JP2002072740A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of forming a liquid toner image without causing soiling, stickiness or paint-out. SOLUTION: This image forming apparatus in which an image is developed, transferred, melted and fixed by using liquid toner including liquid carrier and toner particles is equipped with a 1st member having a 1st movable contact surface, a supporting member having a 2nd movable contact surface, a means for raising the temperature of a developed image, and a means for exerting force to a nip so as to give assistance in the partial melting and fixing of the developed image to base substance as the base substance passes between the 1st and the 2nd movable contact surfaces. The 1st movable contact surface is composed of composition including polymer material forming a non-rubber strippable film silicone polymer by appropriate cross-linking.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to image formation with toner, and more particularly to fusing developed images.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In known electrostatic image forming methods, a light image of an original to be copied is recorded on a photoconductive member in the form of an electrostatic latent image. The developed image can then be obtained from the latent image by applying finely divided toner particles in solid or liquid form.

In dry electrostatic imaging using a powdered solid toner, it is known to pass a substrate, on which a developed image is formed, between (for example) a pair of opposing rollers. One or both rollers are heated so that the image on the substrate is heated and thereby melted and fixed on the substrate as long as the image particles flow, at least to some extent, into the fibers or holes of the substrate. Fusing the developed image,
U.S. Pat.No. 3,24 as a prior art patent in the established field
9,738, 3,637,976, 3,667,742, 3,718,116
No. 4,689,471, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

In the dry electrostatic image forming method as described above, the developed image may be transferred to one of the rollers without measure. The transfer occurs by using a roller coated with polytetrafluoroethylene or silicone rubber, using a release agent such as silicone oil, and the release agent clearly forms an interface between the roller surface and the toner image on the substrate. It is known that it can be reduced by forming.

[0005] As indicated above, electrostatic image forming methods based on liquid toners are known. The basic steps of the liquid toner method are as follows: For example, on a photoconductive surface such as a sensitized plate or cylinder, the electrostatic latent image is charged by corona discharge and exposed to light in the form of an image of an object to dissipate the charge in the exposed area, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image. generate.

[0006] 2. The latent image is developed by contact with a liquid dispersion (toner) of fine particles that are attracted to charged areas in the positive method and are attracted to uncharged areas in the reverse method.

[0007] 3. Remove excess liquid toner and particles from background areas.

[0008] 4. The image is transferred to a substrate such as paper under the influence of an electric field.

[0009] 5. The image is fixed to the substrate by fusing the particles with the substrate.

[0010] 6. The plate or cylinder is cleaned for reuse.

In this connection, in the field of electrophotography, reference is made to the following US patents: 3,990,696, 4,233,381, 4,253,656, 4,256,820, 4,269,504, 4,278,884, 4,286,039. No. 4,302,093, No. 4,326,644, No. 4,326,792, No. 4,334,762, No. 4,350,333, No. 4,355,883, No. 4,362,297, No. 4,364,460, No. 4,364,657, No. 4,364,661, No. 4,368,881, No. 4,378,422 No. 4,392,742, No. 4,396,187, No. 4,400,079, No. 4,411,976, No. 4,412,383, No. 4,413,048, No. 4,418,903, No. 4,420,244, No. 4,435,068, No. 4,439,035, No. 4,454,215, No. 4,460,667 No. 4,480,825, No. 4,501,486, No. 4,522,484, No. 4,531,824, No. 4,538,899, No. 4,582,774, No. 4,585,329, No. 4,586,810, No. 4,589,761, No. 4,598,992, No. 4,603,766, No. 4,620 Nos. 4,627,705 and 4,678,317 (their All the descriptions form part of the present specification).

Following development, excess liquid toner and particles are removed from the image by a process often referred to as metering. This step is performed by using an electrically biased counter-rotating roller, which also scrapes off the floating portions of the image area, squeezes or squeezes the image area, and allows it to be transferred. To During the transfer stage, the image is susceptible to some smearing, stickiness, or crushing, which reduces quality. If heat and pressure are applied to the liquid toner image, as described above for the solid toner method, in the fusing and fusing process, the liquid image may be equally susceptible to smudges, stickiness or crushing. Will be recognized.

