JP2000221703A - Drying equipment in production process of photoreceptor drum - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable to perform the outside appearance inspection of a photosensitive film direct after the photosensitive film is formed and to simultaneously clean and cool an empty pallet. SOLUTION: The drying equipment is constituted so that a transporting line 15 for the photoreceptor drum loading pallet is arranged from a carrying-in position B of the photoreceptor drum from a photosensitive liquid coating equipment 11 to a carrying-out position C of the photoreceptor drum to the outside appearance inspection equipment 14, a returning line 16 for the empty pallet in the opposed direction to the line 15 and pallet transferring lines 17, 18 from the starting end to the finishing end of both lines 15, 16 are arranged, drying and cooling chambers 19, 20 for cooling the photosensitive drum direct after the photosensitive film is dried are arranged in the pallet transporting line 15 and an air blowing device for cleaning and cooling the empty pallet is installed in the return line 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drying apparatus in a manufacturing process of a photosensitive drum provided in an image forming apparatus such as an electrostatographic copier, a printer, a facsimile and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The above-mentioned photosensitive drum is manufactured, for example, as follows. That is, an aluminum pipe or a pipe whose surface is subjected to alumite treatment is used as a raw tube, and the inside and the outer surface of the raw tube are cleaned for debris removal and degreasing.

[0003] If the drainage of the surface of the tube is insufficient, the appearance of the photosensitive coating film on the photosensitive drum may be defective. Therefore, the tube is stored in a free flow line and dried. The dried raw tube is supplied to the photosensitive liquid coating equipment, where the raw tube is suspended and held, and immersed in the photosensitive liquid tank.
A coating film of a photosensitive liquid is formed on the surface of the base tube.

[0004] Next, after removing the photosensitive coating on the lower end side of the suspension of the raw tube, the raw tube is sent to a drying facility, and the photosensitive coating is dried by circulating air, for example. The production of the photosensitive drum is completed, but in the process, finally, the photosensitive drum is sent to the appearance inspection equipment, and the appearance inspection for exposing the photosensitive coating film is performed. When the photoconductor drum is in a high temperature state, the electrical characteristics of the photosensitive coating film deteriorate, so the photoconductor drum is stored in a free flow line and cooled, and the appearance inspection by the above-mentioned exposure is passed. Only the non-defective photosensitive drum is shipped as a product.

[0005]

However, in the above manufacturing process, before the photosensitive drum on which the photosensitive coating film is formed is sent to the visual inspection equipment, the photosensitive drum is stored in a free flow line and cooled. Therefore, a large space for installing the free flow line was required, and the appearance inspection was performed after the photosensitive drum was sufficiently cooled. For example, it takes a long time to know whether the cause is cleaning failure, coating failure, or drying failure, and there is a problem in that the response is delayed.

On the other hand, in a photosensitive drum drying facility,
Generally, a transfer line for a pallet mounted on a photoreceptor drum is arranged from the photosensitive liquid coating equipment to the visual inspection equipment, and a return line for an empty pallet whose transfer direction is opposite to this line, and the end and start ends of both lines And a pallet transfer line extending between the pallet and the pallet.

Here, when foreign matter such as dust adheres to the circulating pallet, when circulating air to dry the photosensitive coating film,
This foreign matter may scatter and adhere to the photosensitive coating,
In the past, pallets were taken out of the circulation line and cleaned, because the appearance of the photoreceptor drum was poor due to this. Therefore, there is a problem in that the man-hour is high and the labor cost is high.

Further, the pallet has an extremely large heat capacity as compared with the photosensitive drum, and even if the photosensitive drum is cooled for an appearance inspection, the pallet temperature does not drop so much. When the empty pallet returned to the loading position receives the photosensitive drum after the formation of the photosensitive coating, the photosensitive coating near the pallet is locally heated, causing a difference in the curing speed of the photosensitive coating. As a result, there is a disadvantage that the electric characteristics of the photosensitive drum become uneven.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to perform an appearance inspection of a photosensitive coating immediately after the formation of the photosensitive coating.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a drying facility that can feed back the appearance inspection result almost in real time and that can perform a cooling process at the same time as washing a pallet.

