EP-4738014-A1 - SLIDING MEMBER, FIXING DEVICE, AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS

EP4738014A1EP 4738014 A1EP4738014 A1EP 4738014A1EP-4738014-A1

Abstract

A sliding member has a sliding surface on which a sliding object slides, in which the sliding surface has formed thereon a plurality of first grooves, a plurality of second grooves, and a plurality of third grooves, in which the first grooves extend in a sliding direction of the sliding object and are arranged in the sliding direction at intervals in a plurality of rows, in which the plurality of rows are arranged in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the sliding direction at intervals, in which, in two adjacent rows of the plurality of rows that are adjacent to each other in the orthogonal direction, the first grooves in one of the two adjacent rows are staggered from the first grooves in the other one of the two adjacent rows in the sliding direction, in which the second grooves extend in a direction different from the direction in which the first grooves extend, in which the second grooves connect, to each other, adjacent ones of the plurality of first grooves that are adjacent to each other in the orthogonal direction and connect, to each other, adjacent ones of the plurality of first grooves that are diagonally adjacent to each other and displaced from each other in the sliding direction, in which each of the third grooves extends in the sliding direction and connects corresponding two adjacent ones of the plurality of first grooves that are adjacent to each other in the sliding direction, and in which at least part of each of the third grooves has a smaller cross-sectional area than each of the first grooves.

Inventors

OHARA, HIDEAKI
YOSHIKAWA, RYOHEI
NAGAMATSU, TAIKI
INAGAKI, TOMOTAKE
KOMURO, HITOSHI

Assignees

FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corp.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20250819

Claims (13)

A sliding member having a sliding surface on which a sliding object slides, wherein the sliding surface has formed thereon a plurality of first grooves, a plurality of second grooves, and a plurality of third grooves, wherein the first grooves extend in a sliding direction of the sliding object and are arranged in the sliding direction at intervals in a plurality of rows, wherein the plurality of rows are arranged in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the sliding direction at intervals, wherein, in two adjacent rows of the plurality of rows that are adjacent to each other in the orthogonal direction, the first grooves in one of the two adjacent rows are staggered from the first grooves in the other one of the two adjacent rows in the sliding direction, wherein the second grooves extend in a direction different from the direction in which the first grooves extend, wherein the second grooves connect, to each other, adjacent ones of the plurality of first grooves that are adjacent to each other in the orthogonal direction and connect, to each other, adjacent ones of the plurality of first grooves that are diagonally adjacent to each other and displaced from each other in the sliding direction, wherein each of the third grooves extends in the sliding direction and connects corresponding two adjacent ones of the plurality of first grooves that are adjacent to each other in the sliding direction, and wherein at least part of each of the third grooves has a smaller cross-sectional area than each of the first grooves.
The sliding member according to claim 1, wherein at least some of the plurality of second grooves each include first diagonal grooves extending in an extending direction inclined with respect to the sliding direction so as to connect, to each other, first adjacent ones of the plurality of first grooves that are diagonally adjacent to each other in the orthogonal direction and second diagonal grooves that extend in a direction line-symmetric to the extending direction of the first diagonal grooves with respect to the sliding direction so as to connect, to each other, second adjacent ones of the plurality of first grooves that are diagonally adjacent to each other in the orthogonal direction.
The sliding member according to claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of first grooves is connected on both sides in the sliding direction to corresponding ones of the first and second diagonal grooves in the at least some of the plurality of second grooves.
The sliding member according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an entire part of each of the third grooves has a smaller cross sectional area than each of the first grooves.
The sliding member according to claim 4, wherein the third grooves have a smaller depth than the first grooves.
The sliding member according to claim 5, wherein D2/D1 is 0.02 or more and 0.35 or less, where D1 is the depth of the first grooves, and D2 is the depth of the third grooves.
The sliding member according to claim 6, wherein D2/D1 is 0.07 or more and 0.20 or less.
The sliding member according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, when a cross section obtained by cutting one of the second grooves in a depth direction is observed, an angle A between the sliding direction and a wall surface of the one of the second grooves that is located on a downstream side in the sliding direction is 21° or more and 45° or less.
The sliding member according to claim 8, wherein the angle A is 23° or more and 40° or less.
The sliding member according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein, when a cross section obtained by cutting one of the second grooves in a depth direction is observed, an angle B between the sliding direction and a wall surface of the one of the second grooves that is located on an upstream side in the sliding direction is 10° or more and 35° or less.
The sliding member according to claim 10, wherein the angle B is 15° or more and 30° or less.
A fixing device comprising: a first rotatable member; a second rotatable member disposed in contact with the first rotatable member; a pressing member that is disposed along an inner circumferential surface of the second rotatable member and presses the inner circumferential surface of the second rotatable member such that the second rotatable member is pressed against the first rotatable member; and the sliding member according to any one of claims 1 to 11, the sliding member being interposed between the pressing member and the inner circumferential surface of the second rotatable member serving as the sliding object.
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image holding member; a latent image forming device that forms a latent image on a surface of the image holding member; a developing device that develops the latent image using a developer to form a toner image; a transfer device that transfers the developed toner image onto a recording medium; and the fixing device according to claim 12, the fixing device fixing the toner image to the recording medium.

