Elastic rotatable member
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An elastic rotatable member for fixing an unfixed image, said member comprising:
- a core member;
an elastic rubber layer comprising silicone rubber formed outside said core member; and
a surface layer of fluorine resin material formed outside said elastic layer;
wherein said surface layer is provided by forming an unsintered resin material layer together with liquid outside said elastic rubber layer and sintering the resin material by heating the resin material up to a temperature which is higher than that of said elastic rubber layer and which is higher than a melting temperature of the resin material.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An elastic rotatable member, includes an elastic rubber layer, a surface layer of resin formed on the elastic layer, wherein the surface layer is provided by applying resin material together with liquid to a surface of the elastic rubber layer and sintering the resin material by heating the resin material up to a sintering temperature thereof while keeping the elastic rubber layer below its durable temperature, wherein the heating is effected by dielectric heating to heat the resin material up to a higher temperature than that of the rubber layer.
61 Citations
117 Claims
-
1. An elastic rotatable member for fixing an unfixed image, said member comprising:
-
a core member; an elastic rubber layer comprising silicone rubber formed outside said core member; and a surface layer of fluorine resin material formed outside said elastic layer; wherein said surface layer is provided by forming an unsintered resin material layer together with liquid outside said elastic rubber layer and sintering the resin material by heating the resin material up to a temperature which is higher than that of said elastic rubber layer and which is higher than a melting temperature of the resin material. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 73, 99, 100, 116)
-
-
2. An elastic rotatable member for fixing an unfixed image, said member comprising:
-
a hollow metal core member; an elastic rubber layer comprising silicone rubber formed outside said core member; and a surface layer of fluorine resin material formed outside said elastic rubber layer; wherein said surface layer is not less than 10 microns thick and is provided by forming an unsintered resin material layer together with liquid outside said elastic rubber layer and sintering said resin material by heating said resin material up to a temperature which is higher than a crystalline melting temperature of said resin material and then quenching said resin material and said elastic rubber. - View Dependent Claims (9)
-
-
17. An elastic rotatable member for fixing an unfixed image, said member comprising:
-
a core member, an elastic rubber layer comprising silicone rubber formed outside said core member; a fluorine resin surface layer formed outside said elastic rubber layer, wherein said resin surface layer is provided by sintering resin material by heating it up to a temperature above a crystalline melting temperature thereof; and wherein said resin surface layer has a thickness not less than 10 microns and not more than 35 microns, said elastic rubber layer has an impact resilience of 42-85%, wherein the thickness of the resin surface layer T in microns and the impact resilience E in percent satisfies T<
0.75E-26.4; andwherein said resin surface layer has a film strength not less than 50 Kg/cm2. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75)
-
-
23. In an image fixing apparatus which includes a first rotatable member and a second rotatable member press-contacted to each other to form a nip therebetween through which an image supporting member for supporting an unfixed image is passed so that the image is fixed thereon, at least one of said first and second rotatable members comprising:
-
a core member; an elastic rubber layer comprising silicone rubber formed outside said core member; a fluorine resin surface layer formed outside said elastic rubber layer, wherein said resin surface layer is provided by sintering resin material by heating it up to a temperature above a melting temperature thereof; wherein a thickness T (micron) of said resin surface layer and a width N (mm) of the nip satisfies,
space="preserve" listing-type="equation">T≦
(5/4)N+20when N≦
10, T>
(4/7)(3N-2)when N≧
10, T≧
(1/2)N+11. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106)
-
-
30. An elastic rotatable member for fixing an unfixed image, said member comprising:
-
a core member; an elastic rubber layer of silicone rubber formed outside said core member; a surface layer of polytetrafluoroethylene resin or perfluroroalkoxyethylene resin formed outside said elastic rubber layer, said surface layer having a thickness of not less than 10 microns; and a bonding layer between said elastic rubber layer and said surface layer; wherein said surface layer is provided by forming unsintered polytetrafluoroethylene resin or perfuroroalkoxyethylene resin layer together with liquid outside said elastic rubber layer and sintering said polytetrafluoroethylene resin or perfluoroalkoxyethylene resin by heating it up to above a crystalline melting temperature thereof. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
-
-
