JP2862380B2 - Cleaning blade and device using the same - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrostatic copying machine, a printer or a facsimile, and more particularly to a cleaning blade used in a cleaning device for cleaning and removing toner remaining on the surface of an image carrier by pressing against the surface. And an apparatus using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a known image forming apparatus which repeats a process of transferring a transferable toner image formed on the surface of an image carrier onto a transfer material such as paper, the surface of the image carrier is not transferred every transfer process. It is indispensable to cleanly remove the remaining toner. For this purpose, a highly accurate edge is formed on the rubber elastic body, and the edge is uniformly and accurately displaced on the surface of the image carrier, so that the blade and the image carrier are uniformly pressed into contact with each other. A method of cleaning and removing residual toner by rubbing the surface of a carrier is widely used, and urethane rubber is used as a cleaning blade.

However, in the cleaning process using urethane rubber, since the friction coefficient of the urethane rubber is large, the frictional force between the urethane rubber and the image carrier is very large, and only a cleaning blade is pressed against the image carrier. In this case, the urethane rubber cleaning blade 3 supported by the support member 2 at the time of initial sliding is inverted or dislodged with respect to the image carrier such as the electrophotographic photosensitive drum 1 as shown by a dotted line in FIG. There was a problem that cleaning could not be performed.

For this reason, conventionally, a fluorine resin-based lubricating fine powder such as polyvinylidene fluoride or polytetrafluoroethylene has been applied to the tip of a cleaning blade made of urethane rubber or to the surface of the photoreceptor, and the urethane rubber and the photoreceptor have been coated. A method of reducing the frictional force at the time of initial sliding has been studied and implemented. However, these lubricating fine powders, if applied in large quantities, have an effect on the image in terms of electrical characteristics, so it is necessary to apply as little as possible and uniform. Left a problem with gender.

Further, as the cleaning process is repeated, the lubricating fine powder is also scattered from the vicinity of the edge of the blade to reduce its effect as a lubricant, but instead the toner plays its role. The frictional force is not reduced as much as the conductive fine powder, and this leaves a problem that the urethane blade shortens the life of the photoreceptor, particularly in terms of damaging or abrading the photoreceptor, especially the organic optical semiconductor.

Further, the urethane rubber material used for this type of cleaning blade has good abrasion resistance to a photoreceptor and the like, and there is no contamination of the photoreceptor and toner by a component oozing out from the urethane rubber. Therefore, a thermosetting cast type liquid urethane material has been used. However, since this type of urethane material has a long reaction time until it hardens and has a high reactivity with moisture in the air, it leaves management problems in terms of cost of manufacturing equipment and material quality. Therefore, a manufacturing method that solves these problems has been desired.

[0007]

The problem to be solved is to provide a cleaning blade which has a small abrasion coefficient and does not damage the surface of the image carrier, and a cleaning blade which is easy to manufacture and has a constant quality. It is a point to do.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a cleaning blade for use in a cleaning device for cleaning and removing toner powder remaining on the surface of an image carrier, the material comprising a filler having a particle diameter of 1 μm or less. A silicone rubber composition, wherein the low-viscosity organosiloxane component contained in the silicone rubber is 5% by weight or less and the rubber hardness is J.
A cleaning blade having an ISA of 40 to 90 degrees and a compression set of 20% or less.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning blade according to the present invention has a small coefficient of friction and self-wears a very small amount of the fine powder 5 by a very small amount without damaging the surface of the photoreceptor drum 1. The powder becomes a lubricating medium, and the toner 4 can be cleaned by low friction sliding. In addition, it is a simple and reliable cleaning blade using rubber injection molding in manufacturing.

By using the cleaning blade of the present invention, reversal during initial sliding with the photoreceptor can be prevented, the life can be prolonged without the problem of damage to the image carrier such as the photoreceptor, and the productivity can be improved. In addition, it is possible to produce a cleaning blade excellent in quality and to provide an excellent cleaning effect.

[0011] The rubber hardness of the silicone rubber forming the cleaning blade is set so as to be pressed against the image carrier at a predetermined pressure and a predetermined distance or more from the viewpoint of the cleaning ability of the residual toner. If the hardness is too low, the pressure becomes insufficient and the rubber becomes weak, so that the cleaning blade comes into contact with the image carrier on a large surface, the frictional force at the time of sliding increases, and the slidability deteriorates.
A having a hardness of 40 ° or more is preferable, and a cleaning member having a high hardness causes a damage to the surface of the image carrier. further,
More preferably, JISA 50 ° to 80 ° is preferable.

