed too much, and it may be difficult to correct the uneven thickness of the semi-cured product layer in the next step (c).

  Next, the semi-cured rubber material layer is brought into contact with a heating member having a convex portion, so that the surface of the semi-cured material layer can be roughened with high dimensional accuracy, and at the same time, the semi-cured material layer can be cured. Can be made into an elastic layer (step (c)). At this time, the liquid rubber material layer is semi-cured in advance in the step (b) and has a certain degree of hardness. For this reason, even if the movement process of the axial core body which provided the layer of the rubber material semi-cured between process (b) to (c) is required, or even if this movement takes time, a semi-hardened material layer is Problems such as deformation do not occur. In addition, compared with the case where the uncured liquid rubber material is cured and roughened as it is, the shape of the contact surface of the heating member can be effectively transferred to the rubber material layer, and the elastic layer surface can be roughened. Can do.

  A method for measuring the average height and average pitch of the convex portions will be described below. First, using a contact-type surface roughness meter (Surfcoder SE-3500, manufactured by Kosaka Laboratory), an arbitrary portion of the heating member is measured at a reference length of 8 mm to obtain a contour curve of the heating member surface. The “convex portion” represents an upwardly convex portion in the contour curve. Further, when convex portions are adjacent to each other, if there is a downward convex portion or a horizontal portion between the convex portions, these convex portions shall constitute separate independent convex portions. “Maximum depth” represents the depth of the deepest portion of the contour curve. In addition, “the height of the convex portion” represents the height of the highest portion from the maximum depth of each convex portion, and “the average height of the convex portion” represents the average value of the height of each convex portion. . “Pitch of convex portion” represents a horizontal distance between the highest portions of adjacent convex portions, and “average pitch of convex portions” represents this average value.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the surface shape of the heating member having a convex portion. The contact surface of the heating member in FIG. 3 has a convex portion having the same shape and size. In this abutment surface, the surface having the maximum depth is 19 in accordance with the above-mentioned standard, and the convex portion is a portion 20 separated from each other by a horizontal surface. Further, “average height of convex portions” is represented by 17 in the drawing, and “average pitch of convex portions” is represented by 18 in the drawing.

  FIG. 9 shows another example of the surface shape of the heating member having a convex portion. In this heating member, the convex portions are 61 to 67 sandwiched between the convex portions 51 to 56, respectively. Further, the deepest portion of the surface of FIG. 9 is represented by a point 55, and the heights of the highest portions viewed from the point 55 of the convex portions 61 to 67 are points A, C to G, and a line B, respectively. The distances from the point 55 to the points A, C to G, and the line B are the “height of the convex portions”. The average of the heights of the convex portions is the “average height of the convex portions”. Further, the distance in the horizontal direction 71 between the adjacent points A, C to G and the line B is the “projection pitch”, and the average value of each “projection pitch” is the “projection average pitch”. In the convex part 62, the highest part is not a point but a line B. In this case, the pitch is calculated based on the center point 57 in the horizontal direction 71 of the line B. In addition, there appears to be a plurality of convex portions in the convex portions 63 and 64, but since there is no downward convex portion or horizontal portion between the convex portions, one convex portion as a whole Constitute.

  The surface shape of the heating member having a convex portion is preferably a shape in which the average height of the convex portion based on the maximum depth is 1-1000 μm and the average pitch of the convex portion is 1-1000 μm.

  In particular, the surface shape of the heating member having the protrusions is such that the average height of the protrusions based on the maximum depth is 5 to 50 μm and the average pitch of the protrusions is 50 to 200 μm. preferable.

  If the height of the convex portion with respect to the maximum depth is less than 1 μm, the roller manufactured using this heating member cannot obtain the roughness required for toner conveyance, and if it exceeds 1000 μm, the toner conveyance amount Becomes excessive roughness. Further, if the average pitch of the convex portions is an independent shape of less than 1 μm, the roller manufactured using this heating member has a pitch smaller than the toner diameter, so that it may become impossible to convey the toner effectively. If the average pitch of the convex portions is an independent shape exceeding 1000 μm, the pitch may be too wide to achieve the roughness required for toner conveyance.

  In addition, the convex part of the contact surface of a heating member can be formed by performing surface treatments, such as grinding | polishing and blasting, to metals with good heat conductivity. At this time, the average height and average pitch of the convex portions should be set within a desired range by setting conditions such as polishing (material, roughness, time, etc.) and blasting (material, particle size, time, etc.). Can do.

  As a heating method of the heating member having the convex portion, even if the heating member has a built-in heater and is set to a temperature at which the liquid rubber material is completely cured in advance, it can be heated by a heating means provided outside the heating member. There may be. Examples of the heating method using the external heating means include a method in which the heating member is placed in an atmosphere set in advance to a temperature at which the liquid rubber material is completely cured, and is set to the same temperature as the ambient temperature. Furthermore, the above two types of heating methods can be performed simultaneously. In addition, in order to complete hardening, the temperature of a heating member has preferable 100-250 degreeC which hardening is easy to advance. Here, for the purpose of stabilizing physical properties after curing of the elastic layer, removing reaction residues and unreacted low molecular components in the elastic layer, the elastic layer formed by curing in the step (c) is further subjected to heat treatment and the like. Secondary curing may be performed. In this specification, in the step (c), curing the semi-cured rubber material is “curing”, and after this “curing”, the elastic layer is cured by a method or condition different from the step (c). The process to make is made into secondary curing.

  The shape of the heating member having the convex portion may be any shape as long as the surface of the semi-cured product can be roughened to a predetermined roughness. The heating member may have any shape as long as the contact surface can be in contact with the surface of the liquid rubber material layer, and examples thereof include a cylindrical shape and a flat plate shape.

