JP2002169421A - Electrophotographic photoreceptor and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily realize high dimensional accuracy on an electrophotographic photoreceptor and to surely prevent the positional deviation of each color toner image at the time of forming a color image, so that a high-quality image can be formed. SOLUTION: This electrophotographic photoreceptor 1 is formed by cutting the outer surface of straight cylindrical base substance 2, which is formed through a port fall drawing stage, whose thickness deviation is <=0.05 mm and which has no faucet part, with its inner surface as reference and then making a flange 30 press-contact with both ends of the substance 2. The substance 2 is formed in a state where its thickness deviation is <=0.05 mm by a drawing stage by using a port fall method. By cutting the outer surface of the substance 2 with the inner surface as reference, and further making the flange 30 press-contact with both ends of the substance 2, the photoreceptor 1 having the high dimensional accuracy after assembly is obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photosensitive member used for forming an electrophotographic image in a copying machine, a laser printer, and the like, and an image forming apparatus using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The technology of electrophotography has been developed in the field of copiers, and has recently been applied to laser printers and the like, and various electrophotographic applications such as copiers, printers, facsimiles and plotters. Has contributed to higher image quality, higher speed, and improved quietness. In general,
Electrophotographic photoreceptors mounted on electrophotographic application equipment include:
An electrically conductive cylindrical substrate made of an aluminum tube or the like is used, and an organic photoconductive layer is provided on the outer surface of the cylindrical substrate in order to stabilize photosensitive characteristics, reduce costs, and facilitate disposal. The formed organic photoreceptor is widely used.

[0003] The image forming process of the electrophotographic system basically involves charging a photosensitive member with a predetermined charge, forming an electrostatic latent image by image exposure, visualizing the electrostatic latent image into a toner image, and developing a toner image. (In some cases, via an intermediate transfer member) and fixing of a toner image on paper. As described above, the photoreceptor serving as a core in electrophotographic image formation forms a photoreceptor layer such as a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer on an aluminum cylindrical substrate,
Flanges are attached to both ends.

[0004] At the time of recent full-color image formation for which high image quality is strongly demanded, positional deviation between images of each color becomes a problem. In particular, a plurality of electrophotographic photosensitive members are arranged, images of different colors are formed on each of the plurality of electrophotographic photosensitive members, and a toner image of each color formed on each electrophotographic photosensitive member is transferred to a single transfer material. In an image forming apparatus in which a color image is formed by combining images with each other, it is required to improve the dimensional accuracy of a substrate constituting a photoreceptor in order to minimize positional deviation of toner images of respective colors.

Therefore, conventionally, in order to enhance the dimensional accuracy, a spigot processing for attaching a flange to the end of the cylindrical base has been performed, thereby improving the coaxiality of the cylindrical base with respect to the axis of the flange. The run-out accuracy of the outer surface of the substrate was increased. FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an example of an electrophotographic photosensitive member in which a flange is mounted on a cylindrical substrate according to a conventional technique. As shown in the drawing, an end portion of the cylindrical base 102 is provided with a spigot portion 103 having a predetermined inner diameter and depth for mounting the flange 130.

However, in order to perform the spigot processing,
It is necessary to make the cylindrical tube of the cylindrical substrate thicker than a certain thickness, so that the material cost is increased, and furthermore, the inner surface cutting operation is also required, so that the manufacturing cost is also increased.

For this reason, a method of press-fitting a flange into a straight pipe that is not subjected to spigot processing has been studied. That is, when the flange was mounted on the base member subjected to the spigot processing, a highly accurate finished product could be obtained with a simple device. In other words, the outer diameter of the fitting part of the flange and the inner diameter of the fitting part of the cylindrical base are precisely matched by spigot processing and fixed by using an adhesive, so that high precision without slipping or slipping out occurs. A photoreceptor could be manufactured. At this point, in order to attach the flange to the cylindrical base of the straight pipe that is not subjected to the spigot processing, the outer diameter of the fitting portion of the flange is made larger than the inner diameter of the cylindrical base in order to prevent idling and escape. It is necessary to press-fit this with a large force.