In US Pat. No. 4,794,651 [Landa et al.] (The description of which is a part of this specification), the use of fibrous toner particles produced as follows produces some degree of crushing. Imparts resistance to developed images to thermoplastic polymers (and pigments)
With a non-polar liquid, preferably at an elevated temperature, to form a sponge, break the sponge, add a non-polar liquid, wet mill the broken sponge into particles. Continue the milling to separate the particles and form elongated fibers therefrom (the particles preferably have a diameter of less than 5μ). Finally, a charge director may be added to impart a predetermined polarity charge to the toner particles.

The method of US Pat. No. 4,794,651 involves applying crush resistance to the image, but nevertheless applies the substrate in a manner similar to the application of heat and pressure in a dry electrostatic imaging process. It would be desirable to fix the liquid image on top, but as noted above, this has not been possible previously because liquid toner-based images are particularly susceptible to dirt, stickiness, or crushing. .

[0015]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a molded article which, when heated, can be used to fuse and fix an image developed by electrostatic imaging.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a composition for use in the manufacture of shaped articles.

It is yet another object of the present invention to reduce the adhesion of molded article surfaces at elevated temperatures.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improvement in an apparatus wherein heat and pressure are applied to fuse and fuse images developed in dry electrostatic imaging.

Still another object of the present invention is an electrostatic image forming apparatus utilizing a liquid toner, wherein the developed liquid is developed while minimizing the possibility of smearing, stickiness or crushing of the developed image. The purpose is to provide a fusing and fixing means including applying heat and pressure to the toner image.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electrostatic imaging apparatus in which heat and pressure are applied to fuse and fuse a developed image on a substrate while minimizing image offset. Is to give a molded article that can be.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

[0022]

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming method comprising the steps of developing an image with a liquid toner containing a liquid carrier, applying energy to the image to fuse and fix the image. An improved imaging method is provided which comprises pre-selecting, at least, the conditions for the energy applied in fusing and fusing and the nature of the liquid carrier such that the liquid carrier is not substantially removed in fusing and fusing.

Further, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the electrostatic image is developed with a liquid toner comprising at least colored thermoplastic polymer particles and a liquid carrier, the developed image is transferred to a substrate, and then developed on a substrate. Fusing and fixing the applied image from the surface of the elastomer-coated first roller by applying heat to the image, wherein the surface is lubricated;
In an electrostatic imaging method wherein the substrate is moved through a nip defined by a portion of a surface of a first roller and a portion of a surface of a second elastomer-coated roller located on a back surface of the substrate, at least the following: Conditions include the pre-selection of the temperature at which fusing and fusing takes place, the speed of movement of the substrate, and the nature of the liquid carrier such that the liquid carrier is not substantially all removed from the substrate supporting image. An improved electrostatic imaging method is provided.

Further, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method includes the step of transferring the image to a substrate.

Further, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the transferring step comprises a sub-step of first transferring the image to an intermediate surface and transferring from the intermediate surface to a substrate.

Further, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the improvement comprises pre-selecting at least the conditions such that a majority of the liquid carrier is not removed by fusing and melting.

Further, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, at least about 50% by weight, or a substantial portion, of the liquid carrier does not evaporate upon fusing and melting.

Further, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the application of energy comprises applying the heated surface to the image,
Or by applying a flash of radiation to the image.

Further, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the heated surface is a surface of an elastomer-coated roller or a surface of a continuous belt.

Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the substrate is defined by the surface of the elastomer-coated roller defined as the first roller and a portion of the surface of the second elastomer-coated roller located on the back of the substrate. Moving through the nip, the coating of the second roller,
It has a lower Shore A hardness than the coating of the first roller.

