JP2003098925A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device in which the compatibility of cleanability with transferability is attained at a high level and with which good image quality can be obtained stably for a long period of time. SOLUTION: This image forming device is characterized in that an electrophotographic photoreceptor 1 has a layer containing a charge transferable material and a siloxane resin on the side more distant from a substrate among the surfaces possessed by a photosensitive layer; the shape coefficient of the toners supplied form a developing device 4 to 100 to 140 and cleaning means 7 has a cleaning blade of 5 to 30% in impact resilience at 30 deg.C and 10 to 40% in impact resilience at 40 deg.C.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more specifically, charging, exposure (image input),
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus used in an image forming process including steps such as development, transfer and cleaning.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming process utilizing an electrostatic image developing method such as an electrophotographic method, an electrostatic latent image formed by charging and exposing an electrophotographic photosensitive member is developed with a toner, and the development thereof is performed. The formed image is transferred to the transfer medium. An amorphous toner is widely used as a toner for such an image forming process, but its transferability is not always sufficient. Therefore, in recent years, use of spherical toner having higher transferability has been studied.

On the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member after the transfer step, the toner that has not been transferred to the transfer medium usually remains, so that when the electrophotographic photosensitive member is repeatedly used in the next image forming process. In general, a cleaning step of removing the residual toner to obtain a clean surface is performed. For example, a cleaning blade is used in this cleaning process.

When using a cleaning blade,
Since the physical properties of the blade member are an important factor in the mechanism, cleaning blades whose physical property values are determined for various items are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 8-234639 and 9-9839.
No. 50221, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-68904, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-75743 and the like.

[0005]

However, even the conventional cleaning blade described above does not always provide sufficient cleaning performance. In particular, when spherical toner is used, the phenomenon that the residual toner slips through the cleaning blade is likely to occur, and such residual toner is often brought into the next image forming process and often adversely affects the image quality. Thus, it is very difficult to achieve a high level of transferability and cleaning characteristics in a conventional image forming apparatus, and it is not always sufficient in terms of transferability that the irregular toner is not compatible with the cleaning blade. The reality is that they are used in combination.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The transferability and the cleaning property are compatible with each other at a high level, and good image quality can be stably obtained for a long period of time. An object is to provide a possible image forming apparatus.

[0007]

The inventors of the present invention have conducted extensive studies to achieve the above object, and as a result, in the image forming apparatus, the transferability is improved by merely adjusting the physical properties of the cleaning blade as in the conventional example. It is difficult to achieve both the cleaning property and the cleaning property, and an electrophotographic photoreceptor having a surface layer containing a specific component, a toner having a specific shape, and a cleaning blade having a blade member having specific physical properties are combined. The inventors have found that the above problems can be solved when used, and have completed the present invention.

That is, the image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises an electrophotographic photosensitive member having a conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer provided on the substrate, a charging unit for charging the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and an electrophotographic photosensitive member. An exposure unit that exposes the surface to form an electrostatic latent image, a developing unit that develops the electrostatic latent image with toner to form a toner image, a transfer unit that transfers the toner image to a transfer medium, and a transfer unit. An image forming apparatus comprising: a cleaning unit that cleans the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, wherein the electrophotographic photosensitive member is provided with a charge transporting substance and a siloxane-based resin on the side of the photosensitive layer farthest from the substrate. And a toner having a shape factor of 100 to 140 and a cleaning means of 30
It is characterized by including a cleaning blade having a repulsion elasticity of 5 to 30% at 40 ° C and a repulsion elasticity of 10 to 40% at 40 ° C.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the shape factor is 1
A sufficiently high transferability can be achieved by using a toner of 0 to 140. Further, a very small amount of residual toner may adhere to the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member after the transfer step. By using such toner in combination with the electrophotographic photosensitive member and the cleaning means, the toner slips through the cleaning blade. Since the phenomenon is sufficiently prevented, a sufficiently high cleaning property can be obtained without impairing the transfer property. Therefore, according to the present invention,
Transferability and cleaning performance are compatible at a high level,
An image forming apparatus capable of stably obtaining good image quality over a long period of time is realized.

The shape factor referred to in the present invention means the following formula (a): SF = 100πL _max ² / 4A (a) (In the formula, SF represents the shape factor, and L _max is the absolute maximum length of toner particles. (Mean value) and A represents the projected area of the toner particles).

The impact resilience in the present invention means JIS.
K 6301-1995: A value measured according to the test method specified in "11. Anti-repulsion elasticity test".

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the surface layer has an organic group having a charge transporting property, a silicon atom bonded to the same or different carbon atom in the organic group, and an oxygen bonded to the silicon atom. It may be characterized by containing a crosslinked body having a skeleton composed of atoms, and such a crosslinked body is represented by the following general formula (1):

[Chemical 2] [In the formula (1), Ar ¹ , Ar ² , Ar ³ and Ar ⁴ may be the same or different and each represents a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, and Ar ⁵ is a substituted or unsubstituted divalent aryl. Represents a group or an arylene group, D represents a divalent group, Q represents a hydrolyzable group, a represents an integer of 1 to 3, k represents 0 or 1, and m ¹ , m ² , and m ³ , m ⁴ and m ^{5
May be} the same or different and each represents 0 or 1, at least one of m ^{1 to} m ⁵ is 1, and when k is 1, m ⁵ is 0. ] It is preferable that it is obtained by using a polymerizable monomer containing a compound represented by the following. As a result, both the transferability and the cleaning property are improved, and an electrophotographic photoreceptor having higher mechanical strength is realized.

Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the impact resilience of the cleaning blade is 5 to 20% at 30 ° C.
And may be 10 to 35% at 40 ° C. This improves the cleaning property and prevents the cleaning blade from being chipped or cracked, so that excellent cleaning characteristics can be obtained for a longer period of time.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention may be characterized in that the cleaning blade has a hardness of 50 to 90 and a tensile strength of 9.8 to 29.4 MPa. This improves the cleaning property and prevents the cleaning blade from being chipped or cracked, so that excellent cleaning characteristics can be obtained for a longer period of time.

The hardness referred to here is a value measured by a JIS A type constant load (1 kg) hardness meter.
Further, the tensile strength means JIS K 6301-1995.
The value measured according to the method specified in "3. Tensile test".

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawing,
The same or corresponding parts will be denoted by the same reference symbols and redundant description will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
It is a schematic structure figure showing an embodiment. In the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1 is supported by a support 9 and is rotatable about the support 9 in the direction of the arrow at a predetermined rotation speed. Then, along the rotation direction of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1, the contact charging member 2, the exposure device 3,
The developing device 4, the transfer device 5, and the cleaning blade 7 are arranged in this order. Further, the device is an image fixing device 6
The transfer medium P is conveyed to the image fixing device 6 via the transfer device 5.

(Electrophotographic Photoreceptor) FIG. 2 is a sectional view schematically showing the structure of the electrophotographic photoreceptor 1. The electrophotographic photoreceptor 1 shown in FIG. 2 has an undercoat layer 12 on a conductive substrate 11.
A charge generation layer 13, a charge transport layer 14, and a protective layer 15 are sequentially laminated to have a photosensitive layer 16. The protective layer 15 has an organic group having a charge transporting property and the same or different organic group in the organic group. A crosslinked body having a skeleton composed of a silicon atom bonded to a carbon atom and an oxygen atom bonded to the silicon atom is included.

The conductive substrate 11 is formed by molding aluminum into a cylindrical shape (drum shape). In addition to aluminum, a metal material such as stainless steel and nickel; a polymer material such as polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polypropylene, nylon, polystyrene, and phenol resin, or an insulating material such as hard paper, and a conductive substance are used as the base material. Those dispersed and subjected to conductive treatment; those obtained by laminating a metal foil on the above insulating material; those obtained by forming a metal vapor deposition film on the above insulating material can be used. Further, the shape of the substrate may be a sheet shape, a plate shape, or the like.

When a laser is used as the exposure device 3 in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the surface of the substrate 1 is changed to prevent interference fringes generated when the laser beam is irradiated.
Roughening is preferably performed so that the center line average roughness Ra is 0.04 μm to 0.5 μm. Ra is 0.04 μm
If it is less than the above range, the effect of preventing interference cannot be obtained because it is close to a mirror surface, and if Ra exceeds 0.5 μm, the image quality tends to be rough. Such roughening is carried out by suspending an abrasive in water and spraying it on a support, wet honing,
Alternatively, it can be suitably performed by centerless grinding in which a support is pressed against a rotating grindstone and grinding is continuously performed. When non-interfering light is used as the light source, it is not necessary to roughen the surface to prevent interference fringes, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of defects due to the unevenness of the surface of the base material, which is suitable for longer life.

As the material of the undercoat layer 12, a zirconium chelate compound, a zirconium alkoxide compound,
Organic zirconium compounds such as zirconium coupling agents, titanium chelate compounds, titanium alkoxide compounds, organic titanium compounds such as titanate coupling agents, aluminum chelate compounds, organoaluminum compounds such as aluminum coupling agents, antimony alkoxide compounds, germanium Alkoxide compounds, indium alkoxide compounds, indium chelate compounds, manganese alkoxide compounds, manganese chelate compounds, tin alkoxide compounds, tin chelate compounds, aluminum silicon alkoxide compounds, aluminum titanium alkoxide compounds, and organometallic compounds such as aluminum zirconium alkoxide compounds. , Of these, organic zirconium compounds, organic titanyl compounds, Machine aluminum compound residual potential are preferably used exhibits excellent electrophotographic characteristics lower.

