JP2002278130A - Toner for image forming, image forming method and process cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide toner for image forming by which the initial driving performance of a developing device is secured, the overturn of a toner layer thickness regulating member is restrained and the occurrence of a developing stripe is restrained. SOLUTION: The toner for image forming is used in the image forming method in which a developing means is provided with at least a toner carrier 4 for carrying and feeding the toner and the toner layer thickness regulating member 4a, and the surface roughness X of the center line of the toner carrier and the surface roughness Y of the center line of the abutting part of the toner layer thickness regulating member on the toner carrier satisfy a following expression (1) 0.50<=X/Y<=25.00, and then the toner carrier has <=15 mm outer periphery diameter, and is rotated so that surface peripheral speed is >=65 mm/sec. The toner has particles whose roundness (a) obtained by a following expression (2) is >=0.900 by >=80% on number basis. (2) a=L0 /L (in the expression, L0 shows the peripheral length of a circle having the same projected area as a particle image and L shows the peripheral length of the particle image).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image forming toner used for electrophotography, electrostatic recording, electrostatic printing, toner jet, etc., an image forming method, and a process cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the number of Internet users has rapidly increased due to the innovation of IT technology, and the number of printers operating on a network, printers used in SOHO, and printers used by individuals has increased dramatically. The applications of image forming devices such as electrophotographic printers have also been widespread,
There is a need for a device configuration that catches up with user needs. For example, there is a demand for an apparatus configuration that reduces maintenance load and a reduction in the incidence of defects. In addition, the chances of performing simple copying in combination with an image input device such as a scanner have increased, and the printer as an output device has not only faithful reproducibility of fine characters and fine lines, but also uniformity Tone uniformity is also required.

Conventionally, as an electrophotographic printer, an electric latent image is formed on a photoreceptor by various means using a photoconductive substance, and the latent image is developed using toner.
Then, after transferring the toner image to the transfer material, heating, pressing,
Fixing is performed by heating and pressurizing or solvent vapor to obtain a copy. The toner remaining on the photoconductor without being transferred is
Cleaning is performed in various ways and the above steps are repeated.

As a developing system, there are a one-component developing system and a two-component developing system. Among them, many of them are excellent in suggesting a one-component developing system using magnetic toner particles. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-43036 discloses that a magnetic toner is used as a one-component developer, the toner is applied very thinly on a developing sleeve as a developer carrier, and this is frictionally charged. A method has been proposed in which the toner is developed under the action of a magnetic field of a magnet incorporated in the developing sleeve, in a very close proximity to the latent image on the image carrier without being brought into contact with the latent image, thereby developing the latent image.

According to this method, the toner is applied very thinly on the developing sleeve to increase the chance of contact between the developing sleeve and the toner, thereby enabling sufficient frictional charging of the toner, and the magnetic force for applying the toner to the developing sleeve. By moving the magnet and the toner relative to each other, the aggregation of the toner particles is released, and the toner is sufficiently rubbed with the developing sleeve. An excellent image can be obtained by developing the image without facing the image to prevent background fog.

Further, as a toner layer thickness regulating method, a toner layer thickness regulating member (elastic blade) made of an elastic member such as urethane rubber is brought into contact with the developing sleeve, so that a contact portion between the developing sleeve and the elastic blade ( A method of applying a thin layer of toner on a developing sleeve at a nip portion has been proposed.

In this method, the toner is positively charged at the contact portion of the elastic blade with the developing sleeve, so that there is an advantage that the image density is increased and a better image is obtained.

However, in the above method, the development performance is greatly affected by the surface properties of the elastic blade and the developing sleeve. For example, when an unused developing device is started for the first time, if the nip portion of the elastic blade with the developing sleeve is in pressure contact, the elastic blade is turned over, or the rotational torque of the developing device increases, and the May not be able to operate. In particular, in a low-speed printer, since the paper conveyance, the fixing device, the latent image carrier, and the development sleeve are also driven, the torque allocated to the development sleeve is reduced, and the initial drivability becomes important.

One way to avoid this is as follows:
Solid lubricant is applied to the elastic blade surface.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-83173 points out that application of only a solid lubricant causes other adverse effects, and attempts to improve the problem by defining the particle size distribution and the like of the toner.

Further, in the developing device, the toner receives not only friction with the toner carrier, but also friction with an insulating regulating member such as an elastic blade. Although it is difficult to quantify how much friction the toner particles receive from the developer carrier or the elastic blade, it is considered that the above problems can be solved by optimizing at least the parameters related to friction, The present inventors have conducted various studies, and have arrived at the invention described below.

On the other hand, in any of the developing methods using a toner which is a one-component developer, a relatively thin uniform toner layer must be formed on the developing sleeve. Depending on the state, physical properties of the toner, physical properties of the surface of the developing sleeve, etc., a uniform toner layer cannot be obtained, and unevenness often occurs in the toner layer especially in a low humidity environment.

Further, when printing is repeated, the toner is clogged and agglomerated between the abutting portions of the developing sleeve and the elastic blade, thereby not only making the charging of the toner unstable, but also causing streaks on the image. In addition, the toner transportability by the developing sleeve is not stable.

[0013] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, many studies have been made on the device, such as addition of an auxiliary member and sophistication of a developing device configuration. However, these solutions increase the cost of the main body, and are not preferable in providing a personal printer, and there is still room for improvement.

Although some studies have been made on the toner itself, it has not been possible to completely solve the above problem.

As described above, the image forming toner including the toner, the image forming method, and the process cartridge are still insufficient, and there are some points to be improved at present.

[0016]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image capable of ensuring the initial drivability of the developing device, suppressing the toner layer thickness regulating member from being turned over, and suppressing the occurrence of development streaks. An object of the present invention is to provide a forming toner, an image forming method, and a process cartridge.

[0017]

According to the present invention, there is provided an image forming method comprising at least a step of developing an electrostatic image by a developing means having a toner to form a toner image on an electrostatic image carrier. At least a toner for developing an electrostatic image, a rotatable toner carrier for carrying and transporting the toner, and a toner layer thickness regulating member elastically pressed on the toner carrier via a toner layer. The center line surface roughness X (μm) of the toner carrier and the center line surface roughness Y (μm) of the contact portion of the toner layer thickness regulating member with the toner carrier are as follows: 1) Image formation that satisfies the following expression: 0.50 ≦ X / Y ≦ 25.00 (1), the outer peripheral diameter of the toner carrier is 15 mm or less, and the peripheral speed of the surface rotates at 65 mm / sec or more. Image forming toner for use in the method. The toner has the following formula (2): a = L ₀ / L (2) (where L ₀ represents the circumference of a circle having the same projected area as the particle image, and L represents the circumference of the particle image) The present invention relates to an image forming toner comprising 80% or more of particles having a circularity a of 0.900 or more as determined by the above method.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an image forming method comprising at least a step of developing an electrostatic image by a developing means having a toner to form a toner image on an electrostatic image carrier.
The developing means includes a toner for developing an electrostatic image, a rotatable toner carrier for carrying and transporting the toner, and a toner layer thickness regulation for elastically pressing the toner carrier on the toner carrier via a toner layer. And a centerline surface roughness X (μm) of the toner carrier and a centerline surface roughness Y (μm) of a contact portion of the toner layer thickness regulating member with the toner carrier.
m) satisfies the following expression (1): 0.50 ≦ X / Y ≦ 25.00 (1), and the toner carrier has an outer peripheral diameter of 15 mm or less and a surface speed of 65 mm / The toner rotates in more than one second. The toner is expressed by the following equation (2): a = L ₀ / L (2) (where L ₀ represents the circumference of a circle having the same projected area as the particle image; Indicates the peripheral length of the particle image.) The present invention relates to an image forming method characterized in that particles having a circularity a of 0.900 or more obtained from the number of particles are 80% or more based on the number.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a process cartridge detachably mounted to an image forming apparatus main body, wherein the process cartridge comprises an electrostatic image carrier for holding an electrostatic image and a developing device for developing the electrostatic image. At least a developing device having a toner for performing
A toner for developing an electrostatic image, a rotatable toner carrier for carrying and transporting the toner, and a toner layer thickness regulating member elastically pressed on the toner carrier via a toner layer; The center line surface roughness X (μm) of the toner carrier and the center line surface roughness Y (μm) of the portion of the toner layer thickness regulating member in contact with the toner carrier are represented by the following (1). The formula 0.50 ≦ X / Y ≦ 25.00 is satisfied, and the toner carrier has an outer peripheral diameter of 15 mm or less, a surface circumferential velocity of 65 mm / sec or more,
The toner has the following formula (2): a = L ₀ / L (2) (where L ₀ represents the circumference of a circle having the same projected area as the particle image, and L represents the circumference of the particle image). The present invention relates to a process cartridge comprising 80% or more of particles having a circularity a of 0.900 or more determined by the method described in (1) above.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present inventors consider the reason why the image forming toner and the image forming method according to the present invention exhibit the original effects as follows.

In a developing device used in a small personal printer, the diameter of the toner carrier tends to be reduced.
In the developing device, it is necessary to rotate the toner carrier with respect to the latent image carrier in order to compensate for a reduction in the development nip between the toner carrier and the latent image carrier.

However, in miniaturization of the printer,
Since the output of the drive system motor is also limited, one motor often also serves to drive the paper transport device, the fixing device, and the developing device, and the drive torque allocated to the toner carrier is limited.

Under these circumstances, in order to obtain good image quality by an image forming method in which a toner layer thickness regulating member elastically pressed on a toner carrier via a toner layer is disposed, it is necessary to use a toner It is important to control the state of close contact between the carrier and the toner layer thickness regulating member that is in pressure contact with the toner carrier and the shape of the toner existing in the gap between the two.

