Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Masaya Kawada

Toshiyuki Ehara

Tetsuya Karaki

Hironori Ohwaki

Koji Yamazaki

Yuji Nakayama

Takaaki Kaya

Kunimasa Kawamura

Hironori Owaki

Shigenori Ueda

Masahiro Watabe

Tomohiro Tanoue

Ryuji Okamura

Junichiro Hashizume

Kenji Karashima

Shingo Ito

Hiroaki Kawakami

Noriyoshi Umeda

Hiroaki Niino

Hiroyuki Kobayashi

Harumi Ishiyama

Kazuto Hosoi

Masayuki Hama

Masaharu Miura

Norihiko Kubo

Hisataka Hisakuni

Masanobu Nakajima

To provide a cleaning blade having an elastic body portion containing urethane rubber and a support member supporting the elastic body portion. A free end portion of the elastic body has a first region in which the Young's modulus gradually decreases in the depth direction from the principal surface facing the surface of the member to be cleaned on the edge face side and a second region in which the Young's modulus does not vary in the depth direction from the principal surface on the side closer to the support member relative to the first region.

Cleaning blade and cleaning device

A cleaning blade includes an image region and a non-image region in which Young's moduli at positions separated by a distance of L &#x3bc;m from an edge portion in contact with an photosensitive drum are respectively defined as Yand Y', Yand Y&#x2032;are 10 mgf/&#x3bc;mor more and 400 mgf/&#x3bc;mor less, Y/Yis 0.5 or less, [{(Y&#x2212;Y)/Y}/(20&#x2212;0)] is equal to or more than [{(Y&#x2212;Y)/Y}/(50&#x2212;20)] and, the Young's modulus Y&#x2266;the Young's modulus Y&#x2032;where L satisfies 0&#x2266;L &#x2266;100 &#x3bc;m.

Cleaning blade, process cartridge, and electrophotographic apparatus

A urethane rubber cleaning blade, wherein a surface of a contact portion of the cleaning blade that comes into contact with a member to be cleaned has a Young's modulus (Y) of 10 mgf/&#x3bc;mor more and 400 mgf/&#x3bc;mor less, the ratio (Y/Y) of the Young's modulus (Y) of an internal portion of the cleaning blade 50 &#x3bc;m spaced apart from the surface of the contact portion to the Young's modulus (Y) is 0.5 or less, and the average rate of change in Young's modulus from the surface to an internal portion of the cleaning blade 20 &#x3bc;m spaced apart from the surface is greater than or equal to the average rate of change in Young's modulus from the internal portion of the cleaning blade 20 &#x3bc;m spaced apart from the surface to an internal portion of the cleaning blade 50 &#x3bc;m spaced apart from the surface.

Cleaning blade, method for manufacturing cleaning blade, process cartridge, and electrophotographic apparatus

In a method for producing a cleaning blade, a first composition obtained by causing a reaction of diphenylmethane diisocyanate and a first aliphatic polyester polyol which has a number-average molecular weight of 2000 to 3500 and is used in an amount of 20 to 40 mol % relative to the diphenylmethane diisocyanate and a second composition containing a urethane rubber-synthesizing catalyst and a second aliphatic polyester polyol which has a number-average molecular weight of 2000 to 3500 and is the same as or different from the first aliphatic polyester polyol are mixed so that a relationship between a number of moles (M[mol]) of an NCO group in the first composition and a number of moles (M[mol]) of an OH group in the second composition satisfies 0.05&#x2266;M/M&#x2266;0.20.

Method for producing cleaning blade

A cleaning blade includes a polyester urethane rubber. In an IR spectrum measured by &#x3bc;ATR on the surface of a contact portion of the polyester urethane rubber at which the cleaning blade comes into contact with a member to be cleaned, a ratio (I/I) of an intensity (I) of a C&#x2014;N peak due to an isocyanurate group included in the polyester urethane rubber to an intensity (I) of a C&#x2550;O peak due to an ester group included in the polyester urethane rubber is 0.65 or more and 2.50 or less. A siloxane compound is present on the surface of the contact portion of the polyester urethane rubber.

