Image forming apparatus and method, and toner, developer and process cartridge for forming image

摘要

An image forming apparatus including an image forming device forming a toner image on a recording material, and a fixing device including an endless fixing belt feeding the recording material at a speed of 400 to 1,700 mm/sec while heating to fix the toner image thereon. The fixing belt has a rubber layer located on a substrate and having thickness of 400 μm to 700 μm, and a fluorine-containing resin layer located on the rubber layer and having thickness of 2 μm to 20 μm. The toner includes a release agent including a microcrystalline wax and/or a synthetic ester wax, and a binder resin including a crystalline polyester and an amorphous polyester. The ratio (W/R) of the height (W) of the third falling peak of the crystalline polyester to the height (R) of the maximum rising peak of the amorphous polyester in the FT-IR spectrum of the toner is 0.045 to 0.850.

主权项

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
an image forming device to form an image of a toner on a recording material; and a fixing device including an endless fixing belt to bear the toner image thereon; a controller configured to control a speed of the fixing device to feed the recording material from 400 to 1,700 mm/sec while heating the recording material to fix the toner image on the recording material, wherein the fixing belt has at least a substrate, a rubber layer located on the substrate and having a thickness of from 400 μm to 700 μm, and a fluorine-containing resin layer located on the rubber layer and having a thickness of from 2 μm to 20 μm, wherein the toner includes: toner particles including: a release agent including at least one of a microcrystalline wax and a synthetic ester wax; and
a binder resin including a crystalline polyester resin having a long axis diameter of from 0.2 μm to 0.3 μm and an amorphous polyester resin in a surface portion of the toner particles that envelopes the release agent, andwherein an amount of the crystalline polyester resin and an amount of the amorphous polyester resin in a surface portion of the toner particles satisfies the following relation:
0.045≦W/R≦0.850, wherein W represents a height of a third falling peak specific to the crystalline polyester resin in a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectrum obtained by subjecting the toner to FT-IR using a KBr pellet method, and R represents a height of a maximum rising peak specific to the amorphous polyester resin in the FT-IR spectrum.