Further, vinyltrichlorosilane, vinyltrimethoxysilane, vinyltriethoxysilane, vinyltris2-methoxyethoxysilane, vinyltriacetoxysilane, γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, γ-chloropropyltrimethoxysilane, γ-2-aminoethylaminopropyltrimethoxysilane, γ-mercapropropyltrimethoxysilane, γ-ureidopropyltriethoxysilane, β-3,4 -A silane coupling agent such as epoxycyclohexyltrimethoxysilane can be contained and used.

Further, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl methyl ether, poly-N-vinyl imidazole, polyethylene oxide, ethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, ethylene-acrylic acid copolymer, polyamide, polyimide, casein, gelatin, polyethylene, polyester, phenol resin, Binder resins such as vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, epoxy resin, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyvinylpyridine, polyurethane, polyglutamic acid, and polyacrylic acid can also be used. The mixing ratio of these can be appropriately set as necessary.

An electron transporting substance may be mixed and dispersed in the undercoat layer 12 for use. Examples of the electron transporting substance include organic pigments such as perylene pigments, bisbenzimidazole perylene pigments, polycyclic quinone pigments, indigo pigments and quinacridone pigments described in JP-A-47-30330, and cyano groups, nitro groups, and nitroso. Examples thereof include organic pigments such as bisazo pigments or phthalocyanine pigments having electron-withdrawing substituents such as groups and halogen atoms, and inorganic pigments such as zinc oxide and titanium oxide. Among these pigments, perylene pigments, bisbenzimidazole perylene pigments and polycyclic quinone pigments are preferably used because of their high electron mobility. When the amount of the electron-transporting pigment is too large, the strength of the undercoat layer is lowered and a coating film defect is caused. Therefore, the content thereof is preferably 95% by weight or less, more preferably 90% by weight or less. The method of mixing / dispersing the charge-transporting substance is a ball mill,
A conventional method using a roll mill, a sand mill, an attritor, ultrasonic waves or the like is applied. Mixing / dispersion is carried out in an organic solvent, but as the organic solvent, if a metal compound or a resin having a fixed period is dissolved, and if gelation or aggregation does not occur when the electron transporting pigment is mixed / dispersed. Anything can be used. For example, methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, n-butanol, benzyl alcohol, methyl cellosolve, ethyl cellosolve, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, cyclohexanone, methyl acetate, acetic acid n.
Ordinary organic solvents such as -butyl, dioxane, tetrahydrofuran, methylene chloride, chloroform, chlorobenzene, and toluene can be used alone or in combination of two or more.

The thickness of the undercoat layer 12 is preferably 0.1.
˜20 μm, more preferably 0.2 to 10 μm.
Further, as the coating method used when providing the undercoat layer, a blade coating method, a Meyer bar coating method, a spray coating method, a dip coating method,
Bead coating method, air knife coating method,
A usual method such as a curtain coating method can be used. The applied material is dried to obtain an undercoat layer,
Usually, the drying is performed at a temperature at which a solvent can be evaporated and a film can be formed. In particular, it is preferable to form an undercoat layer on a substrate that has been subjected to an acidic solution treatment or a boehmite treatment, since the defect hiding power of the substrate tends to be insufficient.

The charge generation layer 13 is composed of a charge generation material and a binder resin. As the charge generating material, all known materials such as azo pigments such as bisazo and trisazo, condensed ring aromatic pigments such as dibromoanthanthrone, perylene pigments, pyrrolopyrrole pigments, and flatocyanine pigments can be used. And a metal-free phthalocyanine pigment is preferable, and among them, hydroxygallium phthalocyanine having a specific crystal, chlorogallium phthalocyanine, dichlorotin phthalocyanine,
Titanyl phthalocyanine is especially preferred. The chlorogallium phthalocyanine used in the present invention is disclosed in
The chlorogallium phthalocyanine crystal produced by the method described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 98181 is added to an automatic mortar, planetary mill,
It can be produced by mechanically dry pulverizing with a vibration mill, a CF mill, a roller mill, a sand mill, a kneader or the like, or by performing a wet pulverization treatment with a solvent after the dry pulverization using a ball mill, a mortar, a sand mill, a kneader or the like. .
The solvent used in the above treatment is aromatics (toluene, chlorobenzene, etc.), amides (dimethylformamide, N-methylpyrrolidone, etc.), aliphatic alcohols (methanol, ethanol, butanol, etc.), aliphatic polyhydric compounds. Alcohols (ethylene glycol, glycerin,
Polyethylene glycol, etc.), aromatic alcohols (benzyl alcohol, phenethyl alcohol, etc.), esters (acetate ester, butyl acetate, etc.), ketones (acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, etc.), dimethyl sulfoxide, ethers (diethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran) Etc.) or a mixture of two or more of these, or a mixed system of water and these organic solvents. The solvent used is
With respect to 1 part by weight of chlorogallium phthalocyanine, preferably 1 to 200 parts by weight, more preferably 10 to 100 parts by weight.
Used in the range of parts by weight. The treatment temperature is preferably in the range of 0 ° C to the boiling point of the solvent, preferably 10 to 60 ° C. Also,
At the time of crushing, a grinding aid such as salt or sodium sulfate may be used. The amount of the grinding aid used is preferably 0.5 to 20 times, more preferably 1 to 10 times the amount of the pigment.

Dichlorotin phthalocyanine is disclosed in
It can be obtained by crushing dichlorotin phthalocyanine crystals produced by the method described in JP-A-140472, JP-A-5-140473 and the like in the same manner as chlorogallium phthalocyanine and treating with a solvent.

Hydroxygallium phthalocyanine is disclosed in JP-A-5-263007 and JP-A-5-279591.
Using a chlorogallium phthalocyanine crystal produced by the method described in Japanese Patent Publication No. JP-A No. 2003-242242, etc., a hydroxygallium phthalocyanine crystal is synthesized by performing hydrolysis or acid pasting in an acid or alkaline solution, and directly performing solvent treatment. Alternatively, the hydroxygallium phthalocyanine crystal obtained by the synthesis is subjected to a wet pulverization treatment using a ball mill, a mortar, a sand mill, a kneader, etc. together with a solvent, or a solvent-treated after a dry pulverization treatment without using a solvent. It can be manufactured. The solvent used in the above treatment is aromatics (toluene, chlorobenzene, etc.), amides (dimethylformamide, N-methylpyrrolidone, etc.), aliphatic alcohols (methanol, ethanol, butanol, etc.),
Aliphatic polyhydric alcohols (ethylene glycol, glycerin, polyethylene glycol, etc.), aromatic alcohols (benzyl alcohol, phenethyl alcohol, etc.),
Esters (acetate, butyl acetate, etc.), ketones (acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, etc.), dimethyl sulfoxide, ethers (diethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran, etc.) or mixtures of two or more of these, water and these organic solvents A system etc. are mentioned. The amount of such a solvent used is preferably 1 to 200 parts by weight, preferably 10 to 100 parts by weight, relative to 1 part by weight of hydroxygallium phthalocyanine.
It is 100 parts by weight. The processing temperature is preferably 0.
˜150 ° C., preferably room temperature to 100 ° C. Also,
At the time of crushing, a grinding aid such as salt or sodium sulfate may be used. The amount of grinding aid used is preferably 0.
It is 5 to 20 times, more preferably 1 to 10 times.

Oxytitanyl phthalocyanine is obtained by acid pasting oxytitanyl phthalocyanine crystals produced by the method described in JP-A-4-189873 and JP-A-5-43813, or by ball milling, mortar or sand milling. Salt milling with an inorganic salt using a kneader, a kneader or the like to obtain an oxytitanyl phthalocyanine crystal having a relatively low crystallinity having a peak at 27.2 ° in an X-ray diffraction spectrum, and then directly performing a solvent treatment, or Rui, ball mill with solvent,
It can be manufactured by performing a wet pulverization process using a mortar, a sand mill, a kneader or the like. Sulfuric acid (concentration is preferably 70 to 100%, more preferably 95 to 100%) is preferably used as the acid used for acid pasting, and dissolution in such sulfuric acid is preferably -20 to 100 ° C. It is preferably carried out in the range of 0 to 60 ° C. The amount of sulfuric acid is set in the range of preferably 1 to 100 times, more preferably 3 to 50 times the weight of the oxytitanyl phthalocyanine crystal. As a solvent for precipitating oxytitanyl phthalocyanine crystals after such dissolution, water or a mixed solvent of water and an organic solvent is used in any amount, but water and an alcohol solvent such as methanol or ethanol, or water and benzene. A mixed solvent with an aromatic solvent such as toluene or toluene is particularly preferable. The temperature for precipitating the oxytitanyl phthalocyanine crystal is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to cool with ice or the like to prevent heat generation. The ratio of the oxytitanyl phthalocyanine crystal to the inorganic salt is 1 / 0.1 to 1 by weight.
/ 20 is preferable, and 1 / 0.5 to 1/5 is more preferable. Further, the solvent used in the solvent treatment,
Aromatics (toluene, chlorobenzene, etc.), aliphatic alcohols (methanol, ethanol, butanol, etc.),
Examples thereof include halogenated hydrocarbons (dichloromethane, chloroform, trichloroethane, etc.) or a mixture of two or more kinds thereof, or a mixed system of water and these organic solvents. The amount of solvent used is oxytitanyl phthalocyanine 1
It is preferably 1 to 100 parts by weight, and more preferably 5 to 50 parts by weight with respect to parts by weight. The solvent treatment temperature is preferably room temperature to 100 ° C, more preferably 50 to 100 ° C. The amount of grinding aid used is preferably 0.
It is 5 to 20 times, more preferably 1 to 10 times.

