JP5972083B2 - Method for manufacturing tube cover - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for producing a tube covering formed by covering a substrate with a tube via an adhesive.

  Conventionally, as a roller used in a fixing device such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, etc., a tube covering body in which a silicone rubber layer is formed on the surface of a core metal and a fluororesin tube is further covered on the surface is used. ing. Further, in recent years, a fixing belt (tube covering body) in which a metal such as stainless steel (SUS), nickel, aluminum, and copper is used as a base layer, a silicone rubber layer is formed on the surface of the base layer, and a fluororesin tube is further covered on the surface. ) Is also used. In general, a roller or a fixing belt of a fixing device is manufactured by, for example, covering a surface of a roller or belt with a resin tube to obtain a tube covering.

  As a method for producing a tube covering, Patent Literature 1 proposes the following method. First, an adhesive is applied to the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical or columnar substrate on which the resin tube is covered, and then the fluororesin tube having elasticity is covered tightly on the substrate. Subsequently, a handle ring having an opening having a diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the inserted body (tube covering body) composed of the base material and the tube is fitted to one end of the fluororesin tube coated on the outer periphery of the inserted body. Combine. Then, while moving the handle ring from the one end to the other end along the axial direction of the cylindrical or columnar inserted body, handle excess adhesive between the base material and the fluororesin tube, Thereafter, the remaining adhesive is cured.

  However, in this method, since the fluororesin tube is handled while being rubbed with a handling ring having a smaller diameter than the outer diameter of the inserted body, the surface of the tube may be damaged. In addition, the tube may be stretched by the sliding frictional force between the fluororesin tube and the handling ring. In order to reduce the sliding frictional force, it is necessary to apply a lubricant such as oil to the surface of the tube. However, when a lubricant is used, there is a risk of poor adhesion due to surrounding contamination or adhesion to a substrate, and a process of wiping off the lubricant on the surface after processing is required.

  In Patent Document 2, pressurized gas is ejected from the inner peripheral wall of a gas ejection head having an opening having a diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the tube covering body toward the surface of the tube. Methods have been proposed for squeezing excess adhesive between the material and the tube. In this method, first, an adhesive is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the base material, and an elastic fluororesin tube is tightly coated on the base material. Subsequently, the gas ejection head is inserted from one end side of the fluororesin tube coated on the outer periphery of the substrate. A jet outlet for jetting pressurized gas is formed on the inner peripheral wall of the gas jet head, and the pressurized gas can be jetted toward a tube passing through the opening. While the pressurized gas is blown from the gas jet head to the outer peripheral surface of the tube, the gas jet head is moved along the axial direction of the base material so that the pressure between the base material and the fluororesin tube is increased by the pressure of the jet gas. Squeeze out any excess adhesive. Thereafter, the adhesive remaining between the base material and the tube is cured.

  According to the method described in Patent Document 2, the inner diameter of the gas ejection head and the outer diameter of the base material coated with the tube are “0.1 mm ≦ (inner diameter of the gas ejection head) − (of the base material coated with the tube). It is said that the relationship of “outer diameter) ≦ 2 mm” should be satisfied. More preferably, “0.4 mm ≦ (inner diameter of gas ejection head) − (outer diameter of substrate covering tube) ≦≦ 1 mm” is set. By using the pressure of the jet gas in this way, the adhesive can be thinned to a uniform thickness while preventing sliding scratches on the tube surface and elongation of the tube without using a lubricant such as oil. It is said that it can be stratified.

