JP2001318479A - Post-processing method for electrophotographic photoreceptor and electrophotographic photoreceptor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a post-processing method for an electrophotographic photoreceptor which is capable of polishing the abnormally grown projections generated on the surface of the a-Si base photoreceptor to a flat or reference line or below without flawing other good segments. SOLUTION: A polishing device having a supporting mechanism 120 for holding and rotating the a-Si photoreceptor 100, an elastic pressurizing roller 130 which is wound with a polishing tape 131 and presses this tape to the surface of the photoreceptor 100 and delivery rolls 132 and 134 for sending the polishing tape 131, etc., is used and when the surface projections of the photoreceptor 100 are flattened and polished by sending the polishing tape 131 while bringing the surfaces of the polishing tape 131 and the photoreceptor 100 into abutment on each other under pressurization, the photoreceptor 100 is elastically supported by the supporting mechanism 120.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photoconductive layer composed of a non-single-crystal material mainly composed of silicon atoms and a non-single-crystal material formed on a conductive substrate by plasma CVD (hereinafter abbreviated as PCVD). The present invention relates to a method for flattening abnormally-grown projections of an electrophotographic cylindrical photoreceptor having a surface layer composed of a plurality of layers sequentially formed, and particularly to a process for reducing the occurrence of scratches and image defects on the photoreceptor after polishing. The present invention relates to a method and a photoreceptor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, amorphous silicon-based photoconductors (hereinafter, amorphous silicon is abbreviated as a-Si)
Has been put into practical use for more than 10 years, and its excellent abrasion resistance, heat resistance, light sensitivity characteristics, and pollution-free properties have been further improved.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, an a-Si-based photoreceptor 100 is formed on a conductive substrate 101 made of a cylindrical or plate-like aluminum alloy by a PCVD method such as a glow discharge decomposition method. An a-Si-based photoconductive layer 102 having a thickness of 20 to 80 μm is formed thereon, and a layer of, for example, amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) or amorphous carbon (a-C) having a thickness of 0.1
The surface layer 103 having a thickness of about 1 μm is laminated.
And, with such a layer configuration, an analog copying machine,
Depending on the application such as a digital copying machine, the adjustment of electrophotographic characteristics is performed by selecting various dopant elements and film forming parameters, and the charging ability, residual potential, light sensitivity and surface hardness, environmental resistance, etc. are improved to required characteristics. .

However, the fate of the a-Si photosensitive layer formed on the conductive substrate by the PCVD method is to grow spherically based on a small amount of dust, defects, pits and inclusions, or to obtain a funnel when viewed from the cross-sectional direction. There are abnormal growth protrusions (for example, protrusions indicated by reference numeral 105 in FIG. 8) that grow in a shape of a fan or a fan.

[0005]

As described above, a-Si
Abnormal growth defects always occur on the photoreceptor to some extent,
It appears as a protrusion on the surface of the photoreceptor layer. As a result, there is a problem that the cleaning blade for removing the residual toner on the photoreceptor is damaged, and the toner is fused and grows on the basis of the projection-like defect. Therefore, initially, attempts have been made to solve the problem by improving the accuracy of the substrate, such as improving the degree of cleaning of the conductive substrate and the degree of cleanliness at the production site, and preventing dust.

[0006] In order to cope with such a problem, the above-mentioned protruding defect portion has a lower withstand voltage than a normal photoreceptor layer portion and appears as a black or white dot image defect in an electrophotographic image, thereby deteriorating the image quality. There was also a problem of causing
Although a certain effect was obtained, it was not possible to completely eliminate chipping of the cleaning blade and occurrence of toner fusion at the protruding defect portion.

As a countermeasure against the above-mentioned problems, a projection-like defect on the surface of the photoreceptor is rotated while holding a polishing member, specifically, a photoreceptor drum, and a polishing tape is pressed against the surface of the photoreceptor. Thus, a method of polishing and removing a projection-like defect on the surface of the photoreceptor by using a polishing tape has been proposed and implemented.