31. In an image fixing apparatus which includes a first rotatable member and a second rotatable member press-contacted to each other, between which members an image supporting member for supporting an unfixed image is passed so that the image is fixed thereon, at least one of said first and second rotatable members comprising:
-
a core member; an elastic rubber layer comprising silicone rubber formed outside said core member; and a surface layer of fluorine resin material formed outside said elastic layer; wherein said surface layer is not less than 10 microns thick and is provided by forming unsintered resin material layer together with liquid outside said elastic rubber layer and sintering said resin material by heating said resin material up to a temperature which is higher than that of said elastic rubber layer and which is higher than a crystalline melting temperature of said resin material. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 60, 61, 102, 117)
-
-
32. In an image fixing apparatus which includes a first rotatable member and a second rotatable member press-contacted to each other, between which members an image supporting member for supporting an unfixed image is passed so that the image is fixed thereon, at least one of said first and second rotatable members comprising:
-
a core member; an elastic rubber layer of silicone rubber formed outside said core member; a surface layer of polytetrafluoroethylene resin or perfluroroalkoxyethylene resin formed outside said elastic rubber layer; and a bonding layer between said elastic rubber layer and said surface layer; wherein said surface layer is not less than 10 microns thick and is provided by forming unsintered polytetrafluoroethylene resin or perfluroroalkoxyethylene resin layer together with liquid outside said elastic rubber layer and sintering said polytetrafluoroethylene resin or perfluoroalkoxyethylene resin by heating it up to above a crystalline melting temperature thereof. - View Dependent Claims (59, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
-
-
33. In an image fixing apparatus which includes a first rotatable member and a second rotatable member press-contacted to each other, between which members an image supporting member for supporting an unfixed image is passed so that the image is fixed thereon, at least one of said first and second rotatable members comprising:
-
a core member; an elastic rubber layer comprising silicone rubber formed outside said core member; and a surface layer of fluorine resin material formed outside said elastic rubber layer; wherein said surface layer is not less than 10 micron thick and is provided by forming unsintered resin material layer together with liquid outside said elastic rubber layer and sintering said resin material by heating said resin material up to a temperature which is higher than a crystalline melting temperature of said resin material and then quenching said resin material and said elastic rubber.
-
-
34. In an image fixing apparatus which includes a first rotatable member and a second rotatable member press-contacted to each other, between which members an image supporting member for supporting an unfixed image is passed to that the image is fixed thereon, at least one of said first and second rotatable members comprising:
-
a core member; an elastic rubber layer comprising silicone rubber formed outside said core member; a fluorine resin surface layer formed outside said elastic rubber layer, wherein said resin surface layer is provided by sintering resin material by heating it up to a temperature above a crystalline melting temperature thereof, and wherein said resin surface layer has a thickness not less than 10 microns and not more than 35 microns, said elastic rubber layer has an impact resilience of 42-85%, wherein the thickness of the resin surface layer T in microns and the impact resilience E in percent satisfies the condition T≦
0.75E-26.4. - View Dependent Claims (76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88)
-
-
107. An elastic rotatable member for fixing an unfixed image, said member comprising:
-
a core member; an elastic rubber layer comprising a silicone rubber formed outside said core member; and a fluorine resin layer formed outside said elastic rubber layer, wherein said resin layer is provided by sintering resin material by heating, wherein said resin layer is porous and has a porosity of not more than 10% and an average pore diameter of not more than 0.1 micron, wherein said resin layer is heated to a temperature above a crystalline melting temperature thereof upon sintering. - View Dependent Claims (108, 114)
-
-
109. An image fixing apparatus, comprising:
-
a first rotatable member including a core member, an elastic rubber layer comprising silicone rubber formed outside said core member and a fluorine resin layer on said elastic rubber layer, wherein said resin layer is provided by sintering resin material by heating, said first rotatable member being lubricated by a lubricant, wherein said resin layer has pores which are effective to allow volatile matter from the elastic rubber to pass upon sintering and to prevent the lubricant from passing; and a second rotatable member associated with said first rotatable member;
whereinsaid resin layer is heated to a temperature above a crystalline melting temperature thereof upon sintering. - View Dependent Claims (110, 111, 112, 113, 115)
-
Specification