Description

Background (i) Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a sliding member, a fixing device, and an image forming apparatus. (ii) Related Art For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2017-181948 discloses a sliding member that has a sliding surface in contact with the inner circumferential surface of a belt and is disposed so as to face a pressure member with the belt interposed between the sliding member and the pressure member. A direction in which the rotating belt slides on the sliding surface during transfer of a recording medium is referred to as a transfer direction. A plurality of first grooves extending in a direction intersecting the transfer direction are formed on the sliding surface, and a plurality of second grooves are formed on the sliding surface and each provide communication between corresponding adjacent two of the plurality of first grooves. The first grooves and the second grooves are formed in a non-lattice pattern. Summary Accordingly, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a sliding member in which an increase in sliding resistance between the sliding member and a sliding object that slides on the sliding surface of the sliding member is smaller than that when grooves with a constant cross-sectional area extend in the sliding direction on the sliding surface on which the sliding object slides and to provide a fixing device and an image forming apparatus. According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a sliding member having a sliding surface on which a sliding object slides, wherein the sliding surface has formed thereon a plurality of first grooves, a plurality of second grooves, and a plurality of third grooves, wherein the first grooves extend in a sliding direction of the sliding object and are arranged in the sliding direction at intervals in a plurality of rows, wherein the plurality of rows are arranged in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the sliding direction at intervals, wherein, in two adjacent rows of the plurality of rows that are adjacent to each other in the orthogonal direction, the first grooves in one of the two adjacent rows are staggered from the first grooves in the other one of the two adjacent rows in the sliding direction, wherein the second grooves extend in a direction different from the direction in which the first grooves extend, wherein the second grooves connect, to each other, adjacent ones of the plurality of first grooves that are adjacent to each other in the orthogonal direction and connect, to each other, adjacent ones of the plurality of first grooves that are diagonally adjacent to each other and displaced from each other in the sliding direction, wherein each of the third grooves extends in the sliding direction and connects corresponding two adjacent ones of the plurality of first grooves that are adjacent to each other in the sliding direction, and wherein at least part of each of the third grooves has a smaller cross-sectional area than each of the first grooves. According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, in the sliding member according to the first aspect, at least some of the plurality of second grooves each include first diagonal grooves extending in an extending direction inclined with respect to the sliding direction so as to connect, to each other, first adjacent ones of the plurality of first grooves that are diagonally adjacent to each other in the orthogonal direction and second diagonal grooves that extend in a direction line-symmetric to the extending direction of the first diagonal grooves with respect to the sliding direction so as to connect, to each other, second adjacent ones of the plurality of first grooves that are diagonally adjacent to each other in the orthogonal direction. According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, in the sliding member according to the second aspect, each of the plurality of first grooves is connected on both sides in the sliding direction to corresponding ones of the first and second diagonal grooves in the at least some of the plurality of second grooves. According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, in the sliding member according to any one of the first to third aspects, an entire part of each of the third grooves has a smaller cross sectional area than each of the first grooves. According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, in the sliding member according to the fourth aspect, the third grooves have a smaller depth than the first grooves. According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, in the sliding member according to the fifth aspect, D2/D1 is 0.02 or more and 0.35 or less, where D1 is the depth of the first grooves, and D2 is the depth of the third grooves. According to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, in the sliding member according to the sixth aspect, D2/D1 is 0.07 or more and 0.20 or less. According to an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, in t