Apparatus for heat-treating powder particles and method of producing toner

• US 9,671,707 B2
• Filed: 06/07/2012
• Issued: 06/06/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Minagawa, Hironori, Mizo, Yuichi, Takenaka, Kohji, Hagiwara, Junichi, Ito, Daisuke, Kawakita, Kunihiko, Kanai, Yasumori, Ohtsu, Takeshi, Kobori, Takakuni
• Primary Examiner(s): Chapman, Mark A
• Application Number:
  US14/125,573
• Publication Number:
  US 20140101966A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,825 Days
• Field of Search: 4301371, 4301372, 43013718
• CPC Class Codes: F26B 17/103 with specific material feeding arrangements, e.g. combined with disintegrating means
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 9/0804 whereby the components are brought together in a liquid dispersing medium
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 9/0806 whereby chemical synthesis of at least one of the toner components takes place
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 9/0808 by dry mixing the toner components in solid or softened state
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 9/081 by mixing the toner components in a liquefied state; melt kneading; reactive mixing
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 9/0812 Pretreatment of components
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 9/0815 Post-treatment

Abstract

Provided is an apparatus for heat treatment capable of heat-treating toner particles efficiently and uniformly while suppressing increase of coarse particles due to coalescence, to thereby enable stable toner production. The apparatus for heat-treating powder particles each of which contains a binder resin and a colorant includes: a cylindrical treatment chamber in which the powder particles are heat-treated; a columnar member (6) provided so as to protrude from a lower end part of the treatment chamber toward an upper end part thereof; a powder particle supply unit (2) for supplying the powder particles to the treatment chamber; a hot air supply unit (3) for heat-treating the supplied powder particles; and a collection unit (5) for collecting the heat-treated powder particles discharged outside the treatment chamber through a toner discharge port provided on the lower end part side of the treatment chamber. The hot air supply unit is provided so that the hot air is supplied along an inner circumferential surface of the treatment chamber. The powder particle supply unit includes multiple particle supply ports provided on an outer circumferential surface of the columnar member. The toner discharge port is provided in an outer circumferential portion of the treatment chamber so as to keep a rotation direction of the powder particles.

Claims

1. An apparatus for heat-treating powder particles each of which contains a binder resin and a colorant, the apparatus comprising:

(1) a treatment chamber having a cylindrical shape, in which the powder particles are heat-treated;

(2) a columnar member having a substantially circular shape in cross-section, the columnar member being provided on a center axis of the treatment chamber so as to protrude from a lower end part of the treatment chamber toward an upper end part of the treatment chamber;

(3) a powder particle supply unit which comprises multiple particle supply ports provided on an outer circumferential surface of the columnar member, for ejecting and supplying the powder particles to the treatment chamber;

(4) a hot air supply unit for supplying hot air for heat-treating the supplied powder particles; and

(5) a collection unit for collecting the heat-treated powder particles discharged outside the treatment chamber through a toner discharge port provided on the lower end part side of the treatment chamber, wherein

the hot air supply unit is provided so that the hot air is supplied while being rotated along an inner circumferential surface of the treatment chamber,

and

the toner discharge port is provided in an outer circumferential portion of the treatment chamber so as to keep a rotation direction of the powder particles.

2. The apparatus for heat-treatment powder particles according to claim 1, further comprising a cold air supply unit provided on an upstream side relative to the toner discharge port.

3. The apparatus for heat-treating powder particles according to claim 2, wherein the cold air supply unit is provided so that a direction of supplying cold air is in the same direction as the rotation direction of the powder particles.

4. The apparatus for heat-treating powder particles according to claim 1, wherein the powder particle supply unit is provided so that a direction of the powder particles ejected from the multiple particle supply ports is the same as a rotation direction of the hot air supplied from the hot air supply unit, and

the powder particle supply unit is directed to a downstream side of the hot air.

5. The apparatus for heat-treating powder particles according to claim 1, wherein the hot air supply unit is provided so that the hot air is supplied in a tangent direction of a horizontal surface of the apparatus for heat treatment from the outer circumferential portion of the treatment chamber, and

the hot air supply unit comprises multiple hot air supply units.

6. A method of producing toner, comprising heat-treating powder particles containing a binder resin and a colorant through use of an apparatus for heat treatment, to thereby obtain the toner, wherein

the apparatus for heat treatment comprises the apparatus for heat-treating powder particles according to claim 1.