JPS61219960A - Electrophotographic sensitive body and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical field to which the invention pertains] The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photoreceptor, and more particularly to an electrophotographic photoreceptor with improved toner image transfer efficiency and residual toner cleaning performance, and a method for manufacturing the same. Regarding.

[Prior art and its problems]

Electrophotographic photoreceptors (hereinafter simply referred to as photoreceptors) consist of a conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer made of a phototactic conductive material provided thereon, and are used in so-called electrophotographic devices such as electrophotographic copying machines and printers. It is used as a mounting member and functions as a forming member. At this time, for example, in a dry copying machine using the Carlson method, which is a typical electrophotographic method, the surface of the photoreceptor is first uniformly charged with an electrostatic charge by corona discharge or the like.

Thereafter, by imagewise exposing this surface, the electrostatic charge on the exposed portion disappears, and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the light image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor. Next, toner is applied to this electrostatic latent image to form a toner image, and the toner image is transferred and fixed onto paper or the like to obtain a copy image. On the other hand, the static charge remaining on the surface of the photoconductor is removed electrically and optically, and any remaining toner is mechanically removed using a brush or blade, and the surface is cleaned and used repeatedly. Prepare for.

In such processes, photoreceptors are known in which the surface of the photosensitive layer is roughened in order to improve toner transfer properties and cleaning properties. This is achieved by roughening the surface of the photosensitive layer appropriately to the surface roughness of the toner particles, for example, to a surface roughness of about the size of a block to the side of the toner particles, so that the contact between the photosensitive layer surface and the toner becomes point contact, and the toner particles are roughened. This is based on the idea that the transfer efficiency is high, residual toner can be easily removed, and the coefficient of friction between the blade and the surface of the photosensitive layer is also reduced, resulting in less mechanical damage to the surface of the photosensitive layer and the blade. In this case, the surface roughness of the photosensitive layer is required to have appropriate roughness as well as sufficient uniformity, and the non-uniformity will result in non-uniformity of the copied image, and especially local processing scratches can be fatal to the copied image. This is not desirable because it may appear as a defect.

As a method for roughening the surface of the photosensitive layer for this purpose,
A grinding method in which grinding is performed while rotating a whetstone.

Alternatively, a superfinishing method is known in which grinding is performed while vibrating a grindstone. In either case, water-soluble or water-insoluble materials are added to the grinding surface of the whetstone in order to reduce clogging of the whetstone caused by the object to be ground, and to promote the crushing and falling off of abrasive grains as a result of the self-growth of the cutting edge during grinding. Grinding is performed while supplying external grinding power. However, even if such a method is used, it is difficult to completely eliminate the clogging of the grindstone, and it is necessary to perform dressing to remove the clogging of the grindstone. However, depending on the frequency of dressing, clogging 9 of the grindstone cannot be avoided, and the clogging causes grinding scratches on the surface of the photosensitive layer, which is the surface to be ground, and the scratches appear on the copied image. In addition, in the super finishing method, processing noise due to K occurs when the grinding wheel moves while vibrating, and in the grinding method, "feeding marks" (partially deep scratches) appear as the grinding wheel moves, and such places cannot be copied. Toner clogging is likely to occur during the process, making it difficult to remove by cleaning and causing image defects.

Furthermore, since an abrasive is used as described above, it is necessary to clean the rounding to remove the abrasive, thereby complicating the process.

The surface roughening method by lapping eliminates the clogging of the grinding wheel mentioned above, and the roughness of the processed surface is uneven.

Although scratches are less likely to occur, the rough surface created by lapping tends to be easily clogged with toner during the copying process, and there is also the disadvantage that an abrasive agent is required to supply the MAKUYU 111i abrasive grains, which requires a cleaning process. have.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and to provide a cylindrical photoreceptor whose photosensitive layer surface is uniformly roughened to a predetermined roughness.
Copied images are free from defects caused by processing lines during surface roughening, scratches and uneven processing due to surface roughening, and are excellent in toner transfer efficiency and printing properties, and are stable even after repeated use many times. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrophotographic photoreceptor capable of changing uniformly duplicated images and a method for manufacturing the same.

