Transparent developer, developer housing, development device, and image formation apparatus
View Patent ↗A transparent developer has a glass transition point of 63.0° C. to 66.0° C., both inclusive, and a melt temperature, indicative of a softening point by a 1/2 method, of 94.3° C. to 97.0° C., both inclusive.
1. A transparent developer with a glass transition point of 63.0° C. to 66.0° C., both inclusive, and a melt temperature, indicative of a softening point by a 1/2 method, of 94.3° C. to 97.0° C., both inclusive.
2. The transparent developer according to claim 1 , with a collapse load, indicative of a shelf life of the transparent developer, of 0 g to 90 g, both inclusive.
3. The transparent developer according to claim 1 , wherein the transparent developer is obtained by dispersing, in an aqueous medium containing a dispersed inorganic dispersant, an oil phase component including at least a binder resin and an additive dissolved or dispersed in an organic solvent to form particles.
4. A developer housing storing therein the transparent developer according to claim 1 to be supplied to an image carrier configured to carry thereon a developer image.
5. A development device comprising:
a developer housing containing the transparent developer according to claim 1 ; and
a developer carrier configured to supply the transparent developer to an image carrier to thereby form a developer image on the image carrier.
6. The development device according to claim 5 , wherein an amount of the transparent developer applied to a record medium by image formation is 0.4 mg/cm 2 to 0.5 mg/cm 2 , both inclusive.
7. The development device according to claim 5 , wherein
an image area containing the transparent developer in an image formed on a record medium achieves a glossiness of 70 or more, and
a fixation temperature range where a difference in glossiness between the image area containing the transparent developer and an image area not containing the transparent developer in the image is 15 or more is 20° C. or more.
8. The development device according to claim 5 used for an image formation apparatus in which image carriers each form a transparent developer image or anyone of color developer images of different colors; the transparent developer image formed on one of the image carriers is transferred to an intermediate transfer member and then the color developer images of different colors formed on the other image carriers are sequentially transferred onto the transparent developer image on the intermediate transfer member to form a multilayer; and thereafter the multilayer of the developer images transferred on the intermediate transfer member is secondarily transferred to a record medium by a secondary transfer unit.
9. An image formation apparatus in which image carriers each form a transparent developer image or any one of color developer images of different colors; the transparent developer image formed on one of the image carriers is transferred to an intermediate transfer member and then the color developer images of different colors formed on the other image carriers are sequentially transferred onto the transparent developer image on the intermediate transfer member to form a multilayer; and thereafter the multilayer of the developer images transferred on the intermediate transfer member is secondarily transferred to a record medium by a secondary transfer unit, and
wherein a transparent developer used for the transparent developer images is the transparent developer according to claim 1 .
10. An image formation apparatus, comprising:
a first development device configured to supply the transparent developer according to claim 1 to a first image carrier and thereby forming a transparent developer image on the first image carrier,
second development devices configured to supply color developers of deferent colors onto second image carriers and thereby forming color developer images of deferent colors onto the second image carriers, respectively;
an intermediate transfer member;
a primary transfer unit configured to transfer the transparent developer image from the first image carrier to the intermediate transfer member and then to sequentially transfer the color developer images of different colors onto the transparent developer image on the intermediate transfer member, thereby forming a multilayer of the developer images; and
a secondary transfer unit configured to secondarily transfer the multilayer of the developer images from the intermediate transfer member onto a record medium.