JP 2002-36361 A JP 2005-238765 A

  In the manufacturing method of the tube covering described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, it has been found that a problem may occur when the outer diameter of the base material on which the tube is coated is not constant. Here, the case where the outer diameter of the substrate is not constant means, for example, a case where there is a solid difference in outer diameter due to manufacturing variations of the substrate, or a case where the outer diameter is not uniform within the same substrate. . For example, the outer diameter of the base layer constituting the base material, the variation in the thickness of the elastic layer or the surface layer covering the base layer, and the like are generated due to factors that are unavoidable in manufacturing, thereby causing the outer diameter of the base material to vary. In addition, as a design specification, the base material may be a reverse crown shape that satisfies “(outer diameter size of both end portions of base material)> (outer diameter size of center portion of base material)” or “(base material The outer shape may be a crown shape satisfying “the outer diameter dimension of both ends of the substrate” <(the outer diameter dimension of the central portion of the base material) ”. The reason why the base material is formed in an inverted crown shape or a crown shape is that when the sheet is rotated and conveyed while being sandwiched between a pair of cylindrical or columnar base materials (tube coverings), the sheet is unlikely to wrinkle or slip. This is because stable conveyance can be realized. In general, the difference between the minimum diameter and the maximum diameter of the reverse crown shape or the crown shape is about 0.02 to 0.1 mm.

  When the methods described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are applied to a tube covering formed by coating a tube on a substrate having a different outer diameter or a non-uniform outer dimension as described above, The handling force by the handling ring or compressed air varies depending on the change in the outer diameter of the covering. Thereby, there exists a subject that the thickness of the adhesive agent remaining between a base material and a tube will change.

  For the above-described problem, the method described in Patent Document 1 suppresses a change in the thickness of the adhesive by selecting a handling ring having a diameter slightly smaller than the minimum outer diameter of the tube covering to be processed. Is possible. However, the contact force or rubbing force between the handling ring and the tube surface is increased in a portion where the diameter of the base material is large, and the tube surface is damaged. On the other hand, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of rubbing scratches by applying a lubricant etc. to the outer surface of the tube, but in this case, a process of wiping the lubricant later is necessary, and the manufacturing cost of the tube covering is reduced. It will increase.

  In the method described in Patent Document 2, since the inner diameter of the gas ejection head is unique, a gas ejection head having an inner diameter slightly larger than the maximum diameter of the assumed tube covering is used. In that case, in the tube cover with a small diameter and the small diameter of the tube cover, the gap between the gas ejection head and the tube cover becomes excessive, which increases the flow rate of the pressurized gas to be ejected and pressurizes. The force with which the gas presses the tube is reduced. Thereby, dispersion | variation arises in the thickness of the adhesive agent which remains in a tube covering. In addition, in order to handle the tube covering with sufficient force, the pressure of the pressurized gas supply source is set to be high so that sufficient pressure is generated even on a base material or base material portion with a small diameter. It is necessary to keep. Further, in order to prevent a reduction in handling force due to the pressurized gas, it is necessary to ensure a sufficient flow rate of the pressurized gas by increasing the pipe diameter of the pressurized gas supply path to the gas ejection head. These measures increase the capacity of the pressurized gas supply facility and increase the amount of the pressurized gas used, and thus increase the manufacturing cost of the tube covering.

  The present invention has been made in order to improve any of the above-described problems that occur when the outer diameter of a tube covering formed by coating a tube on a base material is not uniform. One object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a tube covering body having a uniform adhesive thickness while preventing sliding scratches on the tube without using a lubricant such as oil. is there.

According to one aspect of the invention,
(1) A step of preparing an axial core whose outer peripheral surface is covered with a tube via an adhesive having fluidity;
(2) The shaft core is disposed so as to be coaxial with the central axis of a ring-shaped gas ejection head having a gas ejection nozzle on the inner peripheral surface, and gas is ejected from the nozzle in the direction of the central axis. And a step of squeezing the adhesive present between the base material and the tube by relatively moving the gas ejection head and the shaft core body. And
The nozzle is provided with an elastic member at the tip, which is configured such that the amount of protrusion in the direction of the central axis can be adjusted by the pressure of gas ejected from the nozzle.
In the step (2), the amount of protrusion of the elastic member in the direction of the central axis is controlled by controlling the pressure of the gas supplied to the gas ejection head, whereby the gap between the tip of the nozzle and the surface of the tube. There is provided a method of manufacturing a tube covering including a step of ejecting gas from the nozzle while adjusting the flow rate of the gas flowing out from the nozzle.

