Protecting agent supplying member, protective layer forming device, and image forming apparatus
To provide a protecting agent supplying member, containing a core, and a foam layer formed on a periphery of the core, wherein the protecting agent supplying member is in the shape of a roller, and wherein the foam layer has concavities regularly arranged in a surface thereof.
1. A protecting agent supplying member, comprising:
a core; and
a foam layer formed on a periphery of the core,
wherein the protecting agent supplying member is in the shape of a roller, and
wherein the foam layer has concavities regularly arranged in a surface thereof,
the concavities being substantially uniform and being arranged at constant intervals along a circumferential direction of the roller.
2. The protecting agent supplying member according to claim 1 , wherein the protecting agent supplying member satisfies the relationships of:
a1≧0.5 mm, and
a2≧0.2 mm,
where a1 is the average distance between an internal perimeter surface of the foam layer and a bottom face of the concavity, and a2 is the average distance between the bottom face of the concavity and a top face of the concavity.
3. The protecting agent supplying member according to claim 1 , wherein the protecting agent supplying member has the ratio c/b in the range of:
0.25≦c/b≦0.75,
where b is the average distance between a couple of the concavities next to each other, and c is the average width of the form layer present between a couple of the concavities next to each other.
4. The protecting agent supplying member according to claim 1 , wherein the concavities are arranged in a lattice pattern.
5. The protecting agent supplying member according to claim 4 , wherein the concavities arranged in the lattice pattern have the ratio c1/b1 and the ratio c2/b2 in the respective ranges of
0.25≦c1/b1≦0.75, and
0.25≦c2/b2≦0.75,
where b1 is the average distance between a couple of the concavities next to each other with respect to one direction, c1 is the average width of the foam layer present between a couple of the concavities next to each other with respect to the one direction, b2 is the average distance between a couple of the concavities next to each other with respect to the direction perpendicular to the one direction, and c2 is the average width of the foam layer present between a couple of the concavities next to each other with respect to the direction perpendicular to the one direction.
6. The protecting agent supplying member according to claim 1 , wherein the foam layer contains polyurethane foam.
7. The protecting agent supplying member according to claim 1 , wherein the foam layer is a foam layer of an interconnected cell structure.
8. The protecting agent supplying member according to claim 1 , wherein the foam layer contains 25 cells per inch to 300 cells per inch, and has hardness of 50 N to 500 N.
9. A protective layer forming device, comprising:
a protecting agent block; and
a protecting agent supplying member,
wherein the protecting agent supplying member contains:
a core; and
a foam layer formed on a periphery of the core,
wherein the protecting agent supplying member is in the shape of a roller,
wherein the foam layer has concavities regularly arranged in a surface thereof,
and wherein the concavities are substantially uniform and are arranged at constant intervals along a circumferential direction of the roller.
10. The protective layer forming device according to claim 9 , wherein the protecting agent block contains a fatty acid metal salt and an inorganic lubricant.
11. The protective layer forming device according to claim 10 , wherein the fatty acid metal salt is zinc stearate.
12. The protective layer forming device according to claim 10 , wherein the inorganic lubricant is boron nitride.
13. The protective layer forming device according to claim 9 , further comprising:
a pressing force applying member configured to press the protecting agent block so as to bring the protecting agent block into contact with the protecting agent supplying member; and
a protective layer forming member configured to thinly level a protecting agent provided on a surface of an image bearing member to form a protective layer.
14. The protective layer forming device according to claim 9 , wherein the protecting agent supplying member satisfies the relationships of:
a1≧0.5 mm, and
a2≧0.2 mm,
where a1 is the average distance between an internal perimeter surface of the foam layer and a bottom face of the concavity, and a2 is the average distance between the bottom face of the concavity and a top face of the concavity.
15. The protective layer forming device according to claim 9 , wherein the foam layer has the ratio c/b in the range of:
0.25≦c/b≦0.75
where b is the average distance between a couple of the concavities next to each other, and c is the average width of the foam layer present between a couple of the concavities next to each other.
16. The protective layer forming device according to claim 9 , wherein the concavities are arranged in a lattice pattern in the foam layer.
17. An image forming apparatus, comprising:
an image bearing member;
a latent electrostatic image forming member configured to form a latent electrostatic image on the image bearing member;
a developing unit configured to develop the latent electrostatic image with a toner to form a visible image;
a transferring unit configured to transfer the visible image onto a recording medium;
a protective layer forming unit configured to provide a protecting agent to a surface of the image bearing member, from which the visible image has been transferred, to form a protective layer; and
a fixing unit configured to fix the transferred visible image on the recording medium,
wherein the protective layer forming unit is a protective layer forming device, which contains:
a core; and
a foam layer formed on a periphery of the core,
wherein the protecting agent supplying member is in the shape of a roller, and
wherein the foam layer has concavities regularly arranged in a surface thereof and wherein the concavities are substantially uniform and are arranged at constant intervals along a circumferential direction of the roller.
18. The image forming apparatus according to 17 , wherein the protecting agent supplying member satisfies the relationships of:
a1≧0.5 mm, and
a2≧0.2 mm,
where a1 is the average distance between an internal perimeter surface of the foam layer and a bottom face of the concavity, and a2 is the average distance between the bottom face of the concavity and a top face of the concavity.
19. The image forming apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the foam layer has the ratio c/b in the range of:
0.25≦c/b≦0.75
where b is the average distance between a couple of the concavities next to each other, and c is the average width of the foam layer present between a couple of the concavities next to each other.
20. A protecting agent supplying member, comprising:
a core; and
a foam layer formed on a periphery of the core,
wherein the protecting agent supplying member is in the shape of a roller, and
wherein the foam layer has concavities regularly arranged in a surface thereof,
the concavities being aligned in a direction substantially parallel to an axial direction of the roller.