For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-77702 discloses a method of polishing a surface layer of an a-Si photosensitive member.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-64312 discloses that
There is a disclosure regarding post-processing of a portion where the photoconductive layer is exposed by removing the surface protective layer by polishing and flattening the protrusion on the surface of the a-Si photoreceptor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrophotographic photoreceptor which can be polished to a flat surface or below a level line without damaging other abnormal portions on the surface of the a-Si photoreceptor. An object of the present invention is to provide a processing method and a photoreceptor produced by the method.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a post-processing method for an electrophotographic photoreceptor which significantly reduces processing costs by proposing a post-processing system having high productivity.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an electrophotographic photoreceptor which prevents damage to a cleaning blade or the like due to the above-mentioned film formation defect, and as a result, suppresses the occurrence of poor cleaning and the occurrence of black streak-like image defects. To provide.

[0013]

According to the present invention, there is provided a post-processing method for an electrophotographic photoreceptor according to the present invention, wherein a non-single-crystal material containing silicon atoms as a base material on a conductive substrate by a plasma CVD method. Holding and rotating a cylindrical electrophotographic photosensitive member in which a photoconductive layer composed of and a surface layer composed of a non-single-crystal material are sequentially laminated, and a polishing tape wound around an elastic roller, A post-processing method of flattening and polishing surface protrusions of the photoconductor by supplying the surface of the photoconductor while being pressed against the surface of the photoconductor, wherein the photoconductor is held and rotated by an elastic holding mechanism. The processing is performed.

In the above method, it is preferable to use a pneumatic rubber expander as the elastic holding mechanism.

The above method is characterized in that only one unit for flattening and polishing the surface projections of the photoreceptor with a polishing tape wound around the elastic roller is used.

Further, the elastic holding force of the photosensitive member by the elastic holding mechanism is 0.98 × 10 ^{4 to} 98 × 10 ⁴ N / m.
² (0.1 to 10 kgf / cm ² ). Preferably, the conductive substrate is made of aluminum having a thickness of 1 to 5 mm. It is preferable to use amorphous carbon as a material constituting the surface layer.

Further, in the above method and photoreceptor, the height of the surface projections of the photoreceptor after the flattening and polishing is set to be equal to or less than an adjacent level line.

(Function) When polishing the protrusions on the surface of the a-Si photoreceptor, the weight of the photoreceptor is rotated by a mechanism for elastically supporting the photoreceptor and a polishing sheet such as a wrapping sheet is brought into contact with the surface of the photoreceptor. As a result, chatter vibration of the photoreceptor as the object to be processed is significantly reduced, and polishing without scratches and unevenness becomes possible.

As a result, not only can damage to the cleaning blade and the like be prevented, but it is also possible to further reduce the occurrence of toner fusion and achieve good image quality. This is because in the conventional polishing method, chatter vibration is caused, and the normal part in the area adjacent to the protruding defect is also partially scratched like a small scratch, but the above invention effectively prevents it. Because we can.

In addition, since a stable and stable contact of the polishing tape with the photoreceptor surface is always ensured, stable polishing processing quality can be obtained with only one polishing unit without preparing a plurality of polishing units on the photoreceptor surface. As a result, the apparatus can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to various examples.

(First Embodiment) First, an outline of a polishing apparatus suitable for a post-processing method of the electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The polishing apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 has a photosensitive member support mechanism 120 for elastically supporting both ends of the a-Si photosensitive member 100.
Having. The photoreceptor support mechanism 120 is specifically a pneumatic holder. In this example, a pneumatic holder manufactured by Bridgestone Corporation (trade name: air pick, model number: PO45TCA * 82)
0) was used.

On the photoreceptor 100, a pressure elastic roller 13 for winding a polishing tape 131 and pressing against the photoreceptor 100 is used.
0 are arranged adjacently. The polishing tape 131 is fixedly sent out from the sending-out roll 132 by a fixed-quantity sending-out roll 134 and a capstan roller 135, passes between the photoconductor 100 and the pressure elastic roller 130, and is taken up by a take-up roll 133. The feed speed of the polishing tape 131 is controlled by controlling the rotation speed of the fixed amount feed roll 134.