Furthermore, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the coating of the second roller has a greater thickness than the coating of the first roller. Preferably, the ratio of the coating thickness of the first roller to the coating thickness of the second roller is less than 1:10.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, the composition comprises (A) a release-coated silicone polymer and (B) a soft silicone rubber compound having a Shore A hardness of about 50 or less, wherein (A) versus (B) )) From about 1: 1.5 to about 1: 2
Compositions are provided that range from 0, preferably from about 1: 3 to about 1: 6.

Further, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, component (B) comprises (i) about 1 to about 4 parts by weight of a curable silicone oil containing a curing agent, and (ii) about 10 parts by weight of a hard rubber-forming room temperature cure. Possible silicone polymer, and (iii) component (i)
consisting of sufficient silicone polymer curing agent to effect the curing of i).

Further, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the component ratio (i) :( ii) :( iii) is about 1-4: about 10: about 0.8-1.2 parts by weight.

Further, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for fusing and fixing a developed image formed thereon by a liquid toner electrostatic image forming method and then transferred to a substrate thereon. A movable member having a material that serves to substantially prevent the transfer of the developed image that moves in contact with the first contact surface; a second movable member defining a second contact surface; A second contact movable member, wherein a portion of the second contact surface portion defines a nip with a portion of the first contact surface, increasing the temperature of the developed image as it passes in contact with the first contact surface And a mechanism for causing at least partial fusing and fusing of the developed image, and applying a force through the nip to cause at least partial fusing and fusing of the developed image, which causes the first movable surface and the Two movable surfaces It has a mechanism for causing when passing between, also natural, the material which serves to prevent substantial transfer is given by a device formed from the composition described above.

Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the device also comprises a mechanism for wetting the first contact surface with a wetting liquid.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a molded article formed from a composition and defining one surface, wherein at least the surface is formed from the composition.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, an electrostatic latent image is formed on a first substrate, the latent image is developed with toner, and the developed image is transferred to a second substrate. The supporting image,
An electrostatic imaging method is provided which comprises the steps of applying heat and pressure to the curved surface of a thermoformed article formed from the composition to apply heat and pressure to fuse and fuse the image on the substrate. .

Further, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method includes an additional step of wetting the curved surface with a wetting liquid.

Further, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the step of melting and fixing between the curved surface of the heated molded article and a further curved surface defined by the molded article formed from the soft rubber compound. Through the second substrate.

Further, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the ratio of the thickness of the molded article formed from the composition to the thickness of the molded article formed from the soft rubber compound is from about 1:30 to 80.
In the range.

Further, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the toner comprises a powder solid toner or a liquid phase toner.

[0043]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an electrostatic image forming apparatus using liquid toner. The device has a metal cylinder (2), which is a photoconductor (4).
And is attached to the shaft (8) by a disk (6). The disk is fixed with its key (10) to its axis (8) so that the illustrated cylindrical assembly provided in a light-tight enclosure (not shown) rotates with the axis (8). Operate.

The shaft (8) is driven in a suitable manner (not shown) in the direction of the arrow (9) and the photoconductor (4)
Corona discharge device (12) that serves to charge the surface of the surface
Pass through. The image to be copied is projected by the optical system (14) onto the charged photoconductor. The axis (8) is grounded at (15), the disc (6) is conductive and the area exposed to the light passes through the charge or a part of it to ground, so that it is above the photoconductor. An electrostatic latent image is formed.

Liquid toner is circulated from a suitable source (not shown) through tube (16) to a developing dish (18),
From there it is withdrawn through tube (20) and recirculated. As is known to those skilled in the art, a suitably biased development electrode (22) promotes toner adhesion as the electrostatic latent image comes into contact with toner.

The amount of liquid on the photoconductor surface is usually too high for sufficient transfer after the developed image, so that the roller (2) whose surface moves in the direction opposite to the direction of the photoconductor surface.
4) are spaced from the photoconductor surface by spacers (25) and serve to scrape excess liquid from the developed image without disturbing it. Examples of rollers are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,423, the description of which is incorporated herein by reference.

