Technology to Achieve Long-Life Xerographic Drum Units

Abstract

Prolonging the lifespan of the image-forming drum unit is important in achieving high environmental performance (i. e., contributing to global warming prevention and low-carbon societies). To ensure prolonged life and high reliability in the drum unit, it is necessary to lengthen the lifespans of its comprising parts : the photoreceptor, cleaning blade, and charge roll. Should any of these fail, the entire unit must be replaced, and thus the lifespan is limited to that of the shortest part. Of the three, the photoreceptor has the shortest lifespan, wearing quickly through contact with the cleaning blade in the cleaning process. It is thus vital to clarify the physical interactions between parts in this process to enable us to judge when a drum unit requires replacing. This paper describes two key technologies for improving longevity in the xerographic drum unit : a two-layered cleaning blade and measurement technology for determining the thickness of photoreceptor layers.