  According to the present invention, even when the outer diameter of the substrate changes, the gap between the elastic member at the nozzle tip and the outer surface of the tube covering body is maintained, and the jet is ejected at a substantially constant flow rate. Excess adhesive between the substrate and the tube can be squeezed out by the gas to be used. Therefore, it is possible to make the thickness of the adhesive more uniform over the entire tube covering body while preventing rubbing scratches on the surface of the tube.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the manufacturing method of the tube coating body of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the tube covering and gas ejection head shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the manufacturing method of a tube covering. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an image heating fixing device provided with a tube covering.

The present invention covers an outer surface of a base material with a cylindrical tube using an adhesive squeezing device having a gas jet head having a gas jet nozzle toward the center of an opening into which the base material is inserted. It is related with the method of manufacturing the tube coating body comprised. The substrate and the tube are bonded by an adhesive.
<Base material>
The substrate may be in the form of a roll, sleeve or belt. The material of the base material may be a metal, a resin, or a rubber material, or a metal or an outer peripheral surface coated with a resin or a rubber material. Further, the outer peripheral surface or inner peripheral surface of the resin may be coated with a rubber material. By using silicone rubber as the rubber material coated on the outer peripheral surface of the metal cylindrical member of the base material, high heat resistance and low compression set can be imparted to the base material. In this case, the addition type is more preferable as the silicone rubber. The substrate is preferably columnar or cylindrical.
<Adhesive>
The adhesive that bonds the base material and the tube is preferably a liquid or paste-like adhesive having fluidity. The adhesive is preferably a silicone rubber having self-adhesive properties, and is an addition-type self-adhesive silicone rubber-based adhesive that is cured by heating, such as “trade name: TSE3250: manufactured by GE Toshiba Silicone”. Is preferred. The tube in the present invention has a cylindrical shape, and the material is preferably a resin or a rubber material, and more preferably a fluororesin such as PFA.

  Pressurized gas in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the tube from the nozzle of the gas ejection head toward the surface of the tube when the adhesive interposed between the substrate and the tube is in a liquid or pasty uncured state The gas ejection head is moved in the axial direction of the tube while ejecting. The gas ejection head moves from one end of the substrate to the other end. As a result, the pressurized gas ejected from the nozzle pressurizes the tube and squeezes out excess adhesive between the tube and the substrate. Here, the gas ejection head has been described as moving in the axial direction of the tube. However, it is not always necessary to move the gas ejection head, and the gas ejection head and the shaft core may be moved relatively.

  In the following, what is coated on the outer peripheral surface of the base material with a tube via a fluid adhesive is referred to as an “axial core body”, and what is formed by performing various treatments on the axial core body is referred to as “tube coating”. Sometimes referred to as "body". However, the “shaft core body” and the “tube cover body” may be substantially the same, and in the following description, the same reference numerals may be given.

  An adhesive squeezing device having a gas ejection head includes a flow rate measuring device for measuring a flow rate of pressurized gas supplied to the gas ejection head, and a pressure adjusting device for adjusting the pressure of pressurized gas supplied to the gas ejection head. And. In the present embodiment, the flow rate measuring device measures the volume flow rate of gas. The gas ejection head is provided with a pair of annular elastic members disposed on both sides of the nozzle in the direction along the central axis of the gas ejection head. The outer peripheral part of the elastic member is attached to the gas ejection head, and the tip of the inner peripheral part is configured to be able to adjust the protrusion amount toward the central axis of the gas ejection head by the pressure of the gas ejected from the nozzle. .

  The pressure of the gas supplied to the gas ejection head is adjusted by the pressure adjusting device so that the volume flow rate of the gas flowing out from the gap between the gas ejection head and the tube is constant. That is, the gas is ejected from the nozzle while adjusting the amount of protrusion of the elastic member in the central axis direction so that the flow rate of the gas flowing out through the gap between the tip of the nozzle and the surface of the tube is constant. This can be achieved by controlling the pressure adjusting device so that the volume flow rate of the pressurized gas supplied to the gas ejection head is constant. By doing so, the annular elastic member is deformed by the pressure of the pressurized gas, the inner diameter of the elastic member is appropriately enlarged or reduced, and a minute gap generated between the elastic member and the outer surface of the tube is kept as constant as possible. Can be kept in size. As a result, even when the outer diameter of the base material changes, the volume flow rate of the gas flowing out from the minute gap can be kept constant, and the minute gap can be kept substantially constant. The gas can be sprayed on the surface of the tube under substantially the same conditions. Thereby, the adhesive layer remaining between the base material and the tube can be made to have a uniform thickness. Here, the flow rate measuring device measures the volume flow rate of the gas and adjusts the gas supply pressure so as to make the volume flow rate constant, but measures the mass flow rate of the gas so as to make the mass flow rate constant. The gas supply pressure may be adjusted.

