Abstract: Provided are a polyimide tube that can be produced at a low cost and has good durability and a good offset property, a method for producing the polyimide tube, and a fixing belt which includes the polyimide tube as a base and which has good durability and a good offset property. Provided are a polyimide tube including a base resin containing a polyimide resin having good rigidity and a soft polyimide resin having good flexibility in a mass ratio of 30:70 to 70:30, 20% to 50% by volume of graphite, 3% by volume or more of a highly conductive carbon black particle, and 0.5% by volume or more of a carbon nanotube relative to the volume of the base resin, a method for producing the polyimide tube, and a fixing belt including the polyimide tube as a base.

Abstract: An insulating varnish forms an insulating coating film having a shape that corresponds to the shape of an opening of a die, having a uniform thickness. The insulating varnish is applied onto a surface of a conductor, subsequently passes through a die to remove the excess applied insulating varnish, and is then dried or baked to form an insulating coating film on the surface of the conductor. The insulating varnish has a viscosity of 10 Pa·s or more measured by a B-type viscometer at 30° C. The insulating varnish preferably contains no filler, and is preferably a polyimide precursor solution. Since the insulating varnish has a high viscosity, baking and solidification can be performed while maintaining a shape formed when the insulating varnish passes through a die.

Abstract: An imaging apparatus includes an imaging unit, a first display unit, a second display unit, and a controller. The imaging unit is configured to obtain an image of an object. The first display unit is configured to be observed through an ocular lens. The second display unit includes a touchpanel. The controller is configured to cause the first display to display a live view which is based on the image obtained by the imaging unit and temporarily store the image in a first state. The controller is configured to cause the second display unit to display the image temporarily stored and obtain information concerning image processing based on an output from the touchpanel in a second state.

Abstract: Provided are a silicone rubber sponge that forms an elastic layer of a pressure roller of an image-forming apparatus, and that has a high mechanical strength so as to be used in a high-speed image-forming apparatus or a color image-forming apparatus, and a rubber-covered roller including the silicone rubber sponge. The silicone rubber sponge is produced by mixing expanded resin microballoons with a low-molecular-weight silicone rubber to prepare a compound A, mixing a high-molecular-weight silicone rubber with the compound A to prepare a silicone rubber compound, and heating the silicone rubber compound at a temperature lower than a softening point of the resin microballoons to cure the silicone rubbers.

Abstract: Provided is a fixing belt which has high thermal conductivity capable of achieving an excellent fixing property that can respond to the recent increase in printing speed, which has a proper degree of elasticity such that color toners are sufficiently enveloped so as to be melted and mixed, and which has excellent mechanical strength and durability. A fixing belt includes a tubular base member, an elastic layer disposed on the outer circumferential side of the base member, and a surface layer disposed on a surface on the outer circumferential side of the elastic layer, the fixing belt being characterized in that the elastic layer is composed of rubber into which a filler primarily composed of silicon carbide powder and a carbon nanotube are compounded, and the formulae 10X+3Y<750, 3X+30Y>170, X>10, and Y>0.1 are satisfied, where X is the percent by volume of the filler and Y is the percent by volume of the carbon nanotube in the elastic layer.

Abstract: Provided is an insulated wire that can realize a high corona inception voltage and that can satisfy required properties such as heat resistance and a mechanical strength. A polyimide resin varnish containing, as a main component, a polyimide precursor resin obtained by allowing an aromatic diamine to react with an aromatic tetracarboxylic dianhydride, wherein the aromatic diamine includes a first aromatic diamine having an aromatic ether bond and three or more benzene rings, and a second aromatic diamine represented by formula (2) below, and an imide group concentration after imidization of the polyimide precursor resin is 25% or more and 35% or less. (In the formula, R represents CH2 or O.

Abstract: Provided is a heating fixing roller which includes a tubular base member and a fluororesin layer provided on an outer circumferential surface of the base member directly or through an adhesive layer, the heating fixing roller being characterized in that the fluororesin layer contains phosphorus-doped tin oxide. The heating fixing roller has a surface resistance capable of stably and effectively preventing the occurrence of electrostatic offsets, and also has an excellent releasing property. Also provided is a process for producing the heating fixing roller, characterized by including the steps of applying a fluororesin dispersion containing an aqueous dispersion of phosphorus-doped tin oxide onto a tubular base member or an adhesive layer disposed on an outer circumferential surface of the tubular base member, and then sintering the fluororesin.