[0010]

The technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above object are as follows. That is, in the present invention, as a drying device in a manufacturing process of a photosensitive drum having a photosensitive coating film formed on a base tube surface, a loading position of the photosensitive drum from a photosensitive liquid coating device and a transfer of the photosensitive drum to a visual inspection device are performed. Over the unloading position,
In addition to disposing a transfer line for the photosensitive drum mounted pallet, a return line for the empty pallet whose transfer direction is opposite to this line, and a pallet transfer line extending between the end and the beginning of both lines are arranged, and The pallet transfer line is provided with a drying and cooling chamber for cooling the photosensitive drum after the photosensitive coating film is dried, while the return line is provided with an air blow device for cleaning and cooling the empty pallet. is there.

According to the above configuration, the photosensitive drum having the photosensitive coating formed on the surface of the base tube is cooled after the photosensitive coating is dried, so that the appearance inspection of the photosensitive drum can be performed immediately. Therefore, it is not necessary to have a free flow line, and it is possible to know in real time the cause of the failure of the photosensitive drum that does not pass the visual inspection, as compared with the conventional method. can do.

Moreover, before the empty pallet returns to the carry-in position at the beginning of the transfer line, the pallet does not depend on humans.
Cleaning the empty pallet by air blow eliminates the poor appearance of the photoconductor drum due to foreign matter adhering to the pallet, and furthermore, cooling the empty pallet at the same time as the cleaning, so that the photoconductor is unevenly heated by the photosensitive coating. The unevenness of the electrical characteristics of the drum is also prevented.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a photoreceptor drum 1 and FIG. 2 shows a photoreceptor drum 1 manufacturing facility 2. The photoreceptor drum 1 is, for example, a photoreceptor drum tube 3 made of an aluminum pipe. The photosensitive coating film 4 is formed on the outer surface of the substrate.

In FIG. 2, which shows a facility 2 for manufacturing the photosensitive drum 1, reference numeral 5 denotes a pipe cleaning apparatus for removing foreign matter from the surface of the pipe and for degreasing the pipe. In 3, a degreasing cleaning process is performed in the cleaning chamber 7.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a tube drying device for drying the tube 3 after washing. A drying chamber 9 and a cooling room 10 are connected to a circulating transfer line A of a pallet for mounting the tube 3 in an upright posture. Each of the chambers 9 and 10 is provided with an air circulation device (not shown) for supplying drying air and cooling air downward from above the raw tube 3. ing.

In the drying chamber 9, for example, a temperature of 100 to 170 ° C. and a temperature of 10 to 60 °
And drying in the cooling chamber 10 for 100 to 1 minute, for example.
It is assumed that the raw tube 3 heated in the range of 70 ° C. is cooled to around the temperature of the coating solution of the photosensitive solution described later.

Numeral 11 denotes a photosensitive liquid application equipment, which is provided with a photosensitive liquid storage tank and a washing device, suspends and holds the raw tube 3 introduced through the manipulator 12, and supplies it to the storage tank. A coating film 4 of a photosensitive solution is formed on the surface of the raw tube 3, and the raw tube 3 is transferred to a cleaning device, where the photosensitive coating film 4 on the lower end side of the hanging of the raw tube 3 is removed.

Numeral 13 denotes a drying unit for drying the photosensitive coating 4 on the surface of the raw tube. The drying of the photosensitive coating 4 by the drying unit 13 completes the production of the photosensitive drum 1. However, in the process, finally, the photosensitive coating 4
The photosensitive drum 1 is sent to the appearance inspection equipment 14 for exposing the photosensitive drum 1 and only the non-defective photosensitive drum 1 has passed the appearance inspection.
Is shipped as a product.