  The elastic member may be appropriately selected or designed to have a shape, material, and elasticity that can be expanded and deformed within a desired elastic deformation range. In general, it is selected to have a diameter variation of about 0.1 mm within the elastic deformation range, taking into account the difference in diameter of the crown shape or reverse crown shape and the manufacturing variation of the base material of the tube cover. Or design. The diameter of the opening of the gas ejection head is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the tube cover, and the inner diameter of the annular elastic member is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the tube cover or less than or equal to the outer diameter of the tube cover. Preferably there is. Considering the design size and tolerance design values of the gas ejection head and elastic member and the manufacturing variation of the tube cover (maximum difference in diameter), the diameter of the opening of the gas ejection head is relative to the outer diameter of the tube cover. And within a range of ± 0.5 mm.

  Adjustment of the flow rate of the pressurized gas supplied to the gas ejection head is performed by measuring the volume flow rate of the pressurized gas flowing into the gas ejection head and supplying the pressurized gas to the gas ejection head so that the value is constant. This can be done by adjusting the pressure. In order for the adhesive to remain in a uniform thickness, the supply pressure of the pressurized gas is preferably in the range of 0.5 MPa to 1 MPa. The volume flow rate of the pressurized gas may be between the pressure adjusting device for adjusting the pressure of the gas supplied to the gas ejection head and the nozzle of the gas ejection head.

  According to the above manufacturing method, even when the outer diameter of the base material varies, the additive injected at a substantially constant volume flow rate while maintaining the gap between the elastic member and the outer surface of the tube. Excess adhesive can be squeezed out with pressurized gas. Therefore, it is possible to make the force of squeezing uniform without causing excessive pressurization of the pressurized gas. As a result, a large-scale facility for increasing the supply capacity of the pressurized gas is not required. In addition, it is possible to make the thickness of the adhesive remaining over the entire area of the shaft core more uniform while preventing sliding abrasion on the outer surface of the tube.

  After the excess adhesive between the tube and the substrate is squeezed out, the adhesive remaining between the tube and the substrate is cured by a method such as heating, whereby a tube covering can be manufactured. When the tube covering obtained by the above method is used as a fixing belt for an image heating fixing device, it can be a fixing belt having a low compression set, effectively fixing the toner on the toner carrier and The toner carrier can be transported.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an image heating fixing device provided with the tube covering manufactured by the above method. The image heating fixing apparatus has a fixing belt 40 made of a tube covering manufactured by the above method. The resin laterally long stay 41 has a function as an inner surface guide member of the fixing belt 40 and a function of supporting a heater 42 as a heating means. The fixing belt 40 is fitted on a stay 41 including a heater 42. The inner circumferential length of the fixing belt 40 is, for example, about 3 mm larger than the outer circumferential length of the stay 41 including the heater 42. Therefore, the fixing belt 40 is loosely fitted to the stay 41 including the heater 42 with a margin. ing. Further, the image heating and fixing device includes a pressure roller 43 as a pressure unit that forms a fixing nip portion with the fixing belt 40 interposed between the image forming apparatus and the heater 42. In this image heating and fixing apparatus, the electrostatic toner image T on the recording material S is fixed by applying heat and pressure at the fixing nip portion. The recording material S as the heated material carrying the unfixed toner image conveyed to the image heating and fixing device on the upper surface enters the fixing nip portion between the fixing belt 40 and the pressure roller 43. In the process of passing through the fixing nip portion, the heat of the heater 42 is received through the fixing belt 40, and the toner image T is heated and fixed.

(Example) Manufacturing method of fixing belt Hereinafter, the manufacturing method of the tube covering according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. It is not limited at all. In this embodiment, an example in which the tube covering is a fixing belt will be described.

