IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD

摘要

An image forming apparatus, including: electrostatic latent image bearing member; electrostatic latent image forming unit; developing unit configured to develop with toner to form visible image; transferring unit; fixing unit; and discharging unit, the toner containing binder resin, colorant, and releasing agent, the binder resin containing crystalline resin containing urethane or urea bond, or both, the toner satisfying: C/(C+A)≧0.15, C being integrated intensity of part of spectrum derived from crystalline structure of the binder resin, A being integrated intensity of part of the spectrum derived from non-crystalline structure, the spectrum being diffraction spectrum of the toner as obtained by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, storage elastic modulus G′(70) of the toner at 70° C. being 5.0×104 Pa≦G′(70)≦1.0×106 Pa, and storage elastic modulus G′(160) thereof at 160° C. being 1.0×103 Pa≦G′(160)≦1.0×104 Pa, and the image forming apparatus satisfying S1−S2>0, S1 and S2 being passing speeds of the recording medium in the fixing unit and the discharging unit, respectively.

主权项

1. An image forming method, comprising:
forming an electrostatic latent image on an electrostatic latent image bearing member; developing the electrostatic latent image with a toner to form a visible image; transferring the visible image onto a recording medium; fixing the transferred image on the recording medium; and discharging the recording medium, on which the transferred image has been fixed, to outside the image forming apparatus, wherein the toner contains a binder resin, a colorant, and a releasing agent, wherein the binder resin contains a crystalline resin containing a urethane bond, or a urea bond, or both thereof, and the toner satisfies:
C/(C+A)≧0.15 where C is an integrated intensity of part of a spectrum derived from a crystalline structure of the binder resin, and A is an integrated intensity of part of the spectrum derived from a non-crystalline structure, and the spectrum is a diffraction spectrum of the toner as obtained by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, wherein a storage elastic modulus G′(70) of the toner at 70° C. is 5.0×104 Pa≦G′(70)≦1.0×106 Pa, and a storage elastic modulus G′(160) of the toner at 160° C. is 1.0×103 Pa≦G′(160)≦1.0×104 Pa, and wherein the image forming apparatus satisfies the following formula:
S1−S2>0 where S1 is a passing speed of the recording medium in a fixing unit used for the fixing, and S2 is a passing speed of the recording medium in a discharging unit used for the discharging.