The binder resin used in the charge generating layer 13 can be selected from a wide range of insulating resins, and organic photoconductive materials such as poly-N-vinylcarbazole, polyvinylanthracene, polyvinylpyrene, and polysilane can be used. It can also be selected from a water-soluble polymer. Preferred binder resins include polyvinyl butyral resin, polyarylate resin (polycondensate of bisphenol A and phthalic acid, etc.),
Polycarbonate resin, polyester resin, phenoxy resin, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyamide resin, acrylic resin, polyacrylamide resin, polyvinylpyridine resin, cellulose resin, urethane resin, epoxy resin, casein, polyvinyl alcohol resin, polyvinylpyrrolidone resin Examples of the insulating resin include, but are not limited to: These binder resins may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

The compounding ratio of the charge generating material and the binder resin is preferably in the range of 10/1 to 1/10 by weight. Further, as a method for dispersing these, a usual method such as a ball mill dispersion method, an attritor dispersion method, a sand mill dispersion method or the like can be used, but in this case, a condition that the crystal form of the dispersion does not change is required. It Further, during such dispersion, the average particle size is 0.5 μm or less, more preferably 0.3 μm or less, and further preferably 0.15 μm.
It is effective to use particles of μm or less. As the solvent used for dispersing these, methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, n-butanol, benzyl alcohol, methyl cellosolve, ethyl cellosolve, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, cyclohexanone, methyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, dioxane, tetrahydrofuran. ,
Methylene chloride, chloroform, chlorobenzene,
Ordinary organic solvents such as toluene may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

The thickness of the charge generation layer 13 is preferably 0.
1 to 5 μm, more preferably 0.2 to 2.0 μm is suitable. Examples of the coating method for providing the charge generation layer 13 include a blade coating method, a Mayer bar coating method, a spray coating method, a dip coating method, a bead coating method, an air knife coating method, and a curtain coating method. further,
For the purpose of increasing the dispersion stability and photosensitivity of the pigment, or stabilizing the electrical characteristics, a charge-generating material treated with a compound represented by the formula (1) described below may be used. The compound may be added to a dispersed solution of the charge generating material.

The charge transport layer 14 comprises a charge transport material. When the charge transport material is a low molecular weight compound, the charge transport material is usually dispersed in the binder resin and held in the layer, but when the polymer charge transport material is used, the binder resin is used. You don't have to.

As the charge transport material, quinone compounds such as p-benzoquinone, chloranil, bromanil, anthraquinone, tetracyanoquinodimethane compounds, 2,
Fluorenone compounds such as 4,7-trinitrofluorenone, xanthone compounds, benzophenone compounds, cyanovinyl compounds, electron transporting compounds such as ethylene compounds, triarylamine compounds, benzidine compounds, arylalkane compounds, aryls Examples thereof include hole-transporting compounds such as substituted ethylene-based compounds, stilbene-based compounds, anthracene-based compounds, and hydrazone-based compounds, and these can be used alone or in combination of two or more. Among these charge transport materials, the triphenylamine compounds represented by the following general formula (2) and the benzidine compounds represented by the following general formula (3) have high charge (hole) transporting ability and excellent stability. Since it has properties, it can be used particularly preferably. Preferred combinations of R ¹⁴ , Ar ⁶ and Ar ^{7 in} the formula (2) are shown in Tables 1 and 2, and R ¹⁵ in the formula (3), R ^{15 ′} , R ¹⁶ , R ^{16 ′} , R ¹⁷ and R ^17. Table 3 shows a preferred combination of

[0035]

[Chemical 3]

(In the formula, R ¹⁴ represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group, n represents 1 or 2, and Ar ⁶ and Ar ⁷ may be the same or different and each represents a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group. In the case where the aryl group has a substituent, the substituent is a substituent substituted with a halogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms, an alkoxy group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms, or an alkyl group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms. It is one of the amino groups.)

[0037]

[Chemical 4]

(Wherein R ¹⁵ and R ^{15 ′} may be the same or different and each represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms or an alkoxy group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms, and R ¹⁶ , R ^{16 ′} , R ¹⁷ and R ^{17 ′} may be the same or different and each is a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom or a carbon number of 1 to 1.
5 represents an alkyl group having 5 carbon atoms, an alkoxy group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms or an amino group substituted with an alkyl group having 1 to 2 carbon atoms, m
And n each represent an integer of 0 to 2. )

[0039]

[Table 1]

[0040]

[Table 2]

[0041]

[Table 3]

The binder resin in which the above charge transport material is dispersed is not particularly limited, but specifically, polycarbonate resin, polyester resin, methacrylic resin, acrylic resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, polyvinylidene chloride resin, polystyrene resin. , Polyvinyl acetate resin, styrene-butadiene copolymer, vinylidene chloride-acrylonitrile copolymer, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate-maleic anhydride copolymer, silicone resin, silicone-alkyd resin, Examples thereof include phenol-formaldehyde resin and styrene-alkyd resin.

Further, in the present invention, as described above, a polymer charge transport material can be used as the charge transport material. As such a polymer charge transporting material, known materials having a charge transporting property such as poly-N-vinylcarbazole and polysilane can be used. In particular, JP-A-8-17
The polyester-based polymer charge-transporting materials disclosed in JP-A-6293 and JP-A-8-208820 have a high charge-transporting property and are particularly preferable. The polymer charge transport material can be formed into a film by itself, but may be mixed with a binder resin to form a film.

The compounding ratio (weight ratio) of the charge transport material and the binder resin is preferably 10/1 to 1/5. The thickness of the charge transport layer 14 is preferably 5 to 50 μm, more preferably 10 to 30 μm. As a coating method for providing the charge transport layer 14, a usual method such as a blade coating method, a Mayer bar coating method, a spray coating method, a dip coating method, a bead coating method, an air knife coating method, a curtain coating method or the like may be used. You can Further, as the solvent used in the coating step, aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, xylene and chlorobenzene, ketones such as acetone and 2-butanone, and halogenated aliphatic carbonization such as methylene chloride, chloroform and ethylene chloride. Ordinary organic solvents such as hydrogen or cyclic or linear ethers such as tetrahydrofuran or ethyl ether may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

The charge transport layer 14 may be composed of only the charge transport material and the binder resin described above, but may contain various additives as required. Such additives include zirconium chelate compounds, zirconium alkoxide compounds, organic zirconium compounds such as zirconium coupling agents, titanium chelate compounds, titanium alkoxide compounds, organic titanium compounds such as titanate coupling agents, aluminum chelate compounds, aluminum coupling agents. Such as organoaluminum compounds, antimony alkoxide compounds, germanium alkoxide compounds, indium alkoxide compounds,
Examples thereof include indium chelate compounds, manganese alkoxide compounds, manganese chelate compounds, tin alkoxide compounds, tin chelate compounds, aluminum silicon alkoxide compounds, aluminum titanium alkoxide compounds, and aluminum zirconium alkoxide compounds. Among them, organic zirconium compounds, organic titanyl compounds, and organic aluminum compounds have low residual potential and show good electrophotographic characteristics,
Preferably used.

As additives for the charge transport layer 14, vinyltrichlorosilane, vinyltrimethoxysilane, vinyltriethoxysilane, vinyltris-2-methoxyethoxysilane, vinyltriacetoxysilane, γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane. , Γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, γ-chloropropyltrimethoxysilane, γ-2-aminoethylaminopropyltrimethoxysilane, γ-mercapropropyltrimethoxysilane, γ-ureido Propyltriethoxysilane, β-
A silane coupling agent such as 3,4-epoxycyclohexyltrimethoxysilane or a curable matrix such as a photocurable resin may be used, and a curable compound (for example, a compound represented by the general formula (1)) may be used. ) May be used.