The drying equipment 13 for the photosensitive coating film 4 is constructed as follows. That is, the transfer line 15 of the pallet on which a plurality of the photosensitive drums 1 (in this embodiment, two are arranged side by side) is mounted while being held in a standing position, and the photosensitive drum 1 is carried in from the photosensitive liquid application equipment 11. The photosensitive drum 1 is disposed between the position B and the unloading position C of the photosensitive drum 1 to the visual inspection equipment 14, and furthermore, the return line 16 of the empty pallet whose transfer direction is opposite to the line 15; Pallet transfer lines 17, 18 extending from the end to the start are arranged.

A drying chamber 19 for drying the photosensitive coating film 4 with heated air and a cooling chamber 20 for cooling the photosensitive drum 1 to near normal temperature are provided on the pallet transfer line 15 while being connected to each other. At the beginning and end of the pallet transfer of the return line 16, chambers 23 for external shutoff provided with opening / closing shutters 21 and 22 at the entrances and exits are arranged, and each chamber 23 is used for cleaning and cooling an empty pallet. Of the air blow device 24 is provided.

The drying chamber 19 for the photosensitive coating film 4 comprises a plurality of chambers 26 each having a drying air circulation device 25 whose temperature is controlled and connected to each other.
The cooling chamber 20 is formed by connecting a plurality of chambers 28 each having a cooling air circulation device 27 whose temperature is controlled and controlled to the drying chamber 19 with a shutoff chamber 29 interposed therebetween.

The chamber 26 on the photosensitive drum carrying side of the drying chamber 19, the drying chamber 19 and the cooling chamber 20
The opening and closing shutters 30 and 31 are respectively provided in a chamber 29 for shutting off the photosensitive drum from the cooling chamber 20 and a chamber 28 for shutting off the photosensitive drum. And the chamber 29 is a chamber for shutting off the drying chamber 19 and the cooling chamber 20.

That is, in order to prevent the heated air from leaking to the photosensitive liquid application equipment 11 side, the opening and closing shutters 30 and 31 are sequentially opened and closed, and the photosensitive drum 1 is moved from the carry-in position B to the drying chamber 19 in an externally closed state. To bring in, and
To prevent dry air from flowing into the cooling chamber or vice versa,
The opening and closing shutters 30 and 31 of the chamber 29 are sequentially opened and closed to move the photosensitive drum 1 from the drying chamber 19 to the cooling chamber 20.
The cooling air is supplied to the visual inspection equipment 1
In order to prevent leakage to the side 4, the opening and closing shutters 30 and 31 are sequentially opened and closed so that the photosensitive drum 1 is carried out of the cooling chamber 20 to the carry-out position C in a state of being shut off from the outside. Chamber 2 for external shutoff
The temperature control of the air circulation devices 25 and 27 provided in 6, 28 and 29 is performed so as to circulate, for example, room temperature air.

The heating air circulating device 25 forms a transfer space for the photosensitive drum 1 in a chamber room having a fire-resistant wall structure, uses this transfer space as a circulation passage for the heating air, and controls the HEPA filter 33 by the blower 32. The heated air is circulated and supplied to the photosensitive drum 1 from above to below.

The cooling air circulation device 27 uses the transfer space of the photosensitive drum 1 as a cooling air circulation flow path, and
Thus, the cooling air via the HEPA filter 35 is circulated and supplied to the photosensitive drum 1 from above to below, so that the photosensitive drum 1 is cooled to around room temperature.

Accordingly, the drying and cooling chambers 19, 20 having the above-described structure are provided.
According to this, each of the chambers 26, 28, and 29 is provided with a heating air and cooling air
Since the photosensitive drum 1 moves through the drying and cooling chambers 19 and 20, the temperature processing can be performed in multiple stages with an arbitrary temperature gradient.

On the other hand, an air blow device 24 provided in the external shut-off chambers 23 and 23 of the return line 16 blows air from above toward the photosensitive drum holding jig 37 of the empty pallet 36 by increasing the wind speed as much as possible. The empty pallet 36 is configured to be washed and cooled at two positions of the return line 16 at the pallet transfer start and end portions.

The photosensitive liquid coating equipment 11 is disposed in a clean room having a high cleanliness class, for example, and the washing room 7 and the drying equipment 8 and the drying equipment 13 of the raw tube 3 are respectively disposed in the clean room having a low cleanliness class, for example. Located in a clean room, the opening and closing shutters provided at the entrance and exit respectively,
It has the function of preventing contamination due to the flow of air from a clean room having a low cleanness class to a high clean room.

