Real World Toner Testing Recharger Magazine

Transcript

Recharger Magazine Expo 2005 S 86 Real World Toner Testing Cartridge New Product Introduction Eastport Engineering Ω Eastport, Maine [email protected] Toner Testing Objectives o Basic EP principles o Basic image formation o Human visual response to images o Test target selection o Image analysis tools o Subjective measurement o Statistical image measurement o Test Plan and Data Base Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 2 Evaluation Development • Constant Improvement 2 Understand limitations of the printer and process 2 Governs product development 2 Corrective action 2 Standards are here .. And will continue 2 ASTM 1856, 1531 … ISO 13660 … ISO 19751 Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 3 Basic Cartridge Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 4 Basic Cartridge ** Color toner hopper / catridge Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 5 EP Process Key Component • Clean • Cleaning Blade ~ Toner ~ OPC ~ Process • Charge • OPC ~ PCR ~ Process • Writing • OPC ~ Laser ~ Process • Developing • OPC ~ Toner ~ Developer Sleeve ~ Process • Transferring • OPC ~ Toner ~ Media ~ Process • Fixing • Toner ~ Media ~ Fuser ~ Process Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 6 Critical Components o o o o Image is cleaned from the OPC Image is formed in/on the OPC Image is developed onto the OPC Image is transferred from the OPC Much of the electrophotography science is happening here !!! ON a high commodity component ( << $10) DO NOT Overlook this components contribution to overall image performance Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 7 Cleaning • Preparation for new latent image • wiper blade Care and cleaning/handling • recovery blade PCR (charge roller technology) Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 8 Cleaning Problems • • • • • Vertical streaking smearing ghosting (double imaging) background haze peppering of loose toner Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 9 Conditioning Primary charge roller applies a uniform negative charge (-600V to -720 V DC) Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 10 Writing • Laser beam used to discharge the conditioned charge on drum surface • aluminum substrate is connected to an electrical ground Gears & Ground path Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 11 Writing • Photo conductive material becomes electrically conductive when exposed to light • The negative charges moves onto the surface of the drum conduct to the aluminum base when exposed to light creating the latent image Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 12 Writing • Image area will attract toner in the later development stage • Ground contacts • DEVELOPMENT Spacing Contact development – NON Magnetic toner Zone Development – HP – Magnetic toner Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 13 Developing • Latent image becomes visible image • process contains four major components Metering blade OPC Toner Mag Cleaning Blade Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 14 Developing • • • • Toner developer roll assembly metering blade AC/DC charge Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 15 Developing • Toner attracted to developer roll by internal magnet or electro-static charge • Roller carries toner particles to the metering blade and creates tribo-electric charge (friction) on surface of toner particles Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 16 Developing • Metering blade(doctor blade) allows even distribution of toner to drum • developer roller then charged with an AC/DC charge from high voltage power supply • allows toner to jump from developer roller to the opc and is attracted to latent image Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 17 Developing …………….. Toner Interaction • • • • • • Light print Blasting Backgrounding Leaking or spilling Excess waste toner Toner build-up on the fuser assembly Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 18 Transferring • Transfer of image on the drum to a piece of paper • As paper passes under drum it passes over a corotron assembly • The assembly places a positive charge on the back of the page TRANSFER Eff % KEY for yield and density Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 19 Fusing • Toner is attracted off the drum • Poor transfer of toner creates more waste • Toner is permanently affixed to the paper Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 20 Fusing Fuser Assembly • • • • • • Heated roller Pressure roller Heating element Thermistor Thermal fuse Cleaning pad • Time …. Duty Cycle … Print Job length Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 21 Fusing • • • • Heating element placed inside of aluminum roller coated with teflon Roller heated to 355°F (180 °C) Pressure roller is rigid foamed silicon roller Pressure is applied to heated roller Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 22 Fusing • The paper passes between the rollers • The heated roller melts the toner particles while the pressure