  FIG. 4 shows a schematic conceptual diagram of a cylindrical heating member. The cylindrical mold 40 can be rotated by a motor 41, holds an axial core body provided with a semi-cured product layer with respect to the cylindrical mold so that the central axis directions are parallel to each other, and the surface of the semi-cured product layer is formed into a cylindrical body. Contact (contact). At this time, the load 42 is applied to both ends of the shaft core body, and the layer of the semi-cured product is pressed against the cylindrical mold 40 and positioned. By pressing the layer of the semi-cured product in this way, the layer thickness of the semi-cured product can be made constant and high dimensional accuracy can be achieved. Next, the surface of the semi-cured material layer can be roughened to a predetermined surface roughness by rotating the cylindrical mold 40 by a motor and rotating the semi-cured material layer following this. The rotational speed of the cylindrical shape may be appropriately determined according to the driven rotational speed of the semi-cured product. What is necessary is just to adjust suitably the load applied to the both ends of a core shaft body according to states, such as the hardness of a semi-hardened | cured material layer.

  FIG. 5 shows a schematic conceptual diagram of a flat plate type. The shaft core body provided with the semi-cured product layer is held with respect to the surface of the flat plate mold 43 so that the central axis thereof is parallel, and the surface of the semi-cured product layer is brought into contact (contact) with the flat plate mold. . At this time, positioning is performed by applying a load 42 to both ends of the shaft core to press against the flat plate mold 43. By pressing the layer of the semi-cured product in this way, the layer thickness of the semi-cured product can be made constant and high dimensional accuracy can be achieved. Next, the surface of the semi-cured material layer is moved to the predetermined surface by rotating the semi-cured material layer in the circumferential direction or moving the flat plate mold so that the semi-cured material layer is rotationally driven in the circumferential direction. The surface can be roughened. The moving speed of the shaft core or flat plate provided with the semi-cured product layer may be determined as appropriate. Further, the rotational movement of the semi-cured material layer in the circumferential direction or the movement of the flat plate type may be a reciprocating motion. What is necessary is just to adjust suitably the load applied to the both ends of a core shaft body according to states, such as the hardness of semi-hardened | cured material. The material of the heating member is preferably a metal having high thermal conductivity. Further, the surface of the heating member may be subjected to surface treatment such as resin coating or plating in order to improve the releasability from the semi-cured product.

  The liquid rubber used as the liquid rubber material in the present invention is a polymer having fluidity at room temperature, and cures by heating. Specific examples include liquid diene rubber (butadiene rubber, isoprene rubber, nitrile rubber, chloroprene rubber, ethylene-propylene rubber, etc.), liquid silicone rubber, liquid urethane rubber, and the like. Such rubber | gum may be used independently or may be used in mixture of 2 or more types. Among them, since it is important for the elastic layer to have a moderately low hardness and sufficient deformation recovery force, it is preferable to use liquid silicone rubber or liquid urethane rubber as the liquid rubber material. In particular, it is more preferable to use an addition reaction cross-linkable liquid silicone rubber because it has good processability, high dimensional accuracy stability, and excellent productivity such that no reaction by-product is generated during the curing reaction.

  The liquid silicone rubber is a composition containing, for example, an organopolysiloxane (A liquid) and an organohydrogenpolysiloxane (B liquid), and further containing a catalyst and other additives as appropriate. Organopolysiloxane is a base polymer of a silicone rubber raw material, and its molecular weight is not particularly limited, but an average molecular weight of 10,000 to 1,000,000 is preferable, and an average molecular weight of 50,000 to 700,000 is more preferable.

  The alkenyl group of the organopolysiloxane is a site that reacts with the active hydrogen of the organohydrogenpolysiloxane to form a crosslinking point, and the type thereof is not particularly limited, but for reasons such as high reaction with active hydrogen, It is preferably at least one of a vinyl group and an allyl group, and more preferably a vinyl group. Organohydrogenpolysiloxane serves as a crosslinking agent for addition reaction in the curing process, and the number of silicon-bonded hydrogen atoms in one molecule is 2 or more, and in order to perform the curing reaction optimally, Three or more polymers are preferred.

  The average molecular weight of the organohydrogenpolysiloxane is not particularly limited, and a preferable average molecular weight is about 1000 to 10,000. In order to appropriately perform the curing reaction, a polymer having a relatively low molecular weight and an average molecular weight of 1,000 to 5,000 is preferred.

  The liquid silicone rubber can contain, for example, chloroplatinic acid hexahydrate as a crosslinking catalyst for the organohydrogenpolysiloxane. Moreover, the transition metal compound which shows a catalytic action in hydrosilylation reaction can also be used as a crosslinking catalyst.

  In the elastic layer, various additives such as a non-conductive filler and a plasticizer may be appropriately blended so that the desired performance can be obtained. Examples of the nonconductive filler include diatomaceous earth, quartz powder, dry silica, wet silica, aluminosilicate, and calcium carbonate. Examples of the plasticizer include polydimethylsiloxane oil, diphenylsilanediol, trimethylsilanol, phthalic acid derivatives, and adipic acid derivatives. A conductive agent having an electron conduction mechanism such as carbon black, graphite and a conductive metal oxide and a conductive agent having an ion conduction mechanism such as an alkali metal salt or a quaternary ammonium salt are appropriately added to these liquid silicone rubbers to obtain a desired one. It is common to adjust to resistance.

  The liquid urethane rubber is obtained from an isocyanate (curing agent) and a polymer polyol (main agent). Specific examples of the isocyanate include diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI), tolylene diisocyanate (TDI), naphthalene diisocyanate (NDI), hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), and the like. These isocyanates may be used alone or in admixture of two or more.