The rollers (24) are typically driven by a drive belt (26), which in turn is driven by a suitable known speed control motor mechanism (not shown). The rollers are kept clean by the wiping blade (28).

A pair of alignment rollers (32) and (34)
Is a carrier sheet for receiving the developed image (100)
Is supplied to the transfer location indicated by (44) as a whole. At the transfer location (44), a corona discharge device (46) is activated to apply a charge of opposite polarity to that of the toner particles forming the developed image, behind the carrier sheet. This causes the developed image to be drawn towards the carrier sheet.

The rollers (32) and (34) are mounted on shafts (36) and (38), respectively, and are fixed for rotation therewith. The shafts are driven synchronously so that there is no relative displacement between the closest points of the rollers (32) and (34) to each other. Alternatively, if desired, only one of the registration rollers may be driven.

The release member (48) helps to separate the carrier sheet with the developed image from the photoconductor. Rollers (50) working in tandem with a plurality of flexible bands (52) mounted on a plurality of rollers (54) direct the carrier sheet to a fusing device, generally indicated at (64). The device (64) is described in more detail below in connection with FIG.

The cleaning roller (56) may be formed of a suitable synthetic resin known in the art, but is driven in the direction of rotation opposite to the photoconductor and rubs its surface clean. I do. To aid in this effect, an insulating non-polar liquid may be supplied to the surface of the cleaning roller (56) through the tube (58). The wiping blade (60) completes the cleaning of the photoconductor surface. The residual charge remaining on the photoconductive cylinder is dissipated by flooding the photoconductor surface with light from a lamp (62).

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a fusing and fixing apparatus constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The carrier sheet (100) is fed in the direction of the arrow (66) and with the aid of the guide member (99) the heated roller (68) and the pressure roller (7).
0) (see also FIG. 1).

In the embodiment shown, the roller (68) is driven by suitable means (not shown), and while it is rotating in the direction indicated by arrow (72), it is frictionally driven by roller (70). It also works to cause the rotation of. Roller (68) typically has a hollow metal cylindrical core and is provided with a heating source (69) in which the carrier sheet is drawn between rollers (68) and (70). Sometimes it helps to fuse the developed image held by the sheet.

The metal core of the roller (68) is coated with a thin layer (71) of a synthetic material having the composition described below. It is a feature of the invention that the composition of the synthetic material forming the layer (71) is such that negligible development of the developed image in contact with that layer occurs.

The roller (70) comprises a metal core (74) on which a synthetic material sleeve (76) having a hardness value of about 50 or less in Shore A hardness is attached. A typical synthetic material is silicone rubber. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the layer (71) versus the sleeve (Sleev).
e, sleeve) (76) typically has a thickness ratio of 1:
There is a range of 30 to 80. For example, if layer (71) is 0.4
The sleeve (76) may be 20 mm thick with a thickness of 20 mm.

The roller (68) is much harder than the roller (70) due to the thickness difference between the layer (71) and the sleeve (76). Thus, when the roller (70) is pressed against the roller (68) along the axis (77), the surface of the roller (70) is depressed and a long continuous contact, i.e., a nip, is formed between the rollers. , Formed between the two points indicated by arrows A and B.

It is important that when the carrier sheet is pulled into the nip, the effective fusing and fusing of the image on the sheet occurs without causing the image to become dirty, sticky or crushed. Will be recognized. Accordingly, a device is provided for adjusting the pressure between rollers (68) and (70).

The roller (68) preferably rotates about a fixed axis, while the roller (70) rotates about an adjustable axis (78) supported by a support arm (80). Mounted on The support arm (80) is mounted at one end (81) so as to be rotatable about a fixed axis (82) and at the other end (8).
At 3) it is supported by a spring (84).
It will be appreciated that the stronger the spring, the greater the pressure exerted by roller (70) on roller (68).