roller presses the toner into the fiber weave of the paper Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 23 Transferring/Fusing Problems • • • • • Raised print Toner flaking Light print Ghosting Offset Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 24 Image Formation • OPC response forms a proper image • OPC active layer responds proportional to the resolution of the printer. • Toner is charged properly and is formulated such that the latent image is correct. • Transfer to the media is correct, mechanically • Fusing, toner formulation minimizes spread • Repetitive defects (component related) Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 25 Toner Manufacturing- Understanding performance and $$ Chemical Toners Design Criteria - Their shape can be almost spherical Raw Materials - Their size can be smaller (about 5 microns) and much more regular. Compounding Grinding Classifying - Their electrostatic characteristics make them easier to mix together to get custom colors. Particle Size & Distribution Classifying Efficiency Contamination - Their transfer efficiency from photoreceptor to paper is almost 100%. - Cheaper to produce, they put less strain on printing engines. This new process requires less energy to make, generate less waste, contribute to printer reliability. Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 26 Raw Materials • Magnetic Toner • • • • Resin system (melt point,grindability,wetting,cross-linked) Iron oxide (coercivity,shape,wetting,purity) Carbon Black (wetting,particle size,purity) Post additives (Fumed Si, Ti, Polyproplene wax) • Non Magnetic Toner • Resin system (melt point,grindability,wetting,crosslinked) • Carbon Black (wetting,particle size,purity) • Post additives (Fumed Si, Ti, Polypropylene wax) • Chemically Prepared Toner • Resin system • Pigment • Post-adds Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 27 Toner Requirements • Provide desirable output image on a given media • Stable in different environmental conditions • Economical considerations • Health risks • Careful control of materials Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 28 Dry Toner Manufacturing Process Simplified Fine Classification Raw Material Additive Mixing Mixers Compounding Coarse Clasification Fine Mixing Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard Finished The Product Fines Dust 29 Compounding Technique • MeltMixing • • • • • • • • Distributive mixing Batch or continuous Must control of flux point Layered additions (technique) Wear protection $$$$ electricity Secondary mixing on Roll Mill Cleanouts $$$$ time Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 30 Toner “Finishing” Process Control • Coulter , Lasentec • • • • Measurement technique Accuracy Meaningful results Forensics • Q/M • Prepared / Actual samples • Temp & rh% • CCA Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 31 Particle Size • • • • • 5-10 microns Typical laser product Cut is important : not Average PSD Sub 5u why ? Additive issues Health hazard warning Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 32 Melt Mix Dry Toner Resin Systems Physical Properties Specific Gravity Mechanical Properties Strength (Tensile and Flexural) Modulus (Tensile and Flexural) Elongation Hardness Impact Resistance Thermal Properties Heat Deflection Temperature Glass Transition Temp Heat Capacity Thermal Conductivity Thermal Expansion Coefficient Processing Characteristics Melt Flow Index Melt Strength Melting Point, No-flow Temp Shear Rate/Viscosity Relation Compressibility (Pressure/Volume/Temperature Relation) Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard Optical Properties Light Transmission Haze Refractive Index Electrical Properties Surface and Volume Resistivity Dielectric Constant Dielectric Strength Dissipation Factor Breakdown Voltage Environmental Properties Chemical Resistance UV Resistance Flame Resistance (UL Rating) Oxygen Index Water Absorption Morphology Crystallinity Orientation Composition (Neat, Blended, Filled) 33 Toner Handling and Filling Product and Process • Contamination • • • • Oils Water Other toners Dry Lubes • Flow-ability • OPC Cleaning Properties • Filling Systems Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 34 Human Response to Imaging Light response is logarithmic Edge definition and shade difference is key Halftones (Gray Scales) 0-15 % are key Improper line formation is easily detected Ghosting or shade variance is easily detected Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 35 Test Target Selection FWhite FGray (25%) FBlack FGhost FHalftones FFine Lines FSolid Fill F5% Character Coverage Cartridge Life 500 pages of 5% coverage and then a sequence of imaging targets: White , Halftone, Solid fill Blocks Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 36 BID and Solid Fill Areas http://www.qea.com/pdf/QEA%20Test%20Target%20rev%204f.pdf http://www.imagexpert.com/site-new/docs/toner_test_targets_720dpi.pdf Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 37 Fine Lines and Halftones •Gray scales …. Are very critical with the 1200 dpi