Production method of magnetic carrier and magnetic carrier produced therewith

• US 8,323,726 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2010
• Issued: 12/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Naka, Takeshi, Baba, Yoshinobu, Ishigami, Koh, Shiotari, Yoshiaki, Kamae, Kentaro
• Primary Examiner(s): Cleveland, Michael
• Assistant Examiner(s): TADAYYON ESLAMI, TABASSOM
• Application Number:
  US12/899,957
• Publication Number:
  US 20110024669A1
• Time in Patent Office: 789 Days
• Field of Search: 427/128, 427/127
• US Class Current: 427/127
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 9/1075 Structural characteristics of the carrier particles, e.g. shape or crystallographic structure
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 9/108 Ferrite carrier, e.g. magnetite
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 9/1085 with non-ferrous metal oxide, e.g. MgO-Fe2O3
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 9/113 having coatings applied thereto
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 9/1131 Coating methods; Structure of coatings
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 9/1132 Macromolecular components of coatings
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 9/1135 obtained otherwise than by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds

Abstract

When a surface of magnetic carrier core particles is coated with coating resin composition particles, the coating is conducted so that a surface of the magnetic carrier is free from cracks and chips and has fewer residual resin composition particles and a coating is uniform. In the method, a rotor having a plurality of stirring members on a surface thereof is rotated to coat the surface of magnetic carrier core particles with the resin composition particles. When the coating is conducted, while repeatedly conducting transportation in a direction of a driver and transportation in an anti-driver direction, the surface of the magnetic carrier core particles is coated with the resin composition. The resin composition particles has a 50% particle diameter (D50) based on volume of 0.2 μm or more to 6.0 μm or less and the proportion of particles of 10.0 μm or more is 2.0% by volume or less.

Claims

1. A method for producing a magnetic carrier, comprising coating a surface of magnetic carrier core particles with resin composition particles by a mechanical impact force to produce a magnetic carrier coated with a resin composition, wherein

the coating is conducted by the use of a coating apparatus comprising a rotor having at least a plurality of stirring members on a surface thereof, a driver for driving the rotor by rotation, and a body casing disposed with a gap from the stirring members;

the resin composition particles has a 50% particle diameter (D50) based on volume of from 0.2 μ

m or more to 6.0 μ

m or less and the proportion of particles of 10.0 μ

m or more is 2.0% by volume or less; and

the magnetic carrier core particles and the resin composition particles input in the coating apparatus are, by rotating the rotor, transported by a part of the stirring members in a direction of the driver which is one direction of an axial direction of the rotor and transported by another other part of the stirring members in an anti-driver direction which is a direction reverse to the axial direction of the rotor, followed by, while repeatedly conducting the transportation in the driver direction and the transportation in the anti-driver direction, coating the surface of the magnetic carrier core particles with the resin composition particles.

2. The method for producing a magnetic carrier according to claim 1, wherein when the total volume of the magnetic carrier core particles and the resin composition particles input in the coating apparatus is taken as A, a minimum gap between an inner peripheral surface of the body casing and the stirring member is taken as d, and the volume of a cylindrical space having a thickness d toward a center direction from the inner peripheral surface of the body casing is taken as B, the A and the B satisfy a relationship represented by the following formula:

1.1≦

A/B≦

4.0.

3. The method for producing magnetic carrier according to claim 1, wherein as to an arbitrary first stirring member and a second stirring member adjacent to the first stirring member on a downstream side in a direction of rotation, when the rotor is rotated, a trajectory of the first stirring member and a trajectory of the second stirring member overlap, when an overlapping width of the trajectories is taken as C, and maximum widths of the first and second stirring members are taken as D₁ and D₂ respectively, the overlapping width C and the maximum widths D of the first and second stirring members satisfy a relationship represented by the following formulas:

0.05≦

C/D₁≦

0.50 and

0.05≦

C/D₂≦

0.50.