When the carrier sheet is drawn between rollers (68) and (70), together with the pressure applied to the sheet by those rollers, the developed image on the sheet fuses and fuses. The source of effective heat is (6
9) is applied to the sheet. According to the illustrated embodiment,
The sheet is fed between the rollers such that the developed image, indicated generally at (101), contacts the surface of the rollers (68). It is believed that some transfer of the developed image to the roller (68) occurs in known electrostatic imaging methods.

According to the present invention, the layer (71) has a material composition which, when used in the liquid toner method, substantially eliminates transfer while preventing crushing, smearing or stickiness of the developed image. Having. Although transfer of the image to the roller (68) is expected to be negligible, a stripper (85) is still provided to remove any small transfer deposits that have occurred and to ensure proper paper removal.

As a composition according to the present invention, a roller (6
For layer (71) of 8), a soft silicone rubber formulation is used, which comprises a mixture of: (i) from about 1 to about 4 parts by weight of a curable silicone oil containing a curing agent;
(Ii) about 10 parts by weight of a hard rubber-forming room temperature curable silicone polymer, and (iii) sufficient silicone polymer curing agent to effect curing of component (ii), with component ratios (i) :( ii): (iii) is preferably about 1-4: about 1
0: about 0.8 to 1.2 parts by weight.

Examples of the components (i), (ii) and (iii) are as follows.

(Ii) RTV 615A, RTV 630A (manufactured by Rick (USA)) (iii) RTV 615B, RTV 630B {Such components are used, for example, in a weight ratio of about 2: 10: 1. Can be.

An example of a release-coated silicone polymer provided on a roller (68) is Dow Corning (U.S.A.).
Syl-off 7600 (which can be cross-linked with Syl-off 7601 or Syl-Off 7048), especially about 200: 1 Syl-off 7
It has a ratio of 600 to sill off 7601, or a ratio of about 500: 1 sill off 7600 to sill off 7048. These ratios are substantially higher than those recommended by the manufacturer.

Generally, a weight ratio of release agent-coated silicone polymer to soft silicone rubber formulation in the range of about 1: 1.5 to about 1:20 is generally considered to be effective, but 1: 3. A ratio of ~ 1.6 gives good results, and it is presently preferred to use a weight ratio of about 1: 4.

In accordance with the present invention, when the composition of the present invention as defined herein is formed into a molded article, the surface of the article is compared at elevated temperatures to the surface of such an article from a flexible silicone rubber formulation alone. And the adhesiveness is reduced. Such articles are particularly useful for forming rollers, such as roller (68), having a curved surface, or for forming annular bands used in various electrostatic imaging processes. Useful.

As already indicated above, the application of heat and pressure during the fusing and fixing steps of an electrostatic image forming process using solid powdered toner can (among other things) produce a molded article which comes into contact with the developed image. Copying is undesirable because the developed image transfers to a heated roller (68) that provides the required nip, for example, as described above, together with a pressure roller (70) due to partial adhesion to curved surfaces. It has the disadvantage of becoming

However, according to the present invention, the roller (6
8) When the above coating is made from the composition of the present invention, its surface that is in contact with the toner image when heated is much less likely to transfer than with known compositions for this purpose.

Applying heat and pressure in the fusing / fixing step of the electrostatic image forming method using the liquid phase toner has been impractical because the liquid toner image is liable to be stained, sticky or crushed. It has been found that the composition of the present invention now introduces, for the first time, such a liquid phase toner process which involves the application of heat and pressure in a manner similar to the corresponding process of the powdered solid toner process. You can now.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an electrostatic latent image is formed on photoconductor (4), and the latent image is developed with liquid toner from developing dish (18). The transferred image is transferred to a carrier sheet (100) and the transferred image on the substrate is passed between a roller (68), preferably formed from the novel composition of the present invention, and a roller (70). An electrostatic imaging method is provided that includes fusing and fixing steps by applying heat and pressure.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the latent image may be developed with a powdered solid toner.