printers •Watermarks and GS values under 15% are hard to develop •Postscript from Adobe pushes the envelop of halftone cell development Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 38 Ghosting Ghost images are formed in solid areas as lighter shaded artifacts or as dark artifacts in light shaded objects. The developer sleeve and opc can cause ghost formations. Measure shade differences Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 39 Repetitive Defects •Repetitive-Defect Rulers are available from HP Manual & FG,SCC,Oasis •Engine Specific ( Process Orientation ) •Develop good forensics •Offset (Cold - Hot) OPC, DS, Transfer roller Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 40 Image Analysis Tools • Create a toner cartridge print specification sheet • Have samples of acceptable and unacceptable prints • Always have a good cartridge available for comparison • Have samples of OEM prints • Gold Cartridge/System (trace, baseline) Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 41 Solution Samples • Document solutions to print defects on the Process Notes Log. • Make a defect book from all the different defects that you find, both common and unusual. • Example: If you have a test sheet that shows one dark band line on the top and you fixed it by scraping the grounding surface on the drum, write it down and keep it on file. If it happens again, you can identify the problem immediately. Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 42 Statistical Measurements • Make a run chart and list different defects • Look for trends in your process • Plan out what you can do to prevent common defects • Training • Task Rotation • Tools … loupes, light, etc. Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 43 Character Formation Characters that are hollow or contain voids have improper formation. The occurrence of voids also is toner related. Opc sensitivity can play a part when character formation problems exist. GUIDE is ISO13660 B B Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard B 44 Repetitive Defects Key •Defect Rulers are available from HP & others •Engine Specific ( Process Orientation ) •Develop good forensics •Engine charts and knowledge base Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 45 Moving Forward • Canon WX (HP-8000) Defect Ruler • • • • • • • • Registration Roller 1-3/4 Primary Charge Roller Developer Roller 2-1/8 Delivery Roller (B) 1-7/8 Transfer Roller (B) 2-1/4 Lower Fuser Roller (B) OPC Drum 3-11/16 Upper Fusing Roller 4-7/8 • Hewlett Packard HP-4000 Defect Ruler • • • • • • • • • • Primary Charge Roller Transfer Roller (B) 1-7/8 Feed Roller 2 Pre-Transfer Roller (B) Developer Roller 2 Lower Fuser Roller (B) Tray Feed Roller 2-15/16 Separation Roller 2-15/16 Upper Fuser Roller 2-15/16 OPC Drum 3-11/16 44 mm 1-3/4 54 mm 48 mm 58 mm 3-11/16 94 mm 125 mm Inches MM 44 mm 94 mm Inches 1-1/2 38 mm 47 mm 51 mm 2 51 mm 51 mm 2-1/2 63 mm 75 mm 75 mm mm Expo75 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 94 mm MM 46 Image Analysis Tools • Create a toner cartridge print specification designed around you customers key requirements • Have samples of acceptable and unacceptable prints for your techs to use as baseline • Always retain a gold standard cartridge available for comparison testing between printers • Have samples of OEM prints to refresh engine designed performance. Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 47 Image Analysis Tools • • • • Clean well lit table space for observing prints Eye loupe visual aids (Graticule) Reflectance Densitometer (Tobias, MacBeth) Training Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 48 Problem & Product - Solution Samples ù Document solutions to print defects on the Process sheet. ù Make a defect book from all the different defects that you find, both common and unusual. Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 49 Statistical Measurements • Make a run chart and list different defects é When you get a defect, mark the chart • Look for trends in your process • Plan out what you can do to prevent common defects • Training • Task Rotation • Tools … loupes, light, etc. Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 50 Develop Test Plan for YOUR Process Incoming Inspection: •Visual •Sift/retain •Print Test Final Inspection •Print Test •Build in SPC and Process Control Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 51 Toner Basics • Density • Compound technique and PSD • Resolution • PSD/Shape (CPT) • Charge rate • Background • Classifying cut • Fusing • High speed / permanent • Gloss Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 52 Imaging Materials Science – Where defects are organic • Toner Resins • • Ink Pigments • • Charging rate Saturation Toner Modifiers • • • Black or color, compound-ability, Magnetic properties Toner Charge control • • • Charging ,Fusing, Processing, Permanence Fusing release agents (pe, Polyolefin) OPC Cleaning Coated Media Cost has dropped HUGE since paper manufacturers start to coat at the source • • • Character formation Archivability UV