JP2003043863A - Endless belt for image formation, traveling device thereof, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: An endless belt for image formation capable of forming a high-quality image without high-speed image formation, that is, even when the endless belt has a high linear velocity, without meandering of the endless belt. , A travel device, an image forming apparatus provided with the travel device, and a color image forming apparatus. SOLUTION: In an endless belt for image formation in which a belt-shaped elastic body is fixed to an inner surface of both side edges by an adhesive layer, a ten-point average roughness (Rz) of a cross-sectional curve of a surface of the belt-shaped elastic body in a rotation direction of the endless belt is 2. An endless belt for image formation, wherein the endless belt for image formation is provided with a plurality of rollers, and the endless belt is run by rotation of the rollers. An endless belt traveling device, an image forming apparatus including the above image forming endless belt, and an image forming apparatus including the above image forming endless belt traveling device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming endless belt, a traveling device therefor, an image forming apparatus provided with the traveling device, and a color image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to achieve highly accurate reproducibility of image information, there is a strong demand for higher definition and higher resolution image formation. Also, colorization, high-speed image formation,
There is also an increasing need for downsizing and high durability of image forming apparatuses. Especially for photoconductors, speeding up image formation,
To meet the demand for high durability, it is considered to increase the circumference of the photoconductor to reduce the load on the photoconductor, but in the photoconductor using an aluminum drum as a support, Increasing the circumference leads to increasing the diameter of the photoconductor, which results in a conflict with the demand for downsizing the image forming apparatus. The endless belt photoconductor can be freely changed in shape by inserting a plurality of rollers into the photoconductor, which increases the degree of freedom in arranging the photoconductor in the image forming apparatus. Is something that can contribute to.

Generally, an endless belt photoreceptor has a structure in which a photosensitive layer is provided on a conductive polymer film or metal film substrate. In particular, an endless belt photoreceptor using a metal film substrate has a thermal property. The expansion and contraction of the endless belt is low and the shape retention against tension is high.Therefore, even if the peripheral speed of the endless belt photoconductor is increased, deformation of the endless belt photoconductor does not occur in order to speed up image formation. High quality image formation is possible.

Normally, the running of the endless belt in the image forming apparatus is carried out by inserting a plurality of rollers inside the endless belt and rotating the rollers. However, the roundness, straightness, parallelism, etc. of the rollers are not affected. Due to the problem of uniformity, the endless belt meanders in the width direction. If the endless belt meanders severely, the endless belt will fall off the drive roller and be damaged. Even if the endless belt is not dropped or damaged, the meandering greatly deteriorates the quality of the formed image, and particularly when forming a single image by combining a plurality of image formations like color image formation, Color misregistration and image unevenness are conspicuous, which causes a significant deterioration in image quality.

To prevent the endless belt from meandering,
There has been proposed an endless belt in which guides such as hot melt adhesives are directly adhered to both inner edges of the endless belt to provide detent guides (for example, JP-A-59-2).
30950). However, the hot melt adhesive is liable to be deformed during the cooling after the hot melt adhesive is melted and applied to the endless belt, and as a result, meandering is likely to occur.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 04-190280 discloses an endless belt in which a flexible substance having a specific rubber hardness and thickness is attached to both inner edges of the endless belt to serve as a detent guide. . This endless belt has excellent performance with almost no deformation of the belt even after running for a long time. However, if the linear speed of the endless belt is increased in order to improve the speed of image formation, the deviation guide may be deformed, peeled off, or the endless belt may be deformed, resulting in deterioration of image quality. There are many. In particular, in a high-resolution image forming apparatus for a written image, the tendency is large, and in a color image forming apparatus, color misregistration is likely to occur, which often results in further deterioration of image quality.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-13001 discloses that
The upper surface and / or the side surface of the rib provided on the inner surface of the endless belt having a flexible polymer film as a base body has a rough surface having an arithmetic average roughness (Ra) of 0.3 μm or more, and friction between the rib and the driving roller. An endless belt that reduces resistance and prevents rib separation is disclosed. The ribs are intended to prevent lateral movement of the endless belt by fitting into grooves formed on the outer peripheral surface of the roller or by engaging with taper portions formed on the side end portions of the roller.
Processing such a roller causes an increase in cost.

The expression of the surface roughness by Ra is effective when a large number of waves forming the cross-sectional curve are composed of waves of similar amplitude, but normally, the anti-slip guide is used for a polishing machine or the like. Many waves of various amplitudes and many wavelengths are superimposed on the cross-sectional curve of the surface roughened by. However, since Ra is calculated by canceling it except for the large amplitude, it cannot be said to be an appropriate parameter for expressing the size of fine irregularities.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2000-1237 and 20
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 00-289823 discloses an endless belt in which a reinforcing tape to which an elastomer guide is adhered is adhered to both inner edge portions of the endless belt by using an adhesive to form a detent guide. Due to the presence of the reinforcing tape, the offset guide of the endless belt is unlikely to be disengaged from the endless belt by an external force. However, since the adhesive strength between the reinforcing tape and the adhesive is poor, the adhesive layer may be deformed or misaligned, and the linearity of the detent guides fixed to both inner edges of the endless belt is likely to decrease, resulting in The image quality may be degraded. In particular, when the linear velocity of the endless belt is increased in order to increase the speed of image formation in a photoreceptor using a metal film as a substrate, the image quality is significantly deteriorated.

[0010]

In view of the above situation, the present invention provides a high-quality image without causing the endless belt to meander even under high-speed image formation, that is, under the condition that the endless belt has a high linear velocity. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming endless belt capable of forming a sheet, a traveling device thereof, an image forming apparatus provided with the traveling device, and a color image forming apparatus.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the inventors of the present invention have conducted intensive studies by paying attention to the roughness of the belt-shaped elastic body provided with the endless belt, and as a result, completed the present invention. Came to.

That is, according to the present invention, firstly, in an endless belt in which strip-shaped elastic bodies are fixed to inner surfaces of both side edges along both side edges, ten points of a cross-sectional curve of the outer surface of the elastic body in the longitudinal direction of the elastic body. Average roughness (Rz) is 2 ~ 20μ
An image forming endless belt is provided.

According to the first invention, the following (1) to (1
The image forming endless belt according to 0) is included. (1) The image forming endless belt according to claim 1, wherein the belt-shaped elastic body contains a filler. (2) An image forming endless belt in which the filler is a carbon body. (3) An image forming endless belt in which the surface of the belt-shaped elastic body is machined. (4) An image forming endless belt in which the belt-shaped elastic body has a thickness of 500 to 1500 μm. (5) The hardness (JIS A) of the belt-shaped elastic body is 60 to 9
An image forming endless belt which is 0. (6) An image forming endless belt in which the base of the endless belt is formed of a material containing nickel as a main component. (7) An endless belt for image formation, wherein the base of the endless belt is a wheel made of nickel having a purity of 98% or more. (8) The base of the endless belt has a Vickers hardness of 4
An image forming endless belt having a size of 00 to 650. (9) The image forming endless belt, which is a photoconductor. (10) An image forming endless belt in which the linear velocity of the photoconductor is 80 mm / sec or more.

According to the present invention, secondly, a plurality of rollers are provided in the image forming endless belt according to the first invention, the endless belt is made to run by the rotation of the rollers, and at least one of the elastic members is elastic. An endless belt running device for image formation is provided, wherein one side surface of a body is engaged with a side surface of at least one roller to prevent lateral movement of the endless belt.