For example, if there are no irregularities on the surface of the toner carrier and the surface of the toner layer thickness regulating member, the toner carrier surface and the toner layer thickness regulating member surface will be used at the time of initial image formation before the toner layer is formed. May easily adhere to each other, exert a large frictional force, and the toner layer thickness regulating member may be turned up or the developing device may not be driven.

When there is no irregularity on the surface of the toner carrier, but there are irregularities on the toner layer thickness regulating member, the initial driving property of the developing device is ensured, but the surface of the toner layer thickness regulating member is higher than the toner carrier. Due to the contact with the pressing force, stress from the toner particles is apt to occur, and the surface of the toner layer thickness regulating member is apt to be scratched. If the scratch progresses in durability, white streaks may appear on the image. Furthermore,
Since the toner layer formed between the toner carrier and the toner layer thickness regulating member is a very thin layer, the toner supply amount does not change when an image with a high printing ratio is output, and the toner carrier is not In the second round, the image density may be reduced and image quality may be impaired.

Conversely, if the toner layer thickness regulating member has no irregularities but has irregularities on the surface of the toner carrier, the initial drivability is ensured, but it is formed in the gap between the toner carrier and the toner layer thickness regulating member. When the toner layer contains many toner particles having many irregularities, each time the toner particles come into contact with the surface of the toner carrier or the surface of the toner layer thickness regulating member, the surface of each member is damaged, and fine scratches are generated. In addition, uneven portions on the surface of the toner carrier and the surface of the toner layer thickness regulating member have irregularities, so that the toner particles having irregular shapes are easily captured. Are formed on the surface of the toner carrier, and may appear as black streaks on the image.

In the case where the surface of the toner carrier or the surface of the toner layer thickness regulating member has irregularities, if the degree of the irregularities is the same, they may engage with each other, so that it may be difficult to ensure the driving performance. Further, under high temperature and high humidity, the fluidity of the toner is poor, so that the toner particles are easily captured on the irregularities of the toner carrier and the toner layer thickness regulating member, and the toner layer thickness becomes non-uniform from this point, In some cases, streaks are formed on the surface of the toner carrier and appear as black streaks on an image.

For example, when a large number of images are output and the amount of toner in the developing device decreases, the surface of the toner carrier and the surface of the toner layer thickness regulating member directly rub against each other because no toner particles intervene, so that unevenness is reduced. , And it becomes difficult to secure drivability. If the unevenness of either the toner carrier or the toner layer thickness regulating member is reduced due to the rubbing, the streaks are easily generated.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the inventors conducted intensive studies on the case where the toner particle shape and its abundance ratio were changed while varying the roughness level of the surface of the toner carrier and the surface of the toner layer thickness regulating member. This has led to the present invention. That is, a toner having 80% or more (preferably 90% or more) based on the number of particles having a circularity a = 0.900 or more is interposed between the toner carrier and the toner layer thickness regulating member, and the toner carrier and the toner By defining the surface roughness of the layer thickness regulating member, it is possible to secure the drivability and suppress the streaks.

If the ratio is out of the above range, the desired effect cannot be obtained.

Hereinafter, the toner of the present invention having the above-described configuration will be specifically described step by step.

First, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a basic configuration of an image forming apparatus to which an image forming method using the toner of the present invention is applied.

That is, the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 rotates the photosensitive drum 1 as an electrostatic charge image carrier, and is pressed against the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 following the rotation of the photosensitive drum 1. The charging roller 2 as a charging member is rotated. A charging bias is applied to the charging roller 2 from a charging bias applying unit (not shown), whereby the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 is primarily charged. The surface of the primary charged photosensitive drum 1 is irradiated with a laser beam L from the exposure device 3 to form an electrostatic charge image.
The electrostatic image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 is developed by a developing unit to form a toner image. The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred onto the transfer material P by the transfer unit 5, and includes, for example, a fixing roller 6a that is being heated and a pressing roller 6b that is in pressure contact with the fixing roller. Thus, the transfer material 5 is fixed by applying heat and pressure. The transfer residual toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor drum 1 after the primary transfer is removed by a cleaning member 7 such as a cleaning blade in contact with the surface of the photoconductor drum 1 and cleaning of the surface of the photoconductor drum 1 is performed. Done. The image forming process after the above-described primary charging is repeatedly performed on the cleaned photosensitive drum 1 again.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the most basic configuration of an image forming apparatus used in the image forming method of the present invention. In addition to the above-mentioned developing means, a toner conveying roller for supplying toner to a toner carrier, and In order to transfer the toner image formed on the charge image carrier 1 to the transfer material P, a configuration having an intermediate transfer body for temporarily transferring the toner image from the electrostatic image carrier 1 is also used. .

Here, the developing means includes a rotatable toner carrier 4 for carrying the toner T and transporting the toner T to a developing area, and a toner layer elastically pressed on the toner carrier via a toner layer. It is configured to have at least the thickness regulating member means 4a.

Next, the process cartridge used in the above-described image forming apparatus will be described. The process cartridge is detachable from the image forming apparatus, and includes a toner carrier 4, a toner layer regulating unit 4a, a toner container 12, and a stirring unit 1.
And a photosensitive unit 1 serving as a latent image carrier, a charging roller 2 serving as a charging unit provided around the photosensitive drum, and a cleaning unit 7 for cleaning the surface of the photosensitive drum. It is composed of a C unit 14 to be enclosed.

When this process cartridge reaches the end of its life, the user can easily replace it. The life of the process cartridge is a point in time when toner is consumed and becomes insufficient, and an image white spot occurs.

FIG. 2 shows an example of an image forming apparatus using a toner container in which a replenishing toner container is detachable. In contrast to FIG. 1, in FIG. 2, when the toner is consumed and runs short,
The toner is supplied from the supply toner container 12b to the toner container 12a.
To output a large number of images.

The toner carrier that can be used in the present invention contains at least conductive fine particles in a film-forming polymer material (resin). The conductive fine particles are preferably crystalline graphite or crystalline graphite and carbon fine particles.

The crystalline graphite used in the present invention is:
It can be roughly classified into natural graphite and artificial graphite. Artificial graphite is obtained by solidifying pitch coke with tar pitch or the like.
Once fired at about 200 ° C, put in a graphitization furnace,
By processing at a high temperature of about 0 ° C., carbon crystals grew and turned into graphite. Natural graphite is completely graphitized by geothermal heat and high pressure underground for a long time.
Produce from underground. These graphites have various excellent properties, and have wide industrial applications. Graphite is a dark gray to black glossy, very soft, lubricious carbon crystal that is used in pencils and other materials, and has heat resistance and chemical stability, so lubrication, fire resistance, electrical materials, etc. It is used in powder, solid, and paint forms. The crystal structure is classified into a hexagonal system and a rhombohedral system, and has a complete layer structure. Regarding electrical properties, free electrons exist between carbon and carbon bonds, and are good conductors of electricity. In the present invention, either natural or artificial graphite can be used. The particle size of the graphite used is preferably about 0.5 to 20 μm.

As the carbon fine particles, conductive amorphous carbon can be used. The conductive amorphous carbon is generally defined as "an aggregate of crystallites formed by burning or thermally decomposing a compound containing hydrocarbons or carbon in an insufficient air supply". In particular, it is excellent in electric conductivity, and is widely used because it can be filled with a polymer material to impart conductivity, or a certain degree of conductivity can be obtained by controlling the amount of addition. The particle diameter of the conductive amorphous carbon used in the present invention is preferably from 10 to 80 nm, more preferably from 15 to 40 nm.

Examples of the film-forming polymer material include thermoplastic resins such as styrene resin, vinyl resin, polyether sulfone resin, polycarbonate resin, polyphenylene oxide resin, polyamide resin, fluororesin, cellulose resin, and acrylic resin. A thermosetting resin such as a resin, an epoxy resin, a polyester resin, an alkyd resin, a phenol resin, a melamine resin, a polyurethane resin, a urea resin, a silicone resin, and a polyimide resin or a photocurable resin can be used. Among them, silicone resin,
Releasable material such as fluororesin, or excellent in mechanical properties such as polyethersulfone resin, polycarbonate resin, polyphenylene oxide resin, polyamide resin, phenol resin, polyester resin, polyurethane resin and styrene resin Is more preferred.
These resins are appropriately selected in consideration of the charging property to the toner.

The center line surface roughness X of the toner carrier is 0.2
It is preferably from 0 to 3.00 (μm). When X is smaller than 0.20, it becomes difficult to secure the initial drivability. When X is larger than 3.00, the toner layer thickness regulating member is easily turned up and streaks are easily generated.

The toner layer thickness regulating member used in the present invention is formed by using an elastic resin such as urethane rubber, silicone rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, nitrile butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber, isoprene rubber, cis polyisoprene rubber or butyl rubber as a blade. Alternatively, a tip-like resin held at the tip of a blade such as a metal,
A photosensitive member that is brought into contact with or pressed against the moving direction of the photoconductor in a forward direction or a reverse direction is used. Preferably, the blade is pressed against the moving direction of the toner carrier in the opposite direction. At this time, the contact pressure of the blade against the toner carrier is preferably 9.8 N / m (10 g / cm) or more as a linear pressure, more preferably 19.6 to 49 N / m.
(20 to 50 g / cm).

The center line surface roughness Y of the contact portion of the toner layer thickness regulating member with the toner carrier is 0.10 to 1.1.
It is preferably 0 (μm). When Y is smaller than 0.10, it becomes difficult to secure the initial drivability. Y is 1.10
If it is larger, streaks tend to occur.