Further, an antioxidant, a light stabilizer, a heat stabilizer or the like is added to the photosensitive layer for the purpose of preventing deterioration of the photoreceptor due to an oxidizing gas such as ozone generated in the image forming process, light or heat. Agents can be added. For example, as the antioxidant, hindered phenol, hindered amine, paraphenylenediamine, aryl alkane,
Hydroquinone, spirochroman, spiroindanone and their derivatives, organic sulfur compounds, organic phosphorus compounds, etc .; Examples of the light stabilizer include benzophenone, benzotriazole, dithiocarbamate, tetramethylpiperidine, and the like. Further, for the purpose of improving sensitivity, reducing residual potential, reducing fatigue during repeated use, etc., at least one electron-accepting substance can be contained, and examples of such electron-accepting substance include succinic anhydride and maleic anhydride. Acid, dibromomaleic anhydride, phthalic anhydride,
Tetrabromophthalic anhydride, tetracyanoethylene, tetracyanoquinodimethane, o-dinitrobenzene, m-
Examples thereof include dinitrobenzene, chloranil, dinitroanthraquinone, trinitrofluorenone, picric acid, o-nitrobenzoic acid, p-nitrobenzoic acid, phthalic acid and compounds represented by the general formula (1). Among them, fluorenone compounds, quinone compounds, and -Cl, -CN, benzene derivatives having an electron attractive substituent -NO _2, etc. are particularly preferred.

As described above, the protective layer 15 is composed of an organic group having a charge transporting property, a silicon atom bonded to the same or different carbon atom in the organic group, and an oxygen atom bonded to the silicon atom. It is configured to include a crosslinked body having a skeleton. As the organic group having a charge transporting property, specifically, triarylamine structure, benzidine structure, arylalkane structure, aryl-substituted ethylene structure, stilbene structure, anthracene structure, hydrazone structure, quinone structure, fluorenone structure, xanthone structure,
Examples thereof include organic groups having a structure such as a benzophenone structure, a cyanovinyl structure and an ethylene structure. By having such an organic group, a charge transporting property is imparted to the crosslinked product.

As such a crosslinked product, the following general formula (1):

[Chemical 5] [In the formula (1), Ar ¹ , Ar ² , Ar ³ and Ar ⁴ may be the same or different and each represents a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, and Ar ⁵ is a substituted or unsubstituted divalent aryl. Represents a group or an arylene group, D represents a divalent group, Q represents a hydrolyzable group, a represents an integer of 1 to 3, k represents 0 or 1, and m ¹ , m ² , and m ³ , m ⁴ and m ^{5
May be} the same or different and each represents 0 or 1, at least one of m ^{1 to} m ⁵ is 1, and when k is 1, m ⁵ is 0. ] A crosslinked product obtained by using a polymerizable monomer containing a compound represented by the following is preferably used.

In the general formula (1), the substituted or unsubstituted aryl group represented by Ar ¹ , Ar ² , Ar ³ and Ar ⁴ is represented by the following formulas (4) to (10):

[Chemical 6]

[Chemical 7]

[Chemical 8]

[Chemical 9]

[Chemical 10]

[Chemical 11]

[Chemical 12] (In the formula, R ¹ is a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms,
Phenyl group, C7-10 alkylphenyl group, C7-10 alkoxyphenyl group or C7-
Represents an aralkyl group having 10 carbon atoms, and R ² and R ³ each represent a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, an alkoxy group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, a phenyl group, an alkoxyphenyl group having 7 to 10 carbon atoms, and a carbon number. 7 to 10 represents an aralkyl group or a halogen group, Ar ⁶ represents a substituted or unsubstituted divalent aromatic hydrocarbon group, Z represents a divalent functional group, and s represents 1
Represents an integer of 3 and-is -DS in the general formula (1).
iR ′ _{3-a ′} Q ′ _{a ′} represents a bonding position in the case where the group represented by the bond is present), and a structure having any one of the structures represented by the following is preferable. Further, the substituted or unsubstituted divalent aromatic hydrocarbon group represented by Ar ⁶ in the above formula (10) is represented by the following general formula (11) or (12):

[Chemical 13]

[Chemical 14] (In the formula, R ⁴ and R ⁵ are each a hydrogen atom and a carbon number of 1 to
4 represents an alkyl group, a C1 to C4 alkoxy group, a phenyl group, a C7 to C10 alkoxyphenyl group, a C7 to C10 aralkyl group or a halogen group, and t represents an integer of 1 to 3. ) Is preferred; as the divalent group represented by Z in the above formula (10), the following formulas (13) to (20):

[Chemical 15]

[Chemical 16]

[Chemical 17]

[Chemical 18]

[Chemical 19]

[Chemical 20]

[Chemical 21]

[Chemical formula 22] (In the formula, R ⁶ and R ⁷ are each a hydrogen atom and a carbon number of 1 to
Represents an alkyl group having 4 to 4 carbon atoms, an alkoxy group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, a phenyl group, an alkoxyphenyl group having 7 to 10 carbon atoms, an aralkyl group having 7 to 10 carbon atoms or a halogen group, and Z ′.
Represents a divalent group, q and r each represent an integer of 1 to 10, and t represents an integer of 1 to 3). Furthermore,
Examples of the divalent group represented by Z ′ in the above formulas (19) and (20) include the following formulas (21) to (29):

[Chemical formula 23]

[Chemical formula 24]

[Chemical 25]

[Chemical formula 26]

[Chemical 27]

[Chemical 28]

[Chemical 29]

[Chemical 30]

[Chemical 31] Those having any of the structures represented by (in the formula, p represents an integer of 0 to 3) are preferable.

In the general formula (1), Ar ⁵ has a k of 0.
Is an aryl group exemplified in the description of Ar ^{1 to} Ar ⁴ , and when k is 1, an arylene group obtained by removing a predetermined hydrogen atom from the aryl group.

[0052] Further, in the general formula (1), as the divalent group represented by D is _{preferably, -C n H 2n -, -} C n H 2n-2
_{-, - C n H 2n-} 4 - (n is an integer from 1 to 15, preferably an integer of _{2~10), - CH 2 -C 6} H 4 - or -C ₆ H ₄ -C ₆ A divalent hydrocarbon group represented by H ₄ —, an oxycarbonyl group (—COO—), a thio group (—S—),
An oxy group (-O-), an isocyano group (-N = CH-),
Alternatively, it is a divalent group formed by combining two or more of these. In addition, these divalent groups may have a substituent such as an alkyl group, a phenyl group, an alkoxy group and an amino group in the side chain. When D is the above-mentioned preferred divalent group, moderate flexibility is imparted to the polyfunctional photofunctional fluorine-containing organic silicate skeleton, and the strength of the layer tends to be improved.

As described above, R in the general formula (1) is a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group (preferably an alkyl group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms) or a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group (preferably 6 to 15 carbon atoms). Or a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group).

Further, in the above formula (1), the hydrolyzable group represented by Q means a siloxane bond (O--Si) by hydrolysis in the curing reaction of the compound represented by the above formula (1).
-O) refers to a functional group capable of forming. Specific preferred examples of the hydrolyzable group according to the present invention include a hydroxyl group, an alkoxy group, a methylethylketoxime group, a diethylamino group, an acetoxy group, a propenoxy group, and a chloro group. "(R"
Is more preferably a group represented by an alkyl group having 1 to 15 carbon atoms or a trimethylsilyl group).

Ar ¹ , Ar ² , Ar ³ in the above formula (1),
The Ar ^4, Ar ^5, the preferred combination of _{D-SiR 3-a} Q group and the integer k is represented by _a in Table 4-6. In the table, X represents D ¹ -SiR _3-a Q _a bonded to Ar ^{1 to} Ar ⁵ , Me represents a methyl group, Et represents an ethyl group, P
r represents a propyl group.

[0056]

[Table 4]

[0057]

[Table 5]

[0058]

[Table 6]

The crosslinked product contained in the protective layer 15 may be obtained by using only the compound represented by the above general formula (1), but is bonded to the compound represented by the general formula (1). Other polymerizable monomers having possible groups may be further used.

Here, the group capable of binding to the compound represented by the general formula (1) means a group capable of binding to a silanol group produced when the compound represented by the general formula (1) is hydrolyzed. and, specifically, the group represented by -SiR _3-a Q a, epoxy group, isocyanate group, carboxyl group, hydroxy group, refers to a halogen. Of these, -Si
A compound having a group represented by R _3-a Q _a , an epoxy group, or an isocyanate group is preferable because it has stronger mechanical strength, and a compound having a group represented by -SiR _3-a Q _a is particularly preferable. Furthermore, when a compound having two or more of these groups in the molecule is used, the crosslinked structure of the cured film becomes three-dimensional, and stronger mechanical strength can be obtained. Table 7 shows preferred examples of such a polymerizable monomer.

[0061]

[Table 7]

In addition to the above polymerizable monomer, a silane coupling agent or a hard coating agent may be used. As the silane coupling agent, vinyltrichlorosilane, vinyltrimethoxysilane, vinyltriethoxysilane, γ-glycidoxypropylmethyldiethoxysilane, γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, γ
-Glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, γ-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane, γ-aminopropylmethyldimethoxysilane, N-β (aminoethyl) γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, tetramethoxy Silane, methyltrimethoxysilane, dimethyldimethoxysilane, etc .; as hard coating agents, KP-85, X-40-974
0, X-40-2239 (above, manufactured by Shin-Etsu Silicone Co., Ltd.), and AY42-440, AY42-441, A.
A commercially available hard coating agent such as Y49-208 (all manufactured by Toray Dow Corning Co., Ltd.) can be used.
Further, in order to impart water repellency and the like, (tridecafluoro-1,1,2,2-tetrahydrooctyl) triethoxysilane, (3,3,3-trifluoropropyl) trimethoxysilane, 3- (hepta) Fluoroisopropoxy) propyltriethoxysilane, 1H, 1H, 2H,
2H-perfluoroalkyltriethoxysilane, 1
It is also possible to use one or more of fluorine-containing compounds such as H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane, 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane.

