Endless belt type transferring apparatus and image forming apparatus
View Patent ↗An endless belt transports a recording medium through image forming sections and transfers toner images from corresponding ones of the image forming sections onto the recording medium. The endless belt has a surface resistivity and a volume resistivity. The surface resistivity and the volume resistivity are related such that 0.3≦(log ρ s−log ρ v)≦1.3 where ρ s is the surface resistivity in Ω/□ measured after a voltage of substantially 500 V is applied to the endless belt for ten seconds and ρ v is the volume resistivity in Ω·cm ten after a voltage of substantially 250 V is applied to the endless belt for ten seconds.
1. An endless belt that transports a recording medium through an image forming section and transfers a toner image from the image forming section onto the recording medium, the endless belt comprising:
carbon nano fiber incorporated into the endless belt;
a surface resistivity; and
a volume resistivity;
wherein the surface resistivity and the volume resistivity are related such that 0.3≦(log ρ s−log ρ v)≦1.3 where ρ s is the surface resistivity in Ω/□ measured after a voltage of substantially 500 V is applied to the endless belt for ten seconds and ρ v is the volume resistivity in Ω·cm measured after a voltage of substantially 250 V is applied to the endless belt for ten seconds.
2. The endless belt according to claim 1 , wherein the endless belt has a single layer structure.
3. The endless belt according to claim 1 , wherein the endless belt is made of a base material having a Young's Modulus greater than 200 MPa.
4. The endless belt according to claim 3 , wherein the base material is polyamide-imide.
5. The endless belt according to claim 1 , wherein a base material of the endless belt is polyamide-imide.
6. The endless belt according to claim 3 , wherein the base material is polyimide.
7. The endless belt according to claim 1 , wherein a base material of the endless belt is polyimide.
8. The endless belt according to claim 3 , wherein the endless belt is made by centrifugal molding.
9. The endless belt according to claim 3 , wherein the endless belt is made by using a family mold.
10. An image forming apparatus that incorporates an endless belt according to claim 1 , the apparatus comprising:
a photoconductor;
a charging unit that charges a surface of the photoconductive drum;
an exposing unit that illuminates the charged surface of the photoconductor to form an electrostatic latent image;
a developing unit that develops the electrostatic latent image with toner into a visible image; and
a transfer unit that transfers the visible image onto a recording medium carried on the endless belt, wherein said endless belt includes carbon nano fiber for adding conductivity to the endless belt.
11. The endless belt according to claim 1 , wherein the carbon nano fiber has a diameter in the range of 80 to 150 nm.
12. The endless belt according to claim 1 , wherein the carbon nano fiber has a length in the range of 15 to 20 μm.