Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Tomohiro Tanoue

Masaya Kawada

Masahiro Watabe

Shingo Ito

Kenji Karashima

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 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.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Tomohiro Tanoue