When such a flange is mounted on a cylindrical substrate, as shown in FIG.
A flange mounting device 143 having means for driving a pair of press-fitting devices 141 for press-fitting the fitting portions of the flanges 130 at both ends of the cylindrical base 102, The flange 130 is held in advance by the flange holder 140 and the cylindrical substrate 1
02 is supported on the base support 142, and then the press-fitting device 141 is
To drive the flanges 130 at both ends of the cylindrical base 102.
Is press-fitted.

In this case, the cylindrical base 102 needs two or more supporting portions, and at least two places on the surface of the cylindrical base 1 are damaged. This damage causes image defects, and when the damage reaches a deep portion of the cylindrical base 102, the surface of the raw tube is exposed and causes a bias leak. In addition, strict precision is required for the positional relationship between the base support 142 and the flange holder 140 that holds the flange 130. If the precision is reduced even a little, press fitting becomes incomplete and the precision of the finished product deteriorates.

On the other hand, as a material for a raw tube of a photoreceptor used in an electrophotographic copying machine, a laser printer, and the like,
1000 (pure aluminum), 3000 (Al-M
n) system, 5000 (Al-Mg) system or 6000 (Al
-Mg-Si) -based aluminum or aluminum alloy is used. These aluminum or aluminum alloy is formed into a cylindrical shape (drum shape or cylindrical shape) by rolling or extrusion.

More specifically, a cup is formed by deep drawing, the wall of the cup is stretched by ironing, a cylinder with a bottom is manufactured (DI method), and the cup is formed by impact extrusion. Then, the cup wall is stretched by ironing to produce a bottomed cylinder (Method II), and the cylinder obtained by extrusion is stretched by ironing to produce a thin-walled cylinder (EI).
Method), a method of manufacturing a thin-walled cylinder by drawing after extrusion, and a method of further cutting the product obtained by these methods. Among them, the EI method, the ED method, and the method of performing a cutting process use extrusion in an intermediate step.

[0012] As a method of forming a hollow pipe by this extrusion processing, two types of a mandrel method and a porthole method are known. The mandrel method is a method of manufacturing a hollow valve by attaching a mandrel to the tip of the stem of the extruder and using this as the core, but it tends to cause uneven thickness,
Further, there are disadvantages such as difficulty in manufacturing a thin-walled object. In addition, the porthole method is a method in which the metal is once separated in the mold and then united again to produce a hollow valve.
Although it is superior to the mandrel method in unevenness and thinning, there is a defect that a trace (called a weld line) in which the separated metal is united again remains. This weld line may cause a streak pattern defect in the image.

The uneven thickness refers to a variation in wall thickness, and means a difference between a maximum value and a minimum value of a measured value of a pipe thickness in each portion obtained by dividing the pipe circumference into four equal parts.

In any of the methods, extrusion,
The length and the outer diameter of the cylindrical substrate after the drawing or the ironing are larger than the length of the photoconductor actually used. After that, the cylindrical substrate is cut at its end to a size used as a photoreceptor while keeping its outer diameter. The end surface generated by the cutting may leave burrs generated at the time of cutting on the outer edge or the inner edge, which may hinder subsequent processing. Processing is performed, and then outer surface cutting is performed. At the time of outer surface cutting, a cone-shaped support is attached to the tip of a pair of center shafts of a precision lathe, and the conical heads of the pair of supports are inserted inside from both ends of the raw tube, and the raw tube is gripped. Alternatively, a method of processing by rotating the blade is employed.

Here, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-319127 discloses that the length, outer diameter, thickness and uneven thickness of a cylindrical substrate before drawing or ironing are set to predetermined values or less. It is said that a highly accurate photoconductor can be obtained.