The crosslinked product according to the present invention can be obtained by hydrolyzing the above polymerizable monomer. The amount of water added in such hydrolysis is not particularly limited,
The amount is preferably 0.3 to 5 times, and more preferably 0.5 to 3 times the theoretical amount necessary to hydrolyze all the hydrolyzable groups of the polymerizable monomer. . If the amount of water added is less than 0.3 times the theoretical amount, the amount of unreacted compounds increases, and a film is formed using a coating liquid containing a crosslinked product in the electrophotographic photoreceptor manufacturing process described later. At that time, phase separation may occur or the strength of the obtained film tends to be insufficient. On the other hand, when the amount of water added exceeds 5 times the theoretical amount, the raw material compounds tend to precipitate and the storage stability of the reaction product (crosslinked product) tends to decrease.

Further, the above-mentioned hydrolysis of the polymerizable monomer may be carried out without using a solvent, or may be carried out using a predetermined solvent (preferably a solvent having a boiling point of 100 ° C. or lower). . In the present invention, as the solvent preferably used in the hydrolysis, alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, propanol and butanol; acetone,
Ketones such as methyl ethyl ketone; ethers such as tetrahydrofuran, diethyl ether, dioxane,
And so on. The amount of these solvents used is determined by the formula (1)
Is preferably 0.5 to 1 part by weight of the compound represented by
The amount is preferably 30 parts by weight, more preferably 1 to 20 parts by weight. If the amount of the solvent used is less than the lower limit, the compound represented by the formula (1) tends to be precipitated, while if the amount exceeds the upper limit, only a thin film tends to be obtained.

In the above hydrolysis, it is preferable to use a solid catalyst which is insoluble in any of the raw material compounds, reaction products, solvents and water. Examples of such solid catalysts include Amberlite 15E and Amberlite 20.
0C, Amberlyst 15 (above, manufactured by Rohm and Haas); Dowex MWC-1-H, Dowex 88, Dowex HCR-W2 (above, Dow Chemical Co.); Levatit SPC-108, Levatit S
PC-118 (above, Bayer); Diaion R
CP-150H (manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei); SUMIKAION KC-
470, Duolite C26-C, Duolite C-4
33, Duolite-464 (manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.); cation exchange resins such as Nafion-H (manufactured by DuPont); Amberlite IRA-400, Amberlite IRA-45 (or Rohm and Haas) Anion exchange resin such as Zr (O ₃ PCH ₂ CH)
₂ SO ₃ H) ₂ , Th (O ₃ PCH ₂ CH ₂ COOH)
Inorganic solids having a group containing a protonic acid group such as ₂ bonded to the surface; a polyorganosiloxane containing a protonic acid group such as a polyorganosiloxane having a sulfonic acid group; a heteropoly such as cobalt tungstic acid, phosphomolybdic acid Acids; isopoly acids such as niobic acid, tantalic acid and molybdic acid; unitary metal oxides such as silica gel, alumina, chromia, zirconia, CaO, MgO; silica-alumina, silica-magnesia, silica-
Complex metal oxides such as zirconia and zeolites; clay minerals such as acid clay, activated clay, montmorillonite and kaolinite; metal sulfates such as LiSO ₄ and MgSO ₄ ; metal phosphates such as zirconia phosphate and lanthanum phosphate Salts; metal nitrates such as LiNO ₃ and Mn (NO ₃ ) ₂ ; inorganic solids having amino group-containing groups bonded to the surface, such as solids obtained by reacting aminopropyltriethoxysilane on silica gel; Examples thereof include amino group-containing polyorganosiloxanes such as amino-modified silicone resins. The amount of these solid catalysts used is
It is preferably 0.1 to 20 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the raw material compound having a hydrolyzable group. Further, the reaction temperature and reaction time when carrying out the hydrolysis using these solid catalysts are appropriately selected depending on the kinds of the raw material compounds and the solid catalysts, but the reaction temperature is preferably 0 to 100 ° C., more preferably 10 to 10. 70 ° C., more preferably 15-50
C., and the reaction time is preferably 10 minutes to 100 hours. If the reaction time exceeds 100 hours, the reaction product tends to gel.

In addition to the above solid catalysts, protic acids such as hydrochloric acid, acetic acid, phosphoric acid and sulfuric acid; bases such as ammonia and triethylamine; organic substances such as dibutyltin diacetate, dibutyltin dioctoate and stannous octoate. Tin compounds; Organic titanium compounds such as tetra-n-butyl titanate and tetraisopropyl titanate; Organic aluminum compounds such as aluminum tributoxide and aluminum triacetylacetonate; Iron salts, manganese salts, cobalt salts, zinc salts of organic carboxylic acids, The hydrolysis can be carried out using a curing catalyst such as an organic carboxylic acid salt such as a zirconium salt. Among these curing catalysts, metal compounds are preferable from the viewpoint of storage stability of reaction products, and metal acetylacetonate or acetylacetate is preferable. The amount of these curing catalysts used is preferably 0.1 to 20 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the raw material compound having a hydrolyzable group, from the viewpoint of storage stability and strength of the reaction product, and It is preferably from 0.3 to 10 parts by weight. Further, the reaction temperature and reaction time when carrying out hydrolysis using the above-mentioned curing catalyst are appropriately selected according to the kind of the raw material compound and the curing catalyst to be used, but the reaction time is preferably 60 ° C. or more, more preferably It is 80 to 170 ° C., and the reaction time is preferably 10 minutes to 5 hours. When the reaction temperature is lower than the lower limit, the mechanical strength of the obtained crosslinked product tends to be insufficient.

If necessary, the obtained reaction product may be subjected to a hydrophobizing treatment using hexamethyldisilazane, trimethylchlorosilane or the like.

An antioxidant is preferably added to the protective layer 15 for the purpose of preventing deterioration due to an oxidizing gas such as ozone generated in a charger. If the mechanical strength of the surface of the photoconductor is increased and the photoconductor has a long life, the photoconductor is in contact with an oxidizing gas for a long time, and therefore stronger oxidation resistance than the conventional one is required. As the antioxidant, hindered phenol-based or hindered amine-based is desirable, organic sulfur-based antioxidant, phosphite-based antioxidant,
You may use well-known antioxidants, such as a dithiocarbamate type antioxidant, a thiourea type antioxidant, and a benzimidazole type antioxidant. The addition amount of the antioxidant is preferably 15% by weight or less, more preferably 10% by weight or less.

As the hindered phenol antioxidant, 2,6-di-t-butyl-4-methylphenol,
2,5-di-t-butylhydroquinone, N, N′-hexamethylenebis (3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyhydrocinnamide, 3,5-di-t-butyl-4
-Hydroxy-benzylphosphonate-diethyl ester, 2,4-bis [(octylthio) methyl] -o
-Cresol, 2,6-di-t-butyl-4-ethylphenol, 2,2'-methylenebis (4-methyl-6-)
t-butylphenol), 2,2'-methylenebis (4
-Ethyl-6-t-butylphenol), 4,4'-butylidenebis (3-methyl-6-t-butylphenol), -2,5-di-t-amylhydroquinone, 2-t.
-Butyl-6- (3-butyl-2-hydroxy-5-methylbenzyl) -4-methylphenyl acrylate,
4,4'-butylidene bis (3-methyl-6-t-butylphenol) and the like can be mentioned.

(Toner) The shape factor of the toner (toner particles when an external additive is included) used in the developing device 4 is 1
It is necessary to be 100 to 140, preferably 10
It is 0 to 135, more preferably 100 to 125. If the shape factor of the toner exceeds 140, sufficient transferability cannot be obtained.

The toner is not particularly limited as long as its shape factor satisfies the above-mentioned conditions, but toner particles containing at least a binder resin and a colorant,
It is preferably composed of an external additive.

The toner particles are composed of at least a binder resin and a colorant, and if necessary, a release agent and other components.

As the binder resin for the toner particles, styrenes such as styrene and chlorostyrene; monoolefins such as ethylene, propylene, butylene and isoprene; vinyl such as vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, vinyl benzoate and vinyl butyrate. Esters; α-methylene aliphatic mono-esters such as methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, dodecyl acrylate, octyl acrylate, phenyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate, dodecyl methacrylate, etc. Carboxylic acid esters; vinyl ethers such as vinyl methyl ether, vinyl ethyl ether, vinyl butyl ether, vinyl methyl ketone, vinyl hexyl ketone,
Examples thereof include homopolymers and copolymers of vinyl ketones such as vinyl isopropenyl ketone; and typical binder resins include polystyrene and styrene.
Examples thereof include an alkyl acrylate copolymer, a styrene-alkyl methacrylate copolymer, a styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer, a styrene-butadiene copolymer, a styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer, polyethylene and polypropylene. Further, polyester, polyurethane, epoxy resin, silicone resin, polyamide, modified rosin, paraffin wax and the like can be mentioned.