Further, in the present invention, the ratio X / Y of the center line surface roughness X of the toner carrier to the center line surface roughness Y of the contact portion of the toner layer thickness regulating member is 0.50 to 25.25. Must be 0. Outside the above range, the desired effect cannot be obtained.

In the present invention, the toner carrier has an outer diameter of 15 mm or less (preferably 8 to 15 mm) and a peripheral speed of 65 m in order to reduce the size and speed of the machine.
m / sec or more (preferably 65 to 260 mm / sec).

In the charging step and the transfer step which can be used in the present invention, (a) a method in which the electrostatic image holder using a corona discharger is not in contact with the roller (a) a roller type, a belt type, a belt and an electrode blade Any type of contact type, such as a combination of the above, can be used, and any type can be used.

As the electrostatic image holding member of the present invention, there are an amorphous silicon photosensitive member and an organic photosensitive member, and an organic photosensitive member is preferably used.

The organic photoreceptor may be a so-called single layer type in which the photosensitive layer contains a charge generating substance and a substance having a charge transporting property in the same layer, and a function comprising the charge transporting layer and the charge generating layer as components. It may be a separate type photoreceptor. A laminated photoreceptor having a structure in which a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer are laminated on a conductive substrate in this order is one of preferred examples.

That is, in the image forming method of the present invention, the matching of the toner of the present invention is particularly effective for an organic photoreceptor in which the surface of the electrostatic image holder is an organic compound such as a resin. That is, the organic photoreceptor is shaved by a contact member such as a cleaning blade. When the organic photoreceptor is combined with the toner of the present invention, the shaving of the organic photoreceptor is reduced by the interposition of a particle layer deposited on the cleaning blade nip.
Further, since the release of the hydrophobic inorganic fine powder due to durability is small, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of fusion and filming caused by the release.

In the present invention, it is preferable to have a cleaning step for removing the toner remaining on the surface of the electrostatic image holding member after the transfer step.

As the cleaning method, blade cleaning, mag brush cleaning, fur brush cleaning, roller cleaning, and a combination thereof can be used. Particularly, blade cleaning is preferable.

In blade cleaning, urethane rubber, silicone rubber, or elastic resin is used as a blade, or a blade made of metal or the like with a tip-shaped resin held thereon is used in the forward direction or the moving direction of the photosensitive member. It is known as abutting or pressing in the opposite direction. Preferably, the blade is pressed against the moving direction of the photoreceptor in the opposite direction. At this time, the contact pressure against the blade against the photoconductor was 19.6 N / m (20 g /
cm) or more, more preferably 29.4-7.
8.4 N / m (30 to 80 g / cm).

The toner of the present invention not only exhibits a good friction property but also has excellent releasability and lubricity.
Even if the blade is brought into contact with the photoreceptor, it is hardly scratched and is hardly shaved. On the other hand, fusion, filming, and the like hardly occur.

In the fixing step of the present invention, a heat and pressure roll fixing device or a fixedly supported heating element is pressed against the heating element, and the transfer material is brought into close contact with the heating element via a film. A fixing unit that heats and fixes the toner with the pressing member can be used.

The surface of the fixing roller or the fixing film comes into contact with the surface of the toner particles on the unfixed image, and receives the friction history through the durability. The toner having abrasive power is magnetic material particles protruding from the toner surface, or external additive particles or free external additive particles having low adhesion on the toner surface. By combining with the toner of the present invention, abrasion on the surface of the fixing roller or the fixing film can be reduced, and image defects such as black spots due to surface roughness and scratches can be reduced.

The transfer material which can be used in the present invention may be an intermediate transfer belt or an intermediate transfer member such as the belt, in addition to commercially available paper and OHT.

Next, the image forming toner used in the present invention will be described in detail.

The toner of the present invention has the following formula (2): a = L ₀ / L (2) (where L ₀ represents the circumference of a particle image and a circle having a projected area, and L represents the particle image). It is necessary that the particles have a circularity a of 0.900 or more, which is determined from the above, and have 80% or more based on the number of particles. If it is less than 80%, the shape of the toner becomes irregular, the non-uniformity of the toner particles increases, and a non-uniform portion appears in the toner coat layer on the toner carrier, so that a development streak may occur.

Further, particles having a circularity a of 0.900 or more are 90% or more on a number basis, and the circularity a is 0.95 or more.
0 or more particles are present in an amount of 67% or more on a number basis, and the circularity a
Are present in an amount of 8% or more based on the number of particles,
In addition, the abundance of particles having a circularity a of 0.995 or more has a cumulative value of 12 based on the number of particles having a circularity a of 0.950 or more.
It is even more effective if it is present in a proportion occupying at least%.

The toner used in the present invention has at least toner particles and hydrophobic inorganic fine powder, and the toner particles preferably contain at least a binder resin, magnetic particles and wax. Since the toner is present in the nip between the toner carrier and the toner layer thickness regulating member, damage to both members is reduced, and the generation of streaks can be further suppressed.

As the binder resin for the toner used in the present invention, polyester resin, vinyl resin, epoxy resin and the like can be used.
A vinyl resin or a mixed resin of both is more preferable in terms of fixing characteristics and developing characteristics.

Examples of the monomer of the polyester resin used in the present invention include the following.

As the alcohol component, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, 1,3-butanediol, 1,4-butanediol, 2,3-butanediol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol,
1,5-pentanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, neopentyl glycol, 2-ethyl-1,3-hexanediol, hydrogenated bisphenol A, and (a)
A bisphenol derivative represented by the formula:

[0066]

Embedded image

[0067]

Embedded image And the like.

The divalent carboxylic acid containing 50 mol% or more of the total acid component includes phthalic acid, isophthalic acid,
Benzenedicarboxylic acids such as terephthalic acid and phthalic anhydride or anhydrides thereof; alkyldicarboxylic acids such as succinic acid, adipic acid, sebacic acid and azelaic acid or anhydrides thereof, and further substituted with alkyl groups having 6 to 18 carbon atoms Succinic acid or its anhydride; and dicarboxylic acids such as fumaric acid, maleic acid, citraconic acid, and itaconic acid.

Also, polyhydric alcohols such as glycerin, pentaerythritol, sorbit, sorbitan, and oxyalkylene ether of novolak type phenol resin; trimellitic acid, pyromellitic acid,
Examples include polyvalent carboxylic acids such as benzophenonetetracarboxylic acid and its anhydride.

The polyester unit of the binder resin is preferably cross-linked with a trivalent or higher polyvalent carboxylic acid or polyhydric alcohol. The cross-linking components include trimellitic anhydride, benzophenonetetracarboxylic acid, and pentaerythrium. Stall and oxyalkylene ether of a novolak type phenol resin are preferred.

The polyester resin thus obtained has a glass transition temperature (Tg) of from 40 to 90 ° C., preferably from 45 to 8 ° C.
5 ° C., and a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 1,000 to 50,
000, preferably 1,500 to 20,000, and a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of 3,000 to 100,000, preferably 40,000 to 90,000.

The vinyl monomers for producing the vinyl resin include the following. For example, styrene, o-methylstyrene, m-methylstyrene,
p-methylstyrene, p-methoxystyrene, p-phenylstyrene, p-chlorostyrene, 3,4-dichlorostyrene, p-ethylstyrene, 2,4-dimethylstyrene, pn-butylstyrene, p-tert Styrenes such as -butylstyrene, pn-hexylstyrene, pn-octylstyrene, pn-nonylstyrene, pn-decylstyrene, pn-dodecylstyrene and derivatives thereof; ethylene, propylene, butylene , Ethylenically unsaturated monoolefins such as isobutylene; unsaturated polyenes such as butadiene; vinyl halides such as vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride, vinyl bromide and vinyl fluoride; vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate and vinyl benzoate. Vinyl ester acid such as methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate Propyl methacrylate, n- butyl methacrylate, isobutyl methacrylate, n- octyl, dodecyl methacrylate, 2
Α-methylene aliphatic monocarboxylic esters such as ethylhexyl, stearyl methacrylate, phenyl methacrylate, dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate, diethylaminoethyl methacrylate; methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, n-butyl acrylate, acrylic acid Acrylic esters such as isobutyl, propyl acrylate, n-octyl acrylate, dodecyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, stearyl acrylate, 2-chloroethyl acrylate, phenyl acrylate;
Vinyl ethers such as vinyl methyl ether, vinyl ethyl ether and vinyl isobutyl ether; vinyl ketones such as vinyl methyl ketone, vinyl hexyl ketone and methyl isopropenyl ketone; N-vinyl pyrrole, N-vinyl carbazole, N-vinyl indole,
N-vinyl compounds such as N-vinylpyrrolidone; vinylnaphthalenes; acrylic acid or methacrylic acid derivatives such as acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, and acrylamide; esters of the aforementioned α, β-unsaturated acids and diesters of dibasic acids No.

Also, unsaturated dibasic acids such as maleic acid, citraconic acid, itaconic acid, alkenyl succinic acid, fumaric acid and mesaconic acid; maleic anhydride, citraconic anhydride, itaconic anhydride, alkenyl succinic anhydride Unsaturated dibasic acid anhydrides such as those; methyl maleate half ester, maleic acid ethyl half ester, maleic acid butyl half ester, citraconic acid methyl half ester, citraconic acid ethyl half ester, citraconic acid butyl half ester, methyl itaconate Half esters of unsaturated dibasic acids such as half ester, methyl alkenyl succinate half ester, methyl fumarate half ester and methyl half mesaconic acid; unsaturated dibasic acid esters such as dimethyl maleic acid and dimethyl fumaric acid; Acid, methacrylic acid, crotonic acid, such as cinnamic acid alpha, beta-unsaturated acid; crotonic acid anhydride, such as alpha of cinnamic acid anhydride, beta-unsaturated acid anhydride, the alpha, beta
-Anhydrides of unsaturated acids and lower fatty acids; and monomers having a carboxyl group such as alkenyl malonic acid, alkenyl glutaric acid, alkenyl adipic acid, acid anhydrides and monoesters thereof. Furthermore, 2-
Acrylic acid or methacrylic acid esters such as hydroxyethyl acrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate and 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate; 4
-(1-hydroxy-1-methylbutyl) styrene, 4
And monomers having a hydroxy group such as-(1-hydroxy-1-methylhexyl) styrene.

