Toner and method of producing toner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9348247-B2
Application number	US-201313886077-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 2, 2013
Priority date	May 10, 2012
Publication date	May 24, 2016
Grant date	May 24, 2016

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a toner that produces an excellent bending resistance in the output image and that also exhibits an excellent low-temperature fixability and an excellent storage stability. This toner includes a binder resin and a thermoplastic elastomer having a crystalline part, wherein the binder resin and the thermoplastic elastomer in the toner are compatible with each other and the toner has a crystalline part originating from the thermoplastic elastomer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A toner comprising a binder resin and a thermoplastic elastomer, wherein,
the thermoplastic elastomer has a glass transition temperature (Tg) which does not exceed room temperature,
the thermoplastic elastomer comprises a portion which is compatible with the binder resin,
the toner comprises a crystalline part originating from the thermoplastic elastomer,
the binder resin has a glass transition temperature of at least 60° C. and the softening point of the thermoplastic elastomer is less than or equal to the softening point of the binder resin, and
the thermoplastic elastomer is an ester-type urethane thermoplastic elastomer.

2. The toner according to claim 1 , wherein the melting point of the thermoplastic elastomer is from at least 40° C. to not more than 120° C.

3. The toner according to claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic elastomer has an elongation at break of 100% to 2000%.

4. The toner according to claim 1 , wherein the content of the thermoplastic elastomer is from at least 20 mass parts to less than 100 mass parts per 100 mass parts of the binder resin.

5. The toner according to according to claim 1 , wherein the crystallinity of the thermoplastic elastomer in the toner is from at least 1% to not more than 50%.

6. The toner according to claim 1 , wherein the toner is a toner produced via the steps of:
producing resin fine particles by dissolving the binder resin and the thermoplastic elastomer in an organic solvent and adding water to the resulting solution; and
aggregating the obtained resin fine particles in an aqueous medium.

7. The toner according to claim 6 , wherein the organic solvent is an organic solvent that forms a homogeneous phase with water.

8. A method of producing the toner according to claim 1 , comprising the steps of:
producing resin fine particles by dissolving the binder resin and the thermoplastic elastomer in an organic solvent and adding water to the resulting solution; and
aggregating the obtained resin fine particles in an aqueous medium.

9. The toner according to claim 1 , wherein the content of the thermoplastic elastomer in the toner is from at least 30 mass parts to not more than 60 mass parts expressed per 100 mass parts of the binder resin.

10. The toner according to claim 1 , wherein the ester-type urethane thermoplastic elastomer has the structure indicated by the following general formula (2):
(—O—R′—OCO—NH—R—NHCO—) n   (2)

wherein, in the formula (2), R denotes an aromatic hydrocarbon or aliphatic hydrocarbon, and R′ denotes a polyester.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Ida Hayato
• Hirasa Takashi
• Natori Ryo
• Tamura Junichi
• Chimoto Yuya
• Shibata Takaho

Classifications

• G03G9/08755 Primary

  Polyesters · CPC title

• G03G9/08795

  characterised by their chemical properties, e.g. acidity, molecular weight, sensitivity to reactants · CPC title

• G03G9/0804

  whereby the components are brought together in a liquid dispersing medium · CPC title

• G03G9/08797

  characterised by their physical properties, e.g. viscosity, solubility, melting temperature, softening temperature, glass transition temperature · CPC title

• G03G9/08764

  Polyureas; Polyurethanes · CPC title