According to the photoconductor drum 1 manufacturing equipment having the above-described configuration, the raw tube 3 is carried into the cleaning chamber 7 where foreign matter is removed and degreasing is performed. Since it is carried in and cooled to near the temperature of the coating solution, it is also carried into the photosensitive solution coating equipment 11, where it is immersed in a photosensitive solution storage tank to form the photosensitive coating film 4 on the surface of the raw tube. is there.

Then, the raw tube 3 having the photosensitive coating 4 formed on the surface thereof and thus the photosensitive drum 1 are carried into the drying equipment 13, where the photosensitive coating 4 on the raw tube surface is dried and brought to near room temperature. After being cooled, it is taken out to the carry-out position C, sent to the appearance inspection equipment 14, and subjected to the appearance inspection, and only the photosensitive drums 1 which pass the appearance inspection are handled as products.

In the present invention, since the photosensitive drum 1 is forcibly cooled after the photosensitive coating film 4 is dried as the drying equipment 13 for the photosensitive coating film 4, the appearance inspection of the photosensitive drum 1 is performed by the photosensitive coating film 4. Can be performed immediately after the drying of the photosensitive drum 1. Therefore, it is possible to know almost in real time what the cause of the failure of the photosensitive drum 1 that does not pass the visual inspection is, so that it is possible to immediately respond to the occurrence of the defective product. .

On the other hand, until the empty pallet 36 returns to the carry-in position B at the beginning of the transfer line, the empty pallet 3
6 is cleaned by air blow, the appearance defect of the photosensitive drum 1 due to foreign matter adhering to the empty pallet 36 is eliminated, and the empty pallet 36 is cooled at the same time as the cleaning, so that the photosensitive drum 1 supplied to the empty pallet 36 is cooled. 1 is not locally heated, so that unevenness in the electrical characteristics of the photosensitive drum 1 due to uneven heating of the photosensitive coating film 4 is also prevented.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the photosensitive drum on which the photosensitive coating is formed is cooled after the photosensitive coating is dried, the appearance inspection of the photosensitive drum can be immediately performed. Therefore, not only the free flow line but also the installation space for the photoreceptor drum which does not pass the visual inspection can be determined almost in real time. Since it can be known, it is possible to immediately respond to the occurrence of defective products.

Further, by cleaning the empty pallet by air blow, the appearance of the photosensitive drum due to foreign matter adhering to the pallet is eliminated, and the empty pallet is cooled at the same time as the cleaning, so that the photosensitive coating film is unevenly heated. The unevenness of the electrical characteristics of the photosensitive drum due to the above is also prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a photosensitive drum.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a photoconductor drum manufacturing facility.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a heating chamber.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a cooling chamber.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a chamber installed on a pallet return line.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a chamber installed on a pallet return line.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Photoreceptor drum, 4 ... Photosensitive coating film, 11 ... Photosensitive liquid coating equipment, 14 ... Appearance inspection equipment, 15 ... Pallet transfer line,
16: empty pallet return line, 17, 18: pallet transfer line, 19: drying chamber, 20: cooling chamber, 24: air blow device, B: carry-in position, C: carry-out position.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A drying apparatus in a manufacturing process of a photosensitive drum having a photosensitive coating film formed on a surface of a base tube, wherein the photosensitive drum is transferred to a position where the photosensitive drum is carried in from a photosensitive liquid coating facility and to a visual inspection facility. And the unloading position
A transfer line for the photoreceptor drum-mounted pallet is arranged, and further, a return line for the empty pallet whose transfer direction is opposite to this line, and a pallet transfer line extending between the end and the beginning of both lines, and A drying / cooling chamber for cooling the photosensitive drum after drying the photosensitive coating film is provided on the pallet transfer line, and an air blow device for cleaning and cooling the empty pallet is provided on the return line. Drying equipment in the manufacturing process of the photoreceptor drum.