Further, if necessary, the polymer may be crosslinked with a crosslinking monomer as exemplified below.

Aromatic divinyl compounds, for example, divinylbenzene, divinylnaphthalene, etc .; diacrylate compounds linked by an alkyl chain; for example, ethylene glycol diacrylate, 1,3-butylene glycol diacrylate, 1,4-butanediol Diacrylate,
1,5-pentanediol diacrylate, 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate, neopentyl glycol diacrylate, and acrylates of the above compounds replaced with methacrylates; diacrylate compounds linked by an alkyl chain containing an ether bond , Such as diethylene glycol diacrylate, triethylene glycol diacrylate, tetraethylene glycol diacrylate, polyethylene glycol # 400 diacrylate, polyethylene glycol # 600 diacrylate, dipropylene glycol diacrylate, and acrylates of the above compounds instead of methacrylate Diacrylate compounds linked by a chain containing an aromatic group and an ether bond, for example, polyoxyethylene (2) -2,2-bis ( - hydroxyphenyl) propane diacrylate, polyoxyethylene (4) -2,
2-bis (4-hydroxyphenyl) propane diacrylate and those obtained by replacing the acrylates of the above compounds with methacrylates; further, polyester-type diacrylate compounds, for example, trade name MANDA (Nippon Kayaku) . As multifunctional crosslinking agents, pentaerythritol acrylate, trimethylolethane triacrylate, trimethylolpropane triacrylate, tetramethylolpropane triacrylate, tetramethylolmethanetetraacrylate, oligoester acrylate, and acrylates of the above compounds to methacrylate Alternatives; triallyl cyanurate, triallyl trimellitate; and the like.

These cross-linking agents can be used in combination with other monomer components 10
It is preferably used in the range of 0.01 to 10% by mass (more preferably 0.03 to 5% by mass) with respect to 0% by mass.

Among these crosslinkable monomers, those which are preferably used for the binder resin from the viewpoint of fixability and anti-offset properties include an aromatic divinyl compound (particularly divinylbenzene), an aromatic group and an ether bond. And diacrylate compounds linked by a chain.

Examples of the polymerization initiator used for producing the vinyl copolymer include, for example, 2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile and 2,2'azobis (4-methoxy-2,4-dimethyl Valeronitrile), 2,2'-azobis (-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile), 2,2 '
-Azobis (-2methylbutyrotolyl), dimethyl-
2,2'-azobisisobutyrate, 1,1'azobis (1-cyclohexanecarbonitrile), 2- (carbamoylazo) -isobutyronitrile, 2,2'-azobis (2,4,4-trimethylpentane ), 2-phenylazo 2,4-dimethyl-4-methoxyvaleronitrile,
Ketone peroxides such as 2,2′-azobis (2-methyl-propane), methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, acetylacetone peroxide and cyclohexanone peroxide; 2,2-bis (t-butylperoxy) butane, t-butylhydro Peroxide, cumene hydroperoxide, 1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl hydroperoxide, di-t-butyl peroxide, t-butylcumyl peroxide, di-cumyl peroxide, α, α-bis ( t-butylperoxyisopropyl) benzene, isobutyl peroxide, octanoyl peroxide, decanoyl peroxide, lauroyl peroxide, 3,5,5-
Trimethylhexanoyl peroxide, benzoyl peroxide, m-trioyl peroxide, diisopropylperoxydicarbonate, di-2-ethylhexylperoxydicarbonate, di-n-propylperoxydicarbonate, di-2-ethoxyethylperoxide Oxycarbonate, di-methoxyisopropylperoxydicarbonate, di- (3-methyl-3-methoxybutyl) peroxocarbonate, acetylcyclohexylsulfonyl peroxide, t-butylperoxyacetate, t-butylperoxyisobutyrate , T
-Butyl peroxy neodecanoate, t-butyl peroxy 2-ethylhexanoate, t-butyl peroxy laurate, t-butyl peroxy benzoate, t
-Butyl peroxyisopropyl carbonate, di-t
-Butylperoxyisophthalate, t-butylperoxyallyl carbonate, t-amylperoxy-2-ethylhexanoate, di-t-butylperoxyhexahydroterephthalate, di-t-butylperoxyazelate and the like. Can be

The vinyl binder resin has a glass transition temperature (Tg) of 45 to 80 ° C., preferably 55 to 70 ° C., and a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 2,500 to 50,000.
Weight average molecular weight (Mw) 10,000-1,000,000
00 is preferred.

In the present invention, a homopolymer or copolymer of a vinyl monomer, polyester, polyurethane, epoxy resin, polyvinyl butyral, rosin, modified rosin, terpene resin, phenol resin, aliphatic or alicyclic hydrocarbon resin, An aromatic petroleum resin or the like can be used by mixing it with the binder resin described above as necessary.

When two or more resins are mixed and used as a binder resin, as a more preferred form, those having different molecular weights are preferably mixed at an appropriate ratio.

In the present invention, a metal-containing compound which causes a crosslinking reaction with the resin binder may be contained.

As the reactive metal compound used in the present invention, those containing the following metal ions can be used. Suitable monovalent metal ions include Na ⁺ , Li ⁺ , Cs ⁺ , Ag ⁺ , H
g ⁺ , Cu ^{+ and the} like.
e ²⁺ , Mg ²⁺ , Ca ²⁺ , Hg ²⁺ , Sn ²⁺ , Pb ²⁺ , Fe
²⁺ , Co ²⁺ , Ni ²⁺ , Zn ²⁺ and the like. The trivalent ions include Al ³⁺ , Sc ³⁺ , Fe ³⁺ , Co ³⁺ , and N ³
i ³⁺ , Cr ³⁺ and the like. Among the compounds containing metal ions as described above, the more decomposable, the better the results. This is presumed to be due to the fact that the metal ion in the compound is more easily bonded to the carboxyl group in the polymer by the thermal decomposition in the decomposable one.

Among the reactive metal compounds, the organometallic compounds are excellent in compatibility and dispersibility with the polymer, and the crosslinking by the reaction with the metal compound proceeds more uniformly in the polymer, so that more excellent results are obtained. . Among the reactive organometallic compounds as described above, those containing an organic compound which is particularly highly vaporizable and sublimable as a ligand and a counter ion are useful.
Among the organic compounds that form a ligand or a counter ion with a metal ion, those having the above properties include, for example, salicylic acid, salicylamide, salicylamine, salicylaldehyde, salicylosalicylic acid, ditert-
Salicylic acid and its derivatives such as butylsalicylic acid; for example, β such as acetylacetone and propionacetone
-Diketones; for example, low molecular weight carboxylate such as acetate and propionic acid.

The amount of the metal compound used in the present invention is:
0.1 to 20 parts by mass, preferably 0.5 to 10 parts by mass is desirable per 100 parts by mass of the binder resin.

In the present invention, one or more waxes are preferably contained in the toner, if necessary.

For example, aliphatic hydrocarbon waxes such as low molecular weight polyethylene, low molecular weight polypropylene, microcrystalline wax and paraffin wax;
Oxides of aliphatic hydrocarbon waxes such as oxidized polyethylene wax, or block copolymers thereof; waxes mainly containing fatty acid esters such as carnauba wax, sasol wax, montanic acid ester wax, and deacidification Fatty acid esters such as carnauba wax are partially or entirely deoxidized. In addition, saturated linear fatty acids such as palmitic acid, stearic acid, and montanic acid; unsaturated fatty acids such as brassic acid, eleostearic acid, and vinaric acid, stearyl alcohol, aralkyl alcohol, behenyl alcohol, carnaubyl alcohol, and seryl alcohol And polyhydric alcohols such as sorbitol; fatty acid amides such as linoleic acid amide, oleic acid amide and lauric acid amide;
Saturated fatty acid bisamides such as methylenebisstearic acid amide, ethylenebiscapric acid amide, ethylenebislauric acid amide, hexamethylenebisstearic acid amide; ethylenebisoleic acid amide, hexamethylenebisoleic acid amide, N, N'-dioxide Unsaturated fatty acid amides such as rail adipamide and N, N'-dioleyl sebacamide; aromatic bisamides such as m-xylene bisstearic acid amide and N, N'-distearyl isophthalic amide; Grafting of fatty acid metal salts such as calcium phosphate, calcium laurate, zinc stearate, and magnesium stearate (commonly referred to as metal soaps), and aliphatic hydrocarbon waxes with vinyl monomers such as styrene and acrylic acid Transformed And waxes, also partial esters of fatty acids with polyhydric alcohols such as behenic acid monoglyceride, also like methyl ester compounds having hydroxyl groups obtained by and hydrogenated vegetable oils.