The second invention includes a traveling device for an image forming endless belt described in (1) and (2) below. (1) A traveling device for an image forming endless belt, wherein the image forming endless belt is a photoconductor. (2) An image forming endless belt running device in which the linear velocity of the photoconductor is 80 mm / sec or more.

According to the present invention, thirdly, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising the image forming endless belt according to the first (9) invention. In the third invention, the resolution of the writing light for the photoconductor is 600 dpi.
The image forming apparatus described above is included.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus including the traveling device for the image forming endless belt according to the second (1) aspect of the invention.

The fourth aspect of the invention includes an image forming apparatus in which the resolution of the writing light for the photoconductor is 600 dpi or more.

According to the present invention, fifthly, firstly
There is provided a color image forming apparatus comprising the image forming endless belt according to the invention of (9).

The fifth aspect of the invention includes a color image forming apparatus in which the resolution of the writing light for the photoconductor is 600 dpi or more.

Further, according to the present invention, sixthly, secondly
There is provided a color image forming apparatus including the image forming endless belt traveling device according to the invention of (1).

The sixth aspect of the invention includes a color image forming apparatus in which the resolution of the writing light for the photoconductor is 600 dpi or more.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the image forming apparatus using an image forming endless belt (hereinafter, simply referred to as an endless belt), the present inventors have found that the image forming speed is fast, that is, the line of the endless belt. A detailed investigation was conducted into the cause of the deterioration of image forming quality under high speed conditions.From the above circumstances, in order to prevent the endless belt from meandering, it is not possible to provide detent guides on the inner surfaces of both end edges of the endless belt. Although essential, the adhesiveness between the anti-slip guide and the endless belt base is important.When an elastic body is used for the anti-slip guide, and when a force is applied to the anti-slip guide, the elastic body absorbs the force. It has been found that it is important to have a certain rubber hardness, as the elastic body must return to its original state when the force is released so that it deforms slightly as much as possible. . However, the linear velocity of the endless belt for realizing high-resolution image formation is still limited.

Further, the adhesive force between the elastic body which is the anti-slip guide and the endless belt base has a stronger rubber elasticity of the elastic body, and tends to become stronger as the thickness of the elastic body becomes larger. When the height is high, the endless belt is curved in the vicinity of the driving roller that drives the endless belt, and accordingly, the elastic body receives a stretching force on the endless guide side and a compressing force on the elastic body surface.

Generally, the thickness of the anti-stop guide is much thicker than the thickness of the endless belt, so that the adhesiveness between the elastic body and the endless belt base is deteriorated, the elastic body is deformed by mechanical fatigue, and the elastic body is adhered. The endless belt is liable to be deformed or damaged at the location where the endless belt is running, and when the linear speed of the endless belt is increased, the meandering due to the above problems is likely to occur and the image quality is significantly deteriorated. It was not possible to perform high-speed image formation with a high linear velocity.

In view of the above problems, the inventors of the present invention have studied the formation of high-quality images without causing the endless belt to meander even when performing high-speed image formation of the endless belt at a high linear velocity. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1, by providing specific unevenness 2 on the outer surface of the anti-stop guide 1, the mechanical stress of the anti-stop guide 1 due to the bending of the endless belt near the drive roller 3 is reduced. The inventors have found that the photosensitive member 4 is capable of being significantly relaxed and does not cause meandering even when the linear velocity of the endless belt is increased and is capable of forming a high quality image. The side surface of this anti-stop guide engages with the side surface of the roller to prevent lateral movement of the endless belt, and its outer surface does not contact the roller. Thus, the fact that the above problem could be solved by providing the outer surface not in contact with the roller with a specific unevenness is surprisingly unexpected from the prior art.

That is, according to the present invention, in an endless belt in which belt-shaped elastic bodies are fixed to the inner surfaces of both side edges along the both side edges, the ten-point average roughness (Rz) of the cross-section curve of the outer surface of the elastic body in the longitudinal direction of the elastic body. Is 2 to 20 μm. More specifically, the endless belt of the present invention is fixed to an endless main body having opposite side ends by an adhesive layer at a position adjacent to the side end on the inner surface of the main body, and extends in the longitudinal direction along the side end. Each of the guides is formed of an elastic body and has an outer surface Rz of 2 to 20 μm. Here, Rz is the ten-point surface roughness of the cross-sectional curve obtained by measuring the profile of the outer surface of the guide in the longitudinal direction of the guide. The detent guide may be simply referred to as an elastic body in the following description. Rz is the parameter most commonly used as a parameter indicating the degree of the cross-section curve composed of a plurality of waves, and per unit length constituting the elastic body surface in the rotation direction of the endless belt of the present invention. The number of waves is the most appropriate parameter. On the other hand, it has been found that even when the unevenness state of the surface of the anti-stop guide is regulated by the arithmetic mean roughness Ra, a large difference may occur in the image quality even if the values of these parameters are almost the same. Especially, it has been found that it is difficult to define the surface condition of the anti-slip guide by Ra, and even if Ra hardly changes, the image quality may greatly differ.

Rz of the sectional curve of the elastic body surface in the rotating direction of the endless belt of the present invention is 2 to 20 μm, preferably 3
-17 μm, more preferably 5-15 μm. Rz of cross-sectional curve of elastic body surface in endless belt rotation direction
Is less than 2 μm, the mechanical stress of the elastic body due to the bending of the endless belt in the vicinity of the driving roller is insufficiently relaxed, so that the endless belt is apt to meander and it becomes difficult to form a high quality image. Further, when Rz of the sectional curve of the surface of the elastic body in the direction of rotation of the endless belt exceeds 20 μm, the surface is too rough, so the mechanical strength of the elastic body is not sufficient, and the elastic body itself is driven by driving the endless belt. Dropping easily occurs, the endless belt meanders, and it becomes difficult to form a high-quality image.

The material of the elastic body, which is the offset guide of the endless belt of the present invention, has appropriate rubber elasticity,
The material is not particularly limited as long as it does not deteriorate due to the environment in the image forming apparatus, but synthetic rubber such as polyurethane rubber, neoprene rubber, urethane rubber, chloroprene rubber, nitrile rubber, butyl rubber, silicone rubber or natural rubber. The rubber of one kind or a mixture of two or more kinds can be exemplified, among which stability against temperature and humidity,
Urethane rubber is most preferable because it has low abrasion resistance and excellent ozone resistance.

The method of controlling the Rz of the sectional curve of the elastic body surface of the elastic body which is the detent guide of the endless belt of the present invention in the rotation direction of the endless belt to be 2 to 20 μm is to machine the elastic body or its precursor surface. Mechanically, a method of chemically processing, an elastic body or a precursor thereof is put into a mold having an appropriate surface roughness and molded, then a method of producing an elastic body by crosslinking, a method of producing an elastic body by extrusion, By devising the shape of the extrusion nozzle, a method of controlling the surface roughness of the extruded elastic sheet, a method of mixing a filler with the elastic body or its precursor, and further, these methods may be combined and performed. it can.