[0012] The fluctuation of the pressing force of the cleaning member to the image carrier has a problem that if the fluctuation width is smaller than a predetermined minimum pressing force, the remaining toner cannot be cleaned. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain the pressing force. There is. However, rubber has irreversible deformation or creep caused by plastic flow inside the rubber in response to the pressing force,
As the cleaning member, a member having a small size is preferable, and as a guide, a member having a compression set of 20% or less is preferable. More preferably, the compression set is 10%.
The following is good.

Normally, when synthesizing a silicone rubber raw material, a silicone rubber contains a low-molecular-weight polysiloxane oil of about 20 centipoise or less as a low-viscosity component. When the formed silicone rubber cleaning blade is pressed against, the surface pressure reaches several tens of kg / cm ² , and the low-viscosity oil oozes on the surface of the image carrier, affecting the electrophotographic process. For this reason, a silicone rubber material having a small amount of a low-viscosity oil component is preferable, and a material having a content of 5 wt% or less is preferable. More preferably, it is 3 wt% or less.

As the material of the silicone rubber, room-temperature-curable RTV, low-temperature-curable LTV, and high-temperature-curable HTV
Any type can be used as long as it satisfies the above conditions, but the additional type has good rubber flowability, fast reactivity to heat, no reaction residue, and relatively little molding shrinkage. LTV, which is a liquid silicone rubber, is more preferred.

In order to provide the silicone rubber cleaning blade with a very small amount of abrasion, a filler having an extremely small average particle diameter of primary particles is added. If it is larger, the roughness of the edge formed on the cleaning blade that is in pressure contact with the image carrier when dispersed in the silicone rubber becomes large, so that the toner cannot be cleaned, and the portion of the silicone rubber cleaning blade that has been worn out is missing. Since the diameter becomes larger than the toner particle size, problems such as a decrease in cleaning performance occur. For this reason, the filler to be added is preferably smaller than the particle size of the toner, more preferably 1 μm or less. In addition, the addition amount of the filler is more preferably 5 wt% or more in view of the viscoelastic mechanical properties of the silicone rubber cleaning blade, the point of imparting a very small amount of abrasion, and the point of extending the durability life. good.

As the material of the filler to be added, organic resin fine powders such as ultra-high-density polyethylene, nylon, fluorine-based resins, etc., and inorganic fine powders can be used as long as they satisfy the above-mentioned properties. For example, one-component or multi-component materials such as molybdenum disulfide, fluorocarbon and silica may be used. Particularly, in view of the particle size, dispersibility in silicone rubber, and the problem of scratches on the surface of the image carrier, fine silica powder, such as wet silica or dry silica, is used. Treated silica is preferred, and in terms of particle size, dry silica or hydrophobic dry-treated silica is preferred.

In the cleaning process, it is necessary to precisely apply the cleaning blade to an image carrier, for example, a cylindrical photosensitive drum having a curvature, and to improve the cleaning performance. It needs to be better. For this reason,
As a method of manufacturing a cleaning blade, a method of molding a high-dimensional precision mold into a mold clamped at a high pressure with an injection molding machine is the best in terms of dimensional precision, because a high shear rubber flow can be obtained at the time of injection. In addition, the injection reaction time can be shortened, which is advantageous in production. In addition, since there is a problem that it is difficult to obtain a strong adhesive force between the support member and the molded silicone rubber, it is difficult to obtain a strong adhesive force. It is preferable that the rubber is molded integrally with the rubber so that the rubber can be firmly bonded by utilizing a rubberization reaction at the time of molding the silicone rubber. In this way, the cleaning time is shorter than that of the urethane rubber cleaning blade, and a cleaning blade excellent in quality can be obtained.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of a general transfer type electrophotographic apparatus using a drum type photosensitive member.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 11 denotes a drum type photosensitive member as an image carrier, which is driven to rotate at a predetermined peripheral speed in a direction indicated by an arrow around a shaft 11a. The photoreceptor 11 receives a uniform charge of a predetermined positive or negative potential on the peripheral surface thereof by a charging means 12 during the rotation process, and then, in an exposure section 13, a light image exposure L (slit exposure / Laser beam scanning exposure). As a result, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the exposure image is sequentially formed on the peripheral surface of the photoconductor.

