Simulation of Toner Image Formation on Paper During the Fixing Process

Abstract

The new simulation method to calculate the three-dimensional toner image structure after the fixing process has been developed. This method has made it possible to achieve what was previously impossible by decomposing the complex physical phenomena in fusing process into the several computational steps : toners stress, toners temperature, toners compression, and toners spread. Validation against actual samples demonstrated that the simulations accurately reproduce the extent of toner spread area on paper. Additionally, the study identifies that density unevenness, caused by variations in toner image area across different paper position, results from two primary shape factors : millimeter-scale paper waviness and micrometer-scale paper fine textures.