[0016]

However, even if the shape and shape of the cylindrical substrate before the drawing or ironing are strictly defined, the dimensional accuracy is reduced during the subsequent cutting or mounting of the flange. At present, it is difficult to produce a photoreceptor after mounting the flange with high precision.

An object of the present invention is to provide a straight cylindrical substrate having no unevenness formed through a port hole extracting step and having a thickness unevenness of 0.05 mm or less and having no spigot portion, after cutting the outer surface with reference to the inner surface thereof, forming flanges at both ends. By press-bonding, a high dimensional accuracy can be easily achieved, and it is possible to form a high-quality image by reliably preventing the occurrence of misalignment of the toner image of each color when forming a color image. An object of the present invention is to provide a photoconductor for electrophotography and an image forming apparatus which can be used.

[0018]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following arrangement.

(1) In an electrophotographic photoreceptor having at least a photosensitive layer, a straight cylindrical base body having no spigot and having a thickness deviation of 0.05 mm or less formed through a porthole drawing step is formed on the outer surface with reference to the inner surface. , And formed by pressing flanges on both ends.

(2) An undercoat layer is formed between the conductive cylindrical substrate and the photosensitive layer.

(3) After disposing the cylindrical base vertically so that the inner peripheral edge of the lower end is in contact with the edge of the fitting portion of one of the horizontally installed flanges, the other flange is disposed on the upper end of the cylindrical base. Then, a flange is pressed into both ends of the cylindrical base by applying a force in a vertically downward direction.

(4) A plurality of the electrophotographic photosensitive members according to any one of (1) to (3) are arranged in an image forming apparatus, and images of different colors are formed on each of the plurality of electrophotographic photosensitive members. After that, a color image is formed by combining on one transfer material.

When the outer surface of the cylindrical substrate is cut on the end face (cone), the processing accuracy A of the outer diameter is as follows.

A = Runout of outer diameter + Chamfering accuracy + Cutting accuracy On the other hand, when outer surface cutting is performed with reference to the inner surface of the cylindrical base, the outer diameter processing accuracy B is as follows.

B = Inside thickness deviation of inner surface + Cutting accuracy Further, the cylindrical substrate after all cutting is cleaned to remove oil, cutting chips, dust and the like adhering to the surface, and then exposed to the surface. A layer is formed. After the formation of the photosensitive layer is completed, a flange having a transmission mechanism necessary for receiving driving in a copying machine is crimped to both ends of the cylindrical substrate.

After all of the above processings are completed, the accuracy C of the photosensitive member when the outer surface of the cylindrical substrate is cut at the end face (cone) is as follows.

C = assembly accuracy + flange runout + uneven thickness +
A In comparison with this, the accuracy D of the photoconductor when the outer surface is cut with reference to the inner surface of the cylindrical substrate is as follows.

D = Assembly accuracy + Flange runout + B As can be seen from comparison of C and D, when the outer surface of the cylindrical base having a small uneven thickness is cut on the basis of the inner surface, the C surface accuracy and the outer diameter runout before the cutting are obtained. Since accuracy is not important, accuracy can be improved. From this, uneven thickness of the cylindrical substrate,
It can be seen that the accuracy of the flange and the accuracy of the assembly are related to the accuracy of the finished photosensitive member. Among them, the flange accuracy has no room for improvement at present, so that it is only necessary to increase the unevenness in thickness and the accuracy at the time of assembly.

From these facts, in order to improve the accuracy of the photoreceptor after assembly, a pipe having a thickness deviation of 0.05 mm or less is cut on the outer surface with respect to the inner surface, and a high-precision photoreceptor is obtained by press-fitting a flange. Was obtained. Here, in order to obtain a small uneven thickness, an extrusion step by a porthole method is required.

The use of the porthole method causes a problem of a weld line, which can be improved by forming an undercoat layer between the substrate and the photosensitive layer.