The electrostatic latent image is then developed with toner by developing means 14, and the developed toner image is transferred by transfer means 5 from a paper feeding unit (not shown) to photosensitive body 11 and transfer means 15. The transfer material P is sequentially transferred onto the surface of the transfer material P which has been synchronized and fed.

The transfer material P having undergone the image transfer is separated from the photoreceptor surface, introduced into the image fixing means 18 and subjected to image fixing, and printed out of the machine as a copy.

The surface of the photoreceptor 11 after the image transfer is cleaned and cleaned by the cleaning blade 16 according to the present invention to remove the untransferred toner, and further subjected to a static elimination process by the pre-exposure means 17 to repeatedly form an image. Used for

As the uniform charging means 12 for the photosensitive member 11, a corona charging device is generally widely used. Also, the corona transfer means is generally widely used for the transfer device 15.
As an electrophotographic apparatus, of the above-described components such as the photoconductor, the developing means, and the cleaning blade, a plurality of components are integrally connected as an apparatus unit, and this unit is configured to be detachable from the apparatus body. May be. For example, a unit is formed by integrally supporting at least one of the charging unit and the developing unit together with the photoconductor and the cleaning blade, and is formed as a single unit detachable from the apparatus main body. It may be configured to be detachable. At this time, the above-described device unit may be provided with a charging unit and / or a developing unit.

In the case where the electrophotographic apparatus is used as a copying machine or a printer, the light image exposure L is performed by reflecting or transmitting light from the original, or by reading the original and converting it into a signal. , An LED array, or a liquid crystal shutter array.

When used as a facsimile printer, the light image exposure L is an exposure for printing received data. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of this case.

The controller 21 controls the image reading section 20 and the printer 29. The whole controller 21 is CP
It is controlled by U27. The read data from the image reading unit is transmitted to the partner station through the transmission circuit 23. Data received from the partner station is sent to the printer 29 through the receiving circuit 22. Predetermined image data is stored in the image memory. The printer controller 28 is the printer 2
9 is controlled. 24 is a telephone.

The image received from the line 25 (image information from a remote terminal connected via the line) is demodulated by the receiving circuit 22, and then the CPU 27 performs a composite process of the image information and sequentially stores the image information in the image memory 26. Is stored. And
When the image of at least one page is stored in the memory 26, the image of the page is recorded. The CPU 27 reads out one page of image information from the memory 26 and sends the combined one-page image information to the printer controller 28. When receiving the image information of one page from the CPU 27, the printer controller 28 controls the printer 29 to record the image information of the page.

The CPU 27 receives the next page during recording by the printer 29.

As described above, image reception and recording are performed.

[0030]

EXAMPLE How to make a cleaning blade A solution of TSE 3032 (trade name of Toshiba Silicone) containing a polysiloxane oil having a vinyl group at the end, a platinum-based catalyst and silica, a polysiloxane oil having a vinyl group at the end, reaction suppression Using a B liquid of TSE 3032 containing an agent, hydrosilane and silica, the mixing ratio of each liquid, the amount of silica contained in each liquid and the amount of silica contained in each liquid in order to make the hardness of the cleaning blade after molding into a value as shown in Table 1 The particle size of the silica was adjusted. The raw material thus adjusted is injection-molded with an injection molding material. The mold to be injected is heated to 170 ° C. in advance, and rubber is injected into the mold in a state where the supporting member bonded with the vulcanizing adhesive is inserted into the mold, and after 60 seconds from the injection, the molded blade is removed. It was taken out of the mold and subjected to secondary vulcanization at 200 ° C. for 4 hours. Then, after performing edge processing and the like, it was used as a cleaning blade.

With respect to the cleaning blade formed as described above, the reversibility at the time of initial sliding and the durability of 3,000 sheets of paper passing with an electrophotographic copying machine (manufactured by Canon, trade name: Personal Copier FC-5) using an organic photoreceptor. The degree of scratches on the photoreceptor surface and the cleaning property were evaluated.