Among these methods, from the viewpoint of reproducibility, a method of machining with an abrasive, a polishing machine or the like, or a method of mixing fillers such as carbon bodies, calcium silicate, calcium carbonate, glass fibers, etc. Is preferred. In particular, the mixing of the filler is a preferable method because the mechanical properties (rubber hardness, 300% modulus, structural strength, etc.) of the elastic body can be improved in addition to controlling the surface roughness of the elastic body. Among the fillers, the incorporation of a carbon body such as carbon black is particularly preferable in terms of controlling the surface roughness and improving the mechanical properties. Also, due to the lubricating effect of the carbon body, it is possible to reduce the frictional force between the drive roller and the anti-slip guide, so the force such as the frictional force applied from the drive roller is reduced, and the meandering of the endless guide is less likely to occur. preferable. The content of the filler is not particularly limited, but is 1 to 50 of the total weight of the elastic body.
%, Preferably 3-40%, more preferably 5-30
%. The particle size of the filler is in the range of 0.05 to 10 μm, preferably 0.1 to 8 μm, and more preferably 0.2 to 5 μm.

The elastic body precursor can be made into an elastic body having rubber elasticity by a crosslinking reaction after providing an appropriate surface roughness by the above method. The rubber hardness (JISA) of the elastic body, which is the offset guide of the endless belt of the present invention, is 60 to 90, preferably 63 to 85, and more preferably 65 to 80. When the rubber hardness of the elastic body is less than 50, the elastic body is too soft and the deformation due to an external force becomes large, which may cause a meandering, which is not preferable. Further, when the rubber hardness of the elastic body exceeds 90, the repulsive force of the elastic body becomes large in the portion on the drive roller, and thus the endless belt base body is easily peeled or deformed, so that meandering occurs. It is not preferable because it becomes easy.

The above elastic body is fixed to the inner surfaces of both side edges of the endless belt of the present invention. The fixing method is not particularly limited, and, for example, an adhesive, a double-sided adhesive tape, melt adhesion or the like can be adopted. From the viewpoint of obtaining high adhesiveness, it is preferable to fix the elastic body via the adhesive layer. The thickness of this adhesive layer is 5 to 100 μm, preferably 10 to 80 μm, and more preferably 20 to 70 μm. The thickness of the adhesive layer is 5
When the thickness is less than μm, the interface of the elastic body on the endless belt base side is not completely flat, and therefore, there are likely to be portions where adhesion between the elastic body and the endless belt is insufficient, and meandering is likely to occur, which is not preferable. When the thickness of the adhesive layer exceeds 100 μm, the adhesive layer is apt to be broken due to external stress, so that meandering is likely to occur, which is not preferable.

The adhesive layer of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it has sufficient adhesiveness to the endless substrate and the elasticity and does not deteriorate due to the environment in the image forming apparatus. For example, acrylic-based, natural rubber-based, synthetic rubber-based, silicone-based, and thermosetting adhesives can be exemplified, and among them, acrylic-based adhesives are preferable from the viewpoint of adhesiveness. Further, for example, by coating a reaction-curable polyurethane primer or the like on the surface of the elastic body or mixing it with an adhesive to form an adhesive layer, the adhesiveness between the elastic body and the adhesive layer is perfect, which is preferable.

The base or endless belt of the endless belt of the present invention may be formed by joining sheet-like members, or may be directly molded into a cylindrical shape, or may be directly shaped into a cylindrical shape. Since the base material or the endless belt is seamless, any place of the endless belt can be used for image formation. Further, since the mechanical characteristics of the endless belt are improved, the speed of image formation can be increased, the endless belt running device can be downsized, and the reliability of the endless belt running device can be improved, which is extremely preferable.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of the endless belt of the present invention in the vicinity of the offset guide. The adhesive layer 7 is composed of the primer 5 and the adhesive 6. Although the primer 5 is provided between the elastic body 8 and the adhesive 6 in the figure, the primer 5 is not necessary if the adhesiveness between the elastic body 8 and the adhesive 6 is sufficient. 9 is a seamless belt base.

In the endless belt of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of rollers 3 including at least one driving roller are inserted in the endless belt 10, and the driving rollers 3 rotate to run the endless belt 10. It is possible to produce a possible endless belt running device.
Although the number of drive rollers 3 is three in FIG. 3, the number of drive rollers may be at least one as described above.
In addition to the endless belt, it is possible to use a driven roller that does not have a rotational driving force by itself, a tension roller for adjusting the belt tension, and the like. Are appropriately arranged so as to obtain a desired state. or,
As described above, one side surface of at least one elastic body of the belt-shaped elastic bodies (deviation guides) fixed to the inner surfaces of both side edges of the endless belt is engaged with the side surface of at least one roller to form the endless belt. Although lateral movement is prevented, in this case, the rollers to be engaged may be any rollers or may be engaged with the side surfaces of a plurality of rollers. To prevent the lateral movement of the endless belt more appropriately,
It is preferably engaged with the drive roller.

The endless belt of the present invention can be used as a photoconductor, an intermediate transfer belt, a fixing belt, a conveyor belt, etc., and in all cases, the linear velocity of the endless belt is high,
For example, even when the linear velocity of the endless belt is 80 mm / sec or more, preferably 120 mm / sec or more, more preferably 150 mm / sec or more, the endless belt does not meander, and high-resolution and high-quality image formation is possible. .

The endless belt of the present invention is particularly effective when applied to a photoconductor. Since the life of the photoconductor is determined by the number of times the image formation on the photoconductor is repeated, it is effective to increase the surface area of the photoconductor in order to extend the life of the photoconductor. Then, the diameter of the drum is increased, but it is difficult to reduce the size of the image forming apparatus if a photoconductor having a large diameter is used. On the other hand, the endless belt photoreceptor can be freely changed in shape by inserting a plurality of rollers into the photoreceptor, which increases the degree of freedom in arranging the photoreceptor in the image forming apparatus. Even if the size becomes large, it is possible to contribute to downsizing of the image forming apparatus. When the endless belt of the present invention is used as a photoreceptor, the endless belt photoreceptor is composed of an endless belt-shaped substrate and a photosensitive layer, and an intermediate layer can be provided between the substrate and the photosensitive layer. A protective layer may be provided on the photosensitive layer.

The substrate of the endless photoconductor of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it has sufficient mechanical strength and conductivity, but is not limited to aluminum, nickel, chromium, nichrome, copper. , Metal, alloy such as gold, silver, platinum, tin oxide, metal oxide such as indium oxide laminated on resin film such as polyester, polyimide, or aluminum, nickel, chromium, nichrome, copper, gold, silver, A metal film such as platinum or an alloy film can be exemplified, and a metal foil is particularly preferable from the viewpoint of durability. Among them, a metal film containing nickel as a main component is preferable from the viewpoints of workability, mechanical properties, chemical stability, and economical efficiency. Further, in particular, JP-A-52-36016, JP-A-3-219259, and JP-A-63-1.
No. 27250 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-127249, the nickel seamless belt produced by electroforming has no joints, so that there is no limitation on the place where an image is formed on the photoconductor. Since image formation is possible, the image forming apparatus can be downsized, and the speed of image formation can be improved, which is preferable.