  FIG. 1 shows a method of squeezing out an adhesive interposed between a base material of a shaft core and a tube. The shaft core body 1 is supported on the core base 4 in a vertical state. Pressurized gas is supplied from the pressurized gas supply device 30 to the gas ejection head 2 via the pressurized gas pipe 32. The cylindrical shaft core 1 is inserted into the opening of the gas ejection head 2. The gas ejection head 2 is configured to be movable from one end to the other end of the axial core body 1 extending in a cylindrical shape by a lifting means (not shown) or the like. The pressurized gas pipe 32 has a regulator (pressure adjusting device) 33 for adjusting the pressure of the pressurized gas supplied to the gas ejection head 2, and the volume of the pressurized gas between the regulator 33 and the nozzle of the gas ejection head 2. A flow meter (flow rate measuring device) 34 for measuring the flow rate is disposed. The regulator 33 and the flow meter 34 are respectively connected to a CPU 35 as control means. The CPU 35 is loaded with a program that can adjust the pressure setting value of the regulator 33 so that the measurement value of the flow meter 34 becomes a substantially constant value.

  FIG. 2 shows a squeezing process in which pressure is applied to the outer surface of the shaft core body by jetting pressurized air to squeeze out excess adhesive between the tube and the substrate in the process of manufacturing the fixing belt of this embodiment. The cross-sectional schematic diagram is shown. First, an example of the configuration of the fixing belt manufactured according to this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The shaft core 1 includes an endless belt base 10, a fluororesin tube 12 coated on the outer peripheral surface of the belt base 10, and an adhesive 11 between the belt base 10 and the tube 12. . The endless belt base material 10 was uniformly laminated with a thickness of 0.3 mm on the outer peripheral surface of a stainless steel endless belt (hereinafter referred to as an inverted crown stainless steel belt) 10a formed into an inverted crown shape. What has the silicone rubber layer 10b was prepared. A well-known reverse crown stainless steel belt 10a can be used. The belt substrate 10 has an outer diameter of 30.00 mm at the center and 30.06 mm at both ends. The belt substrate 10 has an axial length of 240 mm and a thickness of 30 μm.

  In addition, the silicone rubber layer 10b uses an addition type self-adhesive liquid silicone rubber-based adhesive 11 (trade name: TSE322: manufactured by GE Toshiba Silicones) which is cured by heating. Here, the application of the adhesive to the outer peripheral surface of the belt base material 10 may be performed after the belt base material 10 is fixed to the core 5 erected on the core base 4. The belt base material 10 fixed to the core 5 is covered with a fluororesin tube 12 via an adhesive 11. Here, the heat shrink type thing was selected as the fluororesin tube 12 (brand name: SME, the Gunze company make). The inner diameter of the fluororesin tube 12 before heat shrinkage is slightly smaller than the maximum outer diameter of the belt base material 10 fixed to the core 5 on the assumption that the resin shrinks by about 10% by heating at 200 ° C. It was set to a small 30.0 mm. The length of the fluororesin tube 12 in the axial direction is longer than the entire length of the belt substrate 10 and is set to 300 mm, and the thickness of the tube 12 is set to 30 μm.

  The gas ejection head 2 is in a position where it can be inserted while maintaining the same axis as the shaft core 1. Pressurized gas is supplied to the gas ejection head 2 from the pressurized gas supply device 30 through the pressurized gas supply port 2a. The supplied pressurized gas is distributed to the entire circumference of the ring shape in the pressurized gas manifold 2b and is ejected from the nozzle 2c. In the present embodiment, the nozzle 2c is formed in an annular shape. A pair of annular elastic members 21 are disposed on both sides of the nozzle 2c in the direction along the central axis A of the gas ejection head 2. The elastic member 21 is composed of a pair of an elastic member 21a above the nozzle 2c and a lower elastic member 21b. The annular elastic members 21 a and 21 b protrude toward the central axis A from the position of the nozzle 2 c of the gas ejection head 2. The pressurized gas ejected from the nozzle 2c squeezes out the excess adhesive 11 existing between the fluororesin tube 12 and the belt base material 10 by the ejection force. The pressurized gas deforms the elastic members 21a and 21b, forms a minute gap δ between the fluororesin tube 12 and the elastic member 21, and flows out of the gap δ.

