JP2000313994A - Anodic oxidation treating device for cylindrical conductive supporting body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a decive for obtaining a cylindrical conductive supporting body small in unevenness in the film thickness of an anodically oxidized coating film. SOLUTION: This anodic oxidation treating device for a cylindrical conductive supporting body is the one for forming an anodically oxidized coating film on the surface of a cylindrical conductive supporting body and is provided with an electrolytic cell stored with an electrolytic treating soln., an electrolytic frame supporting a cylindrical conductive supporting body, fixing seats 5 which are disposed on the upper surface of the lower frame of the electrolytic frame and carry the lower end faces of the cylindrical conductive supporting body and a power feeding rod 10 provided almost approximately vertically to the center of the fixing seats. In such case, the upper part of a power feeding setion is provided with an insulation coating section 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus used for anodizing treatment as a base treatment for a cylindrical conductive support such as a support for an electrophotographic photosensitive member used in a PPC copier or a laser beam printer. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an electrophotographic photosensitive member has a photoconductive layer formed on a cylindrical conductive support made of aluminum (in this specification, aluminum means an alloy thereof). However, it is known that an anodizing treatment is performed as a base treatment on the support to form an anodized film on the surface of the support for the purpose of preventing an image defect due to the generated charges penetrating the support. I have. Not only for electrophotographic photoreceptors, but in general anodic oxidation treatment, the support is immersed in an electrolytic treatment solution such as sulfuric acid, oxalic acid, phosphoric acid, etc. A direct power supply method (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-365899 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-49180), or an indirect power supply method in which power is supplied through an electrolytic treatment solution in combination with the direct power supply to supplement the direct power supply method. A combined power supply method is used (JP-A-52-86938, JP-B-54-845).
No. 2).

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and the problems to be solved are as follows. (2) To provide an anodic oxidation treatment apparatus for obtaining a cylindrical conductive support having a small thickness variation of an anodic oxide film between a plurality of supports.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the gist of the present invention is to provide an anodic oxidation treatment apparatus for forming an anodic oxide film on the surface of a cylindrical conductive support, comprising: An electrolytic cell 1 containing a liquid, an electrolytic frame 3 supporting a cylindrical conductive support, and a fixing member provided on an upper surface of a lower frame of the electrolytic frame for supporting a lower end surface of the cylindrical conductive support. Anodizing treatment of a cylindrical conductive support having a seat 5 and a power supply rod 10 provided substantially vertically at substantially the center of the fixed seat, and having an insulating coating 15 provided on the power supply rod 10. Exists in the device.

[0005] The anodizing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples unless it exceeds the gist. FIG. 1 is a front view of an anodizing apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a side view of an anodizing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing a fixed state of a cylindrical conductive support, and FIG. 4 is an embodiment of a fixing seat of the present invention. FIG. 5 and FIG. 5 show a fixed seat of a comparative example, respectively.

The anodizing apparatus according to the present invention is provided with an electrolytic cell 1, a cathode plate 2, an electrolytic frame 3, and a DC power supply 13. The electrolytic cell 1 is made of an insulator, and functions to anodize the cylindrical conductive support 4 supported by the electrolytic frame 3. The electrolytic tank 1 contains the electrolytic solution 11 and has a plurality of cylindrical conductive supports. The electrolytic frame 3 to which the support 4 is fixed is
Soak in The DC power supply 13 is arranged outside the electrolytic cell 1, and the anode side is connected to the electrolytic frame 3 and the cathode side is connected to the cathode plate 2, respectively. The cathode plate 2 is disposed in the electrolytic cell 1 and in parallel with the electrolytic frame 3 with an appropriate gap therebetween, and together with the power supply rod 10 provided through the fixing seat 5 of the electrolytic frame 3, It functions to supply power to the liquid 11.

The insulating coating 15 provided on the upper portion of the power supply rod 10 makes contact between the power supply rod 10 and the inner surface of the cylindrical conductive support 4, and a current flows directly from the power supply rod 10 to the cylindrical conductive support 4. To prevent that. Further, by providing a groove or a portion through which the electrolytic treatment liquid passes through the insulating coating portion 15, the flow of the electrolytic solution 11 on the inner surface of the cylindrical conductive support 4 is improved. By setting the ratio of the surface area of the portion 16 in contact with the surface to the surface area of the portion covered by the insulating coating portion 15 to 2 to 5 to 8 to 5, the electric field generated from the power supply rod is reduced to the cylindrical conductive support. The anodic oxide film is concentrated only at a part, and the portion where the electric field is concentrated is prevented from becoming thicker than other portions.