[Key points of the invention]

According to the present invention, a photoreceptor consisting of a cylindrical conductive substrate and a photoreceptor layer formed thereon is rotated around a cylindrical shaft, and the photoreceptor layer surface is abrasive to a flexible substrate. The above object is achieved by running and pressing the abrasive tape on which the grains are bonded, and simultaneously moving the abrasive tape in the axial direction of the cylinder to polish and roughen the surface of the photosensitive layer.

The abrasive tape described above is a thin tape-like tape in which abrasive grains are fixed to a flexible base material, such as a polyester film, with an adhesive. When this abrasive tape is run and polished by pressing its abrasive-fixed surface against the surface of the photosensitive layer to be polished, the abrasive grains are crushed due to the flexibility of the abrasive tape.

The abrasive grains are crushed because the force is not enough to cause them to fall off.

Polishing is performed without falling off, and no scratches occur due to roughening of the surface. Furthermore, since the polishing tape is running, clogging is not a problem and the polishing is uniform.

A roughened surface can be obtained.

A further feature of the present invention is that the surface of the photosensitive layer is exposed with a certain directionality. That is, as mentioned above, due to the relative movement of the rotation of the cylindrical shaft of the photoreceptor and the movement of the abrasive tape in the direction of the cylindrical axis, the surface of the photosensitive layer has a spiral direction along the cylindrical axis. The surface becomes rough. A rough surface with such directionality greatly contributes to improving the toner transfer efficiency. In addition, in the cleaning process, the direction in which toner is brushed away or rubbed with a blade matches the direction of roughness on the surface of the photosensitive layer, making it easier to remove residual toner and prevent defective copied images caused by residual toner. It is greatly reduced.

Furthermore, since polishing with a polishing tape does not require an abrasive, subsequent cleaning of the surface to be polished is extremely easy.

[Embodiments of the invention]

The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments and the drawings.

Embodiments 1 and 2 FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. Figure (b) is a side view seen from a direction perpendicular to the cylinder axis.

Selenium is applied as a photosensitive layer 3 on an aluminum cylindrical substrate 2.
The photoreceptor 1 on which the arsenic alloy layer was formed by vacuum evaporation was turned on a lathe (
(not shown). Also, the polishing tape supply row 26. Polishing tape take-up roller7. A motor that rotates these 8. Tension roller9. A polishing device number equipped with a torque motor 10 for rotationally driving the polishing device is also attached to the lathe, and the polishing tape 5 is set thereon. The photoconductor 1 is rotated in a predetermined direction, and the abrasive tape 5 is pressed against the surface of the photoconductor layer 3 with a predetermined pressure.
The surface of the photosensitive layer 3 is polished and roughened while running in the direction opposite to the 0-rotation direction and gradually moving in the direction of the cylindrical axis of the photosensitive member. The pressing pressure of the polishing tape 5 is applied to the photoreceptor 1.
The relative position of the polishing device 4 and the polishing device 4 are adjusted by a tension roller 9 connected to a torque motor 10, and the running speed of the polishing tape 5 is adjusted by a polishing tape supply row 76 connected to a motor 8 and a polishing tape take-up roller 7. adjusted by. The movement of the polishing tape 5 in the cylindrical axial direction of the photoreceptor is achieved by moving the entire polishing device 4 in the axial direction.
Therefore, it is done.

According to the polishing method described above, a photosensitive layer was formed on an aluminum cylindrical substrate with an outer diameter of 80 mm, a diameter of 3 L, and a length of 328 mm, using 2 types of polishing tape manufactured by Nitto Electric Industry Co., Ltd. under the following conditions. Total thickness of selenium/arsenic alloy layer approximately 60μm
Polishing the surface of the photosensitive layer of the photoreceptor formed by vacuum evaporation,
The surface was roughened to obtain the exposure f4 of Example 1.2. Type of polishing tape and observed roughness R2 of the surface of the photosensitive layer in each example
(JIS 10-point average roughness) is shown in Table 1.

Processing conditions Polishing tape Tenshimin 5 kg Polishing speed (photosensitive layer outer peripheral surface speed) 4 om/min Polishing tape running speed 3 m/min Polishing tape axial movement speed
am/Rotation (Photoreceptor) Table 1 The surface of the photosensitive layer polished and roughened by this method can be easily cleaned by wiping it with felt. The surface of the photosensitive layer observed was a rough surface with a spiral direction along the cylindrical axis of the photoreceptor, and processing lines with the same directionality were observed.