  The shape, dimensions, material, hardness, and the like of the elastic members 21a and 21b may be appropriately selected so that a pressurized gas that can exhibit a desired handling force can flow out by forming the gap δ. In this embodiment, P30 (JISB2401, P series 4 types D) was used as the elastic members 21a and 21b. However, for example, an elastic member having a polygonal cross section such as Penta Seal PS-30 (manufactured by Sakagami Seisakusho) may be used, and the pair of elastic members 21a and 21b may not be the same. . The regulator 33 and the flow meter 34 may be appropriately selected according to the range of the desired pressure of the pressurized gas and the set amount of the gas flow rate. In this embodiment, an electropneumatic regulator (trade name: ITV305, manufactured by SMC) and a flow switch (trade name: PF2A703H, manufactured by SMC) are used.

  FIG. 3: shows the flowchart of the extraction process in the manufacturing method of the tube covering 1 in a present Example. Hereafter, according to the flowchart of FIG. 3, the manufacturing process of a tube coating body is demonstrated sequentially based on the structure shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. First, the outer surface of the base material 10 is covered with a tubular tube 12 via a fluid adhesive 11 to form the shaft core body 1.

(Step S0: START)
The shaft core body 1 is set on the core base 4, and the gas ejection head 2 is disposed on the coaxial vertical axis of the shaft core body 1.

(Step S1: Start of gas ejection head movement)
The gas ejection head 2 arranged vertically above the shaft core body 1 is lowered while maintaining a positional relationship coaxial with the shaft core body 1. What is necessary is just to set the moving speed of the gas ejection head 2 suitably according to manufacturing conditions, the adhesive, the material physical property, dimension, etc. of other structural members. In this example, the film was lowered at a constant speed of 20 mm / s.

(Step S2: Start of pressurized gas ejection)
When the gas ejection head 2 approaches the vicinity of the upper end position of the belt substrate 10 on the shaft core 1, the pressurized gas is supplied from the pressurized gas supply device 30 to the gas ejection head 2. The pressurized gas is introduced into the pressurized gas manifold 2 b in the gas ejection head 2, spreads around the entire circumference, and is ejected from the nozzle 2 c toward the surface of the tube 12. The pressurized gas ejected from the nozzle 2 c squeezes out the excess adhesive 11 existing between the fluororesin tube 12 and the belt substrate 10. At the same time, the pressurized gas deforms the elastic member 21 to form a minute gap δ between the fluororesin tube 12 and the elastic member 21 and flows out from the gap δ.

(Step S3: Flow meter measurement, Step S4: Flow meter measurement value F1, Step S5: Set flow value Fo)
While the pressurized gas is sprayed on the shaft core body 1, the volume flow rate of the pressurized gas is measured. The measured value F1 of the volume flow rate is sequentially sent to the CPU 35. The preset flow rate value Fo is a target value of the volume flow rate of the pressurized gas ejected from the gas ejection head 2. The set flow rate value Fo is set to a value that can be finished to a uniform adhesive thickness by pressurizing the entire tube covering 1 with a pressurized gas. In this embodiment, the set flow rate value Fo = 400 L / min. Note that the flow meter 34 may measure the volume flow rate of the gas inside the pressurized gas pipe (flow path) 32 between the regulator 33 that adjusts the pressure of the gas supplied to the gas ejection head 2 and the nozzle 2c. .

(Step S6: If Fo <F1)
It is determined whether the measured value F1 of the volume flow rate measured by the flow meter 34 is larger than the set flow rate value Fo.

(Step S7: Regulator set value-ΔP)
If the determination in step S6 is Fo <F1, the flow rate of the pressurized gas from the gas ejection head 2 is excessive. 33 is controlled. Here, ΔP is an adjustment pressure value set in advance and can be arbitrarily set. In this embodiment, ΔP = 0.1 MPa.

(Step S8: F1 <Fo)
If Fo <F1 is not satisfied in step S6, a comparison is made to determine whether F1 <Fo.