The wax which is particularly preferably used in the present invention comprises a hydrocarbon having a straight-chain alkyl group having a small number of branches. Specifically, a wax obtained by radical polymerization of alkylene under high pressure or polymerization of Zylene under low pressure by a Ziegler catalyst is used. Alkylene polymer having a high molecular weight, an alkylene polymer obtained by thermally decomposing a high molecular weight alkylene polymer,
A wax such as a synthetic hydrocarbon obtained from the distillation residue of hydrocarbons obtained from the synthesis gas composed of carbon monoxide and hydrogen by the Age method or by hydrogenation thereof is preferred. Further, those obtained by separating a hydrocarbon wax by use of a press sweating method, a solvent method, vacuum distillation or a separation crystallization method are more preferably used. Hydrocarbons as a parent are
Synthesized by the reaction of carbon monoxide and hydrogen using a metal oxide-based catalyst (often a multi-component system of two or more types),
For example, hydrocarbons having up to several hundred carbons, ethylene, etc., obtained by the Zintall method, the hydrochol method (using a fluidized catalyst bed), or the Aage method (using a fixed catalyst bed), which produces a large amount of waxy hydrocarbons Hydrocarbons obtained by polymerizing the above alkylene with a Ziegler catalyst are preferred because they are linear hydrocarbons having a small number of branches, a small number of branches and a long saturation. Particularly, a wax synthesized by a method not based on the polymerization of alkylene is preferable in view of its molecular weight distribution.

In the present invention, the molecular weight distribution of the wax is in the range of 400 to 2400, preferably 450 to 2400.
000, particularly preferably 500 to 1600. By providing such a molecular weight distribution, the toner can have favorable thermal characteristics.

In the present invention, the wax has an acid value of 0 to 1 m.
gKOH / g, and a hydroxyl value of 0 to 1 mgKOH / g
It is preferred that If the acid value is more than 1 mgKOH / g, the wax is finely dispersed in the binder resin, plasticization of the toner at the time of melting easily progresses, and the toner fuses on the toner carrier at the time of durability, and streaks are generated. I do. On the other hand, if the hydroxyl value is more than 1 mgKOH / g, the wax domain diameter becomes small, so that sufficient hydrophobicity cannot be imparted to the toner particles, and the hydrophobic inorganic fine powder hardly electrostatically adheres to the toner surface,
Not a few streaks are generated in the aggregate of the released hydrophobic inorganic fine powder.

The amount of the wax used in the present invention is desirably 0.1 to 30 parts by weight, preferably 5 to 20 parts by weight, per 100 parts by weight of the binder resin.

The coloring agent used in the present invention includes one component,
Regardless of the two components, carbon black, titanium white,
Any pigment and / or dye can be used, and the magnetic material may also serve as the colorant.

Examples of the magnetic material include iron oxides such as magnetite, maghemite, and ferrite, and iron oxides containing other metal oxides; metals such as Fe, Co, and Ni; or metals such as Al, Co, Cu, Pb, Mg, N
i, Sn, Zn, Sb, Be, Bi, Cd, Ca, M
Alloys with metals such as n, Se, Ti, W, and V, and mixtures thereof, and the like.

As the magnetic material, conventionally, triiron tetroxide (F
e ₃ O ₄ ), iron sesquioxide (γ-Fe ₂ O ₃ ), zinc iron oxide (ZnFe ₂ O ₄ ), yttrium iron oxide (Y ₃ Fe
₅ O ₁₂ ), cadmium iron oxide (CdFe ₂ O ₄ ), gadolinium iron oxide (Gd ₃ Fe ₅ O ₁₂ ), copper iron oxide (CuFe
₂ O ₄ ), lead iron oxide (PbFe ₁₂ O ₁₉ ), nickel iron oxide (NiFe ₂ O ₄ ), iron neodymium oxide (NdFe ₂ O ₃ ),
Barium iron oxide (BaFe ₁₂ O ₁₉ ), iron magnesium oxide (MgFe ₂ O ₄ ), iron manganese oxide (MnFe
₂ O ₄ ), iron oxide lanthanum (LaFeO ₃ ), iron powder (F
e), cobalt powder (Co), nickel powder (Ni) and the like are known. In the present invention, the above-mentioned magnetic materials can be used alone or in combination of two or more kinds. Particularly preferred magnetic materials are fine powders of iron tetroxide or γ-iron sesquioxide.

These ferromagnetic materials have an average particle size of 0.1 to 2
At about μm, the magnetic properties when applying 795.8 kA / m (10 k Oersted) show a coercive force of 1.6 to 12 kA / m.
(20-150 Oersted), saturation magnetization 50-200
Am ² / kg (preferably 50~100Am ² / kg),
Those having a residual magnetization of ^{2 to 20} Am ² / kg are desirable.

The magnetic substance 1 was added to 100 parts by mass of the binder resin.
It is preferable to use 0 to 200 parts by mass, preferably 20 to 150 parts by mass.

When the toner of the present invention is used as a color toner, C.I. I. Direct Red 1, C.I. I. Direct Red 4, C.I. I. Acid Red 1, C.I. I. Basic Red 1, C.I.
I. Modant Red 30, C.I. I. Direct Blue 1, C.I. I. Direct Blue 2, C.I. I. Acid Blue 9, C.I. I. Acid Blue 15, C.I. I. Basic Blue 3, C.I. I. Basic Blue 5, C.I. I.
Modant Blue 7, C.I. I. Direct Green 6,
C. I. Basic Green 4, C.I. I. Basic Green 6 and the like. Examples of pigments include: graphite, cadmium yellow, mineral fast yellow, navel yellow, naphthol yellow S, Hansa yellow G, permanent yellow NCG, tartrazine lake, red-mouthed graphite, molybdenum orange, permanent orange GT
R, pyrazolone orange, benzidine orange G, cadmium red, permanent red 4R, watching red calcium salt, eosin lake, brilliant carmine 3B, manganese purple, fast violet B, methyl violet lake, navy blue, cobalt blue, alkaline blue lake, Victoria Blue Lake, Phthalocyanine Blue, First Sky Blue, Indanthrene Blue BC, Chrome Green, Chromium Oxide, Pigment Green B, Malachite Green Lake, Final Yellow Green G and the like.

The amount of the colorant used is 0.1 to 60 parts by mass, preferably 0.5 to 60 parts by mass, based on 100 parts by mass of the binder resin.
50 parts by mass.

It is preferable to use hydrophobic inorganic fine powder for the toner of the present invention. When an inorganic fine powder having no hydrophobicity is used, it is difficult to simultaneously reduce the scraping and flaws of the toner carrier and the toner layer thickness regulating member and improve the developing characteristics.

Examples of the hydrophobic inorganic fine powder that can be used in the present invention include fine powders of inorganic oxides and hydrophobicized products such as inorganic carbonate compounds. In particular, hydrophobic silica fine powder, hydrophobic titanium oxide fine powder and the like are preferably used.

In the present invention, it is preferable to treat the inorganic fine powder with an organosilicon compound, for example, a silane coupling agent, in order to improve the hydrophobicity.

Examples of the silane coupling agent used in the hydrophobizing treatment include hexamethyldisilazane, trimethylsilane, trimethylchlorosilane, trimethylethoxysilane, dimethyldichlorosilane, methyltrichlorosilane, allyldimethylchlorosilane, and allyl. Phenyldichlorosilane, benzyldimethylchlorosilane,
Bromomethyldimethylchlorosilane, α-chloroethyltrichlorosilane, β-chloroethyltrichlorosilane, chloromethyldimethylchlorosilane, triorganosilylmercaptan, trimethylsilylmercaptan,
Triorganosilyl acrylate, vinyldimethylacetoxysilane, dimethylethoxysilane, dimethyldimethoxysilane, diphenyldiethoxysilane, hexamethyldisiloxane, 1,3-divinyltetramethyldisiloxane, 1,3-diphenyltetramethyldisiloxane and one molecule For example, a dimethylpolysiloxane containing 2 to 12 siloxane units per unit and a hydroxyl unit containing a hydroxyl group bonded to Si is located at one terminal unit.
These are used alone or as a mixture of two or more.

The silica fine powder is treated with a silane coupling agent by a dry treatment in which a vaporized silane coupling agent is reacted with ground silica fine powder by stirring or the like, or a silane coupling agent in which silica is dispersed in a solvent. The treatment can be carried out by a generally known method such as a wet method in which a coupling agent is dropped.

In the present invention, treatment with an organosilicon compound, for example, silicone oil or the like is preferred for improving hydrophobicity. Preferred silicone oils include:
The viscosity at 25 ° C. is about 30 to 1000 mm ² / s
Is used.

In the case of the negatively chargeable silica fine powder, for example, dimethyl silicone oil, alkyl-modified silicone oil, α-methylstyrene-modified silicone oil, chlorophenyl silicone oil, fluorine-modified silicone oil and the like are preferable.

In the case of positively chargeable silica, it is preferable to treat with a silicone oil having an organo group having at least one nitrogen atom in a side chain, or a nitrogen-containing silane coupling agent.

In the method of treating with silicone oil, for example, inorganic fine powder treated with a silane coupling agent and silicone oil may be directly mixed using a mixer such as a Henschel mixer. Alternatively, it may be prepared by dissolving or dispersing a silicone oil in an appropriate solvent, mixing with a base silica fine powder, and removing the solvent.

In the present invention, the hydrophobizing treatment is applied by chemically treating with an organic silicon compound or the like which reacts with or physically adsorbs the inorganic fine powder. As a preferable method, a method of treating an inorganic fine powder with a silane coupling agent, or simultaneously with a treatment with a silane coupling agent, with an organosilicon compound such as silicone oil may be mentioned. Specifically, the method includes preparing an inorganic fine powder by treating it with dimethyldichlorosilane, then treating it with hexamethyldisilazane, and then treating it with silicone oil.

It is particularly preferred that the inorganic fine powder is treated with two or more silane coupling agents as described above and then treated with oil since the degree of hydrophobicity can be effectively increased.

Among the hydrophobic inorganic fine powders, those having a specific surface area of 30 m ² / g or more (particularly 50 to 400 m ² / g) measured by the BET method using nitrogen adsorption are preferably used.