  Examples of the polymer polyol include polyester polyols, polyether polyols, caprolactone ester polyols, polycarbonate ester polyols, and silicone polyols. These weight average molecular weights are usually 500 or more and 5000 or less. More specifically, polyethylene adipate (PEA), polybutylene adipate (PBA), polyhexylene adipate, a copolymer of ethylene adipate and butylene adipate, and the like can be used as the polyester polyol. Polycaprolactone, polyoxytetramethylene glycol, polyoxypropylene glycol and the like can be used. These polyols may be used alone or in combination of two or more. If necessary, the liquid urethane prepolymer can be mixed with a conductive agent, a chain extender, a crosslinking agent, a catalyst, and the like.

  In the present invention, the elastic layer has a thickness exceeding 1 mm. In addition, a surface layer can be further provided on the outer peripheral side of the elastic layer formed as described above from the viewpoints of wear resistance, toner chargeability, and releasability. Examples of the material for forming the surface layer include various polyamides, fluororesins, hydrogenated styrene-butylene resins, urethane resins, silicone resins, polyester resins, phenol resins, imide resins, olefin resins, and the like. These materials may be used alone or in combination of two or more. Various additives are added to these materials as necessary.

  The materials constituting these surface layers are dispersed using a conventionally known dispersion apparatus using beads such as a sand mill, a paint shaker, a dyno mill, and a ball mill. The obtained dispersion for forming the surface layer is applied to the surface of the elastic layer by a spray coating method, a dipping method or the like. The thickness of the surface layer is preferably 5 to 50 μm. 5 μm or more is preferable from the viewpoint of preventing the low molecular weight component from seeping out and contaminating the photosensitive drum, and 50 μm or less is preferable from the viewpoint of preventing the roller from becoming hard and causing fusion. More preferably, it is 10-30 micrometers.

  The roller of the present invention is manufactured by the manufacturing method described above. In the roller manufactured by this manufacturing method, an elastic layer, which is a cylindrical (roll-shaped) hardened layer made of liquid rubber, has a predetermined surface roughness on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body, and has a dimensional accuracy. It ’s good. The roller of the present invention can be used as a developing roller, a fixing roller, and a pressure roller. Further, the developing device and the electrophotographic process cartridge of the present invention are characterized in that the developing roller is provided, and the image forming device is provided with at least one kind of roller of the developing roller, a fixing roller and a pressure roller.

  The developing roller of the present invention is preferably molded to have a surface roughness Ra of 0.1 to 10 μm and a thickness unevenness of 50 μm or less. When the surface roughness Ra is less than 0.1 μm, the toner conveyance amount is small, and when the surface roughness Ra exceeds 10 μm, the toner conveyance amount becomes excessive and an appropriate image density cannot be formed. On the other hand, when the thickness unevenness exceeds 50 μm, the nip width and nip force between the photosensitive drum and the roller vary, and image defects such as density unevenness occur. In order to obtain such a developing roller, in the step (c), a semi-cured rubber material layer is formed using a heating member having a surface shape corresponding to the surface roughness Ra and thickness unevenness. What is necessary is just to roughen. Specifically, the surface roughness Ra of the contact surface of the heating member is preferably 0.2 to 10.5 μm.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of the developing device of the present invention, the electrophotographic process cartridge of the present invention, and the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

  An example of the developing device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The developing device 24 includes a developing container 34 that contains a non-magnetic toner 28 as a one-component developer, and a developer carrying member that is located in an opening extending in the longitudinal direction in the developing container 34 and is opposed to the photosensitive drum 21. And the developing roller 25 of the present invention, and the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 21 is developed and visualized. The developing roller 25 is in contact with the photosensitive drum 21 with a contact width. In the developing device 24, the developer supply roller 26 is in contact with the contact portion of the developing blade 27 with the surface of the developing roller 25 in the developing container 34 on the upstream side in the rotating direction of the developing roller 25 and is rotatable. It is supported by. As the structure of the developer supply roller 26, a foamed skeleton-like sponge structure or a fur brush structure in which fibers such as rayon and nylon are planted on a cored bar supplies toner 28 to the developing roller 25 and peels off undeveloped toner. It is preferable from the point of taking. In the present embodiment, a supply roller 26 having a diameter of 14 mm and provided with polyurethane foam on the shaft core is provided.

  As the contact width of the supply roller 26 with respect to the developing roller 25, 1 to 8 mm is effective, and it is preferable to have a relative speed at the contact portion with respect to the developing roller 25. In this embodiment, The contact width is set to 2 mm, and is driven to rotate at a predetermined timing by a driving means (not shown).

  An example of the electrophotographic process cartridge and the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The electrophotographic process cartridge 35 includes a developing roller that carries a developer in a state of being in contact with or pressed against a photosensitive drum as a latent image carrier that carries a latent image. Further, the developing roller is an electrophotographic process cartridge that visualizes a latent image as a developer image by applying toner as a developer to the photosensitive drum. The electrophotographic process cartridge includes a photosensitive drum 21 as a latent image carrier, a charging roller 22, a developing roller 25, a developing blade 27, a developing container 34, a cleaning blade 30, and a waste toner container 31, and the developing roller 25 of the present invention. The developing roller is used.

  In the electrophotographic process cartridge of the present invention, the photosensitive drum 21 rotates in the direction of arrow A, and is uniformly charged by the charging roller 22 for charging the photosensitive drum 21, and the electrostatic latent image is written on the photosensitive drum 21. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the laser beam 23 as a means. The electrostatic latent image is disposed in the vicinity of the photosensitive drum 21 and is provided with toner 28 as a developer by the developing device 24 held in the electrophotographic process cartridge of the present invention that is detachable from the image forming apparatus of the present invention. Then, it is developed and visualized as a toner image.

  Development is so-called reversal development in which a toner image is formed on the exposed portion. The visualized toner image on the photosensitive drum 21 is transferred to a paper 33 as a recording medium by a transfer roller 29. The paper 33 to which the toner image has been transferred is fixed by the pressure roller 32 and the transfer roller 36, discharged outside the apparatus, and the printing operation is completed. On the other hand, the untransferred toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 21 without being transferred is scraped off by the cleaning blade 30 and stored in the waste toner container 31, and the cleaned photosensitive drum 21 repeats the above-described operation.