(Step S9: Regulator set value + ΔP)
If F1 <Fo in step S8, the flow rate of the pressurized gas ejected from the gas ejection head 2 is too small, so the CPU 35 controls the regulator 33 so that the set pressure of the regulator 33 is increased by ΔP. To do.

(Step S10: Is the handling completed)
It is determined whether or not the gas ejection head has reached the lower end portion of the belt base material 10 of the shaft core 1 after adjusting the ejection flow rate from the gas ejection head 2. If not, the process returns to step S3, and the loop (step S3 to step S10) for controlling the flow rate of the pressurized gas is repeated.

  In steps S6 and S8, if F1 = Fo, the set value of the regulator is changed. However, considering the design specifications of the flow meter, if the measured value F1 of the flow rate measured by the flow meter 34 is within a deviation of, for example, 20% or less from the set value Fo, the measured value F1 and the set value Fo are substantially equal. Therefore, it is not necessary to change the supply pressure of the pressurized gas.

(Step S11: Stop pressurization of pressurized gas)
If it is determined in step S10 that the handling has been completed, that is, the gas ejection head 2 has reached the lower end of the belt base material 10, the supply of the pressurized gas to the gas ejection head 2 is stopped.

(Step S12: Stop movement of gas ejection head 2)
After stopping the supply of the pressurized gas, the gas ejection head 2 is moved to a position where the shaft core 1 can be removed, and then the movement of the gas ejection head 2 is stopped.

(Step S13: END)
After the gas ejection head 2 is stopped, the shaft core body 1 is removed from the core base 4. Thereafter, the tube cover 1 is put into a heating tank (not shown) and heated at 200 ° C. for 30 minutes to cure the adhesive 11 and shrink the fluororesin tube 12. Thereby, the fluororesin tube 12 and the belt base material 10 can be bonded via the adhesive 11. Thereafter, both ends of the fluororesin tube 12 and the belt base material 10 are cut at the same position, and the belt base material 10 to which the fluororesin tube 12 is coated and bonded is removed from the core 5. As described above, a fixing belt as the tube covering 1 can be obtained.

  The fixing belt produced according to Example 1 had a good surface with no rubbing marks or the like on the tube surface. Further, when the cross section of the fixing belt is observed, as shown in Table 1 below, the adhesive has a uniform thickness (10 μm) from both ends to the center of the fixing belt and is uniformly handled by the pressurized gas. It was confirmed that Also in the image test of the image fixed using this fixing belt, no difference was found in the fixing property of the image between the central portion and both ends of the fixing belt, and a good image was obtained.

Comparative Example 1 Production of Fixing Belt In order to produce a fixing belt having the same shape as in Example 1, an endless belt base material, a fluororesin tube, and an adhesive between the base material and the fluororesin tube An axial core body having the following configuration was prepared. The endless belt base material is an endless belt having a silicone rubber layer uniformly laminated on the outer peripheral surface with a thickness of 0.3 mm on the reverse crown stainless steel belt, as in Example 1.

  As in Example 1, the outer diameter of the belt base material was 30.00 mm at the center, 30.06 mm at both ends, the axial length of the belt base material was 240 mm, and the thickness was 30 μm. For the silicone rubber layer, a liquid silicone rubber adhesive (trade name: TSE322: manufactured by GE Toshiba Silicones Co., Ltd.) having an addition type self-adhesive property that is cured by heating was used. The belt base material fixed to the core is covered with a fluororesin tube via an adhesive. As the fluororesin tube, a heat shrink type (trade name: SME, manufactured by Gunze Co., Ltd.) was used. The inner diameter before heat shrink was 30.0 mm, the axial length was 300 mm, and the film thickness of the tube was 30 μm. The above shaft core was inserted into the core and then fixed to the core base.

  A gas ejection head that has an opening that is 1.2 mm larger than the outer diameter of the shaft core and that ejects pressurized gas in an annular shape from the inner periphery of the opening was used. While blowing pressurized gas to the tube outer peripheral surface with this gas jet head, the gas jet head is moved from one end side of the outer periphery of the fluororesin tube toward the other end along the axial direction of the inserted body, and the excess Squeeze the adhesive. Here, the air pressure of the pressurized gas supplied to the gas ejection head was set to 0.7 MPa. Unlike the above embodiment, this air pressure is kept constant.

