CONDUCTIVE RUBBER COMPOSITION, TRANSFER ROLLER, AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS

• Main Author: SATOYOSHI NAOYUKI
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: 19.02.2015
• Subjects: CINEMATOGRAPHY; ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY; PHOTOGRAPHY; PHYSICS

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a conductive rubber composition allowing formation of a transfer roller that has a porous structure responding to demands for reduction in cost, weight, or the like and having excellent flexibility, and has a small foam cell diameter suitable for forming a color image, and to provide a transfer roller formed from the conductive rubber composition, and an image forming apparatus in which the transfer roller is assembled.SOLUTION: A conductive rubber composition is prepared by compounding 4 to 12 parts by mass of a foaming agent, together with a crosslinking component, into total 100 part by mass of a rubber component comprising SBR, EPDM, and epichlorohydrin rubber, and compounding a foaming assistant by 70 to 150 mass% of the amount of the foaming agent. A transfer roller 1 is manufactured by extrusion-molding the above conductive rubber composition into a cylindrical body, and pressurizing and heating the cylindrical body by pressurized steam to foam and to crosslink in a vulcanizer. The transfer roller is assembled in an image forming apparatus. 【課題】コスト削減、軽量化等の要求に対応するとともに柔軟性に優れた多孔質構造を有し、しかもカラー画像の形成にも適した発泡セル径の小さい転写ローラを形成しうる導電性ゴム組成物、かかる導電性ゴム組成物からなる転写ローラ、ならびに当該転写ローラを組み込んだ画像形成装置を提供する。【解決手段】導電性ゴム組成物は、ＳＢＲ、ＥＰＤＭ、エピクロルヒドリンゴムを含むゴム分に、架橋成分とともに、当該ゴム分の総量１００質量部あたり４〜１２質量部の発泡剤、および発泡剤量の７０〜１５０質量％の発泡助剤を配合した。転写ローラ１は、かかる導電性ゴム組成物を筒状に押出成形し、加硫缶内で、加圧水蒸気によって加圧、加熱して発泡、および架橋させて製造される。画像形成装置は、当該転写ローラを組み込んだ。【選択図】図１