  The fixing roller 36 or the pressure roller 32 is configured to be in pressure contact with each other and rotatably supported. The paper 33 is conveyed at the opposing nip portion of both rollers, and at the same time, the toner is fixed to the paper 33 by heat and pressure. A heater (not shown) is built in the fixing roller 36, and the surface of the fixing roller 36 is maintained at a predetermined high temperature. As the elastic layer of the fixing roller 36, a layer having a thickness of about 2 to 3 mm is preferably used. The thicker the elastic layer is, the more easily it can be deformed and the larger the nip width can be.However, if the elastic layer is too thick, the temperature difference between the surface and the interface of the shaft core body will be increased if the heat source is inside the shaft core body. This is because the rubber becomes larger and the rubber tends to deteriorate. The pressure roller 32 is driven and rotated by rotating while forming a nip with the fixing roller 36 interlocked with a driving mechanism (not shown). The pressure roller 32 is pressed by a mechanism (not shown) using a spring or the like in the direction of the rotation axis of the fixing roller 36. The pressure roller 32 can follow the thickness variation (several to several tens of μm) of the toner from a single color to four colors in the color image by the elastic layer. Further, a nip width can be secured between the fixing roller 36 and the pressure roller 32.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example demonstrates this invention further in detail, these do not limit this invention at all.

(MD1 hardness measurement)
The MD1 hardness is a hardness measured with a micro rubber hardness tester type A (manufactured by Kobunshi Keiki Co., Ltd.). The measuring method of MD1 hardness in this invention is shown in FIG. The MD1 hardness T1 of the surface is the three positions 105 in the longitudinal direction of the semi-cured material layer (50% position (center position in the longitudinal direction) from one end face of the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the semi-cured material layer, and 20%, It is an average value of a total of nine places (positions every 120 °) in the circumferential direction at 80% position).

  Further, the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm in the thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body is the semi-cured material layer shaft core body cut out so that the rubber length (length in the longitudinal direction) is 3 mm. It is an average value of a total of eight places for each 45 ° pitch at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface in the thickness direction. The semi-cured material layer is cut out by inserting the blade in the thickness direction at two locations relative to the surface of the semi-cured material layer while rotating the shaft core in the circumferential direction so that the rubber length in the longitudinal direction is 3 mm. It was done by the method of pressing against.

(Surface roughness Ra measurement)
Surface roughness Ra (arithmetic average height) is based on JIS B0601 (2001), with a contact-type surface roughness meter (Surfcoder SE-3500, manufactured by Kosaka Laboratory), with a cut-off of 0.8 mm and a measurement length. Was 2.5 mm and the measurement speed was 0.1 mm / sec. Three in the circumferential direction at three locations in the longitudinal direction of the cured product (50% position (center position in the longitudinal direction) and 20% and 80% positions from one end face of the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the semi-cured product layer) It is an average value of a total of nine places (positions every 120 °).

(Measurement of thickness irregularity of elastic layer)
The unevenness in thickness is the maximum and minimum values of the radius of the elastic layer measured by a non-contact laser length measuring device (LS-5000 manufactured by Keyence) that is rotated perpendicularly to the rotation axis with the shaft core as the rotation axis. Find the difference as a value. The difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the radius is obtained at a pitch of 1 cm in the axial direction of the elastic layer, and the maximum value among the difference values is set as the thickness unevenness value of the elastic layer.

(Image evaluation)
The created roller was incorporated into a developing device as a developing roller. Next, the photosensitive drum as the image carrier is uniformly charged, a latent image is formed by selective exposure to the photosensitive drum, the latent image is made visible with toner as a developer, and the toner image is formed. An electrophotographic process cartridge in which each means for transferring to a recording medium and cleaning the residual toner on the photosensitive drum after the transfer is integrated into a cartridge (nominal life: 6000 sheets, A4 size, 5% printing rate, print cartridge black Cyan, magenta and yellow (manufactured by hp)).

  Next, this electrophotographic process cartridge was incorporated into an electrophotographic image forming apparatus (Color LaserJet 3700, manufactured by hp). Then, using this image forming apparatus, an image (solid image, halftone image, character image) was output, and density unevenness (roller pitch) was evaluated.

Appropriate evaluation on all images by visual inspection (A),
Some solid density unevenness is confirmed in the solid and halftone images, but a good evaluation with the character image (B),
Evaluation (C), where density unevenness is slightly confirmed in solid, halftone, and character images
(D) Evaluation that density unevenness is confirmed in solid and halftone images, and density unevenness is slightly confirmed in character images.
The evaluation that density unevenness was confirmed in all images was defined as (E).

Example 1
Addition reaction cross-linked liquid silicone rubber A / B as liquid rubber is set in the raw material tank attached to the ring coater, and sent to a static mixer using a pressure feed pump. And mixed at 1/1. The material composition of silicone rubber is shown below. A planetary mixer containing 80% by mass of a silicone-based polymer (molecular weight Mw = 100000, manufactured by Toray Dow Corning), 7% by mass of carbon black (Denka Black powder manufactured by Denki Kagaku Kogyo), and 13% by mass of silica (AEROSIL 50 manufactured by Nippon Aerosil) And defoaming for 30 minutes to obtain a silicone rubber base material. A solution A was prepared by adding 0.02 part by mass of an isopropyl alcohol solution of chloroplatinic acid (platinum content: 3% by mass) to 100 parts by mass of the base material.