The hydrophobic inorganic fine powder of the present invention preferably has a carbon content of 4.5 to 12.0% by mass. If the amount is less than 4.5% by mass, the hydrophobicity of the inorganic fine particles becomes insufficient, and the effect of the present invention cannot be obtained. If it is more than 12.0% by mass, the adhesion of the inorganic fine powder itself becomes strong, and a lump (so-called fine powder lump) is formed, and adverse effects such as development streaks and fusion occur.

The carbon content is determined by the following method. The carbon contained in the surface hydrophobic group of the inorganic fine powder is 11
After pyrolysis into CO ₂ at 00 ° C. in an oxygen atmosphere, the amount of carbon contained in the silica was analyzed using a trace carbon analyzer (WMIA-110 manufactured by Horiba).

An external additive other than silica fine powder or titanium oxide fine powder may be added to the toner of the present invention, if necessary. For example, a lubricant such as Teflon (registered trademark), zinc stearate, and polyvinylidene fluoride, among which polyvinylidene fluoride is preferable. Or cerium oxide,
Abrasives such as silicon carbide and strontium titanate, among which strontium titanate are preferred. Alternatively, for example, a fluidity-imparting agent such as titanium oxide and aluminum oxide, particularly a hydrophobic agent is preferable. A small amount of an anti-caking agent, or a conductivity-imparting agent such as carbon black, zinc oxide, antimony oxide, or tin oxide, or white and black fine particles of opposite polarity can also be used as a developability improver. If necessary, resin fine particles may be added internally or externally to such an extent that the fixability is not impaired. For example, vinyl-based resin fine particles are produced by an emulsion polymerization method, a spray drying method, or the like. Preferably, styrene,
Acrylic acid, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate, diethylaminoethyl methacrylate, N-methyl-N-phenylethyl methacrylate, diethylaminoethyl methacrylamide, dimethylaminoethyl methacrylamide, 4-vinylpyridine, 2-vinylpyridine Resin particles obtained by copolymerizing a vinyl monomer such as above or a mixture of these monomers by an emulsion polymerization method are preferred.

The resin fine particles, inorganic fine powder or hydrophobic inorganic fine powder mixed with the toner is used in an amount of 0.1 to 5 parts by mass (preferably 0.1 to 3 parts by mass) based on 100 parts by mass of the toner. Is good.

In the toner used in the present invention, it is preferable that a charge control agent is blended (internally added) with toner particles or mixed (externally added) with toner particles. The charge control agent makes it possible to control the charge amount adapted to other systems such as a developing system. In particular, in the present invention, this makes it possible to optimize the charge amount of the toner on the transfer material. And good transferability is obtained.

When the toner of the present invention has a negative triboelectric property,
Examples of the charge control agent include organometallic complexes, metal salts, chelate compounds such as monoazo metal complexes, acetylacetone metal complexes, hydroxycarboxylic acids, metal complexes, polycarboxylic acid metal complexes, and polyol metal complexes. Also, metal complex salts of carboxylic acids, carboxylic anhydrides,
Condensates of carboxylic acid derivatives such as esters, aromatic compounds, bisphenols, phenol derivatives such as calixarenes, copolymers of styrene / acrylic monomers and sulfonic acid-containing acrylamide monomers, etc. No.

The negative charge control agent for the dye compound is represented by, for example, the following general formula.

[0118]

Embedded image [Wherein, M represents a coordination center metal, and Cr, C
o, Ni, Mn, Fe and the like. Ar is an aryl group, such as a phenyl group or a naphthyl group, which may have a substituent. In this case, as a substituent,
Examples include a nitro group, a halogen group, a carboxyl group, an anilide group, an alkyl group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms, and an alkoxy group. X, X ', Y and Y' are -O-, -CO-, -NH
-Or -NR- (R is an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms)
It is. A ⁺ represents hydrogen, sodium ion, potassium ion, ammonium ion, or aliphatic ammonium ion. ]

As a more effective charge control agent usable in the present invention, a copolymer of a styrene / acrylic monomer and a sulfonic acid-containing acrylamide monomer is preferably used. This copolymer is preferable in terms of compatibility and dispersibility in a toner to which a large amount of wax is added, and can improve the total toner performance.

The styrene / acrylic monomer used in the charge control agent is appropriately selected from the above-mentioned vinyl monomers for producing a vinyl polymer.

The sulfonic acid-containing acrylamide monomers include 2-acrylamidopropanesulfonic acid,
2-acrylamide-n-butanesulfonic acid, 2-acrylamide-n-hexanesulfonic acid, 2-acrylamide-n-octanesulfonic acid, 2-acrylamide-
n-dodecanesulfonic acid, 2-acrylamide-n-tetradecanesulfonic acid, 2-acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid, 2-acrylamide-2-phenylpropanesulfonic acid, 2-acrylamide-2,
2,4-trimethylpentanesulfonic acid, 2-acrylamido-2-methylphenylethanesulfonic acid, 2-acrylamido-2- (4-chlorophenyl) propanesulfonic acid, 2-acrylamido-2-carboxymethylpropanesulfonic acid, 2- Acrylamide-2- (2-
Pyridyl) propanesulfonic acid, 2-acrylamide-
1-methylpropanesulfonic acid, 3-acrylamide-
3-methylbutanesulfonic acid, 2-methacrylamide-
Examples thereof include n-decanesulfonic acid and 2-methacrylamide-n-tetradecanesulfonic acid. Preferably, 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid is used.

The polymerization initiator used when synthesizing the charge control resin is appropriately selected from the initiators used when producing the above-mentioned vinyl copolymer. Preferably, a peroxide initiator is used. The method for synthesizing the charge control resin is not particularly limited, and any method such as solution polymerization, suspension polymerization, or bulk polymerization can be used.However, solution polymerization in which an organic solvent containing a lower alcohol is copolymerized is used. preferable.

The copolymerization ratio between the styrene / acrylic monomer and the sulfonic acid-containing acrylamide monomer is 98: 98 in consideration of stabilizing charging characteristics and environmental characteristics.
2 to 80:20 and a weight average molecular weight of 2000 to 1
Preferably, the polymer is 5000.

In the case where the toner of the present invention has a positive triboelectric property, the charge control agent may be modified with nigrosine or a fatty acid metal salt;
Onium salts such as quaternary ammonium salts such as hydroxy-4-naphthosulfonate and tetrabutylammonium tetrafluoroborate and their analogs such as phosphonium salts, and lake pigments thereof, triphenylmethane dyes and these lake pigments ( Lake agents include phosphotungsten molybdic acid, tannic acid, lauric acid,
Gallic acid, ferricyanic acid, ferrocyanide, etc.), metal salts of higher fatty acids; diorganotin oxides, such as dibutyltin oxide, dioctyltin oxide, dicyclohexyltin oxide; diorganotin borates, such as dibutyltin borate; guanidine compounds, imidazole Compounds can be used alone or in combination of two or more. Among these, a triphenylmethane compound and a quaternary ammonium salt whose counter ion is not halogen are preferably used. Also, the general formula

[0125]

Embedded image [In the formula, R ₁ represents H, CH ₃ , and R ₂ , R ₃ represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group (preferably, C1 to C4). And a copolymer with a polymer monomer such as styrene, acrylate or methacrylate described above. The charge control agent in these cases also has an action as (all or part of) the binder resin.

One or more of the above can be contained. The content of the charge control agent is set to 0.1 to 100 parts by mass of the binder resin of the toner in consideration of controlling the fluidity and the amount of charge of the toner to avoid generation of fog and low concentration.
To 5 parts by mass, particularly preferably 0.2 to 3 parts by mass.

The toner particles used in the present invention have a weight average particle diameter of 5 to 12 μm (more preferably 5 to 9 μm) in consideration of controlling the fluidity of the toner to avoid generation of development streaks. It is preferable that

To prepare the magnetic toner of the present invention, a binder resin, a magnetic substance (and a colorant), a charge controlling agent or other additives are sufficiently mixed by a mixer such as a Henschel mixer or a ball mill, and the mixture is kneaded. Melting, kneading and kneading using a hot kneader such as an extruder to make the resins compatible with each other, cooling and solidifying the melt-kneaded material, pulverizing the solidified substance, classifying the pulverized substance, and classifying the magnetic material of the present invention. A toner can be obtained. Other methods include dispersing the constituent materials in a binder resin solution and then spray drying to obtain a toner, or mixing a predetermined material with a monomer to form the binder resin and emulsifying the mixture. There is a method for producing a toner by a polymerization method in which a suspension is formed and then polymerized to obtain a toner. The toner according to the present invention may be a microcapsule toner composed of a core material and a shell material.

Further, the hydrophobic inorganic fine powder, other inorganic fine powder, and the magnetic toner are sufficiently mixed by a mixer such as a Henschel mixer to obtain the toner of the present invention having an additive on the surface of the toner particles.

The following are generally used apparatuses for producing toner, but are not limited thereto.