As the colorant for the toner particles, magnetic powder such as magnetite and ferrite, carbon black, aniline blue, calcoil blue, chrome yellow, ultramarine blue, DuPont oil red, quinoline yellow, methylene blue chloride, phthalocyanine blue and malachite. Green oxalate, lamp black, rose bengal, C.I. I. Pigment Red 4
8: 1, C.I. I. Pigment Red 122, C.I. I.
Pigment Red 57: 1, C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 97, C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 17, C.I.
I. Pigment Yellow 74, C.I. I. Pigment
Yellow 180, C.I. I. Pigment Blue 15:
1, C.I. I. Pigment Blue 15: 3 and the like can be illustrated as a typical example.

Representative examples of the releasing agent that can be contained in the toner particles include low molecular weight polyethylene, low molecular weight polypropylene, Fischer-Tropsch wax, montan wax, carnauba wax, rice wax, candelilla wax and the like. be able to.

A charge control agent may be added to the toner particles, if necessary. As the charge control agent, known ones can be used, and an azo metal complex compound, a salicylic acid metal complex compound, and a resin type charge control agent containing a polar group can be used. When toner particles are manufactured by a wet method, it is preferable to use a material that is difficult to dissolve in water from the viewpoint of controlling ionic strength and reducing wastewater pollution.

The toner particles may be either magnetic toner containing a magnetic material or non-magnetic toner containing no magnetic material. Further, the volume average particle diameter of the toner particles is preferably in the range of 2 to 9 μm,
More preferably, it is in the range of 3 to 7 μm.

The method for producing the toner particles is not particularly limited as long as the shape factor can be set within the above range, and a known production method can be applied. For example, a binder resin and a colorant, and if necessary, a release agent,
A kneading and pulverizing method of kneading, pulverizing, and classifying a charge control agent; a method of changing the shape of particles obtained by the kneading and pulverizing method by mechanical impact force or thermal energy; Emulsion polymerization aggregation method in which a dispersion liquid obtained by emulsion polymerization and a dispersion liquid of a colorant, and if necessary, a release agent, a charge control agent and the like are mixed, agglomerated and heat-fused to obtain toner particles.
Suspension polymerization method in which a polymerizable monomer for obtaining a binder resin and a colorant, and if necessary, a solution of a release agent, a charge control agent, etc., is suspended in an aqueous solvent for polymerization; binder resin and coloring And a releasing agent, and if necessary, a solution of a charge control agent or the like is suspended in an aqueous solvent and granulated, and a dissolution suspension method; Further, a production method may be performed in which the toner particles obtained by the above method are used as cores, and agglomerated particles are further attached and heated and fused to have a core-shell structure.

From the viewpoint of further improving the cleaning property, it is desirable that the toner contains particles in the range of 50 to 500 nm as an external additive. By depositing the external additive having an average particle diameter of 50 to 500 nm contained in the toner on the minute deformation portion of the cleaning blade tip portion, the spherical toner is effectively suppressed from entering the edge portion deformation portion of the cleaning blade, and the spherical toner Rolling can be suppressed (sealing effect), and cleaning performance can be improved.

In order to easily supply particles having an average particle size of 50 to 500 nm to the tip of the cleaning blade, it is most effective to add and adhere to the toner as an external additive, and the cleaning blade can be stably used. In order to supply the toner to the tip of the edge, it is effective that the toner particles are carried to the edge of the cleaning blade while being held on the surface of the toner particles. The external additive held on the surface of the toner particles is separated from the surface of the toner particles by the stress of rubbing against the cleaning blade, and is effectively supplied to the deformed portion of the cleaning blade tip.

When the external additive is smaller than 50 nm,
It tends to be difficult to stay in the deformed portion of the cleaning blade tip and it becomes difficult to form an effective seal. On the other hand, if it is larger than 500 nm, it is hard to adhere to the surface of the toner particles, and the toner particles are easily separated from the surface of the toner particles due to the stirring force in the developing device, so that it cannot be effectively supplied to the cleaning blade and is stable for a long time Therefore, it tends to be difficult to exert the sealing effect and the cleaning blade behavior stabilizing effect. The average particle diameter of the external additive contained for improving the cleaning property is more preferably in the range of 80 to 300 nm.

The specific gravity of the external additive is 1.3 to
It is preferably within the range of 1.9. When the specific gravity is more than 1.9, the peeling of the external additive from the toner particles is likely to be accelerated due to the stress in the developing machine, and it may not be possible to effectively supply the external additive to the cleaning blade. On the other hand, when the specific gravity is less than 1.3, the external additive is apt to aggregate and disperse, and the spikes of the external additive become nonuniform.
Since the stress is selectively applied to the convex portion, the peeling of the external additive from the toner particles is accelerated, and it is impossible to effectively supply the external additive to the cleaning blade, so that the sealing effect can be stably exhibited for a long period of time. May not be possible.

The external additive is preferably spherical. Since the external additive has a spherical shape, the external additive can be uniformly dispersed on the surface of the toner particles, and peeling of the external additive can be effectively suppressed. Wadell is the definition of a sphere
The true sphericity can be discussed, and the sphericity Ψ is preferably 0.6 or more, more preferably 0.8 or more.

The content of the external additive contained for improving the cleaning property is preferably 0.5 to 5 parts by weight, and more preferably 1 to 3 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the toner particles. More preferable. If it is less than 0.5 parts by weight, the cleaning property of the spherical toner is likely to be deteriorated, and cleaning failure may occur. If it is more than 5 parts by weight, filming / comment on the photoconductor is likely to occur. Each is not preferable.

The effect of the spherical external additive is
It is considered that the more the external additive is closer to monodisperse, the higher the effect is exhibited. Here, the definition of monodisperse can be discussed by the standard deviation with respect to the average particle size including the aggregate, and the standard deviation is preferably D ₅₀ × 0.22 or less.

The material for the external additive is not particularly limited, but silica is considered to be particularly preferable. The reason for this is that silica has a refractive index of around 1.5, and even if the particle size is increased, the transparency decreases due to light scattering, and especially the PE value (index of light transmission) during image formation on OHP. It does not affect the.

Typical fumed silica has a specific gravity of 2.2.
The maximum particle size is 50 nm from the viewpoint of manufacturing. Further, the particle size can be increased as an agglomerate, but uniform dispersion is difficult and a stable sealing effect cannot be obtained. On the other hand, other typical inorganic fine particles include titanium oxide (specific gravity 4.2, refractive index 2.6), alumina (specific gravity 4.0, refractive index 1.8), zinc oxide (specific gravity 5.6, refractive index 2.0), all of them have a high specific gravity, and when the particle diameter is larger than 50 nm, the toner particles are peeled off from the toner particles so that the sealing effect at the edge tip deformation portion of the cleaning blade is effectively exhibited. May occur easily. Further, its refractive index is also high, which is disadvantageous for producing a color image.

Silica suitable as a material for an external additive contained for improving the cleaning property, particularly a specific gravity of 1.3 to 1.
The spherical monodisperse silica in 9 can be obtained by a sol-gel method which is a wet method. According to the method, a wet method,
Moreover, since it is a method of manufacturing without firing, its specific gravity can be controlled to be lower than that of the vapor phase oxidation method or the like. Further, it is possible to further adjust the specific gravity by controlling the kind of the hydrophobic treatment agent or the treatment amount in the hydrophobic treatment step. The particle size of silica can be freely controlled by the hydrolysis ratio in the sol-gel method, the weight ratio of alkoxysilane, ammonia, alcohol, and water in the condensation polymerization step, the reaction temperature, the stirring rate, and the feeding rate. The monodisperse, spherical silica can also be achieved by the sol-gel method.

The specific method for producing silica is as follows. First, a silane compound such as tetramethoxysilane is added dropwise and stirred in the presence of water and alcohol while using ammonia water as a catalyst while applying temperature. Next, the silica sol suspension produced by the reaction is centrifuged,
Separate into wet silica gel, alcohol, and aqueous ammonia. A solvent is added to the wet silica gel to bring it into a silica sol state again, and a hydrophobizing agent is added to hydrophobize the silica surface. As the hydrophobizing agent, a general silane compound can be used. Next, the solvent is removed from the hydrophobized silica sol, dried, and sieved to obtain the desired monodisperse silica. The silica thus obtained may be treated with the sol-gel method again as described above.

As the silane compound, a water-soluble one can be used. Such silane compounds, the chemical structural formula R _a SiX _4-a (wherein, a is an integer of 0 to 3, R
Represents a hydrogen atom, an organic group such as an alkyl group and an alkenyl group, and X represents a hydrolyzable group such as a chlorine atom, a methoxy group and an ethoxy group. The compound represented by the formula (1) can be used, and any type of chlorosilane, alkoxysilane, silazane, and special silylating agent can be used. Specifically, methyltrichlorosilane, dimethyldichlorosilane, trimethylchlorosilane, phenyltrichlorosilane, diphenyldichlorosilane, tetramethoxysilane, methyltrimethoxysilane, dimethyldimethoxysilane, phenyltrimethoxysilane, diphenyldimethoxysilane, tetraethoxysilane, methyl Triethoxysilane, dimethyldiethoxysilane,
Phenyltriethoxysilane, diphenyldiethoxysilane, isobutyltrimethoxysilane, decyltrimethoxysilane, hexamethyldisilazane, N, O- (bistrimethylsilyl) acetamide, N, N-bis (trimethylsilyl) urea, tert-butyldimethylchlorosilane , Vinyltrichlorosilane, vinyltrimethoxysilane, vinyltriethoxysilane, γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, β- (3,4-epoxycyclohexyl) ethyltrimethoxysilane, γ-
Typical examples include glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, γ-glycidoxypropylmethyldiethoxysilane, γ-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane, γ-chloropropyltrimethoxysilane and the like.