Example 1 Silicone rubber material Silica was added and dispersed in the main material and the hardening material as follows. Main material TSE3032A (Toshiba Silicone two-component addition type liquid silicone) 100gr hydrophobic dry-processed silica (Nippon Aerosil) RX-200
10 Primary particle diameter 14mμ Curing material TSE3032B 10 Hydrophobic dry-processed silica (Nippon Aerosil) RX-200
1. Molding conditions A support member previously bonded with a vulcanizing adhesive was inserted into a mold of a rubber injection molding machine, and injection molding was performed while mixing the above-mentioned silica-added main material and hardened material in a ratio of 10: 1. And processed into a predetermined shape. Molding temperature 170 ° C Molding time 60 seconds Secondary vulcanization temperature 200 ° C Secondary vulcanization time 4 hours Molded material properties Rubber hardness JISA 56 Compression set (70 ° C) 7%

Example 2 Silicone rubber material Silica was added to and dispersed in the main material and the curing material as follows. Main material TSE3032A (Toshiba Silicone two-component addition type liquid silicone) 100gr hydrophobic dry-processed silica (Nippon Aerosil) RX-200
Reference Signs List 20 primary particle diameter 14mμ hardening material TSE3032B 10 hydrophobic dry-processed silica (Nippon Aerosil) RX-200
2. Molding conditions Insert the support member, which has been preliminarily bonded with a vulcanized adhesive, into a mold of a rubber injection molding machine, and perform injection molding while mixing the above-mentioned silica-added main material and hardened material in a ratio of 10: 1. And processed into a predetermined shape. Molding temperature 170 ° C Molding time 60 seconds Secondary vulcanization temperature 200 ° C Secondary vulcanization time 4 hours Molded material properties Rubber hardness JISA66 Compression set (70 ° C) 7%

Example 3 Silicone rubber material Silica was added and dispersed in the main material and the curing material as follows. Main material TSE3032A (Toshiba Silicone two-component addition type liquid silicone) 100gr hydrophobic dry-processed silica (Nippon Aerosil) RX-200
10 Primary particle diameter 14mμ Curing material TSE3032B 10 Hydrophobic dry-processed silica (Nippon Aerosil) RX-200
1. Molding conditions A support member previously bonded with a vulcanized adhesive was inserted into a mold of a rubber injection molding machine, and injection molding was performed while mixing the above-mentioned silica-added main material and hardened material in a ratio of 10: 3. And processed into a predetermined shape. Molding temperature 170 ° C Molding time 60 seconds Secondary vulcanization temperature 200 ° C Secondary vulcanization time 4 hours Molded material properties Rubber hardness JISA76 Compression set (70 ° C) 6%

Example 4 Silicone rubber material Silica was added and dispersed in the main material and the hardening material as follows. Main material TSE3032A (Toshiba Silicone two-component addition type liquid silicone) 100gr hydrophobic dry-processed silica (Nippon Aerosil) RX-200
10 Primary particle diameter 14mμ Hardening material TSE3032B 10 Hydrophobic dry-processed silica RX-200 1 Molding conditions Insert a support member that has been preliminarily bonded with a vulcanized adhesive into a mold of a rubber injection molding machine, Injection molding was performed while mixing the hardening material at a ratio of 10: 0.7, and processed into a predetermined shape. Molding temperature 170 ° C Molding time 60 seconds Secondary vulcanization temperature 200 ° C Secondary vulcanization time 4 hours Molded material properties Rubber hardness JISA46 Compression set (70 ° C) 8%

Example 5 Silicone rubber material Silica was added and dispersed in the main material and the curing material, respectively, as described below. Main material TSE3032A (Toshiba Silicone two-component addition type liquid silicone) 100gr Wet silica (Tokusil u: trade name; Tokuyama Soda) Primary particle diameter 20mμ 10 Curing material TSE3032B 10 Wet silica (Tokusil u: trade name; Tokuyama Soda) Primary Particle size 20mμ 1 Molding condition Insert the support member, which has been preliminarily bonded with a vulcanized adhesive, into a mold of a rubber injection molding machine, and mix the above-mentioned silica-added main material and hardening material in a ratio of 10: 1. It was injection molded and processed into a predetermined shape. Molding temperature 170 ° C Molding time 60 seconds Secondary vulcanization temperature 200 ° C Secondary vulcanization time 4 hours Molded material properties Rubber hardness JISA 56 Compression set (70 ° C) 9%