The polishing tape 131 is preferably a so-called wrapping sheet.
C, Al ₂ O ₃ , Fe ₂ O _{3 and the} like are used. here,
A wrapping tape LT-C2000 manufactured by Fuji Film Co., Ltd. was used.

Photoconductor 100 by photoconductor support mechanism 120
2A, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), pneumatic holders 122 and 124 using a rubber inflatable body which is inflated by air pressure are inserted into the openings of both ends of the photoreceptor 100 in the direction of arrow A in a contracted state. Then, as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, 49 ×
Air of about 10 ⁴ N / m ² (5 kgf / cm ² ) is sent in, expanded as shown by arrow B to support the photoconductor 100, and the holder unit is driven to rotate, thereby rotating the photoconductor 100. As an insertion guide, a guide flange 12 which is loosely fitted to the photoconductor 100, is rich in lubricity, and has elasticity.
1,123 may be provided. The material of the guide is polyacetal (POM), polyamide (PA),
Resins such as polycarbonate (PC) are preferred. The elastic force supporting the photoreceptor is controlled by the air pressure applied to the pneumatic holder, and minute vibrations such as chatter and rush shock are absorbed and reduced by the rubber of the pneumatic holder.

The "vibration" of a photoreceptor supported by a metal flange or a lathe center used in a lathe, which has been generally used in the past, is performed by a dynamic distortion amplifier HEIDON 3K-84A manufactured by Shinto Kagaku. As a result, it was found that the micro vibration was significantly reduced in the support mechanism of the present invention.

Further, the air pressure to the pneumatic holder is changed.
0.98 × 10 ^FourN / m^Two(0.1k
gf / cm^Two), The photoreceptor gripping force is insufficient
Causes the pneumatic holder to spin or cause irregular vibration.
Easy and unsuitable. Also, 98 × 10^FourN / m^Two(10
kgf / cm^TwoIf it exceeds), the grip force will be stronger
The photoreceptor may be deformed or the pneumatic holder may deteriorate.
It was easy and unsuitable.

Further, the above air pressure is 0.98 × 10 ⁴
N / m ² (0.1 kgf / cm ² ) and 98 × 10 ⁴ N / m ²
(10 kgf / cm ² ), the experiment was conducted by changing the thickness of the substrate of the photoreceptor. When the material of the photoreceptor substrate is aluminum, 0.98 × 10 ⁴ N / m ² (0.1 kgf / c
In the case of supporting with the air pressure of m ² ), if the thickness exceeds 5 mm, the photoreceptor becomes too heavy, the driving force is insufficient, and the pneumatic holder easily spins, which is inappropriate. 98 × 10
^{In the case} of supporting with an air pressure of ⁴ N / m ² (10 kgf / cm ² ), if the wall thickness was less than 1 mm, the photoconductor was deformed and was unsuitable.

Also, since chatter vibration has been significantly reduced,
Conventionally, when a plurality of polishing units were not provided, there was a problem that an unpolished area was generated due to vibration of a photoconductor or a pressure roller, rotational eccentricity due to load fluctuation, and the like. Since the contact is ensured, only one polishing unit is required, and the apparatus can be greatly simplified and the cost can be reduced.

The holding table 140 has a thickness of 0.01 mm for adjusting the pressure between the photosensitive member 100 and the pressure elastic roller 130.
The photoreceptor support mechanism 120 is held so that forward and backward movement (the control direction of the arrow 141 in FIG. 1) can be performed with a degree of accuracy.
The forward / backward movement of the photoconductor supporting mechanism 120 utilizes a mechanism typified by a stepping motor.