Abstract: A bipolar plate for a redox flow battery that uses an electrically conductive composite having excellent mechanical strength, plasticity, and liquid-blocking property, and higher electrical conductivity is provided. The bipolar plate includes an electrically conductive composite prepared by mixing a thermoplastic resin, a carbonaceous material selected from graphite and carbon black, and a carbon nano-tube, in which a carbonaceous material content is 20 to 150 parts by weight and a carbon nano-tube content is 1 to 10 parts by weight relative to 100 parts by weight of the thermoplastic resin.

Abstract: Provided is a fixing belt which has a high effect of preventing offset and the like and is capable of forming a clear image, which has high adhesion between a surface layer and another layer, and which has no problems in terms of appearance. The fixing belt includes a tubular base, a surface layer provided as an outermost layer and composed of a fluororesin A, and a primer layer provided in contact with the surface layer, wherein the primer layer is composed of a material obtained by mixing a fluorine-containing ion conductive agent, such as a fluorine-containing alkali metal salt, with a fluororesin B.

Abstract: Provided are a method for producing a roller for office automation (OA) equipment, the roller capable of realizing an increase in the printing speed and having a good releasing property, and a roller for OA equipment. The method for producing a roller for OA equipment, the roller including a fluororesin layer provided on an outer circumferential surface of a tubular base either directly or with an intermediate layer therebetween, includes the steps of preparing a fluororesin coating material containing a tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkylvinylether copolymer (PFA) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in a ratio of 99:1 to 50:50 (mass ratio); applying the fluororesin coating material onto an outer circumferential surface of a tubular base either directly or with an intermediate layer therebetween; baking the fluororesin coating material at a temperature of 340° C. or higher to form a fluororesin layer; and after baking, cooling the fluororesin layer at a cooling rate of 20° C./min or less.

Abstract: A polyimide tube composed of a polyimide resin composition in which 5 to 23.5 volume percent of boron nitride and 1 to 15 volume percent of an acicular substance are dispersed as a filler in a polyimide resin on the basis of the total volume of the composition, a method of producing the tube, a method of producing a polyimide varnish used for producing the tube, and a fixing belt including the tube as a base member are provided.

Abstract: The present invention is intended to drastically improve a precision polishing characteristic of a cordierite-based sintered body which has low thermal expansibility, high dimensional long-term stability and high rigidity (high elastic modulus). The cordierite-based sintered body comprises cordierite as primary components, and one or more selected from the group consisting of La, Ce, Sm, Gd, Dy, Er, Yb and Y in an oxide-equivalent amount of 1 to 8 mass %, without any crystal phase other than a cordierite crystal phase. A mass ratio of primary components of the cordierite satisfies the following relations: 3.85?SiO2/MgO?4.60, and 2.50?Al2O3/MgO?2.70, and the cordierite-based sintered body after being subjected to precision polishing has a precisely polished surface with an average surface roughness (Ra) of 1 nm or less.

Abstract: Provided is a fixing belt which has high thermal conductivity capable of achieving an excellent fixing property that can respond to the recent increase in printing speed, which has a proper degree of elasticity such that color toners are sufficiently enveloped so as to be melted and mixed, and which has excellent mechanical strength and durability. A fixing belt includes a tubular base member, an elastic layer disposed on the outer circumferential side of the base member, and a surface layer disposed on a surface on the outer circumferential side of the elastic layer, the fixing belt being characterized in that the elastic layer is composed of rubber into which a filler primarily composed of silicon carbide powder and a carbon nanotube are compounded, and the formulae 10X+3Y<750, 3X+30Y>170, X>10, and Y>0.1 are satisfied, where X is the percent by volume of the filler and Y is the percent by volume of the carbon nanotube in the elastic layer.

Abstract: The present invention is intended to drastically improve a precision polishing characteristic of a cordierite-based sintered body which has low thermal expansibility, high dimensional long-term stability and high rigidity (high elastic modulus). The cordierite-based sintered body comprises cordierite as primary components, and one or more selected from the group consisting of La, Ce, Sm, Gd, Dy, Er, Yb and Y in an oxide-equivalent amount of 1 to 8 mass %, without any crystal phase other than a cordierite crystal phase. A mass ratio of primary components of the cordierite satisfies the following relations: 3.85?SiO2/MgO?4.60, and 2.50?Al2O3/MgO?2.70, and the cordierite-based sintered body after being subjected to precision polishing has a precisely polished surface with an average surface roughness (Ra) of 1 nm or less.