Further, in order to increase the accuracy, a highly accurate flange and a highly accurate assembling method are required. For this purpose, the flange is installed horizontally with one flange fitting part side as the upper surface, and vertically arranged so that the inner peripheral edge of the cylindrical base body comes into contact with the edge of the fitting part of the flange. The other flange is placed above the cylindrical base, and a force is applied vertically downward to press-fit both flanges.

[0032]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a laminated photoreceptor which is an electrophotographic photoreceptor according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the laminated photoreceptor 1, an undercoat layer 56, a charge generation layer 53 mainly composed of a charge generation material 52, and a charge transport layer 55 containing a compound that is a charge transport material 54 are formed on a cylindrical substrate 2 in this order. This is provided with a laminated photosensitive layer 50. The laminated photoreceptor 1 applies a dispersion obtained by dispersing the particles of the charge generating material 52 in a solvent or a binder resin onto an undercoat layer 56 formed on the cylindrical substrate 2, and applies a charge on the dispersion. It can be manufactured by applying and drying a solution in which the transport material 54 and the binder resin 7 are dissolved.

The laminated photoreceptor 1 according to the embodiment shown in FIG.
In this embodiment, the photosensitive layer 50 is formed by laminating the charge generation layer 53 and the charge transport layer 55, and the surface of the laminated photoreceptor 1 having the photosensitive layer 50 is formed by using a charger such as a charger. When the charge generation layer 53 is irradiated with light having an absorption wavelength after being charged to the negative polarity, charges of electrons and holes are generated in the charge generation layer 53. Of these, holes move to the photoreceptor surface by the charge transporting material 54 contained in the charge transporting layer 55 and neutralize the negatively charged surface. On the other hand, the electrons in the charge generation layer 53 move toward the cylindrical substrate 2 where the positive charges have been induced, and neutralize the positive charges. Thus, the laminated photoreceptor 1 including the photosensitive layer 50 functions as an image carrier during electrophotographic image formation.

In the present invention, the material for the cylindrical substrate is 1000 (pure aluminum), 3000 (Al
-Mn) system, 5000 (Al-Mg) system or 600
0 (Al-Mg-Si) -based aluminum or aluminum alloy is used. The production of the hollow cylindrical body to be used as the aluminum or aluminum alloy substrate is performed in the steps of extrusion, drawing (or squeezing), cutting, and outer surface cutting. Extrusion processing in the present invention,
The drawing (or squeezing), the cutting, and the outer surface cutting are performed within the range of the condition usually performed conventionally.

In the present invention, the extrusion process includes uneven thickness,
Use a porthole method that is excellent in thinning. In order to obtain a more precise cylindrical substrate, a drawing process is performed. The processing rate of the drawing (the ratio of the length after processing to the length before processing) is usually 1.1 to 1.4. The drawing process is performed by installing a plug on the inner diameter side and a mold called a die on the outer diameter side, and expanding the inner and outer diameters at the same time. Cause. Cutting is performed in order to align the cylindrical substrate to a predetermined length, but the end surface generated by the cutting may leave burrs generated at the time of cutting on the outer edge or the inner edge, which is used for subsequent processing. There is a possibility that it may become an obstacle. Therefore, after cutting, it is usual to chamfer about 0.2 mm on the outside and inside of the end face of the cylindrical substrate. This is called C chamfering.

At this time, the thickness of the cylindrical substrate is preferably 2 mm or less from the viewpoint of cost and weight reduction of the whole machine. More preferably, it is 1 mm or less. In addition, the thickness deviation needs to be 0.05 mm or less in order to perform cutting by holding the inner surface shown in the present invention. More preferably, it is 0.03 mm or less.

For cutting the outer surface of the cylindrical substrate, a precision lathe that minimizes vibration is used. This is because the surface condition of the hollow cylindrical body formed by cutting directly affects the characteristics of the electrophotographic photosensitive member. The outer surface cutting is usually performed in two stages of rough cutting and finish cutting. Since the state of the cutting surface is determined by finish cutting, precise cutting is required. The cutting is performed with a cut of 20 to 30 μm using a single crystal of natural diamond or a cutting tool of a sintered body. The rough cutting is not particularly limited as much as the finish cutting, and it is sufficient to create a state in which the above-described finish cutting is possible.