When the linear velocity of the photosensitive member is 80 mm / sec or more, the nickel seamless belt has a Vickers hardness of 400 to 650, preferably 450 to 600, and the purity of nickel is 98% or more, preferably 99% or more. It is preferable from the viewpoint of the durability of the photoreceptor. If the Vickers hardness of the nickel seamless belt is less than 400, the restoring force against the arc-shaped deformation of the photoconductor in the vicinity of the driving roller is small, so that an abnormal image of a streak image is likely to occur, and if the Vickers hardness exceeds 650, Since the body is hard and it is difficult to deform itself, the load on the driving roller is increased and both ends of the photoconductor are likely to be permanently deformed, which is not preferable. If the purity of nickel is less than 98%, the mechanical strength and chemical stability of the nickel seamless belt are likely to decrease, and abnormal images such as stripes and spots are likely to occur.

The endless photoreceptor of the present invention basically comprises a substrate and a photosensitive layer, and an undercoat layer can be provided between the substrate and the photosensitive layer. The photosensitive layer may be either of a laminated type in which a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer are sequentially laminated or a single layer type in which a charge generation agent and a charge transport agent are mixed and used. Furthermore, a protective layer can be provided.

The undercoat layer is provided for the purpose of improving the adhesiveness, preventing moire, improving the coatability of the upper layer, and reducing the residual potential. The undercoat layer generally contains a resin as a main component, and these resins are resins having high resistance to dissolution in general organic solvents, considering that the photosensitive layer on the resin is coated with a solvent. Is desirable. Such resins include polyvinyl alcohol, casein,
Water-soluble resin such as sodium polyacrylate, alcohol-soluble resin such as copolymerized nylon and methoxymethylated nylon, polyurethane, melamine resin, alkyd-melamine resin, epoxy resin, curable resin that forms a three-dimensional network structure, etc. Is mentioned. Further, fine powders of metal oxides, metal sulfides, metal nitrides and the like, which can be exemplified by titanium oxide, silica, alumina, zirconium oxide, tin oxide, indium oxide and the like, may be added. These undercoat layers can be formed using an appropriate solvent and coating method.

Further, as the undercoat layer of the present invention, a metal oxide layer formed by using a silane coupling agent, a titanium coupling agent, a chromium coupling agent or the like, for example, by a sol-gel method is also useful. is there. In addition to this, the undercoat layer is provided with aluminum oxide or aluminum hydroxide by anodic oxidation, an organic substance such as polyparaxylylene (parylene), SnO ₂ , TiO ₂ , ITO or CeO ₂ .
An inorganic substance such as ₂ provided by a vacuum thin film manufacturing method can also be used favorably. The thickness of the undercoat layer is suitably 0.1 to 5 μm. The charge generation layer is a layer containing a charge generation substance as a main component, and a binder resin may be used as necessary.
An inorganic material and an organic material can be used as the charge generating substance.

Examples of the inorganic material include crystalline selenium, amorphous selenium, selenium-tellurium, selenium-tellurium-halogen, and selenium-arsenic compounds. On the other hand, as the organic material, a known material can be used. For example, phthalocyanine-based pigments such as metal phthalocyanine and metal-free phthalocyanine, azurenium salt pigment, squaric acid methine pigment, azo pigment having a carbazole skeleton, azo pigment having a triphenylamine skeleton, azo pigment having a diphenylamine skeleton, dibenzothiophene skeleton Having azo pigment, azo pigment having fluorenone skeleton, azo pigment having oxadiazole skeleton, azo pigment having bisstilbene skeleton, azo pigment having distyryl oxadiazole skeleton, azo pigment having distyryl carbazole skeleton, perylene -Based pigments, anthraquinone-based or polycyclic quinone-based pigments, quinoneimine-based pigments, diphenylmethane and triphenylmethane-based pigments, benzoquinone and naphthoquinone-based pigments, cyanine and azomethine-based pigments, indigo Id based pigments, bisbenzimidazole pigments. These charge generating substances can be used alone or as a mixture of two or more.

The binder resin used in the charge generation layer as required includes polyamide, polyurethane, epoxy resin, polyketone, polycarbonate, silicone resin, acrylic resin, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl formal, polyvinyl ketone, polystyrene, poly-N-. Vinylcarbazole, polyacrylamide, etc. are used. These binder resins can be used alone or as a mixture of two or more kinds.

If desired, a charge transport material may be added. Further, as the binder resin for the charge generation layer, a polymer charge transport material is preferably used in addition to the above binder resin. The method for forming the charge generation layer is roughly classified into a vacuum thin film forming method and a casting method from a solution dispersion system. For the former method, a vacuum vapor deposition method, a glow discharge polymerization method, an ion plating method, a sputtering method, a reactive sputtering method, a CVD method, etc. are used.
It can be favorably formed from the above-mentioned inorganic materials and organic materials.

In order to form the charge generating layer by the casting method, the above-mentioned inorganic or organic charge generating substance is used in a ball mill using a solvent such as tetrahydrofuran, cyclohexanone, dioxane, dichloroethane, butanone together with a binder resin if necessary. It can be formed by dispersing with an attritor, a sand mill or the like, and appropriately diluting the dispersion liquid and applying it. The coating can be performed by using a dip coating method, a spray coating method, a bead coating method, or the like. The thickness of the charge generation layer provided as described above is appropriately about 0.01 to 5 μm, and preferably 0.05 to 2 μm.

The charge transport layer is a layer intended to retain a charged charge and to move the charge generated and separated in the charge generation layer by exposure to combine with the retained charge. Further, the charge transport layer contains an adsorbent. High electrical resistance is required to achieve the purpose of retaining the charged electric charge, and in order to achieve the objective of obtaining a high surface potential with the retained charged electric charge, the dielectric constant is small and the charge mobility is low. Is required to be good.

In order to satisfy these requirements, the charge transport layer is composed of a charge transport material, a binder resin and an adsorbent. Dissolve or disperse these in a suitable solvent,
It is formed by applying and drying this. As the solvent, tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, toluene, dichloromethane, monochlorobenzene, dichloroethane, cyclohexanone, methyl ethyl ketone, acetone or the like is used. If necessary, an appropriate amount of a plasticizer, an antioxidant, a leveling agent, etc. can be added in addition to the charge transport material and the binder resin. The charge transport material includes a hole transport material and an electron transport material.

Examples of the electron transport material include chloranil, bromanil, tetracyanoethylene, tetracyanoquinodimethane, 2,4,7-trinitro-9-fluorenone, 2,4,5,7-tetranitro-9-fluorenone. , 2,4,5,7-tetranitroxanthone,
2,4,8-trinitrothioxanthone, 2,6,8-
Examples thereof include electron-accepting substances such as trinitro-4H-indeno [1,2-b] thiophen-4one and 1,3,7-trinitrodibenzothiophene-5,5-dioxide. These electron transport materials can be used alone or as a mixture of two or more kinds.

Examples of the hole-transporting substance include electron-donating substances, such as oxazole derivatives, oxadiazole derivatives, imidazole derivatives, triphenylamine derivatives, 9- (p-diethylaminostyrylanthracene), 1,1- Bis- (4-dibenzylaminophenyl) propane, styrylanthracene, styrylpyrazoline, phenylhydrazones, α-phenylstilbene derivatives, thiazole derivatives, triazole derivatives, phenazine derivatives, acridine derivatives, benzofuran derivatives, benzimidazole derivatives, thiophene derivatives Etc. are used. These hole transport materials can be used alone or as a mixture of two or more kinds.

Examples of the polymer charge transport layer material include the following (a) to (e). (A) Polymers having a carbazole ring, for example, poly-N-vinylcarbazole, JP-A-50-
82056, JP 54-9632, JP 54-11737, JP 4-175337, JP 4-183719, JP 6-23.
Examples thereof include the compounds described in Japanese Patent No. 4841.

