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US 2019/0196389 A1Published application
Image forming apparatus
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorShingo Hirota
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cleaning blade, which is to be brought into contact with a surface of a photosensitive drum, satisfies the following condition. First, the cleaning blade having a free length of 8 mm is brought into contact with an opposed object for measurement having a plurality of measurement recesses each having a partially spherical shape with a depth of 0.7 μm and a radius of 15 μm on a surface so that a linear pressure is 0.196 N/cm and 0.490 N/cm, and a contact angle with respect to the opposed object for measurement is 25°. In this case, a contact width of the cleaning blade in each of the measurement recesses is 4 μm or more and 8 μm or less when the linear pressure is 0.196 N/cm and is 4 μm or more and 13.5 μm or less when the linear pressure is 0.490 N/cm.
Claims9
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- an image bearing member configured to rotate while bearing a toner image;
- and
- a cleaning blade, which is to be brought into contact with a surface of the image bearing member, and is configured to clean the image bearing member, wherein the image bearing member has a plurality of recesses on a surface thereof, the plurality of recesses each having an aperture width of 5 μm or more and 100 μm or less in a rotational direction of the image bearing member, an aperture width of 5 μm or more and 100 μm or less in a width direction crossing the rotational direction of the image bearing member, and a depth of 0.1 μm or more and 3 μm or less,
- wherein the cleaning blade includes a rubber member, a distal end portion of the cleaning blade, which is to be brought into contact with the image bearing member, having a hardness higher than a hardness of a base end portion, a contact force per unit length in a longitudinal direction of the cleaning blade with respect to the surface of the image bearing member being 0.196 N/cm or more and 0.490 N/cm or less, and
- wherein, when the cleaning blade is supported so that a free length from a position at which the cleaning blade is supported to a distal end of the cleaning blade is 8 mm, and when the cleaning blade is brought into contact with an opposed object for measurement having a plurality of measurement recesses each having a partially spherical shape with a depth of 0.7 μm and a radius of 15 μm on a surface so that a contact angle with respect to the opposed object for measurement is 25°, a contact width in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the cleaning blade between the cleaning blade and the opposed object for measurement in each of the measurement recesses is 4 μm or more and 8 μm or less when the contact force per unit length in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning blade is 0.196 N/cm, and is 4 μm or more and 13.5 μm or less when the contact force per unit length in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning blade is 0.490 N/cm.
2 more elements
A method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus,
- the image forming apparatus including:
- an image bearing member configured to rotate while bearing a toner image;
- and
- a cleaning blade, which is brought into contact with a surface of the image bearing member, and is configured to clean the image bearing member,
- the method comprising:
- a step of subjecting the surface of the image bearing member to mechanical abrasion;
- a step of setting a hardness of a distal end portion of the cleaning blade, which is brought into contact with the image bearing member, to be higher than a hardness of a base end portion of the cleaning blade in such a manner that, when the cleaning blade is supported so that a free length from a position at which the cleaning blade is supported to a distal end of the cleaning blade is 8 mm, and when the cleaning blade is brought into contact with an opposed object for measurement having a plurality of measurement recesses each having a partially spherical shape with a depth of 0.7 μm and a radius of 15 μm on a surface so that a contact angle with respect to the opposed object for measurement is 25°, a contact width in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the cleaning blade between the cleaning blade and the opposed object for measurement in each of the measurement recesses is 4 μm or more and 8 μm or less when a contact force per unit length in a longitudinal direction of the cleaning blade is 0.196 N/cm and 4 μm or more and 13.5 μm or less when the contact force per unit length in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning blade is 0.490 N/cm;
- and
- a step of mounting the cleaning blade so that the contact force per unit length in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning blade with respect to the surface of the image bearing member is 0.196 N/cm or more and 0.490 N/cm or less.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.