At the time of cutting the outer surface, as shown in FIG. 2, a support 6 for holding the inner surface of the cylindrical base 2 is attached, and the support 6 is inserted from both ends of the cylindrical base 2 inside. And processing by rotating the cylindrical substrate 2 or the blade. Since the thickness of the inner surface of the cylindrical base 2 is small, the holding is performed reliably and the processing can be performed with high accuracy.

The total deflection of the photoreceptor thus formed is preferably 50 μm or less, more preferably 30 μm or less in applications such as full-color printing so as not to cause misalignment of multicolor images.

The undercoat layer 56 is made of, for example, polyamide,
It is formed from polyurethane, cellulose, nitrocellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyacrylamide, aluminum anodized film, gelatin, starch, casein, N-methoxymethylated nylon and the like. Further, titanium oxide, tin oxide, and aluminum oxide particles may be dispersed therein. The undercoat layer 56 has a thickness of about 0.1 to about 10 μm and functions as an adhesive layer between the cylindrical substrate 2 and the photosensitive layer 50. in addition,
It also functions as a barrier layer that suppresses charge from flowing into the photosensitive layer 50 from the cylindrical substrate 2. In this manner, the undercoat layer 56 maintains the charging characteristics of the photoreceptor, so that the life of the photoreceptor itself can be extended. In addition, there is an effect of concealing a weld line formed by the porthole extrusion process.

The charge generation layer 53 includes a known charge generation material. As the charge generating material suitable for the present invention, any of inorganic pigments, organic pigments, and organic dyes can be used as long as they absorb visible light and generate free charges. Inorganic pigments include selenium and its alloys, arsenic-selenium, cadmium sulfide, zinc oxide, amorphous silicon, and other inorganic photoconductors. Examples of the organic pigment include a phthalocyanine compound, an azo compound, a quinacridone compound, a polycyclic quinone compound, and a perylene compound. Examples of the organic dye include a thiapyrylium salt and a squarylium salt. A more preferable charge generating material is a phthalocyanine compound, and it is particularly preferable to use a titanyl phthalocyanine compound. Particularly good sensitivity characteristics, charging characteristics and repetition characteristics are obtained.

In addition to the above-listed pigments and dyes, electron-accepting materials such as cyano compounds such as tetracyanoethylene, 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane, anthraquinone, p- Quinones such as benzoquinone, 2,4,7-trinitrofluorenone,
A nitro compound such as 2,4,5,7-tetranitrofluorenone or a dye such as a xanthene dye or a thiazine dye triphenylmethane dye as an optical sensitizer may be added to the charge generation layer 53. More preferably, the above-mentioned organic photoconductive compounds such as organic pigments and organic dyes are used.

The charge generation layer 53 is formed by dispersing a charge generation agent together with a binder resin in an appropriate solvent, applying the dispersion to the cylindrical substrate 2, and drying or curing the film to form a film. The thickness of the charge generation layer 53 is about 0.05 to about 5 μm,
Preferably it is about 0.1 to about 1 μm. Charge generation layer 53
As a method of forming, generally, a vapor deposition method such as a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method, a CVD method, or a method in which a charge generation material is pulverized by a ball mill, a sand grinder, a paint shaker, an ultrasonic disperser, or the like, dispersed in a solvent, and There is known a method in which a binder resin is added and applied by a spray method, a vertical ring method, a dip coating method, or the like.