(B) Polymer having hydrazone structure For example, JP-A-57-78402 and JP-A-61-
20953, JP-A-61-296358,
JP-A-1-134456, JP-A-1-17916
4, JP-A-3-180851, and JP-A-3-180851.
180852, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-50555, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-310904, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-234840.
Examples thereof include the compounds described in JP-A No.

(C) Polysilylene Polymer For example, JP-A-63-285552 and JP-A-1-
88461, JP-A-4-264130, JP-A-4-26
4131, JP-A-4-264132, and JP-A-4-264.
133, and compounds described in JP-A-4-289867.

(D) Polymer Having Triarylamine Structure For example, N, N-bis (4-methylphenyl) -4-aminopolystyrene, JP-A-1-134457, JP-A-2-28264, Kaihei 2-304456
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-133065, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-1304
Examples thereof include compounds described in JP-A-33066, JP-A-5-40350, and JP-A-5-202135.

(E) Other polymers, for example, a formaldehyde condensation polymer of nitropyrene, JP-A-51-73888, JP-A-56-15074.
No. 9, JP-A-6-234836, JP-A-6-
Examples thereof include the compounds described in Japanese Patent No. 234837. The polymer having an electron donating group used in the present invention is not only the above-mentioned polymer but also a copolymer obtained from a known monomer,
It is also possible to use a block polymer, a graft polymer, a star polymer, or a cross-linked polymer having an electron donating group as disclosed in JP-A-3-109406.

Further, as the polymer charge transport material used in the present invention, there are further useful polycarbonates, polyurethanes, polyesters having a triarylamine structure,
Examples of the polyether include those disclosed in JP-A-64-1728.
JP-A-64-13061, JP-A-64-
No. 19049, No. 4-116627, No. 4-225014, No. 4-230767, No. 4-320420, No. 5-23
No. 2727, No. 7-56374, No. 9-127713, No. 9-222740, No. 9-265197, No. 9-211.
Examples thereof include compounds described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 877, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-304956, and the like.

As the binder resin which can be used in combination with the charge transport layer, polycarbonate (bisphenol A type, bisphenol Z type), polyester, methacrylic resin, acrylic resin, polyethylene, vinyl chloride, vinyl acetate, polystyrene, phenol resin, epoxy resin is used. , Polyurethane, polyvinylidene chloride, alkyd resin, silicone resin, polyvinyl carbazole, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl formal, polyacrylate, polyacrylamide, phenoxy resin and the like are used. These binders can be used alone or as a mixture of two or more kinds.

As the photosensitive belt, bisphenol A type polycarbonate is preferable from the viewpoint of preventing the occurrence of cracks in the photosensitive layer. The thickness of the charge transport layer is 5 to 10
About 0 μm is suitable.

Examples of the antioxidant include 2,6-di-t-butyl-p-cresol, butylated hydroxyanisole, 2,6-di-t-butyl-4-ethylphenol as a monophenol compound. , Stearyl-β
-(3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) propionate, 3-t-butyl-4-hydroxynisole and the like are 2,2 'as bisphenol compounds.
-Methylene-bis- (4-methyl-6-t-butylphenol), 2,2'-methylene-bis- (4-ethyl-
6-t-butylphenol), 4,4′-thiobis-
(3-methyl-6-t-butylphenol), 4,4 '
-Butylidene bis- (3-methyl-6-t-butylphenol) and the like are 1,2-
1,3-tris- (2-methyl-4-hydroxy-5-
t-Butylphenyl) butane, 1,3,5-trimethyl-2,4,6-tris (3,5-di-t-butyl-4-)
Hydroxybenzyl) benzene, tetrakis- [methylene-3- (3 ', 5'-di-t-butyl-4'-hydroxyphenyl) propionate] methane, bis [3.
3′-bis (4′-hydroxy-3′-t-butylphenyl) butyric acid] glycol ester, tocophenols and the like are paraphenylenediamines,
N-phenyl-N'-isopropyl-p-phenylenediamine, N, N'-di-sec-butyl-p-phenylenediamine, N-phenyl-N-sec-butyl-p-
Phenylenediamine, N, N'-di-isopropyl-p
-Phenylenediamine, N, N'-dimethyl-N, N '
-Di-t-butyl-p-phenylenediamine and the like are used as hydroquinones such as 2,5-di-t-octylhydroquinone, 2,6-didodecylhydroquinone, 2-dodecylhydroquinone, and 2-dodecyl-5-chlorohydroquinone. , 2-t-octyl-5-methylhydroquinone, 2- (2-octadecenyl) -5-methylhydroquinone and the like are dilauryl-
3,3'-thiodipropionate, distearyl-3,
3'-thiodipropionate, ditetradecyl-3,
3'-thiodipropionate and the like include organic phosphorus compounds triphenylphosphine, tri (nonylphenyl) phosphine, tri (dinonylphenyl) phosphine, tricresylphosphine, tri (2,4-dibutylphenoxy) phosphine and the like. Can be mentioned.

As the plasticizer, those used as a plasticizer for general resins such as dibutyl phthalate and dioctyl phthalate can be used as they are, and the amount thereof is 0 to 30 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the binder resin. The degree is appropriate. A leveling agent may be added to the charge transport layer. As the leveling agent, silicone oils such as dimethyl silicone oil and methylphenyl silicone oil and polymers or oligomers having a perfluoroalkyl group in the chain are used, and the amount thereof is 0 based on 100 parts by weight of the binder resin. -1 part by weight is suitable.

The protective layer is a layer in which fine particles of metal or metal oxide are dispersed in a binder resin. It is desirable that the binder resin be transparent to visible light and infrared light and have excellent electric insulation, mechanical strength and adhesiveness. Examples of the binder resin for the protective layer include ABS resin, ACS resin, olefin-vinyl monomer copolymer, chlorinated polyether, allyl resin, phenol resin, polyacetal, polyamide, polyamideimide, polyacrylate, polyallylsulfone, polybutylene, and polybutylene. Butylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, polyether sulfone, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyimide, acrylic resin, polymethyl bentene, polypropylene, polyphenylene oxide, polysulfone, polystyrene,
Examples thereof include resins such as AS resin, butadiene-styrene copolymer, polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride and epoxy resin.

Examples of metal oxides include titanium oxide, tin oxide, potassium titanate, TiO, TiN, zinc oxide, indium oxide and antimony oxide. In addition to the protective layer, a fluorine resin such as polytetrafluoroethylene, a silicone resin, and a dispersion of an inorganic material such as aluminum oxide or titanium oxide in these resins should be added to the protective layer. You can As a method for forming the protective layer, a usual coating method is adopted. The thickness of the protective layer is preferably about 0.1 to 10 μm.