The material of the insulating covering member is 10 ¹¹ Ω ·
The material is not particularly limited as long as it has a resistance value of not less than cm, but examples thereof include vinyl chloride, nylon resin, polyetherimide resin, and Teflon.
Among these, vinyl chloride is particularly preferable in terms of good processability and low price. The electrolytic frame 3 is connected to a DC power supply 13 and not only functions to supply power to the power supply rod 10 and the electrolytic solution 11, but also supports a plurality of cylindrical conductive supports 4 in a lower frame 3 'of the electrolytic frame. It functions to be immersed in the electrolytic solution 11 in the electrolytic cell 1 and to be pulled up from the electrolytic cell 1 after the anodizing treatment operation is completed. The operation of immersing the electrolytic frame 3 in the electrolytic cell 1 or pulling it up can be performed by a device (not shown).

The weight bar 8 is a weight bar guide bar 1
2, but is insulated from the electrolytic frame 3 by a spacer 9 made of an insulating material such as Teflon. The power supply rod 10 has a function of supplying power to the electrolytic solution 11 and is connected to the lower frame 3 ′ of the electrolytic frame. In order to perform the preferred power supply method of the present invention, that is, indirect power supply, the fixed seat 5 is made of Teflon or the like. It is preferable to prevent the electric current from being directly supplied to the cylindrical conductive support by the spacer 6 made of an insulating material. Generally, the power supply rod 10 is preferably made of a corrosion-resistant metal material such as platinum or iridium oxide.

As shown in the side view of FIG. 3, the structure of the fixed seat 5 for supporting the lower end of the cylindrical conductive support 4 has a convex portion fitted on the lower end of the support, and the lower end carries the lower end. In the invention of the present application, the lower end of the support is not sealed with the fixed seat 5, and a structure is left inside the cylindrical conductive support 4 to leave a gap into which the electrolytic solution 11 can enter. A liquid drain hole 14 is provided in a fixed seat as shown in FIG. The fixed seat 5 may itself be formed of an insulating material such as Teflon in order to perform the preferred power supply method of the present invention, that is, indirect power feeding, or may be formed between the fixed seat 5 and the lower frame 3 ′ of the electrolytic frame. In addition, a spacer 6 made of an insulating material such as Teflon may be provided to provide an insulated structure.

Next, a method for anodizing a cylindrical conductive support using the anodizing apparatus according to the present invention will be described. First, outside the electrolytic cell 1, a plurality of cylindrical conductive supports 4 are fitted to upper portions of a plurality of fixing seats 5 arranged above the lower frame 3 'of the electrolytic frame. Next, a work holder 7 is put on the upper end of the cylindrical conductive support 4, and the work holder 7 is pressed and fixed to the fixed seat 5 side by the weight bar 8. The electrolytic frame 3 to which the cylindrical conductive support 4 is fixed is connected to the electrolytic solution 1 in the electrolytic cell 1.
1, a DC power supply 13 is connected to the electrolytic frame 3, and the cathode plate 2 is immersed in the electrolytic cell 1, and electricity is supplied from the DC power supply 13. An electric current is supplied to the cylindrical conductive support 4 only through the electrolytic solution 11, and an anodic oxide film is formed on the surface of the cylindrical conductive support 4.

The material of the cylindrical conductive support according to the present invention can be aluminum or aluminum alloy.
Specifically, A1050, A3003, A6063 and the like can be used. In addition, sulfuric acid, oxalic acid, phosphoric acid and the like can be used as the electrolytic solution, and among them, sulfuric acid is preferable. In the anodic oxide film treatment using sulfuric acid, the sulfuric acid concentration is 100 to 300.
g / l, and the temperature of the electrolytic solution can be appropriately selected from the range of 10 to 30 ° C.

The thickness of the anodic oxide film of the cylindrical conductive support according to the present invention is in the range of 2 to 15 μm depending on the application.
Anodizing treatment conditions such as current density and conduction time can be selected and formed. The electrophotographic photoreceptor according to the present invention,
At least a photosensitive layer is provided on an anodized film on the outer surface of a cylindrical conductive support. This photosensitive layer
Usually, various methods for forming a photoreceptor on a conductive substrate, for example, means for vapor deposition, or binding to a dispersion of an inorganic or organic photoconductive pigment or a solution of an organic photoconductive compound if necessary It can be provided by means for manufacturing a photoreceptor through a process of applying a coating liquid containing a resin on a conductive substrate and drying the coating. The latter application and drying means can be made continuous, which is advantageous in the process.

As a photoreceptor applicable to this step, a resin dispersion solution in which a sensitizer is added if necessary to CdS, ZnO, TiO ₂ or the like, or an organic photoconductive compound such as polyvinyl carbazole is suitable. Those coated with a solution containing a sensitizer can be used. Recently, phthalocyanine compounds, perylene compounds,
A dispersion solution of an azo compound, a quinacridone compound, or various other organic dyes and pigments is applied and dried to form a charge generation layer, and then a pyrazoline derivative, a hydrazone derivative, a diphenylmethane derivative, a triphenylmethane derivative, and a triphenylmethane derivative. Examples thereof include those in which a resin solution containing a compound such as a phenylamine derivative, an oxadiazole derivative, a benzoxazole derivative, or a styryl dye-based derivative is applied and dried to form a charge transport layer.