As the hydrophobic treatment agent, dimethyldimethoxysilane, hexamethyldisilazane, methyltrimethoxysilane, isobutyltrimethoxysilane, decyltrimethoxysilane and the like are particularly preferable.

The external additive is supplied to the cleaning blade while being held on the surface of the toner particles. However, depending on the image pattern on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, the part where the external additive is supplied may be extremely small. May occur. In order to prevent this, it is desirable to form a toner image that is not transferred to the transfer body on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member at an arbitrary or predetermined timing (interval) in the non-image forming cycle. By forming a non-transferred toner image on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, the external additive is supplied to the cleaning blade to stabilize the behavior of the cleaning blade tip and maintain the cleaning performance stably regardless of the image pattern. You can

The "non-image forming cycle" means a cycle in which the toner image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive member can be conveyed as it is to the cleaning means (cleaning step) when the transfer member is not supplied. . The toner image formed here may be a pattern such that the external additive is supplied to the entire cleaning blade in the longitudinal direction, and may be a solid image, a halftone image, a line image, or the like. . The timing at which the toner image that is not transferred is created may be a fixed number of sheets, a cycle, a time, or the like, or may be an arbitrary timing.

In the present invention, an inorganic compound for controlling the fluidity and chargeability of the toner can be further added to the toner as an external additive. In order to control the fluidity and chargeability of the toner, it is necessary to sufficiently coat the surface of the toner particles with an external additive, but external additives such as spherical monodisperse silica contained for improving the cleaning property are included. In that case, a sufficient coating cannot be obtained. Therefore, together with the external additive contained for improving the cleaning property,
It is desirable to use an inorganic compound having a small diameter together.

As the small-diameter inorganic compound that can be contained in the toner, known compounds can be used, and examples thereof include silica, alumina, titanium oxide, barium titanate, magnesium titanate, calcium titanate, strontium titanate, and oxides. Zinc, silica sand, clay, mica, wollastonite, diatomaceous earth, cerium chloride, red iron oxide, chromium oxide, cerium oxide, antimony trioxide, magnesium oxide, zirconium oxide, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, calcium phosphate Etc. can be mentioned. The surface of these inorganic fine particles may be subjected to a known surface treatment depending on the purpose.

The average particle size of the inorganic compound having such a small diameter that can be contained in the toner is preferably less than 50 nm, more preferably 5 to 30 nm. Further, the addition amount of toner particles is 100
The amount is preferably 0.3 to 3.0 parts by weight with respect to parts by weight.

The above-mentioned toner may be used as a one-component developer which constitutes a developer by itself, or may be used as a two-component developer which is mixed with a carrier to constitute a developer. .

As such a carrier, as a core material,
Magnetic metals such as iron, nickel and cobalt; magnetic oxides such as ferrite and magnetite; glass beads; and the like are used, but a magnetic material is preferable in order to adjust the volume resistivity using the magnetic brush method. . The average particle size of the core material is usually in the range of 10 to 500 μm, preferably 30 to 100 μm.

Further, these carriers preferably have a resin coating layer coated with a resin or the like in order to impart an electrostatic property, and as the resin, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyacrylonitrile,
Polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl carbazole, polyvinyl ether, polyvinyl ketone, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, styrene-acrylic acid copolymer, straight silicone resin composed of organosiloxane bond or its modification Examples include, but are not limited to, products, fluororesins, polyesters, polyurethanes, polycarbonates, phenol resins, amino resins, melamine resins, benzoguanamine resins, urea resins, amide resins, and epoxy resins.

As the method for forming the resin coating layer on the surface of the core material of the carrier, a dipping method of immersing the core material in a coating layer forming solution, a spray method of spraying the coating layer forming solution on the core material surface, a core Apply the fluidized bed method of spraying the coating layer forming solution in a state of floating the material with fluidized air, the kneader coater method of removing the solvent after mixing the core material and the coating layer forming solution in the kneader coater can do.

In the present invention, the mixing ratio (weight ratio) of the toner and the carrier is preferably toner:
Carrier = 1: 100 to 30: 100 or so, more preferably 3: 100 to 20: 100 or so.

(Cleaning Means) Cleaning Means 7
Has a rebound resilience of 5 to 30% (preferably 5 to 20%) at 30 ° C and a repulsion resilience of 10 to 10 ° C.
It has a cleaning blade of 40% (preferably 10 to 35%). If the impact resilience of the cleaning member at 30 ° C. or 40 ° C. is less than the lower limit value, the cleaning blade is likely to turn over, while if it exceeds the upper limit value, the edge portion of the cleaning blade is likely to be chipped or cracked. In either case, sufficient cleaning performance cannot be obtained.

The hardness of the cleaning blade is preferably 50 to 90. When the hardness is less than the lower limit value, the stiffness of the cleaning blade becomes weak and the contact pressure becomes low, and the contact area with the electrophotographic photosensitive member increases, thereby increasing friction and sliding property. It tends to cause deterioration, and as a result, sufficient durability tends not to be obtained. On the other hand, if the hardness exceeds the upper limit, the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is likely to be damaged, which is not preferable.

The tensile strength of the cleaning blade is preferably 9.8 to 29.4 MPa. If the tensile strength is less than the lower limit, the durability tends to be insufficient, while if it exceeds the upper limit, abnormal noise tends to occur.

The material of the cleaning blade is not particularly limited as long as it is an elastic body having impact resilience within the above range. Specifically, an elastic body such as polyurethane, silicone rubber, nitrile rubber or chloroprene rubber is used. be able to.

As the polyurethane elastic body, generally, polyurethane which is synthesized through an addition reaction of isocyanate with a polyol and various hydrogen-containing compounds is used. As a polyol component, polypropylene glycol, polyether-based polyols such as polytetramethylene glycol, and adipate-based polyols, polycaprolactam-based polyols, polyester-based polyols such as polycarbonate-based polyols, as an isocyanate component, tolylene diisocyanate, 4,4 '
An aromatic polyisocyanate such as diphenylmethane diisocyanate, polymethylene polyphenyl polyisocyanate, toluidine diisocyanate; an aliphatic polyisocyanate such as hexamethylene diisocyanate, isophorone diisocyanate, xylylene diisocyanate, dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate; It is manufactured by preparing it, adding a curing agent to it, injecting it into a predetermined mold, crosslinking and curing it, and aging at room temperature. As the curing agent, dihydric alcohols such as 1,4-butanediol and trihydric or higher polyhydric alcohols such as trimethylolpropane and pentaerythritol are usually used in combination. The types and blending amounts of these raw material compounds are appropriately selected according to the desired impact resilience.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning blade having the above structure is used for the electrophotographic photoreceptor 1.
The surface of the toner is rubbed to remove the residual toner. here,
The contact pressure of the cleaning blade with respect to the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1 is preferably 9.8 to 58.3 MPa. When the pressure contact force is less than the lower limit value, the toner tends to easily slip between the photosensitive member surface and the edge portion of the cleaning blade, and when the upper limit value is exceeded, abnormal noise due to rubbing tends to easily occur. is there.

As described above, in the first embodiment, a sufficiently high transferability can be achieved by using the toner having the shape factor of 100 to 140. Further, a very small amount of residual toner may adhere to the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1 after the transfer step. By using such toner in combination with the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1 and the cleaning means 7,
Since the phenomenon that the toner slips through the cleaning blade is sufficiently prevented, a sufficiently high cleaning property can be obtained without impairing the transfer property. Therefore, an image forming apparatus capable of stably obtaining a good image quality for a long period of time is realized, and such an image forming apparatus is an electrophotographic apparatus such as a copying machine, a laser printer, an LED printer, a liquid crystal shutter printer, or the like. It is very useful in devices such as displays, recording, light printing, plate making, and facsimile using electrophotographic technology.

The present embodiment is not limited to this. For example, in the electrophotographic photoreceptor 1, the protective layer 15
Contains a crosslinked body having a skeleton composed of an organic group having a charge transporting property, a silicon atom bonded to the same or different carbon atom in the organic group, and an oxygen atom bonded to the silicon atom. However, a charge transporting substance may be dispersed in a predetermined binder resin to form a protective layer.

The electrophotographic photosensitive member 1 is a function-separated type photosensitive member in which a charge generating layer and a charge transporting layer are separately provided.
In the present embodiment, as long as the charge transporting substance and the siloxane-based resin are contained in the surface layer, a single-layer type photoreceptor including the charge generating material and the charge transporting material in the same layer may be used.