Comparative Example 1 The surface of the photosensitive layer of the same photoreceptor as in Examples 1 and 2 was ground and roughened using a superfinishing method under the following conditions to obtain a photoreceptor of Comparative Example 1. JIS ten point average roughness of the surface RztlO-
It was 4 μm. In addition, random processing lines with no fixed directionality were observed on the surface of the photosensitive layer.

Processing conditions Grindstone used: FBI31'7GCφ2000 (manufactured by Nippon Tokushu Kento) Grindstone pressure: 0.3 to 0.4 kg/cj
Grinding speed 100~150m/min Grinding wheel delivery
7■/Rotating (photoreceptor) grindstone @ 2.0~4.
0 ■ Abrasive Daphne Cut (Product Name) 113-
5 (manufactured by Idemitsu Kosan ■) Example 3 Examples 1 and 2. The photoreceptor seen in Comparative Example 1 was installed in a Carlson type dry copying machine, and a halftone original of A3 size paper was continuously copied, and the number of copies until processing lines appeared on the copied image was determined. Ta. The results are shown in Table 2.

Second, the copying machine used was cleaned using a blade.

As is clear from Table 2, the surface of the photosensitive layer of Example 1.2, which was roughened to have processing lines that match the direction of the blade rubbing in the cleaning process, was randomly formed by the superfinishing method. Compared to the surface of the photosensitive layer of Comparative Example 1, which has a roughened surface, cleaning performance for residual toner is much better, and therefore defects in copied images due to toner sticking to processing lines on the surface of the photosensitive layer are less likely to occur. I understand that.

Examples 4 to 7 FIG. 2 is a block diagram conceptually showing another example of the present invention.
2(a) is a side view of the photoreceptor as seen from the direction of the cylinder axis, and FIG. 2(b) is a side view of the photoreceptor as seen from the direction perpendicular to the cylinder axis.

As in Examples 1 and 2, a photoreceptor 1 having a selenium/hinoki base metal layer formed as a photosensitive layer 3 on an aluminum cylindrical substrate 2 by vacuum deposition is mounted on a lathe (not shown). Also, polishing tape supply row)6. Polishing tape winding roller ruff, motor for rotating these 8. Tensing roller 9, torque motor N for rotationally driving it
o, an air sill 1 mounted on the shaft of a contact roller 12 that presses the polishing tape 5 onto the surface of the photosensitive layer;
The polishing bag ff14 having the polishing tape 1 disposed thereon is also attached to the lathe, and the polishing tape 5 is set thereon. The photoreceptor 1 is rotated in a predetermined direction, and the abrasive tape 5 is pressed against the surface of the photoreceptor layer 3 with a predetermined pressure by air pressure via the contact roller 12 and the air cylinder 11, in the opposite direction to the rotation direction of the photoreceptor 1. While running and gradually moving in the direction of the cylindrical axis of the photoreceptor 1, the surface of the photosensitive layer 30 is polished and roughened. In order to prevent the polishing tape 5 from deflecting, a required tension is applied to the polishing tape 5 by a tension roller 9 connected to a torque motor 10, and the running speed of the polishing tape 50 is controlled by the polishing tape supply roller 6 connected to the motor 8 and the polishing Adjusted by tape take-up roller ruff. The movement of the polishing tape 5 in the cylindrical axial direction of the photoreceptor is performed by moving the entire polishing device 4 in the axial direction.

Using the above-mentioned polishing method, the surface of the photosensitive layer of the photoconductor was polished and roughened in the same manner as in Actual Flow Side 1.2 under the following conditions. At that time, photoreceptors of Examples 4 to 7 were obtained by changing the type of polishing tape and the material of the contact roller. Table 3 shows the type of polishing tape, the material of the contact row 2, and the observed surface roughness RZ of the photosensitive layer for each example.

Processing conditions Roller pressure 5~lokg / 25 ■ Polishing tape traveling speed 3 m/min Polishing tape axial movement speed 6 gourds/rotation (photoreceptor) polishing speed (photoreceptor outer peripheral surface speed) 40 m/min 3rd
Example 1.
The polishing force can be increased compared to No. 2, and a more stable rough surface can be obtained. It can also be seen that by changing the material of the contact roller to make it harder, it is possible to roughen the surface even with an abrasive tape with finer abrasive grains, and to obtain a uniformly roughened surface with even finer roughness.