Abstract: Provided is an adhesive resin composition containing an epoxy resin and/or a phenoxy resin; an epoxy-containing copolymer obtained by copolymerizing a monomer having an epoxy group and an ethylenically unsaturated monomer that is copolymerizable with the monomer having an epoxy group; a thermoplastic resin; and a curing agent, wherein a copolymer having a weight-average molecular weight of 5,000 to less than 100,000 and a weight per epoxy equivalent of 3,500 g/eq or less is used as the epoxy-containing copolymer. The adhesive resin composition is capable of providing a one-part type adhesive solution that has a good compatibility of the polymer components, that has good flame retardancy and is halogen-free, and that has good storage stability. Also provided are a laminate and a flexible printed wiring board that use the adhesive resin composition.

Abstract: Provided is an adhesive resin composition containing (A) an epoxy resin and/or a phenoxy resin; (B) an epoxy-containing styrene copolymer containing a monomer unit having an epoxy group and a styrene monomer unit; (C) a thermoplastic resin; and (D) a curing agent, in which the content percentage of the epoxy-containing styrene copolymer (B) relative to the total amount of the resin components contained in the adhesive resin composition is 3% to 25% by mass. The adhesive resin composition is a halogen-free adhesive composition having good flame retardancy and a high peel strength. Also provided are a laminate and a flexible printed wiring board that use the adhesive resin composition.

Abstract: Provided are an adhesive resin composition that is halogen-free, has good adhesiveness, solder heat resistance, and flame retardancy, and has good flow characteristics, and a laminate and a flexible printed wiring board using the same. The adhesive resin composition contains a phosphorus-containing epoxy resin and/or a phosphorus-containing phenoxy resin, a phosphorus-containing polyester resin having a weight-average molecular weight of more than 20,000 and 150,000 or less, another thermoplastic resin, and a curing agent. The adhesive resin composition preferably further contains a benzoxazine compound. Preferably, substantially no inorganic filler is mixed in the adhesive resin composition.

Abstract: Provided are an adhesive composition that is halogen-free and that can satisfy flame retardancy without impairing adhesiveness or solder heat resistance, and a laminate and a flexible printed wiring board using the same. The adhesive resin composition contains an epoxy resin; a thermoplastic resin; a benzoxazine compound; a halogen-free flame retardant; and a curing agent, in which at least one of the epoxy resin and the thermoplastic resin contains a phosphorus-containing resin, and the phosphorus content in the solid portion of the adhesive resin composition is 2.5% by mass or more. Preferably, a phosphorus-containing epoxy resin is used as the epoxy resin, a thermoplastic resin containing 10% to 70% by mass of a phosphorus-containing polyester is used as the thermoplastic resin, and the amount of benzoxazine is 5 to 25 parts by mass and the amount of halogen-free flame retardant is 1 to 30 parts by mass per 100 parts of the resins.

Abstract: Provided is a heating fixing roller which includes a tubular base member and a fluororesin layer provided on an outer circumferential surface of the base member directly or through an adhesive layer, the heating fixing roller being characterized in that the fluororesin layer contains phosphorus-doped tin oxide. The heating fixing roller has a surface resistance capable of stably and effectively preventing the occurrence of electrostatic offsets, and also has an excellent releasing property. Also provided is a process for producing the heating fixing roller, characterized by including the steps of applying a fluororesin dispersion containing an aqueous dispersion of phosphorus-doped tin oxide onto a tubular base member or an adhesive layer disposed on an outer circumferential surface of the tubular base member, and then sintering the fluororesin.

Abstract: Provided are a polyimide tube including a polyimide resin composition, wherein the polyimide resin composition contains a polyimide resin in which an acicular highly thermally conductive filler such as carbon nanotubes is dispersed in 15 volume percent or more relative to the total volume of the composition; the acicular highly thermally conductive filler has an orientation of 1.3 or more, the orientation being represented by the modulus of elasticity of the polyimide resin composition in the circumferential direction/the modulus of elasticity of the polyimide resin composition in the axial direction; and the polyimide tube has high thermal conductivity, is excellent in terms of mechanical strength and indentation strength, and provides a high fixing property and an excellent offsetting property; a process for producing such a tube; and a fixing belt including such a tube serving as a base member.