IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD

• US 20120213546A1
• Filed: 08/04/2011
• Published: 08/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp. (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: KAWAMATA, Shinichi
• Granted Patent: US 8,611,800 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 399/101
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/161 with means for handling the intermediate support, e.g. heating, cleaning, coating with a transfer agent
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/162 details of the the intermediate support, e.g. chemical composition
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 21/0076 Plural or sequential cleaning devices
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/1661 of transfer belt
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2221/001 Plural sequential cleaning devices

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier; a charging unit; an electrostatic latent image forming unit; a development unit that houses an electrostatic latent image developer containing toner particles and inorganic particles added thereto and that develops the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image; an intermediate transfer body to which the toner image is transferred and the surface of which contains a resin material and fluorocarbon resin particles; a first transfer unit that first transfers the toner image to the surface of the intermediate transfer body; a second transfer unit that second transfers the transferred toner image to a recording medium; and a cleaning unit that cleans the surface of the intermediate transfer body after the toner image is second transferred to the recording medium, the cleaning unit including a cleaning blade provided in contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer body.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:

an image carrier;

a charging unit that charges the surface of the image carrier;

an electrostatic latent image forming unit that forms an electrostatic latent image by exposure of the charged surface of the image carrier;

a development unit that houses an electrostatic latent image developer containing a toner containing toner particles and inorganic particles externally added thereto and that develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier with the developer to form a toner image;

an intermediate transfer body to which the toner image formed on the surface of the image carrier is transferred and the surface of which contains a resin material and fluorocarbon resin particles;

a first transfer unit that first transfers the toner image formed on the surface of the image carrier to the surface of the intermediate transfer body;

a second transfer unit that second transfers the toner image transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer body to a recording medium; and

a cleaning unit that cleans the surface of the intermediate transfer body after the toner image transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer body is second transferred to the recording medium, the cleaning unit including a cleaning blade provided in contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer body.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning blade includes:

a first cleaning blade provided in contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer body so that the tip is directed to a direction opposite to the rotational direction of the intermediate transfer body; and

a second cleaning blade provided in contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer body so that the tip is directed to the rotational direction of the intermediate transfer body, the second cleaning blade being provided downstream of the first cleaning blade in the rotational direction of the intermediate transfer body.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner further contains lubricant particles externally added to the toner particles.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the toner further contains lubricant particles externally added to the toner particles.

5. An image forming method comprising:

charging the surface of an image carrier;

forming an electrostatic latent image by exposure of the charged surface of the image carrier;

developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier with an electrostatic latent image developer containing a toner to form a toner image, the toner containing toner particles and inorganic particles externally added thereto;

first transferring the toner image formed on the surface of the image carrier to a surface of an intermediate transfer body, the surface of the intermediate transfer body containing a resin material and fluorocarbon resin particles;

second transferring the toner image transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer body to a recording medium; and

cleaning the surface of the intermediate transfer body with a cleaning blade provided in contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer body after the toner image transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer body is second transferred to the recording medium.

6. The image forming method according to claim 5, wherein the cleaning includes:

first cleaning the surface of the intermediate transfer body with a first cleaning blade provided in contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer body so that the tip is directed to a direction opposite to the rotational direction of the intermediate transfer body; and

second cleaning the surface of the intermediate transfer body with a second cleaning blade provided in contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer body so that the tip is directed to the rotational direction of the intermediate transfer body, the second cleaning blade being provided downstream of the first cleaning blade in the rotational direction of the intermediate transfer body.

7. The image forming method according to claim 5, wherein the toner further contains lubricant particles externally added to the toner particles.

8. The image forming method according to claim 6, wherein the toner further contains lubricant particles externally added to the toner particles.