When the endless belt of the present invention is an intermediate transfer belt, the intermediate transfer belt has a conductive support such as a metal or alloy belt made of aluminum, iron, copper, stainless steel or the like, carbon or metal particles dispersed therein. Acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (N
BR), styrene butadiene rubber, butadiene rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, chloroprene rubber, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, chlorinated polyethylene, acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, acrylic rubber, fluororubber, urethane rubber, etc. and carbon (Ketjen black) as a conductive material, An elastic layer in which graphite, carbon fibers, metal powder, conductive metal oxide, organic metal oxide, organic metal compound, organic metal salt, conductive polymer, etc. are dispersed to control the volume resistivity, PFA, FEP, etc. As a type and substrate formed from a surface release layer coated with a fluororesin,
Polyethylene (high density, medium density, low density, linear low density), propylene ethylene block or random copolymer, rubber or latex component, for example, ethylene / propylene copolymer rubber, styrene / butadiene rubber, styrene / Butadiene / styrene block copolymer or hydrogenated derivative thereof, polybutadiene, polyisobutylene, polyamide, polyamideimide, polyacetal, polyarylate, polycarbonate, polyphenylene ether, modified polyphenylene ether, polyimide, liquid crystalline polyester, polyethylene terephthalate, polysulfone, polyether Tail sulfone, polyphenylene sulfide, polybisamide triazole,
Polybutylene terephthalate, polyetherimide, polyetheretherketone, acrylic, polyvinylidene fluoride, polyvinyl fluoride, ethylene tetrafluoroethylene copolymer, polychlorotrifluoroethylene, tetrafluoroethylene hexafluoropropylene copolymer, tetrafluoroethylene Perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer, polytetrafluoroethylene, fluororubber, acrylic acid alkyl ester copolymer, polyester ester copolymer, polyether ester copolymer, polyetheramide copolymer, olefin copolymer, polyurethane One of a copolymer or a mixture thereof, particularly polyvinylidene fluoride, polyvinyl fluoride, ethylene tetrafluoroethylene copolymer, polychlorotrifluoroethylene Len, tetrafluoroethylene hexafluoropropylene copolymer, tetrafluoroethylene perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer, polytetrafluoroethylene, etc. Used.

The resistance value of the intermediate transfer belt is 10 ⁶ to 10
¹⁰ Ω · cm (when 1 kV is applied) is preferable. The thickness of the elastic layer in the intermediate transfer belt having the elastic layer and the release layer is preferably 0.5 to 5 mm from the viewpoint of transfer nip formation, color misregistration due to rotation, material cost, and the like. The thickness is preferably thin in order to convey the flexibility of the lower elastic layer to the surface of the photoconductor, specifically 50 to 200 μm.
Is desirable.

Further, zinc stearate is applied to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt to improve the image transferability onto the transfer paper,
By making the friction coefficient of the belt surface lower than that of the transfer paper, the transferability of the toner image is improved. The coefficient of friction of the transfer paper is usually about 0.35 to 0.7, though it depends on the type. However, by applying zinc stearate to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt, the coefficient of friction of the intermediate transfer belt is Can be maintained at 0.15 to 0.3.

When the endless belt of the present invention is used as a transfer paper conveyance belt, metals and alloys such as aluminum, iron, copper and stainless steel, conductive resin belts in which carbon and metal particles are dispersed, metals such as nickel and stainless steel, etc. A belt can be used. In addition, the transfer paper transport belt is configured to apply a voltage, and the transfer paper is electrostatically attracted to the transfer paper transport belt, which can reduce the disturbance of the toner image, the lateral displacement of the transfer paper, and the occurrence of wrinkles. it can. When the endless belt of the present invention is used as a fixing belt, a heat resistant resin film such as polyimide, polyamide or polyester, a metal film or the like can be used. The present invention also provides a traveling device for an image forming endless belt, which is characterized in that a plurality of rollers are provided in the image forming endless belt, and the endless belt is caused to rotate by rotation of the rollers. There is provided an image forming apparatus including an image forming endless belt, and an image forming apparatus and a color image forming apparatus including an image forming endless belt traveling device.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the color image forming apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 1 denotes a flexible belt-shaped photoconductor that is a belt-shaped image carrier, and the photoconductor belt 1 is installed between rotating rollers 2 and 3 and is rotated by the rotating roller 2. , Are conveyed in the direction of arrow A (clockwise) in the figure. In the figure, 4 is a charging charger as a charging means for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive belt 1, and 5 is a laser writing system unit as an electrostatic image exposing means. Also,
Reference numeral 6 in the drawing denotes a color developing device in which four developing devices having yellow, magenta, cyan, and black developers (toners) described later are integrally formed.

Further, reference numeral 10 in the drawing denotes an intermediate transfer belt which is an intermediate transfer member. The intermediate transfer belt 10 is installed between rotating rollers 11 and 12, and is driven by the rotating roller 11 to rotate. It is conveyed in the direction of arrow B (counterclockwise). The photosensitive belt 1 and the intermediate transfer belt 10 are in contact with each other at the rotating roller 3 of the photosensitive belt 1. A bias roller 13 having conductivity is in contact with the back surface of the intermediate transfer belt 10 on the intermediate transfer belt 10 side of the contact portion under a predetermined condition. Unlike the contact type charging roller, the charging charger does not come into contact with the surface of the photoreceptor belt to cause scratches, and is particularly advantageous in a color image forming apparatus.

Next, the image forming operation of the color image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described. In FIG. 4, a belt-shaped photosensitive member (latent image carrier) 1 is uniformly charged by a charging charger 4 and then scanned and exposed by a laser optical device 5 based on image information to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface. Is formed.
Here, the image information to be exposed is monochromatic image information obtained by decomposing a desired full-color image into color information of yellow, cyan, and magenta. With this information, a laser beam generated by a semiconductor laser (not shown) is used. L is the one that has been scanned and its optical path adjusted by an optical device (not shown).

The electrostatic latent image formed here is subjected to a rotary type reversal development type developing device 6 which will be described later, and its laser exposure portions are each composed of predetermined one-component non-magnetic toner of yellow, cyan, magenta and black. Monochromatic development is performed, and each color image is sequentially formed on the photosensitive belt 1. Gradation of highlight image,
It is possible to obtain a color image having excellent density uniformity in solid areas.

Further, each monochromatic image formed on the photosensitive belt 1 rotating in the direction of arrow A in the figure is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 10 rotating in the direction of arrow B in the figure in synchronization with the photosensitive belt 1. , Yellow, cyan, magenta, and black are sequentially superimposed and transferred by a predetermined transfer bias applied to the bias roller 13.

Here, the length of the intermediate transfer belt is twice the size of the photoconductor belt, and the specific position of the intermediate transfer belt is strictly positioned so as to always contact the same position of the photoconductor. Controlled. In addition, the intermediate transfer belt,
It is configured to apply rod-shaped zinc stearate (not shown). The yellow, cyan, magenta, and black images superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 10 are fed from a paper feed tray (paper feed cassette) 17 to a paper feed roller 18, a pair of conveyance rollers 19a and 19b, and a pair of registration rollers 20a and 20b.
Then, it is collectively transferred by the transfer roller 14 onto the transfer paper 17a which has been conveyed to the transfer section. After the transfer, transfer paper 17a
Is fixed by the fixing device 80 to complete a full-color image, and the print image is discharged to the paper discharge stack unit 82 through the paper discharge roller pair 81a and 81b. In the figure, 15 is
A cleaning device including a cleaning blade 15a for constantly contacting the photosensitive belt 1 and cleaning the toner on the photosensitive belt 1 and a waste toner collecting device, 16 in the drawing.
Is a cleaning device for the intermediate transfer belt 10. The cleaning blade 16a of the cleaning device 16 is
During the image forming operation, it is held at a position apart from the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 10, and after the formed image is transferred onto the transfer paper 17a, it is brought into contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 10.