FIG. 3 shows the position of the photosensitive member 100 and the photosensitive member 1.
00 (hereinafter, referred to as a pressing force of the pressing elastic roller 130).
Roller pressure) when the feed speed of the polishing tape 131 is constant (tape speed 5.0 × 10 ⁻² m / mi).
n). In FIG. 3, the scale indicating the photoconductor position indicates that the photoconductor approaches the pressure elastic roller as it goes to the right side of the graph. From FIG. 3, since the roller pressure, which is a main parameter for polishing, is directly proportional to the position of the photoconductor 100 with respect to the pressure elastic roller 130, it can be controlled with extremely high precision according to the photoconductor position. There was found.

(Second Embodiment) A polishing apparatus as shown in FIG. 1 provided with an elastic supporting mechanism as shown in FIG. Alternatively, a polishing apparatus provided with a rigid support mechanism such as a lathe kasa center was prepared. Furthermore, a having an a-SiC surface layer
A -Si photoreceptor and an a-Si photoreceptor having an aC surface layer were prepared and polished to obtain the results shown in Table 1 below.

As the judgment symbols in the table, ◎ indicates that there was no scratch around the protrusion after polishing and the protrusion on the surface of the photosensitive member was polished well to the level line or less, and ○ indicates that there was no scratch around the protrusion after polishing. The projections on the surface of the photoreceptor were polished satisfactorily to the vicinity, and △ indicates that the projections on the surface of the photoreceptor were polished to near the level line while slightly scratching the periphery of the projections after polishing.

[0035]

[Table 1]

In the case of the apparatus of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, good polishing was achieved without scraping or damaging the surface layer 103 around the projections 104 after polishing.
In the case of a polishing apparatus provided with a rigid support mechanism such as a metal flange or a lathe center, which is generally used in the related art, as shown in FIG.
3 is projected beyond the tangent line 109 which is a tangent passing through the surface of the surface 3, and the deleted portion 1 is formed on the surface layer 112 around the protrusion 104 after polishing.
12 in some cases.

(Third Embodiment) Next, an outline of a method for manufacturing an a-Si photosensitive member processed by the method or apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In the embodiment described above, the photosensitive member to be processed is an a-Si photosensitive member, and the a-Si photosensitive layer is formed by a high-frequency plasma CVD (hereinafter abbreviated as "PCVD") method. The apparatus shown in FIG. 7 is a general PCVD apparatus used for manufacturing an electrophotographic photoconductor. This PCV
The D device includes a deposition device 30, a source gas supply device, and an exhaust device (both not shown).

The deposition apparatus 30 has a reaction vessel 31 composed of a vertical vacuum vessel. A plurality of source gas introduction pipes 33 extending in the vertical direction of the vessel are provided around the inside of the reaction vessel 31. A large number of pores are provided on the side surface of the introduction pipe 33 along the longitudinal direction. In the center of the reaction vessel 31,
A spirally wound heater 32 extends in the vertical direction, and a cylindrical body 42 serving as a base of the photosensitive drum is inserted by opening an upper lid 31 a in the container 31, and the heater 32 is inserted inside the container 31. Is installed vertically. In addition, high-frequency power is supplied from a protrusion 34 provided on one of the side surfaces of the reaction vessel 31.

A source gas supply pipe 35 connected to a source gas introduction pipe 33 is attached to a lower portion of the reaction vessel 31. The supply pipe 35 is connected to a gas supply device (not shown) via a supply valve 36. I have. An exhaust pipe 37 is attached to a lower portion of the reaction vessel 31, and the exhaust pipe 37 is connected to an exhaust device (vacuum pump) (not shown) via a main exhaust valve 38. A vacuum gauge 39 and a sub exhaust valve 40 are attached to the exhaust pipe 37.