Stability Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 53 Tribo electric : “charging” • Controlling charge rate is critical for image performance over the life of the cartridge • Detailed science of combining toner componentry has won attention in polymetric science circles • The last few years many high tech companies have looked at polymer science for imaging consumables as a viable business • Many resin companies have found the lucrative toner resin market Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 54 Development Physics • Link toner net charge with particle size distribution • Smaller particles have a higher charge rate • Higher charge particles accumulate on developer components • Physics are simple charge rate vs residence time • Toner particles are subject to incredible force .. Bring in the ME • Strain, Temperature, elastic yield • Environmental stability Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 55 Toner Consumption HP 4250 Consumption per Thousand pages 50.00 OEM 40.00 OPC1/T1 30.00 OPC2/T2 20.00 OPC1/T2 OPC2/T1 10.00 80 00 90 00 10 00 0 30 00 40 00 50 00 60 00 70 00 0.00 10 00 20 00 Grams of Toner 60.00 Pages printed Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 56 Charge Distribution • Perfect toner distributions … • The compounding process is perfectly homogenous • All particles exactly the same diameter and mass • Current polyester resins allow for excellent compounding … Mostly for fusing in hi speed printers, runs a little cleaner Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 57 Toner Development Q/M for Canon Engines 0.00 -5.00 20s 2m 20m 2hr -10.00 uCoulombs/gram -15.00 -20.00 HP8100 HP4000 -25.00 WX Std. -30.00 -35.00 -40.00 -45.00 -50.00 Charge time Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 58 Fused Image Formation Process Velocity and Fusing 250 Temp degrees C Glossy Hot Offset Region 200 FusingRegion 150 Cold Offset Region Matte 100 50 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 Process mm/s Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 59 Safety Requirements • Ames Testing • Low Odor • Particle size ( Less than 5 um) • Inhalant hazard (volume in air space) • Long term effects • OEM 4000 is ~17% “fines” • EUROPEAN Concerns --- law suit has found in favor of plaintiff “toner in an office environment Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 60 Commitment to laser printing • Major OPC chemistry advancements by Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Kodak, Xerox • Strong polymeric science advancement from resin manufacturers for imaging • Improved fusing • Consistent controlled compounding of formulations • Consistent Grinding and Classification • LOWER COST Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 61 Demands on Toner • PSD - Particles now have controlled shape and size distribution CPT & MMT • Materials design will help with charge rate and compounding, classification,fusing • Small changes in materials & PSD will enhance image performance at current digital density Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 62 Remanufacturing Success Metrics ------------------ CPT • • • • • Image Performance • Halftone reproduction • Line art Yield Solid fill uniformity Printer maintenance reduced • Fuser performance • cleanliness Standards and industry uniformity Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 63 CPT …………………….. Mono & Color • Timing • Color thinkers produce documents that demand color printing • Ink Jet will defeat some barriers but will lose because of ppm, in business imaging for NOW … watch HP IJ new system • CPT dominates color market A soft wax core in each particle melts as the toner is fused to the paper, ensuring fast, even fusing. Improved, patented pigments are another key ingredient in HP toner. Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 64 CPT Comparison Unique chargeability Yield is wonderful in a balanced system Image performance is more controllable Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 65 CPT Pixel Magic ë Dots within a cell â Dithering - is the art of placing single pixels of Mono or CMY adjacent to one another to create the illusion of shading or color. This is a “single level” process common to most laser printers. â Latest technology that HP uses on the 4500 places dots on top of one another in varying amounts. This is the multi level approach used in lithography. ImageRET2400 is exclusive to HP. â Level address ability is costly in memory and/or formatting time. Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 66 Standards and Current Work …. ASTM • Business Imaging F-05 (04 EP) (07 IJ) • Committee of industry representatives • Approx. 20 active members • Charter • Outline imaging standards for consumer • Develop methods, accept proposals from within industry • Timeliness • Year 1989 was start of process for 1531 … finished in 1994 • Year 1991 was start of 1856 …. Completed 1998 • Process • Industry dependent “What’s at stake” • Marketing Quality …………. ISO ?? Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 67 Standard Practice for Determining Toner Usage in Printer Cartridges F-1856-98 • Evaluation of OEM and RM’d Cartridges • METHOD of extrapolating actual consumption • Mass Balance • Toner movement from hopper • Toner transfer to the OPC • Toner transfer to the media • Metrics • • • • Eff % PPM GPP G/1000 Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 68 Standard Practice for Determining Toner Usage in Printer Cartridges F-1856-98 • Coverage estimates and printer development variation • Method Variance • Test Masters (5%) • RH% and Temperature • Relative comparison for your customer & for internal development Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 69 Standard Practice for Comparing Printer or Copier Cartridges Cartridges F-1531-94 • Summary • • • • • • • • Packaging & Marking Leakage Component Condition Copy/Print Quality Yield Noise & Odor Operational conditions Mass Balance Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 70 Standard Practice for Comparing Printer or Copier Cartridges Cartridges F-1531-94 • Baseline method for reference total performance of remanufactured product. • Reliability is determined through a designed trial using OEM or other reference metric • Reporting format • • • • • Operational Mass Balance Leakage Visual Packaging & Marking Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 71 ISO 13660 • ISO-13660 - international standard for print quality evaluation • The standard defines fourteen PQ attributes and specifies techniques for measuring them • Provides a framework for communication industry-wide • ISO-13660 requires that measurement instruments be calibrated to physical units. This is critical for ensuring reproducible results. Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 72 ISO 13660 • Baseline method for reference total performance of remanufactured product. • ISO 19751 “Appearance based image quality standards for printers” includes standardizing color reproduction quality (scheduled for review 2005) Imaging Artifact/Comparison Artifact Halftone Dot/Dot shape Halftone Dot/Dot gain Halftone Dot/Dot location Halftone Dot/Dot surround/satellites Halftone Dot/Dot edge Line/Line density Line/Edge sharpness Line/Resolution/line modulation Line/Line width Line/Edge raggedness Solid Fill Area/Density Solid Fill Area/Color Solid Fill Area/Halftone noise Solid Fill Area/Gloss Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 73 Moving Forward • • Standards laboratory Cartridge certification Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 74 Small/Medium/Large Testing Plan • NPI development • Vendor data and print results (cartridge BoM) • • • • • • • • • Gold Cartridge – Silver test Initial Life Tests Graphics data / Text Digital imaging data (Photoshop) Test Targets SPC / Control parametrics Link to engine and Cartridge componetry DataBase Production • • • • Sampling Life EOL testing …. NPI (AQL to zero) (Audit) SPC on key variables Realtime ---- Shift Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard REAL world • Driving out cost •Component Change •Process Change •Multi-function toners •Filling systems •Temp / Rh •Storage •Humidity limits testing 75 Bibliography • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • http://www.zeon.co.jp/business_e/enterprise/toner/toner5.html http://www.qea.com/pdf/Paper_1999%20ISJ-JH%20Applications%20of%20ISO-13660.pdf Applications of ISO-13660, A New InternationalStandard for Objective Print Quality Evaluation ISO and Standards – http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/CatalogueDetailPage.CatalogueDetail?CSNUMBER=22145 http://www.iso.org/iso/en/CatalogueDetailPage.CatalogueDetail?CSNUMBER=22145&ICS1=37&ICS2=100&ICS 3=10 Halftone and color science – http://www.adobe.com/support/techguides/color/colortheory/variables.html http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/emspectrum.html http://gretagmacbeth.com/Source/Gm.asp?part=Products&page=ProductsDisplay&id=6878&code=c&typ=prod uct http://www.loglight.com/ Avedon, Don M. and Courtot, Marilyn E., Glossary of Imaging Technology. AIIM TR2-1992. Silver Spring, MD: Association for Information and Image Management; 1992. A comprehensive glossary of technical terms; Electro-Optics Handbook, Waynant, R.W. and Ediger, M.N., Editors, Optical and Electro-Optical Engineering Series, McGraw-Hill, 1994 Fortner, Brand and Meyer, Theodore E., Number by Colors, Springer-Verlag, 199 Halliday & Resnick, Fundamentals of Physics, 3E, Wiley 1988 Halliday, Resnick, Walker, Fundamentals of Physics Extended, 5th Ed, Wiley 1997 Hecht, Eugene, Optics, Schaum’s Outline Series, McGraw-Hill, 1975 Light and Color, General Electric Company Publication TP-119 Minnaert, M. G. J., Light and Color in the Outdoors, Springer-Verlag, 1993 Waldman, Gary, Introduction to Light, The Physics of Light, Vision and Color, Prentice-Hall, 1983 Williamson, S J and Cummins, H Z, Light and Color in Nature and Art, Wiley 1983 Young, Hugh, University Physics, 8th Edition, Addison-Wesley, 1992. http://www.wide-format-printers.org/autodownloads_FLAAR_reports/QEA_analisys.pdf Expo 2005 - Eastport Engineering - Hibbard 76