  Thereafter, the fluororesin tube was cut at the same position as the end of the belt base material, and the core was removed from the core base while the belt base material covered with the tube was fixed. After that, put in a heating tank (not shown) and heat at 200 ° C. for 30 minutes to cure the adhesive and shrink the fluororesin tube, and bond the fluororesin tube and the belt base material via the adhesive. A fixing belt was obtained.

  The fixing belt manufactured according to Comparative Example 1 had a good surface with no rubbing marks generated on the surface of the tube. However, when the cross section of the fixing belt was observed, as shown in Table 1, it was confirmed that more adhesive remained in the center portion than at both ends of the fixing belt. The target thickness of the adhesive at both ends of the fixing belt was 10 μm, whereas the thickness at the center was in the range of 20-30 μm, and the thickness of the adhesive was uneven. It was. Further, in an image test of an image fixed using this fixing belt, it was confirmed that there was a difference in image fixability between the central portion and both end portions of the fixing belt.

(Comparative Example 2) Production of Fixing Belt In Comparative Example 2, an axial core similar to Comparative Example 1 was prepared, and an O-ring having an inner diameter smaller by about 1 mm than the outer diameter was provided on the outer peripheral surface of the axial core. It is attached and handled in the axial direction of the shaft core body, and excess adhesive between the tube and the base material is handled. Specifically, in the same manner as in Comparative Example 1, the outer surface of the belt base material fixed to the core was covered with a fluororesin tube via an adhesive. After that, an O-ring having an inner diameter smaller by about 1 mm than the outer diameter of the belt base material (shaft core body) coated with the tube is attached to the shaft core body, and the shaft core body is handled in the axial direction. The excess adhesive in between was handled. When observing the cross section of the fixing belt as a tube covering manufactured by Comparative Example 2, as shown in Table 1, the adhesive was uniformly left at a thickness of 10 μm from both ends to the center of the fixing belt. It was confirmed that the tube covering was handled uniformly. However, the surface of the fluororesin tube was scratched in the axial direction. In an image test of an image fixed using this fixing belt, it was confirmed that rubbing marks on the surface of the fluororesin tube appeared in the image.

  In the method of Comparative Example 2, after the silicone oil was applied to the surface of the tube, the shaft core was handled with the same O-ring. Then, the thickness of the adhesive became uniform, and it was possible to prevent the O-ring from being rubbed. However, since silicone oil remains on the surface of the tube, a process of wiping off the silicone oil later using a solvent or the like is necessary.

1 Shaft core (tube cover)
2 Gas ejection head 2c Nozzle 10 Belt substrate 11 Adhesive 12 Fluororesin tube 21 Elastic member

Claims (3)

(1) A step of preparing an axial core whose outer peripheral surface is covered with a tube via an adhesive having fluidity;
(2) The shaft core is disposed so as to be coaxial with the central axis of a ring-shaped gas ejection head having a nozzle for ejecting gas to the inner peripheral surface, and gas is directed from the nozzle toward the central axis. Squeezing out the adhesive present between the substrate and the tube by relatively moving the gas ejection head and the shaft core,
A method for producing a tube covering body comprising:
The nozzle is provided with an elastic member at the tip, which is configured such that the amount of protrusion in the direction of the central axis can be adjusted by the pressure of gas ejected from the nozzle.
In the step (2), the amount of protrusion of the elastic member in the direction of the central axis is controlled by controlling the pressure of the gas supplied to the gas ejection head, whereby the gap between the tip of the nozzle and the surface of the tube. A method for producing a tube covering, comprising the step of ejecting gas from the nozzle while adjusting the flow rate of the gas flowing out from the nozzle. The step (2) measures the flow rate of the gas inside the flow path between the pressure adjusting device for adjusting the pressure of the gas supplied to the gas ejection head and the nozzle so that the flow rate becomes constant. method for producing a tube jacket of claim 1 including the step of adjusting the pressure of the gas by the pressure adjusting device. The manufacturing method of the tube coating body of Claim 1 or 2 which has the process of hardening | curing the said adhesive agent remaining between the said base material and the said tube after the said process (2).

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