Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Canon Kasei Kabushiki Kaisha

Kenichi Mochizuki

Taku Hatanaka

Takuma Matsuda

Shoji Inoue

Takahiro Miyazawa

Ryosuke Takayama

Takako Ikeda

Kouji Okano

Shouji Inoue

Takashi Wakabayashi

Mayuko Kodama

An electrophotographic blade to be brought into contact with a contact member, comprises a plate spring, and a resin layer that covers at least a part of a surface of the plate spring to form a contact region that comes into contact with a contact member. In the state where one of ends of the plate spring is fixed, a length (L) from the fixed end to the another end is 5 mm to 20 mm, and a force needed to displace the another end by 1 mm is 5 N/m to 100 N/m. The resin layer satisfies the requirements: (1) the thickness of the resin layer is 0.05 mm to 2.00 mm, (2) the tan &#x3b4; value of the resin layer in the range of 5&#xb0; C. to 40&#xb0; C. is 0.05 to 0.70, and (3) the elastic modulus of the resin layer is 1.0 to 60.0 MPa.

Electrophotographic blade, process cartridge, and electrophotographic image forming apparatus

A process cartridge includes an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a developer bearing roller, and a developer regulating member, the developer regulating member and the developer bearing roller constituting a contact region, the contact region having a width larger than the width of the developing region in the direction of the axis of the developer bearing roller and extending in the circumferential direction of the developer bearing roller, the developer regulating member having a protruding portion that protrudes over the entire width of the contact region from the end portion on the upstream side of the contact region toward the upstream side in the rotational direction of the roller, and the length of the protruding portion in a region corresponding to the developing region being substantially constant and larger than the length of the protruding portion at the location corresponding to the end portion in the width direction of the contact region.

Process cartridge and electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming a high-quality electrophotographic image

A method of producing an electrophotographic blade member includes a continuous molding groove in an peripheral surface and an endless belt, in which the blade member includes a polyurethane resin cured a polyurethane composition having a viscosity of 500-3,000 mPa&#xb7;s and including A)-D), and a position at which the composition is injected is set, on the belt, opposing to the groove, the position being away from a portion at which the molding drum and the belt are first contacted on an upstream for a moving direction of the belt: A) polyisocyanate; B) adipate-based polyester polyol having a number average molecular weight of 1,000-4,000; C) chain extender having a molecular weight of 200 or less; D) isocyanurate-forming catalyst at 20 to 500 ppm and a urethane-forming catalyst at 200-1,500 ppm.

Method and apparatus for producing an electrophotographic blade member

A cleaning blade is provided which does not cause contamination of other parts even when being stored for a long period of time in a high temperature and high humidity environment. The cleaning blade is set in an image forming apparatus employing an electrostatic transfer process, including a blade member and a support member to rub and remove residual toner remaining on a photosensitive drum provided to the image forming apparatus, in which the total amount of nitrogen-containing compounds extracted with methanol from the cleaning blade is 12 &#x3bc;g or less per cm of the cleaning blade in its longitudinal direction.

Cleaning blade

A blade for electrophotographic apparatus which has a blade member formed of a polyurethane resin, wherein the polyurethane resin is a resin produced by using a polyurethane raw-material composition containing at least the following components (A) to (E): (A) a polyisocyanate; (B) a polyol having a number average molecular weight of 2,000 or more and 4,000 or less; (C) a chain extender having a molecular weight of 200 or less: (D) a polyol having a number average molecular weight which is smaller than the number average molecular weight of the component-(B) polyol and is larger than the molecular weight of the component-(C) chain extender; and (E) a urethane curing catalyst.

Growing community of inventors

Ushiku, Japan

Kenichi Mochizuki