  Further, 1.5 parts by mass of organohydrogenpolysiloxane (viscosity 10 cps, SiH content 1 mass%, manufactured by Toray Dow Corning Co., Ltd.) was added to 100 parts by mass of the silicone base material, and the resulting mixture was designated as B liquid. . An iron shaft core body having an outer diameter of φ6 mm is clamped by the shaft core body holding shaft (the shaft core body holding shaft 10 and the shaft core body lower holding shaft 9 in FIG. 1) of the ring coating machine, and the shaft core body 102 and the inner diameter φ12. The clearance from the nozzle of the 6 mm ring-shaped coating head 8 was 3.3 mm.

The shaft core holding member is moved vertically upward (10 mm / sec) from the bottom to move the shaft core body, and at the same time, the silicone rubber mixed liquid is discharged at 840 mm ³ / sec. An uncured layer (elastic layer material layer) of cylindrical shape (roll shape) made of was formed. Next, infrared heating was applied to this uncured layer (heat treatment was performed). Infrared heating lamp (HYL25 manufactured by Hibeck) is heat-treated (surface temperature of the object to be heated. The heat treatment temperature indicates the surface temperature of the object to be heated) 130 ° C. (output 780 W), and the layer surface of the lamp and the uncured material It arrange | positioned so that the distance might be 60 mm. And the axial core body which provided the layer of the unhardened material was rotated at 60 rpm in the circumferential direction, and it heated for 1.5 minutes, and was set as the layer (layer of elastic layer material) of the semi-hardened material. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the surface of the semi-cured material layer and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core toward the thickness direction.

  Next, a load of 250 grams (a total of 500 grams) is applied to both ends of the shaft core body, and a half of a cylindrical shape (a heating member having a roughened contact surface) having a convex portion in which a heater is installed. The layer of cured product was brought into contact. By rotating the cylindrical mold in this state, the semi-cured material layer was driven to rotate, and the surface of the semi-cured material layer was roughened and cured at the same time. The driven rotation speed of the semi-cured product was 60 rpm. The cylindrical shape is an independent shape having a surface temperature of 180 ° C., a surface shape having a convex portion height of 20 μm based on the maximum depth, and an average pitch of the convex portion of 100 μm. After that, secondary curing at 200 ° C. for 4 hours in an electric furnace is performed for the purpose of stabilizing physical properties after curing of the silicone rubber elastic layer and removing reaction residues and unreacted low molecular components in the silicone rubber elastic layer. went.

  In this way, a roller having an elastic layer with a layer thickness of 3.0 mm on the outer periphery of the shaft core was manufactured. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 1 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 2)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, a heat treatment temperature of 120 ° C. (output 720 W) with an infrared lamp was set to 1 minute. A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except for the above. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 2 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 3)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the heat treatment temperature with an infrared lamp is 140 ° C. (output 840 W), and the time is 1 minute Manufactured a roller having an elastic layer in the same manner as in Example 1. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 3 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

Example 4
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the heat treatment temperature at an infrared lamp is 120 ° C. (output 720 W), and the time is 2 minutes Manufactured a roller having an elastic layer in the same manner as in Example 1. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 4 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 5)
When heat-treating the cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the heat treatment temperature with an infrared lamp is 140 ° C. (output 840 W), and the time is 2 minutes Manufactured a roller having an elastic layer in the same manner as in Example 1. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The produced roller was incorporated as a developing roller 5 in a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated in an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 6)
When heat treating the cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the heat treatment temperature in the infrared lamp was 120 ° C. (output 720 W), and the time was 50 seconds. A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 1. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 6 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 7)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the heat treatment temperature with an infrared lamp is 150 ° C. (output 900 W), and the time is 1 minute Manufactured a roller having an elastic layer in the same manner as in Example 1. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 7 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 8)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, a heat treatment temperature with an infrared lamp is 150 ° C. (output 900 W), and the time is 2 minutes Manufactured a roller having an elastic layer in the same manner as in Example 1. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured material layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core toward the thickness direction. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 8 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