Furthermore, the shape of the contact roller is 10 as shown in the front view of Fig. 3, with both end surfaces of the roller 12 being surfaces.
If the shape is inclined at an angle of 45° to 45°, both sides of the abrasive tape 50 will be shaped like rollers during processing, and the contact roller side will be turned.

The edges on both sides of the polishing tape 5 no longer touch the surface of the photosensitive layer, which tends to occur with the processing methods of Examples 1 and 2.
“Feed marks” are marks made by the edge of the abrasive tape as it moves in the direction of the cylindrical axis.
This is effective because it can prevent deep scratches that occur locally as the polishing tape moves.

For the photoreceptors of Examples 4 to 7, halftone originals were continuously copied in accordance with Example 3, and the number of copies until processing streaks appeared was investigated, and the results shown in Table 4 were obtained. Ta.

Like the photoconductor of Example 1.2, the photoconductors of Examples 4 to 7 in Table 4 are excellent photoconductors that are less likely to cause defects in copied images due to processing lines. It can be seen that the photoreceptor of Example F, in which the surface of the photoreceptor layer was finished with a finely roughened surface, was very excellent.

The surface roughness of the photosensitive layer obtained by the surface roughening method of the present invention can be set to any desired value by appropriately selecting the m class of the polishing tape, processing conditions, number of times of polishing, etc.

Although the photoreceptor having a photosensitive layer made of selenium/cypress metal has been described above, the surface roughening method of the present invention can also be applied to photosensitive layers made of other inorganic or organic photoconductive materials. It is. Furthermore, although the explanation has been given in the case of cleaning with a blade, it is also effective in the case of cleaning with a brush.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, while rotating a cylindrical photoreceptor around its cylindrical axis, a flexible abrasive tape is run and pressed on the surface of the photosensitive layer, and at the same time, while moving the abrasive tape in the direction of the cylindrical axis, The surface of the photosensitive layer is polished and roughened to obtain a photoreceptor having a photosensitive layer surface roughened to a predetermined roughness in a spiral direction along the cylindrical axis of the photoreceptor. By making the surface of the photosensitive layer a rough surface with such directionality, toner transfer is performed efficiently in the copying process, resulting in stable and good copied images, and toner removal in the cleaning process is extremely easy. It's easy,
Excellent, because toner is less likely to stick to the processing lines during surface roughening, image defects due to processing lines are less likely to occur on copied images, and stable and uniform images can be seen even after repeated use many times. Becomes a photoreceptor. Further, by roughening the surface using a flexible abrasive tape, scratches and uneven processing are less likely to occur, and image defects caused by these are also eliminated. Further, since no abrasive is required during the surface roughening process, the process is simplified, and cleaning of the photoreceptor after the process is extremely easy, resulting in significant effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 and 1 are conceptual configuration diagrams showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which Figure 1 (a) is a side view of a cylindrical photoreceptor viewed from the cylindrical axis direction, and Figure 1 (b) is a diagram. is a side view seen from a direction perpendicular to the axis. FIG. 2 is a conceptual configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2(a) is a side view of a cylindrical photoreceptor viewed from the direction of the cylinder axis, and FIG. It is a side view seen from the direction. FIG. 3 is a front view showing one shape of the contact roller shown in FIG. 2. FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Photoreceptor, 2... Cylindrical conductive substrate, 3...
Photosensitive layer, 4... Polishing device, 5... Polishing tape. 10 Figure 3 -N of dimension r'-i

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) An electrophotographic photoreceptor comprising a cylindrical conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer formed thereon, wherein the surface of the photosensitive layer is along the cylindrical axis of the cylindrical conductive substrate. An electrophotographic photoreceptor characterized by having a surface that is directionally roughened in a spiral shape. 2) In a method for manufacturing an electrophotographic photoreceptor comprising a cylindrical conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer formed thereon, an abrasive tape in which abrasive grains are bonded to a substrate having a flexible surface of the photosensitive layer. A method for producing an electrophotographic photoreceptor, characterized in that the cylindrical conductive substrate is roughened with a spiral direction along the cylindrical axis.