As the binder resin, specifically, polyarylate, polyvinyl butyral, polycarbonate,
Polyester, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, phenoxy, epoxy, silicone, polyacrylate and the like are used. As the solvent used here, isopropyl alcohol, cyclohexanone, cyclohexane, toluene, xylene, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, dioxolan,
Examples include ethyl cellosolve, ethyl acetate, methyl acetate, dichloromethane, dichloroethane, monochlorobenzene, and ethylene glycol dimethyl ether. Basically, other than those listed here may be used alone or in a blend of any of alcohol-based, ketone-based, amide-based, ester-based, ether-based, hydrocarbon-based, chlorinated hydrocarbon-based, and aromatic solvent-based systems. May be. However, in particular, when considering the decrease in sensitivity due to the crystal transition at the time of milling and milling of the charge generation material and the decrease in characteristics due to pot life, cyclohexanone, which hardly causes crystal transition in both pigments,
It is preferable to use any of 1,2-dimethoxyethane, methyl ethyl ketone and tetrahydroquinone.

An antioxidant, a plasticizer, and a leveling agent can be added to the charge transport layer 55 as necessary.
Examples of the binder resin and the solvent to be used include those similar to the charge generation layer. The amount of the binder resin is suitably 50 to 300 parts by weight, preferably 100 to 200 parts by weight, per 100 parts by weight of the charge transporting material. The charge transport layer 55 has a thickness of about 10 to about 50 μm, preferably about 1 to about 50 μm.
0 to about 35 μm. As the leveling agent, silicone oils or polymers or oligomers having a perfluoroalkyl group in the side chain can be used, and the amount is suitably 0 to 1 part by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the binder resin.

The charge transport layer 55 is formed by dissolving (or dispersing) the charge transport material together with the binder resin 57 in an appropriate solvent, applying the solution to the cylindrical substrate 2 on which the charge generation layer 53 is formed, and drying or curing. Formed. The coating solution for the charge transport layer is generally used without any problem in a method in which several or one type of charge transport material, a binder resin and an additive are weighed and dissolved in a predetermined amount of an organic solvent at the same time. First, a method in which the binder resin is dissolved in a solvent, and then the charge transport material is charged and dissolved is particularly preferable. According to this method, the molecular dispersibility of the charge transport material in the binder resin is improved, and the potential and local crystallization of the charge transport agent in the film is suppressed. Potential stability during use, good image characteristics, and the like are imparted.

As a method for forming the charge transport layer 55, a spray method, a vertical ring method, a dip coating method, or the like is used.
In particular, dip coating is generally preferred from the viewpoint of productivity and cost.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a mounting apparatus used in the present invention, and FIGS. 4A to 4C are views showing different electrophotographic photosensitive member flanges. It consists of a side view and a bottom view. The mounting device 44 includes a driving device 41 at an upper end portion of a gantry 43 having a substantially L-shape, and a flange holder 40 is provided between the driving device 41 and a horizontal surface of the gantry 43.
It has.

Flange 30 mounted on cylindrical substrate 2
Is usually molded using synthetic resin as a material, and FIG. 4 (A)
As shown in (C), an inclined surface 33 is formed at one end of a fitting portion 32 of a substantially cylindrical body fitted to the end of the cylindrical base body 2, and has a larger diameter than the fitting portion 32 at the other end. Is formed. At the center of the flange 36, a boss 37 having a through hole 34 through which the rotating shaft passes is formed. Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, the flange 30 attached to the drive-side end of the cylindrical base 2 has a flange 3
A gear 31 for transmitting the rotational driving force is formed on the peripheral surface of No. 6. The gear shape differs depending on the design of the image forming apparatus to which the photoconductor 1 is to be mounted after the flange 30 is mounted on the cylindrical base 2. Further, on one end surface, a ground plate (not shown) for connecting the photoconductor 1 and a grounding means on the apparatus side is provided to prevent the photoconductor 1 from being charged during image formation.

In the flange 30, it is necessary to provide an inclined surface 33 at the front end of the fitting portion 32. This surface may be formed by a mold at the time of molding the flange 30, or may be formed after molding. It may be formed by cutting.