Example 9
When heat-treating the cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the heat treatment temperature in the infrared lamp is 110 ° C. (output 660 W), and the time is 1 minute. Manufactured a roller having an elastic layer in the same manner as in Example 1. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 9 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 10)
When heat-treating the cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the heat treatment temperature with an infrared lamp is 160 ° C. (output 960 W), and the time is 1 minute Manufactured a roller having an elastic layer in the same manner as in Example 1. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The produced roller was incorporated as a developing roller 10 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 11)
When heat-treating the cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the heat treatment temperature with an infrared lamp is 160 ° C. (output 960 W), and the time is 2 minutes Manufactured a roller having an elastic layer in the same manner as in Example 1. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured material layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 11 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 12)
An elastic layer in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core is heat-treated by high-frequency induction heating and semi-cured. Was produced. As this high-frequency induction heating device (manufactured by Nippon Thermonics), a loop-shaped coil having an inner diameter of 30 mm and a length of 270 mm was used. In the center of this coil, a shaft core body provided with an uncured layer of a liquid rubber material on the outer periphery was set, and the heating time was 5 seconds under the conditions of a frequency of 30 kHz, an output voltage of 80 V, and an output current of 30 A. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 12 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 13)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) semi-cured layer of rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the semi-cured layer is brought into contact with a heating member having the following convex portions. A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that. The surface shape is an independent shape in which the height of the convex portion based on the maximum depth is 5 μm and the average pitch of the convex portion is 50 μm. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured material layer surface before being brought into contact with the heating member having a convex portion, and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm in the thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 13 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 14)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) semi-cured layer of rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the semi-cured material layer is brought into contact with a heating member having the following convex portions. A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that. The surface shape is an independent shape in which the height of the convex portion based on the maximum depth is 50 μm and the average pitch of the convex portion is 50 μm. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the surface of the semi-cured material layer before being brought into contact with the heating member having a convex portion, and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm in the thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 14 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 15)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) semi-cured layer of rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the semi-cured layer is brought into contact with a heating member having the following convex portions. A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that. The surface shape is an independent shape in which the height of the convex portion based on the maximum depth is 5 μm and the average pitch of the convex portion is 200 μm. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured material layer surface before being brought into contact with the heating member having a convex portion, and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm in the thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 15 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 16)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) semi-cured layer of rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the semi-cured layer is brought into contact with a heating member having the following convex portions. A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that. The surface shape is an independent shape in which the height of the convex portion based on the maximum depth is 50 μm and the average pitch of the convex portion is 200 μm. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured material layer surface before being brought into contact with the heating member having a convex portion, and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm in the thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 16 in a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated in an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 17)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) semi-cured layer of rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the semi-cured layer is brought into contact with a heating member having the following convex portions. A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that. The surface shape is an independent shape in which the height of the convex portion based on the maximum depth is 1 μm and the average pitch of the convex portion is 1 μm. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured material layer surface before being brought into contact with the heating member having a convex portion, and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm in the thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 17 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 18)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) semi-cured layer of rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the semi-cured layer is brought into contact with a heating member having the following convex portions. A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that. The surface shape is an independent shape in which the height of the convex portion based on the maximum depth is 1000 μm and the average pitch of the convex portion is 1 μm. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured material layer surface before being brought into contact with the heating member having a convex portion, and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm in the thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 18 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 19)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) semi-cured layer of rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the semi-cured layer is brought into contact with a heating member having the following convex portions. A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that. The surface shape is an independent shape in which the height of the convex portion based on the maximum depth is 1 μm and the average pitch of the convex portion is 1000 μm. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured material layer surface before being brought into contact with the heating member having a convex portion, and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm in the thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 19 in a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated in an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 20)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) semi-cured layer of rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the semi-cured layer is brought into contact with a heating member having the following convex portions. A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that. The surface shape is an independent shape in which the height of the convex portion based on the maximum depth is 1000 μm and the average pitch of the convex portion is 1000 μm. Table 1 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured material layer surface before being brought into contact with the heating member having a convex portion, and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm in the thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body. Table 1 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 20 in a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated in an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 1 shows the result of image output.

(Example 21)
An elastic layer is provided in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer (elastic layer material layer) of a liquid rubber material is formed on the outer periphery of the shaft core body by a blade coater. A roller was produced. The shaft core was clamped to the shaft holding member of the blade coater, and the shaft core was rotated in the circumferential direction at a rotational speed of 60 rpm by the shaft core rotating member. Next, a silicone rubber mixed liquid (liquid silicone rubber A liquid and B liquid mixed liquid) was discharged from the material supply member to the rotating shaft core at a flow rate of 840 mm ³ / sec. The blade is made of polyacetal resin and has a single-sided blade shape. The blade edge is positioned at an angle of about 45 ° with respect to the thickness direction where the blade is in contact with the rubber material, and the clearance between the shaft core and the blade edge is 3.3 mm. Table 2 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 21 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 2 shows the results of image output.

(Example 22)
As a liquid rubber material, a one-component urethane rubber material was set in a raw material tank attached to a ring coat machine. Using a pressure pump, the mixture was fed to a static mixer and stirred. The compounding composition of a urethane rubber material is shown. 100 parts by mass of one-component urethane (Nipporan 4653 manufactured by Nippon Polyurethane Industry) and 15 parts by mass of carbon black (Ketjen Black EC manufactured by Ketjen Black International) were sufficiently mixed to obtain a one-component urethane rubber material.

  When heat-treating the cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the heat treatment temperature at an infrared lamp is 140 ° C. (output 840 W), and the time is 10 minutes. A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except for the above. Table 2 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Then, secondary curing was performed at 180 ° C. for 2 hours in an electric furnace. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 22 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 2 shows the results of image output.

(Example 23)
A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 14. Thereafter, a surface layer was formed on the roller having the elastic layer. The material formulation of the surface layer is shown. 100 parts by mass of polyurethane polyol prepolymer (trade name: Takelac TE5060; manufactured by Mitsui Takeda Chemical Co.), 77 parts by mass of isocyanate (trade name: Coronate 2521; manufactured by Nippon Polyurethane Co., Ltd.), 24 parts by mass of carbon black (trade name: MA100; Methyl ethyl ketone (hereinafter referred to as MEK) was added to Mitsubishi Chemical Co., Ltd. and dispersed with a sand mill for 1 hour. After dispersion, MEK was further added to adjust the solid content in the range of 20% by mass to 30% by mass (so that the film thickness was 20 μm), and this was used as the raw material liquid for the surface layer. The roller having the elastic layer was immersed in this raw material liquid to apply the surface layer, and then pulled up and dried naturally. Next, the raw material for the surface layer was cured by heat treatment at 140 ° C. for 60 minutes to obtain a roller having an elastic layer on which the surface layer was formed. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of the roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 23 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 2 shows the results of image output.

(Example 24)
When heat-treating the cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the heat treatment temperature in the infrared lamp is 110 ° C. (output 660 W), and the time is 1 minute. Manufactured a roller having an elastic layer in the same manner as in Example 22. Table 2 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 24 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 2 shows the results of image output.

(Example 25)
When heat-treating the cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core, the heat treatment temperature at the infrared lamp is 160 ° C. (output 960 W), and the time is 15 minutes. A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 22. Table 2 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated into a developing device as a developing roller 25, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 2 shows the results of image output.

(Example 26)
When heat-treating the cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the heat treatment temperature with an infrared lamp is 150 ° C. (output 900 W), and the time is 10 minutes Manufactured a roller having an elastic layer in the same manner as in Example 22. Table 2 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The produced roller was incorporated as a developing roller 26 in a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated in an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 2 shows the results of image output.

(Example 27)
When heat-treating the cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the heat treatment temperature with an infrared lamp is 140 ° C. (output 840 W), and the time is 15 minutes Manufactured a roller having an elastic layer in the same manner as in Example 22. Table 2 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 27 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 2 shows the results of image output.

