ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC CLEANING BLADE, PROCESS CARTRIDGE, AND ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS

• Main Authors: Tsunoda, Masaki, Watanabe, Masahiro, Hiratani, Takayuki, Hino, Tetsuo, Sato, Kana, Ogawa, Ryo
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 30.03.2023
• Subjects: CINEMATOGRAPHY; ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY; PHOTOGRAPHY; PHYSICS

Provided is a cleaning blade including: an elastic member containing a polyurethane; and a supporting member configured to support the elastic member. The polyurethane has a linear moiety represented by -(CH2)m-. The elastic member has a plate shape having a main surface and a distal end surface forming a distal end-side edge with the main surface, at least on a distal end side. Martens hardness at positions on a bisector at intervals of 30 μm from a distal end-side edge to a position furthest away from the distal end-side edge by 100 μm decreases from a distal end-side edge to the position. A Martens hardness HM1 of the elastic member at a position P1 is 1.0 N/mm2 or more. The elastic layer satisfies Kω1>Kω2>Kω3. Further, the cleaning blade has an erosion rate E of 0.6 μm/g or less.