Further, the inclination angle of the inclined surface 33 is
With respect to the front end face of No. 2, it is usually selected from the range of 5 to 60 °, preferably the range of 10 to 45 °. If the angle is too large or too small, it is not preferable because the flange 30 is difficult to be inserted into the cylindrical base 2. In any case, when selecting the angle, when the inclined surface 33 comes into contact with the mounting end surface of the cylindrical base body 2, the inner peripheral edge of the contacted end surface smoothly slides on the inclined surface 33, After the 2 and the flange 30 have reached the coaxial position, care is taken so that they are fitted together. In the case where the inner peripheral edge of the contacted end face of the cylindrical base 2 is chamfered, it is necessary to select the chamfered angle in consideration of its matching with the chamfer angle.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4C, when the small diameter portion 35 is provided, it is desirable that the diameter is equal to or smaller than the inner surface of the drum.

[0053]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following Examples, but it should not be construed that the present invention is limited to the following Examples unless it exceeds the gist of the invention. In the following Examples and Comparative Examples, the total runout accuracy (in this specification, JIS Handbook B0021 Machine Element (198
9) Page 119, 14.1 "Total run-out tolerance in the radial direction"
Was abbreviated in this way. ) Was measured using a laser scan micrometer LSM412R and LSM-3000.
(Manufactured by Mitutoyo Corporation). The evaluation of the image of the photoreceptor was carried out by mounting it on a commercially available copying machine of a multiple development system (AR-N200 manufactured by Sharp Corporation).

(Example 1) JIS3003 alloy was extruded by a port hole method, further subjected to a drawing process, and cut to obtain an outer diameter of 40.0 mmφ and an inner diameter of 30.9 mm.
A drawn tube having a diameter of 0 mm, a length of 340 mm, and an uneven thickness of 0.03 mm was produced. This drawn tube was subjected to a 0.2 mm C chamfer. Further, this cylindrical substrate is held by a support on the inner surface of the cylindrical substrate, and the rotation speed is 4000 rpm and the feed is 0.15.
Under the condition of mm, rough cutting with a cut of 0.15 mm and finish cutting with a cut of 0.02 mm were performed. Thus, 10 aluminum cylindrical substrates were produced.

Using the above-mentioned aluminum cylindrical substrate, a coating solution for an undercoat layer was formed thereon by dip coating to a thickness of 1 μm. The undercoat layer coating liquid was prepared by dispersing the following components for 10 hours using a paint shaker to prepare an undercoat layer coating liquid.

Titanium oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ , ZrO ₂ surface-treated dendritic rutile type titanium component 85%) TTO-MI-1 (Ishihara Sangyo) 3 parts by weight CM-8000 (Toray): Alcohol-soluble nylon resin 3 parts by weight Methanol 35 parts by weight 1,3-Dioxolane 65 parts by weight Next, 10 parts by weight of butyral resin (S-LEC B L-2: manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.), 1400 parts by weight of dimethoxyethane, and titanyl phthalocyanine of compound (1) 15 parts by weight were dispersed for 72 hours by a ball mill to prepare a coating liquid for a charge generation layer. Using this coating solution, a film thickness of 0.2 μm was formed on the aluminum cylindrical support provided with the undercoat layer by a dip coating method.
The charge generation layer was formed to have a thickness of m. Next, 100 parts by weight of the charge transporting material of the compound (2) and 150 of a Z-type polycarbonate resin (manufactured by Z200) represented by the compound (3) are used.
Parts by weight, 0.02 parts by weight of silicone oil in THF100
The solution was dissolved in 0 parts by weight to prepare a charge transport layer coating solution. A film was formed on the charge generation layer by a dip coating method so as to have a film thickness of 20 μm, and dried at 120 ° C. for 1 hour to prepare a photoreceptor sample.

[0057]

Embedded image

[0058]

Embedded image

[0059]

Embedded image

Furthermore, after mounting the flange using the flange mounting apparatus shown in FIG. 3, the total runout accuracy was measured. The results were as shown in FIG. Further, a halftone image and a full-color image were evaluated using a copying machine (AR-N200 manufactured by Sharp Corporation).