Further, with reference to FIG. 2, there is also provided an apparatus for wetting the heating roller (68) with a silicone oil such as 350F. The wetting of the roller (68) is accomplished by removing the rubber composition from the non-crosslinked silicone oil used therein, such as R
It will be appreciated that the TV 910 is important to prevent the overcoat (71) from drying out due to seepage.

The wetting device shown has an adjustable shaft (8
8) With a wetting roller (86) mounted thereon, with a roller (86) that operates to rotate with the heating roller (68). Arm held by spring (9
0), which is a wetting roller (68)
Contact between the roller (68) and the roller (68)
By applying pressure on axis (88) in the direction of.

The wetting roller (86) communicates with the tank (94) and is kept moist by the liquid absorbent material (92) which is kept in contact with the roller (86).
The blank (92) may comprise, for example, a layer of velvet mounted on a support. The tank (94) is made of material (9) sufficient to wet the wetting roller (86).
Typically, the silicone oil is supplied to a depth sufficient to maintain 2). The doctor blade (110) is pressed against the roller (86) to reduce the thickness of the liquid, preferably to about 7μ. Liquid pump (98)
And by an inlet tube (102), from an external storage tank (96) to a tank (94) from which it is pumped at a very slow speed. Excess liquid in tank (94) drips from there and is returned to reservoir (96) by outlet conduit (104).

A toner solution suitable for the method of the present invention may be manufactured as follows. Elvacs (ELVA
X) II5720 (DuPont) (1000 g) and ISOPAR L (Exxon) (500 g) using a Ross double planetary mixer at a temperature of (90) ± 10 ° C. for 1 hour. Mix together. Carbon black (Mogul L, Cabot, 250 g) and Isopar (500 g) are added and mixing is continued for 1 hour. 1 in advance
Add Isopearl L (2000 g) heated to 10 ° C. and continue mixing for another hour. The heat source was removed and mixing continued until the temperature dropped below 40 ° C. 3050 g of the resulting mixture was loaded with Isopearl L in a Sweco M18 vibratory mill containing cylindrical 0.5 "alumina.
(4000 g) at a temperature of 40 ± 2-3 ° C. for about 22
Crushed for hours. The product had a solids level of 12.5%. A working dispersion was obtained by diluting with Isopearl L to a solids content of 1.5%. In the following example, the Savin 870 photocopier required 1.5 kg of this working solution, to which 7-8 ml of a 10% solution of lecithin in Isopearl L was added as a charge designator. In contrast, the Savin V45 photocopier required 0.8 kg of this working solution, to which 3.5-4 ml of a 10% solution of lecithin in Isopearl L was added as a charge designator.

The present invention is illustrated by the following examples, but the invention is not limited thereto.

Example 1 As described above, a Savin V45 photographic copier modified to incorporate a heating roller system at an optimum temperature of 120 ± 10 ° C. in the fusing / fixing step to minimize the transition was used for about 314.
The operation was carried out using a basic speed of mm / sec, a pressure of 6 kg applied to each one of the pair of rollers, and the liquid toner produced as described above. The length of the nip was about 4-6 mm.
Under these conditions, melting and fixing were achieved while most of Isopearl L in the toner image was maintained therein.

Example 2 Using a Sabin 870 photographic copier with the internal melter disabled, copying was performed on paper using the droplet toner produced as described above. Then copy them about 0,0.
A flash illumination of 75 Joules / cm ² was pulsed for 400 μs. Under these conditions, most of the Isopearl L in the toner image was retained therein while fusing and fixing were achieved.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described above. The present invention is limited only by the claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an electrostatic image forming apparatus configured and operated according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a more detailed schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for fusing and fixing a developed image on a carrier sheet used in the apparatus shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... metal cylinder, 4 ... photoconductor, 6 ... disk, 8 ... axis, 10
... Key, 12 ... Corona discharge device, 14 ... Optical system, 16,2
0: tube, 18: developing plate, 22: developing electrode, 24: roller, 25: spacer, 26: drive belt, 28: wiping blade, 32, 34: pair of alignment rollers, 36,
38 ... axis, 44 ... transfer place, 46 ... corona discharge device, 4
8: peeling member, 50, 54: roller, 52: flexible band, 64: fusion fixing device.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Josef Rosen Israel, 76100 Rehobot, Mirror Street 21 F-term (reference) 2H033 AA35 AA49 BA02 BA58 BB04 BB06 BB28 BB34 2H200 FA08 GA23 GA31 GA43 GB25 HA12 JA01 JC00 3J103 BA02 FA09 GA02 GA54 GA57 HA04 HA47 HA53