(Example 28)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the same procedure as in Example 12 was performed except that the heating time of the high-frequency induction heating device was set to 7 seconds. Thus, a roller having an elastic layer was manufactured. Table 2 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 28 in a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated in an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 2 shows the results of image output.

(Example 29)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) semi-cured layer of a liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the semi-cured material layer is brought into contact with a heating member having the following convex portions. A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that. The surface shape is an independent shape in which the height of the convex portion based on the maximum depth is 0.01 μm and the average pitch of the convex portion is 200 μm. Table 2 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the surface of the semi-cured product layer before being brought into contact with the heating member having a convex portion, and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm in the thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated in a developing device as a developing roller 29, and this developing device was incorporated in an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 2 shows the results of image output.

(Example 30)
When heat-treating the cylindrical (roll-shaped) semi-cured layer of liquid rubber provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the semi-cured product layer was brought into contact with a heating member having the following convex portions. A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except for the above. The surface shape is an independent shape in which the height of the convex portion based on the maximum depth is 1500 μm and the average pitch of the convex portion is 200 μm. Table 2 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the surface of the semi-cured product layer before being brought into contact with the heating member having a convex portion, and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm in the thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The produced roller was incorporated as a developing roller 30 in a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated in an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 2 shows the results of image output.

(Example 31)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) semi-cured layer of rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the semi-cured material layer is brought into contact with a heating member having a convex portion, A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a load of 50 grams (100 grams in total) was applied to each of the above. Table 2 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the surface of the semi-cured product layer before being brought into contact with the heating member having a convex portion, and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm in the thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 31 in a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated in an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 2 shows the results of image output.

(Example 32)
When heat-treating a cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the heat treatment temperature with an infrared lamp is 110 ° C. (output 660 W), and the time is 45 seconds. Manufactured a roller having an elastic layer in the same manner as in Example 22. Table 2 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 32 in a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated in an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 2 shows the results of image output.

(Example 33)
When heat-treating the cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured layer of liquid rubber material provided on the outer periphery of the shaft core body, the heat treatment temperature with an infrared lamp is 160 ° C. (output 960 W), and the time is 30 minutes Manufactured a roller having an elastic layer in the same manner as in Example 22. The semi-cured product layer after the heat treatment had a certain degree of fluidity and was not completely cured. Table 2 shows the MD1 hardness T1 of the semi-cured product layer surface and the MD1 hardness T2 at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core body in the thickness direction. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 33 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 2 shows the results of image output.

(Example 34)
As the liquid rubber material, set the addition reaction cross-linked silicone rubber A / B in the raw material tank attached to the ring coater, and send it to the static mixer using a pressure feed pump. Mixed at 1/1. The material composition of liquid silicone rubber is shown. Liquid A is a mixture of 100 parts by mass of silicone rubber (DY39-561A, manufactured by Toray Dow Corning) and 1 part by mass of silica (AEROSIL300 manufactured by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd.). Liquid B is silicone rubber (DY39-561B, Toray). Dow Corning Co., Ltd.), a cylinder with an inner diameter of 14 mm, an outer diameter of 20 mm, and a thickness of 6 mm is used as the shaft core, and the clearance between the shaft core and the nozzle of the ring-shaped coating head with an inner diameter of φ26.6 mm is 3 A roller having an elastic layer with a layer thickness of 3.0 mm on the outer periphery of the shaft core was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 17 except that the thickness was 3 mm. In addition, a layer of PTFE 20 μm was provided on the surface in order to improve the releasability. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of the roller (the surface layer provided on the elastic layer) and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated in the image forming apparatus as a fixing roller 1. As a result of image output, a good image was formed.

(Example 35)
As the liquid rubber, the addition reaction cross-linked silicone rubber liquid A / liquid B is set in a raw material tank attached to the ring coat, and is sent to a static mixer using a pressure feed pump. 1 mixed. The material composition of silicone rubber is shown. Liquid A is a mixture of 100 parts by mass of silicone rubber (DY39-561A, manufactured by Toray Dow Corning) and 1 part by mass of silica (AEROSIL300 manufactured by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd.). Liquid B is silicone rubber (DY39-561B, Toray). A roller having an elastic layer was produced in the same manner as in Example 24 except that Dow Corning) was used. In order to improve releasability on the surface of this roller, a fluororesin having a PFA (copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and perfluoroalkylpinyl ether) of 50 μm was provided. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of this roller (the fluororesin layer provided on the elastic layer) and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was assembled as a pressure roller 1 in an image forming apparatus. As a result of image output, a good image was formed.

(Comparative Example 1)
80% by mass of unvulcanized silicone rubber (KE541-U manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.), 7% by mass of carbon black (denka black powder manufactured by Denki Kagaku Kogyo), and 13% by mass of silica (AEROSIL 50 manufactured by Nippon Aerosil) For 30 minutes. To 100 parts by mass of this mixture, 2.5 parts by mass of a vulcanizing agent (C-25A / B manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) (0.5 parts by mass of C-25A and 2.0 parts by mass of C-25B) is added. It mixed and defoamed and it was set as the silicone rubber material. Using this silicone rubber material, a cylindrical (roll-shaped) uncured material layer having a diameter of 12 mm and an inner diameter of 6 mm was formed on the outer periphery of an iron shaft core having an outer diameter of φ6 mm using a crosshead extruder. The uncured layer was then heated with infrared radiation. An infrared heating lamp (HYL25 manufactured by Hibeck) was held at a heat treatment temperature of 160 ° C. (output: 960 W), and the uncured layer was held at a distance of 60 mm with respect to the lamp so that the central axes thereof were parallel to each other. The uncured layer was rotated in the circumferential direction at 60 rpm and heated for 1 hour to complete the curing.