A- by the PCVD method using the above apparatus
The Si photosensitive layer is formed as follows. First, the reaction vessel 3
1. A cylindrical body 42 serving as a base of the photosensitive drum is set in the container 1, and after closing the lid 31a, the inside of the container 31 is evacuated to a predetermined low pressure or lower by an exhaust device (not shown). The cylindrical body 42 is heated from the inside by 32 to control the cylindrical body 42 to a predetermined temperature in the range of 20 ° C to 450 ° C. When the cylindrical body 42 is maintained at a predetermined temperature, the desired raw material gas is introduced into the reaction vessel 31 through the introduction pipe 33 while being adjusted by the respective flow controllers (not shown). After the introduced source gas fills the inside of the reaction vessel 31, it is exhausted out of the vessel 31 through the exhaust pipe 37.

When it is confirmed by the vacuum gauge 39 that the inside of the reaction vessel 31 filled with the raw material gas has reached a predetermined pressure and stabilized, the high-frequency power source (not shown)
3.56 MHz RF band, or 50-150 MHz
In this case, a high frequency is introduced into the container 31 with a desired amount of input power to generate a glow discharge in the container 31. By the energy of the glow discharge, the components of the source gas are decomposed to generate plasma ions, and an a-Si deposited film mainly composed of silicon is formed on the surface of the cylindrical body 42. At this time, by adjusting parameters such as a gas type, a gas introduction amount, a gas introduction ratio, a pressure, a substrate temperature, an input power, and a film thickness, an a-Si deposited layer having various characteristics is formed, thereby obtaining electrophotographic characteristics. More specifically, the shape of the surface layer surface can be controlled while using auxiliary means for electric characteristics, surface energy, and substrate surface shape.

Thus, the surface of the cylindrical body 42 is a-S
When the i-deposited layer is formed with a desired film thickness, the supply of the high-frequency power is stopped, the supply valve 36 and the like are closed, and the introduction of the source gas into the reaction vessel 31 is stopped. Finish the formation. By repeating the same operation a plurality of times, a photosensitive drum having an a-Si photosensitive layer having a desired multilayer structure is manufactured.

In the above, the flow rate distribution of the raw material gas to be introduced into the reaction vessel 31 through the pores distributed in the longitudinal direction of the gas introduction pipe 33 in the longitudinal direction of the introduction pipe 33 and the outflow velocity of the exhaust gas from the exhaust pipe By adjusting the discharge energy and the like, the electrophotographic characteristics of the a-Si deposition layer on the cylindrical body 42 along the longitudinal direction can be controlled.

With reference to FIG. 8, a growth process of abnormal projections to be polished in the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The electric field concentrates on the dust 113 adhering to the substrate 101, and the deposition rate is higher than that of the normal part. The deposited film based on the dust continues to grow radially and presses against the normal deposited film without the attachment of the dust to form the boundary surface 106 at an angle of about 60 degrees with respect to the normal portion. Grow while growing. As a result, the spherical projection 1 is formed while forming the depression 107 at the boundary.
05 is formed. The portion defined as the level line 109 in FIG. 8 does not include this dent and indicates the level of the normal surface on the left and right of the projection (the same applies to FIGS. 4 to 6). In addition, according to cross-sectional observation, the layer configuration is formed in the spherical protrusion 105 in the same manner as the normal portion.

The protruding portion has a lower electric resistance than the normal portion, resulting in an image defect (white spot in the case of regular development). In addition, the projection portion usually has a beautiful circular shape when viewed from the upper surface of the photoconductor film, but may have an elliptical shape or a square shape depending on the shape of the dust 113. The height from the level line 109 is 1 to
In many cases, the diameter is about 20 μm, which is almost proportional to the diameter as viewed from the upper surface of the photoreceptor film. However, depending on the shape of the dust, the height is high even though the diameter is small. Because of the abnormal growth due to the concentration of the electric field, there are many exceptions as described above.

Under the above-described background and conditions, an a-Si photosensitive member having an a-SiC surface layer and an a-Si photosensitive member having an aC surface layer
-Si photoreceptors were prototyped and found to have a diameter of 10
A photoreceptor having a spherical projection of about 200 to 200 μm and a height of 0.5 to 18 μm was obtained. The height of the projections was measured using an Olympus measuring microscope (STM-UM), a surface roughness measuring instrument SE-
3300, Real-time scanning laser microscope (1LM21D) manufactured by Lasertec Co., Ltd. and SE after cross section
Optical and mechanical means such as M observation are used together to measure the shape of the peripheral portion, and it is possible to make a determination as shown in FIG.

