Polymer sleeve member for an image cylinder or a blanket cylinder
This invention relates to a polymer sleeve member including a polymer sidewall for use with an image cylinder or a blanket cylinder in an electrophotographic process. The sleeve has a Young's Modulus of Elasticity from about 0.5 to about 10,000 Mpa.
1 . A polymeric sleeve member for mounting on a mandrel to form an image cylinder or a blanket cylinder for use in an electrophotographic process; the sleeve member consisting essentially of a sidewall of a polymer selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic, thermoset and elastomeric polymers, the sleeve member having an inner diameter from about 1 to about 20 percent less than the outer diameter of the mandrel and a Young's Modulus of Elasticity from about 0.5 to about 10,000 MPa.
2 . The sleeve of claim 1 wherein the sleeve member is an elastomeric polymer or a blend of elastomeric polymers and contains selected additives and fillers.
3 . The sleeve of claim 1 wherein the sleeve is at least one of polysiloxane, polyurethane and fluorocarbon elastomeric polymers.
4 . The sleeve member of claim 3 wherein the sleeve member is polyurethane.
5 . The sleeve member of claim 1 wherein the sleeve member has a Tg from about −50 to about 20° C.
6 . The sleeve member of claim 1 wherein the sleeve member has a Tg from about −50 to about 0° C.
7 . The sleeve member of claim 1 wherein the sleeve member has a Young's Modulus of from about 1 to about 10 MPa.
8 . The sleeve member of claim 1 wherein the sleeve member is a sleeve for an image cylinder.
9 . The sleeve member of claim 8 wherein the sleeve member has a Shore A hardness of 90+/−10.
10 . The sleeve member of claim 8 wherein the sleeve member has a conductivity of at least 10 10 ohm·cm.
11 . The sleeve member of claim 1 wherein the sleeve member is a sleeve for a blanket cylinder.
12 . The sleeve member of claim 11 wherein the sleeve member has a Shore A hardness of 65+/−5.
13 . The sleeve member of claim 11 wherein the sleeve member has a conductivity of at least 10 7 to 10 14 ohm·cm.
14 . The sleeve member of claim 11 wherein the sleeve member has a diameter from 40 mm to 600 mm.
15 . The sleeve member of claim 11 wherein the sleeve member has a wall thickness from about 0.1 to about 40 mm.
16 . The sleeve member of claim 15 wherein the sleeve member has a wall thickness from about 0.5 to about 20 mm.