(1) Example of pulverizing apparatus for toner production Apparatus Manufacturer Manufacturer Counterjet Mill Hosokawa Micron Micron Jet Hosokawa Micron IDS Mill Nippon Pneumatic Industries PJM Jet Pulverizer Nippon Pneumatic Industries Cross Jet Mill Awamoto Iron Works・ Ulmax Nisso Engineering ・ SK Jet O-Mill Seishin Company ・ Cryptron Kawasaki Heavy Industries ・ Turbomill Turbo Industries ・ Innomizer Hosokawa Micron

(2) Example of Mixing Device for Toner Production Device Name Manufacturer Henschel Mixer Mitsui Mine ・ Super Mixer Kawata ・ Ribo Cone Okawara Seisakusho ・ Nauta Mixer Hosokawa Micron ・ Spiral Pin Mixer Taiheiyo Kiko ・ Redige Mixer Matsubo ・ Turbulizer Hosokawa Micron・ Cyclomix Hosokawa Micron

(3) Classifier for toner production Name of device Manufacturer Manufacturer Crasheal Seishin Company Micron Classifier Seishin Company Spedic Classifier Seishin Company Turbo Classifier Nisshin Engineering Micron Separator Hosokawa Micron Turboplex (ATP) Hosokawa Micron-TSP Separator Hosokawa Micron-Elbow Jet Nippon Steel Mining-Dispersion Separator Nippon Pneumatic-YM Microcut Yasukawa Shoji

(4) Example of kneading device for toner production Device name Manufacturer KRC Kneader Kurimoto Iron Works ・ Bus Co Kneader Buss ・ TEM Extruder Toshiba Machine ・ TEX twin screw kneader Japan Steel Works ・ PCM Kneader Ikekai Iron Works・ 3 roll mill Inoue Works ・ Mixing roll mill Inoue Works ・ Kneader Inoue Works ・ Kneedex Mitsui Mine ・ MS pressurized kneader Moriyama Works ・ Nidar Ruder Moriyama Works ・ Banbury Mixer Kobe Steel

(5) Example of sieve device for toner production Device name Manufacturer・ Ultrasonic Koei Sangyo ・ Resona Sieve Tokuju Works ・ Vibrasonic System Dalton ・ Soniclean Shinto Works ・ Gyro Shifter Tokuju Works ・ Circular vibrating sieve manufacturer・ Turbo screener turbo industry ・ Mitaro shifter Makino Sangyo

The physical properties of the toner according to the present invention are measured by various measuring instruments in accordance with the methods, and the measuring methods are described below.

(1) Measurement of the center line surface roughness of the contact portion between the toner carrier and the toner layer thickness regulating member The surface roughness of the toner carrier was measured using a surface roughness meter SE-3300H manufactured by Kosaka Laboratory. The measurement conditions were a cutoff of 0.8 mm, a measurement distance of 8.0 mm, and a feed rate of 0.
The measurement average of 12 places (3 places in the longitudinal direction / 4 places in the circumferential direction) was taken at 5 mm / sec.

The surface roughness of the toner layer thickness regulating member was measured except that the measurement points were averaged at three points (three points in the longitudinal direction).
This was performed in the same manner as the toner carrier.

All surface roughnesses conform to the JIS center line average roughness notation.

(2) Measurement of average circularity The catalog of FPIA-1000 (June 1995 version) issued by Toa Medical Electronics Co., Ltd., the operation manual of the measuring device, and the method described in JP-A-8-136439. But
It is as follows.

The sample dispersion liquid is passed through a flow path (spread along the flow direction) of a flat and flat transparent flow cell (about 200 μm thick). The strobe and the CCD camera are mounted on the flow cell so as to be positioned on opposite sides of the flow cell so as to form an optical path that intersects with the thickness of the flow cell. While the sample dispersion is flowing, strobe light is irradiated at 1/30 second intervals to obtain an image of the particles flowing through the flow cell, so that each particle has a range parallel to the flow cell 2
Photographed as a two-dimensional image. The diameter of a circle having the same area is calculated as the equivalent circle diameter from the area of the two-dimensional image of each particle.

In about 1 minute, the equivalent circle diameter of 900 or more particles can be measured, and the number based on the equivalent circle diameter distribution and the ratio (number%) of the particles having the specified equivalent circle diameter can be measured. .

(3) Measurement of Particle Size The particle size can be measured by various methods. In the present invention, a Coulter Multisizer (manufactured by Coulter Co., Ltd.) is used. % NaCl aqueous solution is prepared. As the electrolytic solution, for example, ISOTON R-II (manufactured by Coulter Scientific Japan) can be used. As a measurement method, 0.1 to 5 ml of a surfactant, preferably an alkylbenzene sulfonate, is added as a dispersant to 100 to 150 ml of the electrolytic aqueous solution, and the measurement sample is further added to 0.002 to 0.002.
Add ~ 0.020 g. The electrolytic solution in which the sample is suspended is subjected to a dispersion treatment for about 1 to 3 minutes using an ultrasonic disperser, and the sample solution is added to a cell of the measuring device by a pipette or the like. In addition, using a 100 μm aperture as the aperture, a 2 μm
The volume and number of the toner were measured to calculate the volume distribution and the number distribution. The weight average diameter D according to the present invention was determined from the weight standard average diameter (D4: the median value of each channel is a representative value for each channel) obtained from the volume distribution.

(4) Measurement of glass transition temperature Tg Tg is measured by a differential thermal analyzer (DSC analyzer), DSC
-7 (manufactured by PerkinElmer). The measurement sample is precisely weighed in an amount of 5 to 20 mg, preferably 10 mg. This is put in an aluminum pan, and an empty aluminum pan is used as a reference, and the measurement is performed at a temperature rising rate of 10 ° C./min under a normal temperature and a normal humidity in a measurement temperature range of 30 to 200 ° C. In this heating process, an endothermic peak of a main peak in a temperature range of 40 to 100 ° C. is obtained. The intersection between the line of the midpoint of the baseline before and after the endothermic peak appears and the differential heat curve is defined as the glass transition temperature Tg in the present invention.

(5) Measurement of Molecular Weight The molecular weight is determined as the molecular weight of a chromatogram by GPC (gel permeation chromatography) and is measured under the following conditions.

That is, the column was stabilized in a heat chamber at 40 ° C., and THF (tetrahydrofuran) was passed through the column at this temperature at a flow rate of 1 ml per minute, and the sample concentration was 0.05 to 0.6 mass. % Of the THF sample solution of the resin adjusted to 50% to 200 μl is measured. In measuring the molecular weight of the sample, the molecular weight distribution of the sample was calculated from the relationship between the logarithmic value of a calibration curve prepared from several kinds of monodisperse polystyrene standard samples and the count number. As a standard polystyrene sample for preparing a calibration curve, for example, Pressure Chemical
Co. Or Toyo Soda Kogyo Co., Ltd. with a molecular weight of 6
× 10 ² , 2.1 × 10 ³ , 4 × 10 ³ , 1.75 × 1
0 ⁴ , 5.1 × 10 ⁴ , 1.1 × 10 ⁵ , 3.9 × 10 ⁵ ,
It is suitable to use 8.6 × 10 ⁵ , 2 × 10 ⁶ , and 4.48 × 10 ⁶ , and to use at least about 10 standard polystyrene samples. An RI (refractive index) detector is used as the detector.

[0147] As the column, 10 ³ to 2 × 10 ⁶
In order to accurately measure the molecular weight region of the polystyrene gel column, it is preferable to combine a plurality of commercially available polystyrene gel columns.
μ-styragel 500,1 manufactured by ters
0 ³ , 10 ⁴ , 10 ⁵ , and Showa Denko sho
dex KA-801, 802, 803, 804, 80
A combination of 5,806,807 is preferred.

[0148]

The present invention will be described below with reference to production examples and examples. However, this does not limit the present invention in any way.

<Example 1> Binder resin 100 parts by mass (styrene / n-butyl acrylate copolymer monomer ratio 80:20, Mn: 8900, Mw: 140000, Tg: 62 ° C., P1: 12000, P2: 690,000)-Magnetic iron oxide 90 parts by mass-Polyethylene 4 parts by mass-Monoazo type iron complex salt 2 parts by mass After premixing the above materials with a Henschel mixer, 130
Melt kneading was performed at 2 ° C. by a twin screw kneading extruder. After allowing the kneaded product to cool, coarsely pulverized by a cutter mill, pulverized by a fine pulverizer using shear stress, and further classified by an air classifier, the magnetic toner particles having a weight average particle diameter of 4.7 μm. I got

Further, 2.0% by mass of silica P1 (BET 300 m ² / g) shown in Table 2 was added to the magnetic toner, and externally added with a Henschel mixer to prepare a toner T1 shown in Table 1.

Table 1 shows the measurement results of various physical properties of this magnetic toner by the methods described above.

Using this externally added toner, a laser beam printer LBP470 manufactured by Canon having the configuration shown in FIG.
Using a remodeled machine (toner carrier center line surface roughness 3.21 μm, outer diameter 15 mm, peripheral speed 150 mm / s; toner layer thickness regulating member surface roughness 0.20 μm), endurance of 4,000 sheets at room temperature and normal humidity (23 C., 60% RH), and the image characteristics were evaluated by the following evaluation methods. As a result, the results shown in Table 3 were obtained.

The initial drivability of the process cartridge was evaluated. ：: Image can be output from the beginning without any problem and there is no problem in image quality. Δ: When the machine can be driven and printed from the beginning and there is no problem with a character image, but slight pitch unevenness of a driving factor is confirmed in a halftone image with a varied printing ratio. X: When the initial image cannot be output without driving the machine.

In the vicinity of the contact portion between the sample and the toner carrier and the toner layer thickness regulating member during durability, the influence of the turned up toner layer thickness regulating member on the printout image was visually evaluated. ：: Not generated. Δ: There is no effect on the image, but the contact of the toner layer thickness regulating member at the end of the toner carrier changes during the period from the initial stage to the endurance. X: When the toner layer thickness regulating member is turned up to cause an image defect.

The state of occurrence of streaks recognized in the sample during durability and the influence on the printout image were visually evaluated. ：: not generated Δ: streaks observed on the back side of the image are less than 5 points, and there is no effect on the image ×: streaks observed on the back side of the image are 10 points or more, causing image defects

<Examples 2 to 5> Toners were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the toner particle size and the type and amount of the external additive were changed. Toners T2 to T5 in Table 1 were obtained. Table 1 shows the measurement results of various physical properties of the toner by the methods described above.