The photoconductor belt 1, the charger 4, the intermediate transfer belt 10, and the cleaning devices 15 and 16 are integrally configured as a process cartridge 31, and the waste toner collecting device 15c is replaceable with the process cartridge 31. Incorporated into. Process cartridge 3
The outer case portion of the first registration roller 20b has a function as a sheet conveyance guide. By adopting the form of the process cartridge, downsizing of the electrophotographic apparatus and attachment / detachment as an electrophotographic unit are facilitated.

The waste toner scraped off by the cleaning blade 16a from the intermediate transfer belt 10 is auger 16b provided in the cleaning device 16.
Thus, it is conveyed in the front direction of the drawing, and is further conveyed to the waste toner collecting device 15c by a conveying unit (not shown) provided on the front side surface of the process cartridge 31. The life of the process cartridge 31 can be extended by replacing the process cartridge 31 when a predetermined amount or more of waste toner is stored in the waste toner collecting device 15c.

[0077]

The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

Example 1 One side of a urethane rubber sheet having a thickness of 0.7 mm and a rubber hardness of 74.0 was surface-treated with a polishing machine. Surface roughness of the surface of urethane rubber sheet Surfcom 1400
When Rz was measured with A, Rz was 7.8 μm. A reaction-curable polyurethane primer was applied as a primer to the surface of the urethane rubber sheet that had not been surface-treated so that the film thickness after drying was about 5 μm. Further, an adhesive obtained by adding 5% by weight of a curing agent to the acrylate-based adhesive was applied so that the thickness after drying would be about 30 μm, and dried at 80 ° C. to 100 ° C. for 5 minutes. Further, release paper was pasted on the pressure-sensitive adhesive, and the release paper and the release paper were punched out to have a width of 4 mm with the direction in which the surface roughness was measured using a punching machine having a Thomson blade as the longitudinal direction, to prepare a non-shift guide.

A mixture having the following composition was placed in a ball mill pot and ball-milled for 72 hours using φ10 mm alumina balls. Titanium oxide (CR-60: manufactured by Ishihara Sangyo) 50.0 parts by weight Alkyd resin (Beckolite M6401-50 manufactured by Dainippon Ink and Chemicals) 15.0 parts by weight Melamine resin (Super Beckamine L-121-60 Dainippon Ink) Chemical industry) 10.0 parts by weight Methyl ethyl ketone (Kanto Chemical) 31.7 parts by weight Cyclohexanone (Kanto Chemical) 10 in this milling liquid
5.0 parts by weight was added, and ball milling was further performed for 2 hours to prepare an undercoat layer coating solution. This coating solution has a circumference of 2
90.3 mm, 30 μm thick nickel seamless belt (Vickers hardness 480-510, purity 99.2% or more) is spray-coated and dried at 135 ° C. for 25 minutes to obtain a 6.5 μm-thick undercoat layer. Was formed.

Subsequently, 1.5 parts by weight of the charge generating substance represented by the following formula (1) (manufactured by Ricoh), 1.5 parts by weight of the charge generating substance represented by the following formula (2) (manufactured by Ricoh), and polyvinyl butyral resin 1 A mixture of 0.0 parts (Eslek BLS; Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) and 80.0 parts by weight of cyclohexanone (Kanto Chemical Co., Ltd.) was placed in a ball mill pot and ball-milled using φ10 mm agate balls, and then 78.4 parts by weight of cyclohexanone. And 237.6 parts by weight of methyl ethyl ketone were added to prepare a charge generation layer coating solution. This coating solution was applied onto the undercoat layer by spray coating and then dried at 130 ° C. for 20 minutes to form a charge generation layer having a thickness of 0.12 μm.

Next, a charge transport layer coating solution having the following composition was prepared, and this coating solution was spray-coated on the charge generation layer by spray dip coating, and dried at 140 ° C. for 30 minutes to give a thickness of 2
A 5 μm charge transport layer was formed. Charge transport material (the following formula (3))) (manufactured by Ricoh) 7 parts by weight Polycarbonate resin (C-1400, manufactured by Teijin Chemicals) 10 parts by weight Silicone oil (KF-50, manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical) 0.002 parts by weight Tetrahydrofuran ( Kanto Chemical Co., Ltd.) 841.5 parts by weight Cyclohexanone (Kanto Chemical Co., Ltd.) 841.5 parts by weight 3-t-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole (Tokyo Kasei Co., Ltd.) 0.04 parts by weight This photosensitive belt was cut into a width of 367 mm. .

[0082]

[Chemical 1]

[Chemical 2]

[Chemical 3]

The offset guides were attached and fixed to the inner surfaces of both side edges 5 mm from the end of the photoreceptor substrate while removing the release paper. In addition, the sticking start portion and the end portion of the offset prevention guide were obliquely cut at 45 °, and the gap between the sticking start portion and the end portion was set to about 1 mm. The photosensitive member thus manufactured has a linear velocity of 96 mm / sec and a resolution of a written image of 600 d.
pi image forming apparatus (IPSiO Color 500
No. 0 (manufactured by Ricoh), and a 1 cm image of a grid-shaped color image was formed. 10th printing, 2000th printing,
Images were evaluated on the 5,000th sheet, the 10,000th sheet, and the 30,000th sheet, but no color shift was observed even on the 30,000th sheet.

Example 2 In Example 1, Rz of the urethane rubber sheet surface was 1
A photoconductor was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the thickness was 9.2 μm, and the produced photoconductor was mounted on the image forming apparatus of Example 1, and the same image forming test as in Example 1 was performed. No color shift was observed even on the 30,000th image formed.

Example 3 An example was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the surface of the urethane rubber sheet was set to Rz of 6.1 μm, and the prepared photosensitive member was used. The same image forming test as in 1 was performed. No color shift was observed even on the 30,000th image formed.

Example 4 An image forming apparatus was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the image forming apparatus was modified so that the resolution of the written image was 1200 dpi. No color shift was observed even on the 30,000th image formed.

Comparative Example 1 A photoconductor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 4 except that one surface of the urethane rubber was not surface-treated and urethane rubber having an Rz on the urethane rubber surface of 1.7 μm was used. Then, the same image forming test as in Example 4 was performed. No color misregistration was felt up to the 5000th image formation,
Color misregistration clearly occurs on the 10000th image formed,
It became an unnatural image.

Example 5 Carbon black mixed at 10% by weight, thickness 0.7 m
Rz of urethane rubber sheet surface with m, rubber hardness 68.7
Was measured to find that Rz was 6.1 μm. A detent guide was prepared in the same manner as in Example 4 except that this urethane rubber sheet was used. A photoreceptor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 4 except that this detent guide was used. The same image forming test was performed. No color misregistration was observed up to the 30,000th image formation.

Example 6 The surface of the urethane rubber sheet used in Example 5 was surface-treated with a grinder to give Rz of the surface of the urethane rubber sheet of 1
A deviation preventing guide was prepared in the same manner as in Example 4 except that the photosensitive member was prepared in the same manner as in Example 4, except that this deviation preventing guide was used. The image forming test was performed. No color misregistration was observed up to the 30,000th image formation.