Comparative Example 1 Rubber material Ethylene adipate-based urethane prepomer (Mn 1500 NCO 6.2% by weight, manufactured by Nippon Polyurethane Industry)
100gr Curing agent 1,4-butanediol 3.9gr Trimethylolpropane 2.1 Molding temperature 130 ° C Molding time 30 minutes Secondary vulcanization temperature 130 ° C Secondary vulcanization time 4 hours A curing agent is added to the heated and dissolved urethane prepolymer. Mix,
It was poured into a heated mold, cured by heating, and processed into a predetermined shape. Molded product properties Rubber hardness JISA62 Compression set (70 ° C) 9%

Comparative Example 2 Silicone Rubber Material Hard clay was added and dispersed in the main material and the hardening material, respectively.
Otherwise, a cleaning blade was formed in the same manner as in Example 1.

Comparative Example 3 Silicone Rubber Material Commercial Grade TSE1026 Main Material A (Toshiba Silicone Two-Part Addition Type Liquid Silicone) 100 gr TSE1026 Hardening Material B 100 Including Silica and Other Fillers Added and Dispersed to Main Material and Curing Material, respectively. Molding conditions The main material and the hardened material were molded in a rubber injection molding machine with a support member previously bonded to be inserted so as to have a 1: 1 ratio, and after secondary vulcanization, edge processing was performed to form a cleaning blade. Molding temperature 170 ° C Molding time 60 seconds Secondary vulcanization temperature 200 ° C Secondary vulcanization time 4 hours Molded material properties Rubber hardness JISA62 Compression set (70 ° C) 12%

Comparative Example 4 Silicone Rubber Material Commercial Grade TSE1026 Main Material A (Toshiba Silicone Two-Part Addition Type Liquid Silicone) 100 gr TSE1026 Curing Material B 100 Including Silica and Other Fillers Added and Dispersed to Main Material and Curing Material, respectively. Molding conditions The main material and the hardened material were molded in a rubber injection molding machine with a support member, which had been preliminarily bonded, inserted therein so as to have a 1: 1 ratio, and edge processing was performed to form a cleaning blade. Molding temperature 170 ° C Molding time 60 seconds Molded material properties Rubber hardness JISA58 Compression set (70 ° C) 30% For cleaning blades molded with an organic photoreceptor, electrophotographic copying machine (Canon, trade name; Personal Copier) FC-5) was used to evaluate the reversibility at the time of initial sliding, the degree of scratches on the surface of the photoreceptor after 3000 sheets of paper had passed, and the cleaning property. Table 1 shows the results.

[0041]

[Table 1]

Note 1) Oil content: 5 g of a silicone rubber sample was cut into a Soxhlet extractor, and 20 g of 100 CC hexane was used.
After the time extraction, hexane was cut from the hexane extract, and the weight of the extract was indicated by%. 2) Initial reversibility: →→ no reversal, × → reversed… In the case of urethane, when the fukkavinylidene powder is applied to the tip of the blade, the result is ○. The test of the cleaning property and the oil exudation are the data at the time of application. 3) Photoreceptor scratches: When the black line in the circumferential direction of the photoreceptor drum is in a solid white area using the Canon Family Copier FC-5 (trade name) used in this experiment = When there is no photoreceptor damage 4) Cleanability: When a black line is generated in the circumferential direction of the photoreceptor by the same image forming method as in 3), and there is toner on the photoreceptor after cleaning. No occurrence = good cleaning performance 5) Oil seeping ... When a black line in the longitudinal direction occurs at the position where the cleaning blade is pressed against the photoreceptor using the same drawing method as in 3) = Oil seeping and no ants occur 6) Compression set: JIS K6301 7) Particle size: Average diameter of primary particles, expressed in units of mμ by electron microscopy. 8) Amount of wear: As shown in FIG. 5, the area (μm ² ) of the worn portion 6 of the worn blade 3 is displayed.

As is clear from the above results, the cleaning blade of the present invention shows good cleaning properties without any reversal at the time of initial sliding with any of the cleaning members of Examples 1 to 5, and has good oil cleaning properties. It was proved that there was no exudation.