An image was formed with the toner by the image forming method shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, and the same evaluation as in Example 1 was carried out. As a result, the results shown in Table 3 were obtained.

<Examples 6 and 7> The binder resin was a polyester resin [Mn: 2000, Mw: 505000, Tg: 6]
5 ° C., P1: 3000, P2: 104,000]
Toners were prepared by changing the toner particle size, the type and amount of the external additive, and the toners T6 to T7 in Table 1 were obtained. Table 1 shows the measurement results of various physical properties of the toner by the methods described above.

An image was formed using the toner and the image forming method shown in FIG. 2, and the same evaluation as in Example 1 was performed.
The result as shown in FIG.

Comparative Examples 1 to 3 Toners T8 to T9 shown in Table 1 were obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the particle size of the toner and the type and amount of the external additive were changed. Table 1 shows the measurement results of various physical properties of the toner by the methods described above.

An image was formed using the toner and the image forming method shown in FIG. 1, and the same evaluation as in Example 1 was performed.
The result as shown in FIG.

[0162]

[Table 1]

[0163]

[Table 2]

[0164]

[Table 3]

[0165]

As described above, by using the image forming toner and the image forming method of the present invention, the initial drivability of the developing device is ensured, and the occurrence of the turning-up of the toner layer thickness regulating member and the development streaks is suppressed. Image forming toner, an image forming method, and a process cartridge.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of an image forming method and a process cartridge used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory view of another image forming method and a process cartridge used in an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 electrostatic image carrier (photosensitive drum) 2 charging member 3 exposure device 4 toner carrier (developing sleeve) 4a toner layer thickness regulating member (developing blade) 5 transfer unit 6 fixing unit 6a fixing roller 6b pressure roller 7 cleaning member 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b Transporting member 11 Developing unit 12, 12a Toner container 12b Replenishing toner container 13 Toner stirring means 14 Cleaning unit (C unit) 15 Cleaner container P Transfer material

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (Reference) G03G 15/08 504 G03G 15/08 504A 507 507L (72) Inventor Kazunori Kato 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Shigeto Urawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term within Canon Inc. (reference) 2H005 AA06 AA08 CA14 CB13 EA05 EA10 2H077 AD02 AD06 AD13 BA03 EA13 FA01

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. An image forming method, comprising: developing an electrostatic image by a developing unit having a toner to form a toner image on an electrostatic image carrier, wherein the developing unit develops the electrostatic image. Toner, a rotatable toner carrier for carrying and transporting the toner, and a toner layer thickness regulating member elastically pressed on the toner carrier via a toner layer. The centerline surface roughness X (μm) and the centerline surface roughness Y (μm) of the portion of the toner layer thickness regulating member in contact with the toner carrier.
m) satisfy the following expression (1): 0.50 ≦ X / Y ≦ 25.00 (1), the outer diameter of the toner carrier is 15 mm or less, and the circumferential speed of the surface is 65 mm / An image forming toner for use in an image forming method that rotates in seconds or more, wherein the toner has the following formula (2): a = L ₀ / L (2) (where L ₀ is the same projection as the particle image) L represents the perimeter of a circle having an area, and L represents the perimeter of a particle image.) The number of particles having a circularity a of 0.900 or more obtained from the number basis is 80% or more. toner. 2. The toner carrier having an outer diameter of 8 to 15
mm, and the circumferential speed of the toner carrier is 65 to 26.
2. The image forming toner according to claim 1, wherein the toner speed is 0 mm / sec. 3. A center line surface roughness X (μ) of the toner carrier.
m) and the center line surface roughness Y (μm) of the contact portion of the toner layer thickness regulating member with the toner carrier is expressed by the following expressions (3) to (5): 0.50 ≦ X / Y ≦ 15.00 (3) 0.20 ≦ X ≦ 3.00 (4) 0.10 ≦ Y ≦ 1.10 (5) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: toner. 4. An electrostatic image carrier is charged, the charged electrostatic image carrier is exposed to form an electrostatic image, and the electrostatic image is developed by developing means having a toner to form a toner image. It is formed on a charge image carrier, the formed toner image is transferred onto a transfer material with or without an intermediate transfer member, and the toner image transferred on the transfer material is fixed on the transfer material by a fixing unit. The image forming toner according to claim 1, wherein the toner is used in an image forming method for forming a fixed image by fixing the toner. 5. The toner has 90% or more particles having a circularity a of 0.900 or more calculated from the formula (2) and 90% or more based on the number of particles, and has a circularity a of 0.950 or more. Particles having a circularity a of 0.995 or more are present in an amount of 8% or more and a circularity a of 0.995 or more is present in a particle having a circularity a of 0 or more. .950
The image forming toner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the toner is present in a proportion occupying 12% or more of the cumulative value based on the number of particles. 6. The toner has at least toner particles and hydrophobic inorganic fine powder, the toner particles contain at least a binder resin, magnetic particles and wax, and the toner has a weight average diameter of 5 to 12 μm. The image forming toner according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein 7. An image forming method comprising at least a step of developing an electrostatic image by a developing means having a toner to form a toner image on an electrostatic image carrier, wherein the developing means develops the electrostatic image. Toner, a rotatable toner carrier for carrying and transporting the toner, and a toner layer thickness regulating member elastically pressed on the toner carrier via a toner layer. The centerline surface roughness X (μm) and the centerline surface roughness Y (μm) of the portion of the toner layer thickness regulating member in contact with the toner carrier.
m) satisfies the following expression (1): 0.50 ≦ X / Y ≦ 25.00 (1), and the toner carrier has an outer peripheral diameter of 15 mm or less, and a surface circumferential velocity of 65 mm /. The toner rotates in seconds or more. The toner has the following formula (2): a = L ₀ / L (2) (where L ₀ represents the circumference of a circle having the same projection area as the particle image, and Indicates the perimeter of the particle image.) An image forming method characterized in that particles have a circularity a of not less than 0.900 and not less than 80% on a number basis. 8. The toner carrier having an outer diameter of 8 to 15
mm, and the circumferential speed of the toner carrier is 65 to 26.
The image forming method according to claim 7, wherein the speed is 0 mm / sec. 9. The toner carrier having a center line surface roughness X (μ)
m) and the center line surface roughness Y (μm) of the abutting portion of the toner layer thickness regulating member with respect to the toner carrier are expressed by the following expressions (3) to (5): 0.50 ≦ X / Y ≦ 15.00 (3) 0.20 ≦ X ≦ 3.00 (4) 0.10 ≦ Y ≦ 1.10 (5) The image forming method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein: . 10. The toner according to claim 2, wherein the circularity a determined by the formula (2) is 90% or more based on the number of particles having a circularity a of 0.900 or more.
Particles having a circularity a of 0.950 or more exist in a number basis of 67% or more, particles having a circularity a of 0.995 or more exist in a number basis of 8% or more; When the a is 0.995 or more, the abundance of the particles is circularity a is 0.950.
The image forming method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the particles are present at a ratio occupying 12% or more of the cumulative value based on the number of particles. 11. The toner has at least toner particles and hydrophobic inorganic fine powder, the toner particles comprising a binder resin,
11. The image forming method according to claim 7, wherein the toner contains at least magnetic particles and a wax, and the toner has a weight average diameter of 5 to 12 [mu] m. 12. A process cartridge detachably mounted on an image forming apparatus main body, wherein the process cartridge includes an electrostatic image carrier for supporting an electrostatic image and a toner for developing the electrostatic image. Having a toner for developing an electrostatic image, a rotatable toner carrier for carrying and transporting the toner, and a toner layer on the toner carrier. At least a toner layer thickness regulating member elastically pressed into contact with the toner carrier, and a center line surface roughness X (μm) of the toner carrier and a contact portion of the toner layer thickness regulating member with the toner carrier. Center line surface roughness Y (μ
m) satisfies the following expression (1): 0.50 ≦ X / Y ≦ 25.00 (1), and the toner carrier has an outer peripheral diameter of 15 mm or less, and a surface circumferential velocity of 65 mm /. Or more, and the toner has the following formula (2): a = L ₀ / L (2) (where L ₀ represents the circumference of a circle having the same projected area as the particle image, and L represents the particle image). A process cartridge characterized by having 80% or more, based on the number, of particles having a circularity a of 0.900 or more as determined from a peripheral length. 13. The toner carrier having an outer diameter of 8 to 1
5 mm, and the circumferential speed of the toner carrier is 65 to 2
13. The process cartridge according to claim 12, wherein the speed is 60 mm / sec. 14. A center line surface roughness X of the toner carrier.
(Μm) and the center line surface roughness Y (μm) of the contact portion of the toner layer thickness regulating member with the toner carrier are as follows:
Expressions (5) Expression 0.50 ≦ X / Y ≦ 15.00 (3) 0.20 ≦ X ≦ 3.00 (4) 0.10 ≦ Y ≦ 1.10 (5) The process cartridge according to claim 12, wherein 15. The toner according to claim 2, wherein the circularity a determined by the expression (2) is 90% or more based on the number of particles having a circularity a of 0.900 or more.
Particles having a circularity a of 0.950 or more exist in a number basis of 67% or more, particles having a circularity a of 0.995 or more exist in a number basis of 8% or more; When the a is 0.995 or more, the abundance of the particles is circularity a is 0.950.
15. The process cartridge according to claim 12, wherein the particles are present in a ratio occupying 12% or more of the cumulative value based on the number of particles. 16. The toner has at least toner particles and hydrophobic inorganic fine powder, the toner particles comprising a binder resin,
16. The process cartridge according to claim 12, wherein the process cartridge contains at least magnetic particles and wax, and the toner has a weight average diameter of 5 to 12 [mu] m.