Toner for forming electrophotographic image, method for manufacturing toner for forming electrophotographic image, image forming method, and process cartridge

A method for forming a toner for forming an electrophotographic image, comprising:

• melt-kneading a toner material including at least four types of binder resins;
• and
• cooling the melt-kneaded material,
• wherein the melt-kneaded material has a thickness of 2.5 mm or greater in the cooling,
• wherein the toner for forming an electrophotographic image comprises four types of binder resins,
• wherein the binder resins comprise at least:
• a crystalline polyester resin (A);
• a non-crystalline resin (B);
• a non-crystalline resin (C);
• and
• a composite resin (D) which comprises a condensation polymerization resin unit and an addition polymerization resin unit,
• wherein the non-crystalline resin (B) comprises a chloroform insoluble matter,
• wherein the non-crystalline resin (C) has a softening temperature (T½) lower than that of the non-crystalline resin (B) by 25° C. or more, and
• wherein the toner has a main peak between 1,000 to 10,000 in a molecular weight distribution obtained by GPC from a tetrahydrofuran soluble matter, and the toner has a half value width of the molecular weight distribution of 15,000 or less.

An image forming method, comprising:

• forming an electrostatic latent image, wherein the electrostatic latent image is formed on an electrostatic latent image bearing member;
• developing, wherein a visible image is formed by developing the electrostatic latent image using a toner;
• transferring, wherein the visible image is transferred to a recording medium;
• and
• fixing, wherein the transferred image transferred on the recording medium is fixed,
• wherein the toner is a toner for forming an electrophotographic image comprising four types of binder resins,
• wherein the binder resins comprise at least:
• a crystalline polyester resin (A);
• a non-crystalline resin (B);
• a non-crystalline resin (C);
• and
• a composite resin (D) which comprises a condensation polymerization resin unit and an addition polymerization resin unit,
• wherein the non-crystalline resin (B) comprises a chloroform insoluble matter,
• wherein the non-crystalline resin (C) has a softening temperature (T½) lower than that of the non-crystalline resin (B) by 25° C. or more, and
• wherein the toner has a main peak between 1,000 to 10,000 in a molecular weight distribution obtained by GPC from a tetrahydrofuran soluble matter, and the toner has a half-value width of the molecular weight distribution of 15,000 or less.