[0048]

EXAMPLES Further, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with specific numerical values and materials.

Example 1 80 mm in diameter and 358 m in length
After the surface of an aluminum cylindrical substrate having a thickness of 3 mm and a thickness of 3 mm is mirror-finished and washed, an a-Si photoconductive layer having a thickness of 30 μm is laminated by the PCVD apparatus shown in FIG.
₄ , an a-SiC surface protective layer having a thickness of 0.5 μm was laminated using CH ₄ to prepare an a-Si photosensitive member. Observation of the surface of the photoreceptor produced as described above,
There were protrusion defects of 100 μm and height of 0.5 to 12 μm. This photoreceptor is pressed to about 0.8 kg with a pressing roller having a JIS rubber hardness of 30 through a lapping tape (F2000 C2000) which is a polishing tape having a width of 360 mm, the tape speed is set to 50 mm / min, and When processed at a photoconductor rotation speed of 40 rpm, good polishing was achieved.

Next, an electrophotographic apparatus (NP6 manufactured by Canon) was used.
When an image inspection was performed at 750), a good image without scratches was obtained. In addition, even after printing of 100,000 sheets, there was no damage to the cleaning blade, and good image quality was maintained.

Comparative Example 1 The procedure of Example 1 was repeated except that the elastic support of the photoreceptor was changed to a metal flange support, and slight polishing scratches were visually observed.

Next, an electrophotographic apparatus (NP6 manufactured by Canon) was used.
When an image inspection was performed at 750), no flaw was confirmed on the image. After 100,000 printings, slight chipping was observed on the cleaning blade.

(Example 2) 108 mm in diameter and 358 in length
mm, washed with mirror-finished surface of the aluminum cylindrical substrate thickness 5 mm, the thickness of the a-Si photoconductive layer having a thickness of 35μm at PCVD apparatus shown in FIG. 7, further using CH ₄ 0.5 [mu] m A-Si surface protective layer was laminated to produce an a-Si photoreceptor. Observation of the surface of the photoreceptor produced as described above showed a diameter of 5 to 80 μm and a height of 0.5 to 1
There was a protrusion defect of 4 μm. This photoreceptor is 360 mm wide
mm wrapping tape (F2000 C2000)
About 0.5k with a pressure roller of JIS rubber hardness 40
g, the tape speed to 60 mm / min,
When the photosensitive member was processed at a rotational speed of 40 rpm, the protruding defect portions were polished and flattened below the surface level line, and were polished well.

Next, an electrophotographic apparatus (NP6 manufactured by Canon) was used.
085), an excellent image without scratches was obtained. Further, even after printing of 200,000 sheets, the cleaning blade was not damaged and good image quality was maintained.

As can be seen from these results, no damage was observed on the photoreceptor which was subjected to post-processing for abnormally grown projections under the conditions within the range of the present invention, and no change was observed even after the printing test. And maintained excellent image quality. Further, in the printing durability test, the cleaning blade and the like were not damaged, resulting in no defective cleaning or black streak-like image defects. Further, the photoreceptor in which the surface protrusions were polished and flattened below the surface level line exhibited good durability performance.

[0056]

As described above in detail, according to the post-processing method of the present invention, the a-Si photosensitive member is rotated, and the polishing tape wound on the elastic roller is fed while the spherical surface of the a-Si photosensitive member is fed. When the protrusions are polished, the use of an elastic support mechanism for elastically supporting and rotating the a-Si photoreceptor, such as a pneumatic holder, typifies the a-Si photoreceptor so that there is no polishing leakage and no scratches are generated. No good polishing was achieved. In addition, the simplification of the apparatus was achieved, and not only the productivity was improved but also the processing cost was significantly reduced.