Cleaning blade, process cartridge, electrophotographic apparatus, and polyester urethane rubber

Provided is an image forming method in which hydrophobized calcium carbonate particles having a number average particle diameter of 30 to 300 nm and hydrophobized strontium titanate particles having a number average particle diameter of 30 to 300 nm are applied to the surface of an image bearing member.

Image forming method

An image forming apparatus provided with a photosensitive member, a charging device for charging the photosensitive member, a developing device for developing an electrostatic image formed on the photosensitive member by a developer, a cleaning blade for removing the developer residual on the photosensitive member, a rubbing member provided upstream of the cleaning blade in the direction of rotation of the photosensitive member for rubbing the photosensitive member to assist the cleaning blade in cleaning, and a controller for controlling the surface temperature of the photosensitive member, wherein the photosensitive member has the HU (universal hardness value) of 150 N/mmor greater and 220 N/mmor less, and the elastic deformation rate of 43% or greater and 65% or less.

Image forming apparatus

A light-receiving member comprising a conductive substrate, and formed superposingly thereon a photosensitive layer and a surface protective layer in order. The light-receiving member has a surface roughness Ra of from 15 nm to 100 nm. Also disclosed is an image-forming apparatus having such a light-receiving member, and an image-forming method of rendering visible an electrostatic pattern formed on the light-receiving member. The light-receiving member promises stable formation of images over a long period of time.

Light-receiving member, image-forming apparatus, and image-forming method

A process for producing an electrophotographic photosensitive member comprising the steps of depositing a non-single crystal material composed basically of silicon atoms, on a cylindrical substrate in a deposition chamber, thereafter once taking the substrate with film out of the deposition chamber, then returning it to the deposition chamber, and thereafter again depositing thereon a non-single-crystal material composed basically of carbon atoms. In another embodiment, the process comprises the steps of depositing on a cylindrical substrate a photoconductive layer formed of a non-single crystal material, subjecting to surface processing the deposited film having protrusions present at its surface, and depositing on the processed surface a surface protective layer formed of a non-single-crystal material. Also disclosed is the electrophotographic photosensitive member thus obtained, and an electrophotographic apparatus having that member.

Electrophotographic photosensitive member, process for its production, and electrophotographic apparatus

In an electrophotographic image process, a latent image is formed on a photosensitive drum, and a toner image is formed on the latent image. The toner image is temporarily transferred onto an intermediate image-transfer element. The photosensitive drum and the intermediate image-transfer element are brought into contact at an intended contact pressure and are rotated at a prescribed relative speed. At the contact portion, fine vibrations of the photosensitive drum and the intermediate image-transfer element, which can be caused by repeated contact and separation are prevented by controlling the contact temperature between the photosensitive member and the intermediate image-transfer element to be in the range of 15 to 60&deg; C. A kinetic frictional deviation (a standard deviation of a kinetic frictional force) is controlled to be less than the average value of the kinetic frictional force. By suppressing the fine vibration, deviation in image transfer is prevented. In addition, toner melt adhesion and foreign matter deposition is prevented, whereby image blurring is prevented.

Image forming process, and photosensitive member employed therefor

To provide an amorphous Si photosensitive member and an image forming apparatus which form favorable images by preventing toner adhesion at a cleaning time. A photoconductive layer containing amorphous Si is formed on an electrically conductive substrate so that a surface of a photosensitive member has an average inclination &Dgr;a within a range of 0.12 to 1.0, more preferably 0.15 to 0.8 within a range of 10 &mgr;m&times;10 &mgr;m, and an electrically conductive substrate has surface roughness Ra within the range of 10 &mgr;m&times;10 &mgr;m is lower than 9 nm, preferably lower than 6 nm.

Photosensitive member and image forming apparatus having the same

Provided are an electrophotographic method and an electrophotographic apparatus that can reduce ghost memory latent in an a-Si photosensitive member, relieve potential unevenness, and provide image copies with high quality. In an electrophotographic process of forming a toner image at least through decharging of a photosensitive member as a recording element, charging, exposing, developing, and transferring, at least a light-receiving layer of the photosensitive member is comprised of an amorphous material; a latent image is formed by the exposing with a light; the light has such a peak wavelength in an emission spectrum as to make minimum a value of optical memory at a unit contrast potential; and the decharging is implemented by use of a light having a full width at half maximum of a peak in an emission spectrum of not more than 50 nm.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Masaya Kawada