Example 7 A mixture of 1% by weight of carbon black and a thickness of 0.7 mm,
When Rz of the urethane rubber sheet surface having a rubber hardness of 56.5 was measured, Rz was 2.9 μm. An offset guide was prepared in the same manner as in Example 4 except that this urethane rubber sheet was used. A photoreceptor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 4 except that this offset guide was used. The same image forming test was performed. There was no color misregistration on the 2000th image formed.

Example 8 The same image forming test as in Example 6 was carried out except that the image forming apparatus was modified to change the linear velocity of the photosensitive member to 160 mm / sec. No color misregistration was observed up to the 30,000th image formation.

Comparative Example 2 A detent guide was prepared in the same manner as in Example 4 except that the Rz of the surface of polyurethane rubber having a thickness of 0.7 mm and a rubber hardness of 90.7 was 20.9 μm (Ra was 4.1 μm). A photoconductor was produced in the same manner as in Example 4 except that the image forming test was performed and this anti-slip guide was used, and the same image forming test as in Example 6 was performed. Color misregistration occurs from the 7th image forming sheet, and image forming 59
On the first sheet, the photoconductor came off the drive roller, and it was impossible to continue image formation.

Example 9 and Comparative Example 3 0.5 m by weight of carbon black was mixed to a thickness of 0.7 m.
m, and Rz and Ra of the surface-treated polyurethane having a rubber hardness of 69.0 and the surface-treated polyurethane were measured. Rz, Ra
An anti-slip guide was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the primer and the pressure sensitive adhesive were laminated on the surface on which the measurement was not performed. Here, the anti-stop guide which has been surface-processed is the example 9 and the anti-stop guide which is not surface-processed is the comparative example 3.
And A photoconductor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that these offset guides were used, and the same image forming test as in Example 4 was performed. The results are shown in Table 1. Ra of Example 9 and Comparative Example 3 are the same, but the change is clear in Rz,
The image formation test results are also clearly different.

[0094]

[Table 1]

[0095]

According to the present invention, an endless belt for image formation capable of forming a high-quality image without causing the endless belt to meander even under high-speed image formation, that is, under the condition that the linear velocity of the endless belt is high. A belt, a traveling device therefor, an image forming apparatus provided with the traveling device, and a color image forming apparatus are provided, and their contribution to the field of electrophotographic image forming is extremely large.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view partially showing an image forming endless belt of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a state near an offset prevention guide of the image forming endless belt of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an image forming endless belt of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a color image forming apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

(In Figures 1, 2 and 3) 1 stop 2 unevenness 3 drive roller 4 photoconductor 5 primer 6 adhesive 7 adhesive 8 elastic body 9 Seamless belt base 10 endless belt (In Figure 4) 1 Belt-shaped photoreceptor 2 rotating rollers 3 rotating rollers 4 Charger 5 writing unit 6 color developing device 10 Intermediate transfer belt 11 Rotating roller 12 rotating rollers 13 Bias roller 14 Transfer roller 15a cleaning blade 16 Cleaning device 17 Paper feed cassette 17a transfer paper 18 Paper feed roller 19a, b Transport roller pair 20a, b Registration roller pair 31 Process cartridge 81a, b Paper discharge roller pair 82 Paper output stack section

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G03G 15/20 102 G03G 15/20 102 2H300 (72) Inventor Hideo Nakamori 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo In stock company Ricoh (72) Inventor Shinji Nako 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Ricoh stock company (72) Inventor Akihiro Sugino 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Ricoh Co., Ltd. the internal F-term (reference) 2H033 AA23 AA31 BA11 BA12 BA25 2H035 CB06 CF02 CF06 CG01 2H076 AB02 AB09 2H171 FA04 FA09 FA10 FA19 FA24 FA26 FA27 GA08 LA12 LA16 PA02 PA03 PA05 PA06 QA09 QA13 QA15 QA16 QA18 QA19 QA20 QA24 QA25 QA27 QA29 QA30 QB15 QB18 QB24 QC03 SA11 SA12 SA22 SA26 SA31 TA02 TA03 TA08 TA17 TB12 UA02 UA03 UA07 VA02 VA04 VA06 VA08 XA03 XA16 2H200 FA04 FA19 FA20 GA24 GA29 JC03 JC07 JC10 JC13 JC15 JC16 JC17 LA23 LA25 LA30 LC14 MA01 MA02 LC02 LC03 LC04 LC02 LC03 LC04 LC02 LC03 LC04 LC02 LC03 LC04 EB08 EB13 EB18 EB19 EB23 EB27 EC02 EC05 EC09 EC12 EF03 EF08 EJ09 EJ15 EK03 GG28 GG38 GG48 HH19 HH23 HH25 HH40 JJ01 JJ02 JJ03 JJ05 KK02 KK03 KK05 KK12 KK13 KK14 MM04 MM05 MM25 NN01 NN02 Q12 NN03 NN03 NN03

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. An endless belt having belt-shaped elastic bodies fixed to the inner surfaces of both side edges along the both side edges, wherein the ten-point average roughness (Rz) of the cross-section curve of the outer surface of the elastic body in the longitudinal direction of the elastic body is 2 to 20 μm. An endless belt for image formation, characterized in that 2. The image forming endless belt according to claim 1, wherein the belt-shaped elastic body contains a filler. 3. The image forming endless belt according to claim 2, wherein the filler is a carbon body. 4. The image forming endless belt according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the belt-shaped elastic body is machined. 5. The belt-shaped elastic body has a thickness of 500 to 150.
The endless belt for image formation according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which has a thickness of 0 μm. 6. The hardness (JIS A) of the belt-shaped elastic body is 6
The image forming endless belt according to claim 1, which is 0 to 90. 7. The base body of the endless belt is formed of a material containing nickel as a main component.
The endless belt for image formation according to any one of 1 to 6. 8. A substrate of the endless belt has a purity of 98.
The image forming endless belt according to any one of claims 1 to 6, which is a wheel made of nickel in an amount of at least%. 9. The endless belt for image formation according to claim 1, wherein the base of the endless belt has a Vickers hardness of 400 to 650. 10. The endless belt for image formation according to claim 19, wherein the endless belt for image formation is a photoconductor. 11. The linear velocity of the photoconductor is 80 mm / sec.
The endless belt for image formation according to claim 10, which is as described above. 12. An image forming endless belt according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of rollers are provided.
The endless belt is made to run by the rotation of the roller, and one side surface of at least one elastic body is engaged with the side surface of at least one roller to prevent lateral movement of the endless belt. An endless belt running device for image formation. 13. The running device for an image forming endless belt according to claim 12, wherein the image forming endless belt is a photoconductor. 14. The linear velocity of the photoconductor is 80 mm / sec.
The traveling device for the image forming endless belt according to claim 13, which is as described above. 15. An image forming apparatus comprising the image forming endless belt according to claim 10. Description: 16. The image forming apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the resolution of the writing light for the photoconductor is 600 dpi or more. 17. An image forming apparatus comprising the image forming endless belt running device according to claim 12 or 13. 18. The image forming apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the resolution of the writing light for the photoconductor is 600 dpi or more. 19. A color image forming apparatus comprising the image forming endless belt according to claim 10. Description: 20. The color image forming apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the resolution of the writing light for the photoconductor is 600 dpi or more. 21. A color image forming apparatus comprising the running device for an image forming endless belt according to claim 12 or 13. 22. The color image forming apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the resolution of the writing light for the photoconductor is 600 dpi or more.