Blade and image forming apparatus incorporating same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9798284-B2
Application number	US-201615062705-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 7, 2016
Priority date	Mar 6, 2015
Publication date	Oct 24, 2017
Grant date	Oct 24, 2017

Abstract

A multilayered blade made of an elastic material includes an edge layer, having a contact edge to contact an object, and at least one backup layer laminated on the edge layer.
The blade has a converted loss tangent tan δ of 0.23 or greater and 0.51 or smaller in a temperature range of from 0° C. to 50° C. The converted loss tangent tan δ is defined as:

X
=

A

A
+
B

×

L
1

+

B

A
+
B

×

L
2

,

where X represents the converted loss tangent tan δ, A represents a thickness in millimeters of the edge layer, B represents a thickness in millimeters of the at least one backup layer, L 1 represents a variation of a loss tangent tan δ of the edge layer in the temperature range of from 0° C. to 50° C., and L 2 represents a variation of a loss tangent tan δ of the at least one backup layer in the temperature range of from 0° C. to 50° C.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A multilayered blade made of an elastic material, the blade comprising:
an edge layer having a contact edge to contact an object; and
at least one backup layer laminated on the edge layer,
the blade having a converted loss tangent tan δ of from 0.23 to 0.51 inclusive in a temperature range of from 0° C. to 50° C., the converted loss tangent tan δ defined as:

X
=

A

A
+
B

×

L
1

+

B

A
+
B

×

L
2

,

where X represents the converted loss tangent tan δ, A represents a thickness in millimeters of the edge layer, B represents a thickness in millimeters of the at least one backup layer, L 1 represents a variation of a loss tangent tan δ of the edge layer in the temperature range of from 0° C. to 50° C., L 2 represents a variation of a loss tangent tan δ of the at least one backup layer in the temperature range of from 0° C. to 50° C., and the variation (L 1 ) of the loss tangent tan δ of the edge layer is equal to or greater than the variation (L 2 ) of the loss tangent tan δ of the at least one backup layer.

2. The blade according to claim 1 ,
wherein the variation (L 1 ) of the loss tangent tan δ of the edge layer is from 0.3 to 0.65 inclusive in the temperature range of from 0° C. to 50° C.

3. The blade according to claim 1 ,
wherein the variation (L 2 ) of the loss tangent tan δ of the at least one backup layer is from 0.2 to 0.5 inclusive in the temperature range of from 0° C. to 50° C.

4. The blade according to claim 1 ,
wherein, in the temperature range of from 0° C. to 50° C., the converted loss tangent tan δ is from 0.23 to 0.35 inclusive, the variation (L 1 ) of the loss tangent tan δ of the edge layer is from 0.3 to 0.5 inclusive, and the variation (L 2 ) of the loss tangent tan δ of the at least one backup layer is from 0.2 to 0.3 inclusive.

5. The blade according to claim 1 ,
wherein a Martens hardness of the edge layer is 2.0 N/mm 2 or greater.

6. The blade according to claim 5 ,
wherein the at least one backup layer is thicker than the edge layer, and
wherein the variation (L 2 ) of the loss tangent tan δ of the at least one backup layer is smaller than the variation (L 1 ) of the loss tangent tan δ of the edge layer in the temperature range of from 0° C. to 50° C.

7. The blade according to claim 5 ,
wherein the Martens hardness of the edge layer is greater than a Martens hardness of the at least one backup layer.

8. The blade according to claim 5 ,
wherein an elastic power of the edge layer is from 40% to 90% inclusive, and
wherein an elastic power of the at least one backup layer is from 70% to 95% inclusive.

9. An image forming apparatus comprising:
an image bearer to bear an image;
a charger configured to charge a surface of the image bearer;
an exposure device configured to expose the surface of the charged image bearer to form an electrostatic latent image on the image bearer;
a developing device configured to develop the electrostatic latent image into a toner image;
a transfer device configured to transfer the toner image from the image bearer onto a recording medium;
a fixing device configured to fix the toner image on the recording medium; and
a cleaning device configured to remove residual toner from the image bearer, the cleaning device including the blade according to claim 1 .

10. A multilayered blade made of an elastic material, the blade comprising:
an edge layer having a contact edge to contact an object;
a first backup layer laminated on the edge layer; and
a second backup layer laminated on the first backup layer,
the blade having a converted loss tangent tan δ of from 0.23 to 0.51 inclusive in a temperature range of from 0° C. to 50° C., the converted loss tangent tan δ defined as:

X
=

A

A
+
B

×

L
1

+

X
B

,
and

X
B

=

B
1

A
+
B

×

L

B
⁢

⁢
1

+

B
2

A
+
B

×

L

B
⁢

⁢
2

where X represents the converted loss tangent tan δ, A represents a thickness in millimeters of the edge layer, B 1 represents a thickness in millimeters of the first backup layer, B 2 represents a thickness in millimeters of the second backup layer, B represents B 1 and B 2 added together, L 1 represents a variation of a loss tangent tan δ of the edge layer in the temperature range of from 0° C. to 50° C., L B1 represents a variation of a loss tangent tan δ of the first backup layer in the temperature range of from 0° C. to 50° C., L B2 represents a variation of a loss tangent tan δ of the second backup layer in the temperature range of from 0° C. to 50° C., the variation (L 1 ) of the loss tangent tan δ of the edge layer is equal to or greater than the variation (L B1 ) of the loss tangent tan δ of the first backup layer, and the variation (L 1 ) of the loss tangent tan δ of the edge layer is equal to or greater than the variation (L B2 ) of the loss tange

Assignees

• Shimizu Eisuke
• Watanabe Kazuhiko
• Tawada Takaaki
• Sakakibara Yuu
• Ricoh Co Ltd

Inventors

• Shimizu Eisuke
• Watanabe Kazuhiko
• Tawada Takaaki
• Sakakibara Yuu

Classifications

• G03G21/0017 Primary

  Details relating to the internal structure or chemical composition of the blades · CPC title

• G03G2215/0132

  vertical medium transport path at the secondary transfer · CPC title