On the other hand, the cleaning blade of Comparative Example 1 causes reversal when there is no fine powder of vinylidene fluoride, and when added, damages the photoreceptor, thereby shortening the service life. Further, in Comparative Example 2, since the added filler had a large particle diameter, the photosensitive member was damaged, or the cleaning performance was poor, resulting in image defects. Comparative Example 3 is a commercially available liquid silicone material, which has an edge roughness of several μ to over 10 μ after the edge processing of the cleaning blade, has a problem with the photoreceptor scratches and cleaning properties, and has a large oil content. There was also the problem of oil seepage. Comparative Example 4 was obtained by subjecting the rubber of Comparative Example 3 to secondary vulcanization and having a large compression set, so that 200 to 30 was used.
About 0 sheets cause poor cleaning and there is also a problem of oil seepage due to the large oil content.

[0045]

As described above, by using the cleaning blade of the present invention, it is possible to prevent reversal at the time of initial sliding with the photoreceptor, and it is also possible to prevent the image carrier such as the photoreceptor from being damaged. It is possible to produce a cleaning blade which has a long life and is excellent in productivity and quality, thereby providing an excellent cleaning effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a reversal phenomenon of a cleaning blade.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a sliding portion between a cleaning blade and a photosensitive drum.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a general transfer type electrophotographic apparatus to which a cleaning blade according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a facsimile using an electrophotographic apparatus to which the cleaning blade according to the present invention is applied as a printer.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a worn state of a cleaning blade after durability.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masahiro Watanabe 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Noriyuki Yanai 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon (56) References JP-A-58-75182 (JP, A) JP-A-1-317760 (JP, A) JP-A-63-200179 (JP, A) JP-A-63-147182 (JP, A) A) JP-A-63-44681 (JP, A) JP-A-2-242855 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03G 21/10-21/12

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cleaning blade used for a cleaning device for cleaning and removing toner powder remaining on the surface of an image carrier, wherein the material is a silicone rubber containing a filler having a particle size of 1 μm or less. 5% by weight of low-viscosity organosiloxane component contained therein
A cleaning blade having a rubber hardness of 40 to 90 degrees according to JISA and a compression set of 20% or less. 2. The cleaning blade according to claim 1, wherein the filler contained in the silicone rubber in the cleaning blade is silica. 3. The cleaning blade according to claim 2, wherein the silica is a hydrophobic treated silica. 4. A support member for holding a cleaning blade is disposed in a mold for molding the cleaning blade,
2. The cleaning blade according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning blade and the supporting member are formed integrally during rubber injection molding. 5. The cleaning blade according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning blade is formed from an additional liquid silicone rubber. 6. At least one of a charging unit and a developing unit.
And a unit formed integrally with the photoreceptor and the cleaning blade to form a unit, the unit being detachable from the apparatus main body, wherein the cleaning blade is made of a silicone rubber containing a filler having a particle size of 1 μm or less. The low-viscosity organosiloxane component contained in the silicone rubber is 5% by weight or less, the rubber hardness is 40 to 90 degrees according to JIS, and the compression set is 20%.
An apparatus unit characterized by the following. 7. An electrophotographic apparatus comprising a photoreceptor, a latent image forming unit, a unit for developing a formed latent image, a unit for transferring a developed image to a transfer material, and a cleaning blade, wherein the material of the cleaning blade is granular. A silicone rubber containing a filler having a diameter of 1 μ or less, wherein the low-viscosity organosiloxane component contained in the silicone rubber contains 5 parts.
Weight percent or less, rubber hardness is 40 to 90 degrees by JISA,
An electrophotographic apparatus having a compression set of 20% or less. 8. A photoreceptor, a latent image forming unit, a unit for developing the formed latent image, a unit for transferring the developed image to a transfer material, and a silicone rubber containing a filler having a particle size of 1 μm or less. An electrophotographic apparatus and a remote equipped with a cleaning blade having a low-viscosity organosiloxane component contained in the silicone rubber of 5% by weight or less, a rubber hardness of 40 to 90 degrees according to JISA, and a compression set of 20% or less. A facsimile comprising receiving means for receiving image information from a terminal.