  In this way, a roller having an elastic layer on the outer periphery of the shaft core was manufactured. Table 2 shows the surface roughness Ra of the manufactured roller and the thickness unevenness of the roller. The created roller was incorporated as a developing roller 34 into a developing device, and this developing device was incorporated into an electrophotographic process cartridge. Table 2 shows the results of image output.

-: Measurement not possible (In Comparative Example 1, since the uncured material layer was applied and cured as it was by infrared heating, MD1 hardness T1 and T2 could not be measured. Image evaluation is not performed.)
From the results of Tables 1 and 2, the rollers (developing rollers 1 to 33, the fixing roller 1 and the pressure roller 1) manufactured using the manufacturing method of the present invention have a maximum thickness unevenness of 63 μm, and the image density unevenness is the most. It was bad and was “D”. In contrast, the roller of Comparative Example 1 had a very large thickness unevenness of 300 μm, and the image density unevenness was “E”, which was worse than that of the example.

  From these results, it was confirmed that by manufacturing the roller by the manufacturing method of the present invention, a low-cost roller having a predetermined surface roughness and improved dimensional accuracy can be manufactured.

It is sectional drawing showing the outline of a ring coat machine. It is sectional drawing showing the outline of a blade coater. It is a conceptual diagram showing the surface shape of the heating member which has a convex part. It is a conceptual diagram of the heating member which has a cylindrical convex part. It is a conceptual diagram of the heating member which has a flat type convex part. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an outline of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. It is a figure showing the measuring method of MD1 hardness in the present invention. It is a perspective view showing the roller of this invention. It is a figure explaining the convex part of the heating member of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

101 Roller 102 Shaft core 103 Uncured product of liquid rubber 104 Semi-cured product of liquid rubber 105 Measurement location of MD1 hardness T1 of semi-cured product 106 Measurement location of MD1 hardness T2 of semi-cured product 1 Base 2 Column 3 Ball screw 4 LM Guide 5 Servo motor 6 Pulley 7 Bracket 8 Ring coating head 9 Axle core holding shaft 10 Axle core holding shaft 11 Supply port 12 Pipe 13 Material supply valve 14 Linear guide 15 Material supply member 16 Layer thickness regulating blade 17 Convex Part height 18 Convex part average pitch 19 Maximum depth 20 Convex part 21 Photosensitive drum (A: rotating direction)
22 Charging roller 23 Laser beam 24 Developing device 25 Developing roller (B: rotating direction)
26 Developer Supply Roller 27 Development Blade 28 Developer (Toner)
29 Transfer roller 30 Cleaning blade 31 Waste toner container 32 Pressure roller 33 Paper 34 Developer container 35 Process cartridge 36 Fixing roller 40 Cylindrical type 41 Motor 42 Load 43 Flat plate type

Claims (11)

In the method of manufacturing a roller provided with an elastic layer having a roughened surface and a thickness exceeding 1 mm on the outer periphery of the shaft core body,
(A) forming an uncured liquid rubber material layer on the outer periphery of the shaft core;
(B) heat-treating the uncured liquid rubber material layer to form a semi-cured rubber material layer;
(C) having a step of roughening and curing the rubber material to form an elastic layer by bringing a heating member having a roughened contact surface into contact with the semi-cured rubber material layer. A method for producing a roller characterized by the above. The MD1 hardness T1 of the layer surface of the semi-cured rubber material and the MD1 hardness T2 of the semi-cured rubber material at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core in the thickness direction have a relationship of T1> T2. The method for manufacturing a roller according to claim 1. The roller manufacturing method according to claim 1 , wherein the heat treatment is infrared heating .   The MD1 hardness T1 of the layer surface of the semi-cured rubber material is 10.0 to 50.0 °, and the MD1 hardness T2 of the semi-cured rubber material at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core toward the thickness direction. The roller manufacturing method according to claim 3, wherein the angle is 7.0 to 45.0 °.   MD1 hardness T1 of the layer surface of the semi-cured rubber material is 17.0 to 28.0 °, and MD1 hardness T2 of the semi-cured rubber material at a position of 1 mm from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft core toward the thickness direction. The roller manufacturing method according to claim 3, wherein the angle is 15.0 to 25.0 °. Contact surface of the heating member, the average height from the maximum depth at 1 to 1000 m, any of claims 1 to 5 in which the average pitch, characterized in Rukoto to have a convex portion of 1 to 1000 m A method for producing the roller according to claim 1 . The contact surface of the heating element, the maximum depth average height 5 to 50 [mu] m relative to the, any claim 1-5 in which the average pitch and having a convex portion of 50 to 200 [mu] m A method for producing the roller according to claim 1. (A) forming a layer of uncured liquid rubber material,
A ring-shaped coating head is arranged on the outer peripheral side of the shaft core so as to be concentric with the shaft core, and the coating is performed while moving the shaft core in the axial direction relative to the coating head. method for producing a roller according to any one of claim 1 to 7, wherein the step der Rukoto applying a liquid rubber material on the outer periphery of the mandrel from the Engineering head. A developing roller manufactured by the method for manufacturing a roller according to claim 1. An image visualized on the surface of the photosensitive drum is formed by forming a developer layer on the surface of the developing roller, contacting the developing roller with the photosensitive drum, and supplying the developer to the surface of the photosensitive drum. In the developing device to be formed,
The developing device according to claim 9, wherein the developing roller is a developing roller according to claim 9 . A rotatable photosensitive drum, a charging roller that comes into contact with the photosensitive drum and supplies electric charge to the surface of the photosensitive drum, and an image visualized on the surface of the photosensitive drum by supplying developer to the surface of the photosensitive drum In an electrophotographic process cartridge having a developing roller for forming
An electrophotographic process cartridge , wherein the developing roller is the developing roller according to claim 9 .

Images