The electrophotographic photoreceptor may contain a charge transporting substance and a siloxane-based resin in its surface layer. For example, when the charge transporting layer contains the charge transporting substance and the siloxane-based resin, it is a protective layer. It is not necessary to provide 15.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the charging device 2 may be of a contact charging type such as a charging roller, or may be of a non-contact charging type such as a corotron charger. From the viewpoint of preventing ozone generation, the contact charging type is preferable.

Further, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, as the exposure apparatus 3, a semiconductor laser, an LED (light emitting diode) is provided on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1.
e), an optical system device capable of exposing a light source such as a liquid crystal shutter in a desired image manner can be used. Examples of the transfer device include a contact type transfer charger using a belt, a roller, a film, a rubber blade, etc., a scorotron transfer charger using corona discharge, a corotron transfer charger, and the like.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 directly transfers the toner image formed on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1 to the transfer medium P, but the image forming apparatus of the present invention further includes an intermediate transfer member. It may be provided. As a result, the toner image on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1 can be transferred to the intermediate transfer member and then transferred from the intermediate transfer member to the transfer medium P. As such an intermediate transfer member, one having a structure in which an elastic layer containing rubber, an elastomer, a resin and the like and at least one coating layer are laminated on a conductive support can be used.

[0115]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in more detail based on the following examples and comparative examples, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples. In the following examples, "part" means part by weight.

(Electrophotographic Photoreceptor A) 20 parts of a zirconium compound (trade name: Organotics ZC540, manufactured by Matsumoto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.), a silane compound (trade name: A1100,
A solution comprising 2.5 parts of Nippon Unicar Co., Ltd.) and polyvinyl butyral resin (trade name: S-REC BM-S, manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) and 45 parts of butanol is applied by a dip coating method, and dried by heating at 150 ° C. for 10 minutes. Thickness 1.0
A sublayer of μm was formed.

Next, the Bragg angles (2θ ± 0.2 °) in the X-ray diffraction spectrum are 7.4 °, 16.6 °, and 2
1 part of chlorogallium phthalocyanine showing strong diffraction peaks at 5.5 ° and 28.3 °, 1 part of polyvinyl butyral (ESREC BM-S, Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) and n-acetic acid.
100 parts of butyl was mixed and treated with a glass bead for 1 hour on a paint shaker to disperse to obtain a coating solution. The resulting coating solution is dip-coated on the undercoat layer to form 100
It was heated and dried at 0 ° C. for 10 minutes to form a charge generation layer having a film thickness of about 0.15 μm.

Further, 2 parts of a benzidine compound (compound (V-27) in Table 3) and a polymer compound having a basic unit represented by the following formula (30) (viscosity average molecular weight: 39,0)
00) A coating solution prepared by dissolving 3 parts in 20 parts of chlorobenzene is applied onto the charge generation layer by a dip coating method, and 1
By heating at 10 ° C. for 40 minutes, a charge transport layer having a film thickness of 20 μm was formed.

[0119]

[Chemical 32]

Further, 2 parts of the compound (13) in Table 6, 2 parts of methyltrimethoxysilane and 0.4 parts of tetramethoxysilane.
5 parts, colloidal silica 0.3 parts are dissolved in isopropyl alcohol 5 parts, tetrahydrofuran 3 parts, and distilled water 0.3 parts to prepare an ion exchange resin (Amberlyst 15E).
Hydrolysis was carried out for 24 hours by adding 0.5 part and stirring at room temperature.

To 2 parts of the liquid obtained by filtering and separating the ion exchange resin from the reaction solution after hydrolysis, 0.04 part of aluminum trisacetylacetonate and 3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxytoluene (BTH) were added. 0.1 part was added, and the coating liquid was applied onto the charge transport layer by a ring type dip coating method, and air-dried at room temperature for 30 minutes.
An electrophotographic photosensitive member A was obtained by heat-treating at 170 ° C. for 1 hour and curing to form a protective layer having a thickness of about 3 m.

(Electrophotographic Photoreceptor B) The same as electrophotographic photoreceptor A except that the compound (14) in Table 6 was used in place of the compound (13) in Table 6 in the protective layer forming step. To produce an electrophotographic photoreceptor B.

(Electrophotographic Photosensitive Body C) An electrophotographic photosensitive body C was prepared in the same manner as the electrophotographic photosensitive body A except that the protective layer was not formed.

(Developing Device and Toner) In the examples and comparative examples described later, a developing device for monochrome development (the same as the developing device of the laser printer DocuPrint made by Fuji Xerox) or a developing device for color development (DocuColor made by Fuji Xerox) is used. The same as the developing device of No. 1) was used. Further, in each developing device, toner having a shape factor of 135 or 145 was used.

(Cleaning Blade) In Examples and Comparative Examples described later, cleaning blades BL1 to BL8 shown in Table 8 were used. Table 8 shows the impact resilience, hardness and tensile strength of each cleaning blade at 30 ° C and 40 ° C.

[0126]

[Table 8]

Examples 1 to 16 and Comparative Examples 1 to 12 In Examples 1 to 16 and Comparative Examples 1 to 12, the electrophotographic photosensitive member, the developing device (toner) and the cleaning blade were used in the combinations shown in Table 9. An image forming apparatus having the structure shown in FIG. 1 was produced.

Next, using the obtained image forming apparatus, 10
A print durability test was performed on 10,000 sheets, and the presence or absence of image quality defects in the 100,000th image was observed. The results obtained are shown in Table 9.

[0129]

[Table 9]

As shown in Table 9, in each of Examples 1 to 16, no defective image quality was observed in the 100,000th image, and it was confirmed that good image quality can be stably obtained over a long period of time. Was done.

On the other hand, in each of Comparative Examples 1 to 12, the image quality defect was recognized in the 100,000th image. Further, in Comparative Examples 1 to 4, damage to the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, in Comparative Examples 5 to 8 occurrence of chipping or cracks at the edge portion of the cleaning blade, Comparative Examples 9 to
In No. 12, transfer failure was recognized.

[0132]

As described above, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, a sufficiently high transferability can be achieved by using the toner having the shape factor of 100 to 140.
Further, a very small amount of residual toner may adhere to the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member after the transfer step. By using such toner in combination with the electrophotographic photosensitive member and the cleaning means, the toner slips through the cleaning blade. Since the phenomenon is sufficiently prevented, a sufficiently high cleaning property can be obtained without impairing the transfer property. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize an image forming apparatus capable of achieving a high level of both transferability and cleaning performance and stably obtaining good image quality over a long period of time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a preferred example of the electrophotographic photosensitive member according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Electrophotographic photoreceptor, 2 ... Charging device, 3 ... Exposure device, 4
... developing device, 5 ... transfer device, 6 ... image fixing device, 7 ... cleaning device, 9 ... support, 11 ... conductive substrate, 12 ...
Undercoat layer, 13 ... Charge generation layer, 14 ... Charge transport layer, 15
... Protective layer, 16 ... Photosensitive layer.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 2H068 AA02 AA03 AA04 AA21 BA12                       BA58 BB33 BB49 BB57 FA30                 2H134 GA01 GB02 HD04 HD05 HD19                       KD05 KD07 KD08 KG07 KG08

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An electrophotographic photosensitive member having a conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer provided on the substrate, a charging unit for charging the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and exposing the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member to static electricity. An exposure unit that forms an electrostatic latent image, a developing unit that develops the electrostatic latent image with toner to form a toner image, and a transfer unit that transfers the toner image onto a transfer medium.
An image forming apparatus comprising: a cleaning unit that cleans a surface of an electrophotographic photosensitive member after transfer, wherein the electrophotographic photosensitive member has a charge transporting property on a side farther from the base among the surfaces of the photosensitive layer. A surface layer containing a substance and a siloxane-based resin, the toner has a shape factor of 100 to 140, and the cleaning unit has a repulsive elasticity of 5 to 30% at 30 ° C .;
An image forming apparatus comprising a cleaning blade having a repulsion elasticity of 10 to 40% at 0 ° C. 2. The surface layer has a skeleton composed of an organic group having a charge transporting property, a silicon atom bonded to the same or different carbon atom in the organic group, and an oxygen atom bonded to the silicon atom. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus contains a cross-linked product. 3. The crosslinked product has the following general formula (1): [In the formula (1), Ar ¹ , Ar ² , Ar ³ and Ar ⁴ may be the same or different and each represents a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, and Ar ⁵ is a substituted or unsubstituted divalent aryl. Represents a group or an arylene group, D represents a divalent group, Q represents a hydrolyzable group, a represents an integer of 1 to 3, k represents 0 or 1, and m ¹ , m ² , and m ³ , m ⁴ and m ^{5
May be} the same or different and each represents 0 or 1, at least one of m ^{1 to} m ⁵ is 1, and when k is 1, m ⁵ is 0. ] The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, which is obtained using a polymerizable monomer containing a compound represented by the formula [3]. 4. The repulsion resilience of the cleaning blade is 5 to 20% at 30 ° C. and 10 to 35% at 40 ° C. The image forming apparatus according to item 1. 5. The hardness of the cleaning blade is 50.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus has a tensile strength of ˜90 and a tensile strength of 9.8 to 29.4 MPa.