The charge generating layer can be formed by dispersing the above-mentioned charge generating substance in a suitable binder and applying the resultant to a support which has been subjected to an anodic oxide film treatment. At this time, the charge generation layer is formed to a thickness of 5 μm or less, preferably 0.01 to 2 μm. The charge transport layer is electrically connected to the charge generation layer, has a function of receiving charge carriers injected from the charge generation layer in the presence of an electric field and transporting these charge carriers to the surface. I have. Since the charge transport layer has a limit for transporting charge carriers, the film thickness cannot be increased more than necessary. Generally, it is 5 to 60 μm, but a preferable range is 8 to 45 μm.
μm. An undercoat layer having a barrier function and an adhesive function may be provided between the anodized film and the photosensitive layer. In addition, a layer in which a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer are stacked in reverse, and a so-called dispersion type photosensitive layer in which a charge generation substance is dispersed in a charge transport medium can be provided.

[0016]

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the contents and effects of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples unless it exceeds the gist of the present invention. Example 1 In FIG. 1, sulfuric acid 180 was used as an electrolytic solution 11 in an electrolytic cell 1.
g / l of aqueous solution. As shown in FIG. 4, ten fixing seats 5 made of Teflon and provided with a drainage hole having a total opening area of 240 mm ^{2 and having} a total opening area of 240 mm ² are provided on the lower frame 3 ′ of the electrolytic frame with the power supply rods 10. Then, the cylindrical conductive support 4 is inserted into these fixed seats 5, and pressed by a work holder.
An insulating coating 15 made of vinyl chloride, which is fixed and has the shape shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the ratio of the surface area of the portion 16 of the power supply rod 10 in contact with the electrolytic treatment liquid to the surface area of the portion covered with the insulating coating portion 15 was 3 to 5. It was immersed in the electrolytic solution 11 at 18 ° C., and was continuously energized at a current density of 2.0 (A / dm ² ) for 14 minutes to form an anodic oxide film by an indirect power supply method. As a result, the difference in the thickness of the anodic oxide film of the cylindrical conductive support was 2 μm.

Comparative Example 1 An anodic oxide film was formed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the insulating coating 15 was not attached. As a result, the difference in the thickness of the anodic oxide film of the cylindrical conductive support was 3 μm.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the difference in film thickness between the upper and lower anodic oxide films of the cylindrical conductive support is suppressed as compared with the comparative example, so that a more uniform film thickness is obtained. When a support having an anodic oxide coating is obtained, and thus the support is used as a support for an electrophotographic photosensitive member,
The occurrence rate of defective products is small, and a photosensitive member having excellent performance can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an anodizing apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the anodizing apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing a fixed state of a cylindrical conductive support.

FIG. 4 is a view showing one embodiment of a fixed seat of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view showing one embodiment of an insulating coating portion of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electrolyzer 2 Cathode plate 3 Electrolytic frame 3 'Lower frame of electrolytic frame 4 Cylindrical conductive support 5 Fixed seat 6 Spacer 7 Work holder 8 Weight bar 9 Spacer 10 Power supply rod 11 Electrolyte 12 Weight bar guide rod 13 DC power supply 14 Drainage hole 15 Insulation coating 16 Part of power supply rod in contact with electrolytic treatment liquid

Claims (3)

[Claims] An anodic oxidation treatment apparatus for forming an anodic oxide film on the surface of a cylindrical conductive support, comprising: an electrolytic tank (1) containing an electrolytic treatment solution; and a cylindrical conductive support. An electrolytic frame (3) to be supported; a fixed seat (5) provided on the upper surface of the lower frame of the electrolytic frame for supporting a lower end surface of the cylindrical conductive support; An anodizing apparatus for a cylindrical conductive support provided with a vertically provided power supply rod (10), wherein an insulating coating portion (15) is provided on the upper part of the power supply rod. For anodizing a conductive support in the form of a solid. 2. A surface area of a portion (16) of the power supply rod (10) which is in contact with the electrolytic treatment liquid, and an insulating coating portion (15).
2. The anodizing apparatus for a cylindrical conductive support according to claim 1, wherein the ratio of the surface area of the portion covered by the conductive material is 2: 5 to 8: 5. 3. A groove (17) and / or a groove in an insulating coating portion (15).
3. The anodizing apparatus for a cylindrical conductive support according to claim 1, further comprising a portion through which an electrolytic treatment solution is passed.