More specifically, the height of the protrusion after polishing cannot be polished below the adjacent level line due to chatter vibration or the like, so that the photosensitive member selected by this method can be further improved in quality. Was improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a polishing apparatus which is an embodiment of a post-processing method of an electrophotographic photoreceptor of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state of elastic support by an example of a photosensitive member support mechanism used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a correlation between a photoconductor position and a polishing tape speed for keeping a roller pressure constant in the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a projection after polishing and its surroundings when the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is used.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a post-polishing projection and its surroundings when the polishing apparatus of FIG. 1 is used.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a post-polishing projection and its surroundings in the case of a polishing apparatus that supports a photoreceptor with a conventional rigid support mechanism.

FIG. 7 shows a-S processed by the method or apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an apparatus for manufacturing an i-photoconductor.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an abnormal growth protrusion of an a-Si photoreceptor manufactured by the apparatus shown in FIG. 7 and its periphery.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 30 deposition device 31 reaction vessel 31a lid 32 heater 33 raw material gas introduction pipe 34 convex part 35 supply pipe 36 supply valve 37 exhaust pipe 38 main exhaust valve 39 vacuum gauge 40 sub exhaust valve 100 a-Si photosensitive member 101 conductive substrate 102a -Si-based photoconductive layer 103 Surface layer 104 Post-polishing protrusion 105 Spherical protrusion 106 Boundary surface 107 Depression 108 Polished surface 109 Level line 100 Photoconductor 121, 123 Guide flange 122, 124 Pneumatic holder 113 Waste 120 Photoconductor support mechanism 131 Polishing Tape 132 Send-out roll 133 Take-up roll 134 Fixed-rate send-out roll 135 Capstan roller 136 Tape feed speed control unit 137 Photoconductor position control unit 140 Holder 142 Spring

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tetsuya Karaki 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Hironori Owaki 3-30-2, Shimomaruko 3-chome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Kunimasa Kawamura 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term in Canon Inc. (reference) 2H068 CA03 CA32 DA12 DA72 EA24 EA43 FA25

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A cylindrical structure in which a photoconductive layer composed of a non-single-crystal material mainly composed of silicon atoms and a surface layer composed of a non-single-crystal material are sequentially laminated on a conductive substrate by a plasma CVD method. By holding and rotating the photoconductor for electrophotography and sending the polishing tape while pressing the surface of the photoconductor against the polishing tape wound around the elastic roller, the surface protrusions of the photoconductor are flattened. What is claimed is: 1. A post-processing method for performing electropolishing, wherein the photoconductor is held by an elastic holding mechanism and rotated to perform processing. 2. The post-processing method according to claim 1, wherein the elastic holding mechanism uses a rubber inflatable body by air pressure. 3. The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein only one unit for flattening and polishing the surface projections of the photosensitive member with a polishing tape wound around the elastic roller is used. Post-processing method of photoreceptor. 4. An elastic holding force of the photosensitive member by the elastic holding mechanism is 0.98 × 10 ^{4 to} 98 × 10 ⁴ N / m.
^{2. The} method according to claim 1, wherein the pressure is ² (0.1 to 10 kgf / cm ² ). 3. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the conductive substrate is made of aluminum having a thickness of 1 to 5 mm. 6. The post-processing method for an electrophotographic photoconductor according to claim 1, wherein the height of the surface projections of the photoconductor after flattening and polishing is equal to or lower than an adjacent level line. 7. The post-processing method according to claim 1, wherein amorphous carbon is used as a material forming the surface layer. 8. A photoconductive layer composed of a non-single-crystal material mainly composed of silicon atoms and a surface layer composed of a non-single-crystal material on a conductive substrate having a thickness of 1 to 5 mm by a plasma CVD method. Wherein the surface projections are polished and flattened below the surface level line. 9. The electrophotographic photoconductor according to claim 8, wherein the surface layer is made of amorphous carbon.