Example 2 The same as Example 1 except that the thickness deviation was 0.05 mm.

Comparative Example 1 The same as Example 1 except that the thickness deviation was 0.08 mm.

(Comparative Example 2) The same as Example 1 except that no undercoat layer was provided between the photosensitive layer and the aluminum cylindrical substrate.

(Comparative Example 3) The same as Example 1 except that the flange was mounted using the flange mounting apparatus of FIG.

From Example 1, Example 2, and Comparative Example 1, it can be seen that by setting the thickness deviation to 0.05 mm or less, it is possible to suppress the total runout of the completed photosensitive member. Also, due to the poor overall run-out, almost all of the drums in the full-color print image show image shifts due to print position shifts, which poses a problem in actual use. In Comparative Example 2, halftone unevenness due to the weld line was observed in almost all the cases, which is a problem in practical use.
In Comparative Example 3, as in Comparative Example 1, image shift was observed in all the samples. In addition, black spots caused by drum scratches are observed, which is a problem in practical use.

[0066]

According to the present invention, a straight cylindrical substrate having no spigot and having a thickness unevenness of 0.05 mm or less formed through a port hole drawing process is cut after cutting the outer surface with reference to the inner surface. By forming the electrophotographic photosensitive member by crimping the flanges at both ends, the outer surface can be cut with reference to the inner surface of the cylindrical base and the flange can be crimped, and the color accuracy is improved by improving the dimensional accuracy of the electrophotographic photosensitive member. It is possible to prevent misalignment of the toner images of each color during image formation, and to form a high-quality image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of an electrophotographic photosensitive member according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a holding state of a cylindrical substrate and an inner support of a precision lathe during outer surface cutting.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a mounting device used in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view showing various flanges mounted on the electrophotographic photosensitive member.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing experimental results of an example of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of a conventional electrophotographic photosensitive member.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a conventional mounting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1-Electrophotographic photoreceptor 2-Cylindrical base 3-Inlay part 4-Support part 5-Cone part 6-Inner support part 30-Flange 31-Gear part 32-Mating part 33-Inclination surface 34-Central hole 35- Small diameter portion 36-Step portion 37-Support shaft 40-Flange holder 41-Driving device 42-Drum support 43-Mount 44-Mounting device 50-Photosensitive layer 52-Charge generation material 53-Charge generation layer 54-Charge transport material 55 -Charge transport layer 56-undercoat layer 57-binder resin

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Sugimura 22-22, Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside Sharp Corporation (72) Inventor Rikiya Matsuo 22-22, Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka (72) Inventor Masanori Matsumoto 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka City, Osaka F-term (reference) 2H035 CA07 CB02 CB03 2H068 AA43 AA45 AA54 AA59 BB28 CA29 EA07 EA43 FB13 4E029 CA03 MB02

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An electrophotographic photoreceptor having at least a photosensitive layer, wherein a straight cylindrical base having no spigot and having a thickness unevenness of 0.05 mm or less formed through a porthole drawing step is formed on the outer surface with reference to the inner surface. An electrophotographic photoreceptor, wherein a flange is crimped to both ends after cutting. 2. The electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 1, wherein an undercoat layer is formed between the conductive cylindrical substrate and the photosensitive layer. 3. A cylindrical base is vertically disposed such that an inner peripheral edge of a lower end thereof comes into contact with an edge of a fitting portion of one of the horizontally installed flanges, and then another flange is disposed on an upper end of the cylindrical base. 2. The electrophotographic photoreceptor according to claim 1, wherein a flange is pressed into both ends of the cylindrical base by applying a force vertically downward. 4. A transfer material after arranging a plurality of electrophotographic photosensitive members according to claim 1 and generating images of different colors on each of the plurality of electrophotographic photosensitive members. An image forming apparatus, wherein a color image is formed by combining the above.