Claims (21)

[Claims] An image forming apparatus for developing an image using a liquid toner including a liquid carrier and toner particles, transferring the developed image to a final substrate, fusing and fixing the transferred image, A first member (68) having a first movable contact surface, which acts to bring the developed image (101) into contact with the final substrate (100); A support member (70) having a second movable contact surface with a portion of the first movable contact surface and defining a nip through which the final substrate passes; and as the substrate passes through the nip, the development Means (69) for increasing the temperature of the developed image to cause at least partial fusing and fusing of the developed image to the substrate; and wherein the substrate comprises the first and second movable contact surfaces. Pass between Means (84) for applying a force to said nip to assist at least partial fusing and fusing of said developed image to said substrate, said first movable contact surface suitably comprising: An image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus is formed from a composition containing a polymer material that is crosslinked to form a non-rubber release-coated silicone polymer. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said means for increasing the temperature acts to plasticize said particles with said liquid carrier during fusing and fixing of said image to a substrate. Image forming apparatus. 3. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for transferring said image to said final substrate via an intermediate transfer member. 4. An image according to claim 1, wherein the composition comprises an insufficient amount of a crosslinking agent for the polymer to properly crosslink. Forming equipment. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said insufficient crosslinking is a factor exceeding about 5. 6. An image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said insufficient crosslinking is a factor of more than about 10. 7. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said composition contains a second material which is appropriately crosslinked to form a soft silicone rubber. 8. The weight ratio of the material forming the non-rubber release-coated silicone polymer to the second material forming the soft silicone rubber is from about 1: 1.5 to about 1:20. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein: 9. An image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said weight ratio is about 1: 3 to about 1: 6. 10. The method of claim 7, wherein the soft rubber formed by appropriately cross-linking the second material has a Shore A hardness of less than about 50. Image forming apparatus. 11. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said release-coated silicone polymer contains an organofunctional siloxane polymer. 12. A contact fusing device for use in fusing and fixing a liquid toner, including a liquid carrier and toner particles, to a substrate and having a fusing surface in contact with an image on said substrate, wherein the fusing surface is a suitable fusing surface. A contact melting device characterized in that it is produced from a composition comprising a polymer material that forms a non-rubber release-coated silicone polymer by crosslinking to a polymer. 13. The contact melting device according to claim 12, wherein the melting surface is a roller, and the melting surface includes an outer surface of the roller. 14. A contact melting apparatus according to claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the composition comprises an insufficient amount of a crosslinking agent for the polymer to properly crosslink. 15. The contact melting apparatus of claim 14, wherein said insufficient crosslinking is a factor greater than about 5. 16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said insufficient crosslinking is a factor greater than about 10. 17. The contact melting apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the composition contains a second material which is appropriately crosslinked to form a soft silicone rubber. 18. The weight ratio of the material forming the non-rubber release-coated silicone polymer to the second material forming the soft silicone rubber is from about 1: 1.5 to about 1:20. The contact melting device according to claim 17, wherein: 19. The contact melting apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the weight ratio is about 1: 3 to about 1: 6. 20. The method of any of claims 17 to 19, wherein the soft rubber formed by appropriately cross-linking the second material has a Shore A hardness of less than about 50. Contact melting equipment. 21. A contact melting apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said release-coated silicone polymer comprises an organofunctional siloxane polymer.