JP2005258082A - Cleaning method of substrate for electrophotographic photoreceptor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of efficiently and reliably cleaning the substrate of an electrophotographic photoreceptor by sufficiently preventing the once removed contaminants from sticking again to the substrate. <P>SOLUTION: This is a cleaning method of a conductive substrate 1 which becomes an electorphotograhic photoreceptor by forming a photosensitive layer. It has a step of cleaning the surface of the substrate 1 using a brush 21 supplied with electrolysis alkaline water 100 of a pH 9-12 at 30-90 °C. Since the contaminants are prevented from sticking to the brush 21 and from being involved by the substrate 1 in this manner, it becomes possible to realize high level cleaning. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for cleaning a substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor.

  In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, image formation including processes such as charging, exposure, development, and transfer is performed using an electrophotographic photosensitive member.

  As a constitution of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, one in which a photosensitive layer is formed on a conductive substrate is general. Further, as the conductive substrate, a material obtained by molding a conductive material such as aluminum or aluminum alloy into a cylindrical shape (drum shape) by extrusion molding or impact molding is used.

In the manufacturing process of such a substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “substrate”), surface treatment such as cutting treatment and grinding treatment is often performed in addition to the above-described forming processing. Contaminants such as cutting oil and cutting chips are usually attached to the surface. Therefore, when the obtained substrate is used for forming the photosensitive layer, it is desirable to remove the contaminants by performing a washing process in advance. As a method for cleaning the substrate, a method of cleaning with a brush member while supplying a cleaning solution to the substrate by showering, a method of performing brush cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning or bubbling on a substrate immersed in the cleaning solution are known ( For example, see Patent Documents 1 to 5). As a cleaning liquid in these cleaning methods, an aqueous solution containing a surfactant (such as a neutral detergent) is widely used.
JP-A-6-89033 JP-A-6-27687 JP 2000-181090 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-292943 JP 2003-53285 A

  However, any of the above conventional cleaning methods has room for improvement in the following points.

  That is, in the case of the method of brush cleaning while supplying the cleaning liquid to the substrate by showering, it is difficult to completely wash away the contaminants that have fallen from the substrate by brush cleaning with the shower ring of the cleaning liquid, and the contaminants remaining on the brush member Has a drawback of being easily reattached to the substrate.

  On the other hand, also in the method of cleaning by immersing the substrate in the cleaning liquid accommodated in the cleaning tank, since the dirt dropped from the substrate stays in the cleaning liquid as it is, the substrate is directly or once attached to the brush member. Have the disadvantage of being easily reattached.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art. When cleaning a substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member, it sufficiently prevents re-adhesion of contaminants removed from the substrate, and the substrate can be efficiently and An object is to provide a method capable of reliably cleaning.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the method for cleaning a substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member according to the present invention is a method for cleaning a conductive substrate to be an electrophotographic photosensitive member by forming a photosensitive layer, and has a pH of 9 to 12 and 30. A step of brush cleaning the surface of the conductive substrate using a brush member supplied with electrolyzed alkaline water at ˜90 ° C. is provided.

  Here, the “electrolytic alkaline water” (also referred to as “electrolytic alkaline ionized water”) in the present invention means alkaline water generated on the cathode side when water is electrolyzed, and alkali such as NaOH or ammonia. It is distinguished from the alkaline aqueous solution obtained by the addition of. In addition, the electrolysis alkaline water used in the present invention may contain a buffer, and therefore, sodium ions, potassium ions, phosphate ions, silicate ions, lactate ions, pyrophosphate ions derived from the buffer agents, It may contain ions such as fluorine ion and chlorine ion. Further, the electrolyzed alkaline water may be prepared by diluting the stock solution with ion-exchanged water or ultrapure water 1 to several times for pH adjustment or the like.

  Thus, when performing brush cleaning, by supplying electrolytic alkaline water having a pH of 9 to 12 and 30 to 90 ° C. to the brush member, the removability of contaminants attached to the substrate is sufficiently enhanced, and contamination is also caused. Since the reattachment of the object is sufficiently prevented, the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate can be efficiently and reliably washed.

  The reason why re-adhesion of contaminants can be prevented according to the present invention is not necessarily clear, but by supplying the above-mentioned specific electrolytic alkaline water to the brush member, the brush member is contaminated with the contaminant or electrophotographic photosensitive member. Since the electric repulsive force is generated between the body substrate and the contaminant, the adhesion or holding of the contaminant on the brush member and the reattachment of the contaminant on the substrate are sufficiently suppressed. Et al.

  In the cleaning method of the present invention, it is preferable to supply electrolytic alkaline water to the brush member by spraying electrolytic alkaline water toward the brush member. Thereby, since electrolysis alkaline water is supplied to a brush member uniformly, it becomes possible to achieve improvement of cleaning efficiency and prevention of reattachment of contaminants to a higher level.

  In the cleaning method of the present invention, the electrolytic alkaline water may be supplied to the brush member by immersing the brush member in the electrolytic alkaline water. Also according to this aspect, the electrolyzed alkaline water can be supplied evenly to the brush member.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the cleaning method of the present invention further includes a step of applying ultrasonic vibration by immersing a brush member subjected to brush cleaning in electrolytic alkaline water. By providing such a process, it is possible to efficiently and reliably remove contaminants from the brush member (regeneration of the brush member) even when contaminants adhere to or are held in the brush member. The brush member thus cleaned can be repeatedly subjected to brush cleaning.

  According to the present invention, when cleaning an electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate, there is provided a method capable of sufficiently preventing the re-adhesion of contaminants removed from the substrate and efficiently and reliably cleaning the substrate. .

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an example of a cleaning apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes a storage tank 10 that stores electrolytic alkaline water 100 and a cleaning tank 20 that performs so-called showering-type brush cleaning using electrolytic alkaline water 100 supplied from the storage tank 10. Are provided.

  In FIG. 1, a storage tank 10 contains electrolytic alkaline water 100 having a pH of 9 to 12, and the temperature thereof is maintained at a predetermined temperature by a heater 11. The electrolyzed alkaline water 100 is drawn to the line L1 by the liquid feed pump 12 and supplied to a plurality of showering nozzles 22 provided in the cleaning tank 20.

  The pH of the electrolyzed alkaline water 100 needs to be in the range of 9 to 12 as described above, and is preferably in the range of 10 to 12. Note that if the pH of the electrolyzed alkaline water is less than 9, the cleaning performance during brush cleaning and the prevention of reattachment of contaminants are insufficient. On the other hand, even if the pH exceeds 12, it is not possible to expect a further improvement effect of detergency and anti-redeposition property corresponding to the pH, and it is not always easy to prepare electrolytic alkaline water exhibiting such pH. .

  As the electrolyzed alkaline water 100, if the pH is in the range of 9 to 13, the electrolyzed water may be electrolyzed, and the alkaline water produced on the cathode side may be recovered and used, or JEOL Commercial products such as EKO-13 (pH about 12) manufactured by Active Corporation may be used. Further, the electrolyzed alkaline water 100 may be one obtained by diluting the stock solution with pure water or ion-exchanged water as long as the pH is in the range of 9 to 13, and further containing a buffering agent or the like. It may be.

  Moreover, the temperature of the electrolysis alkaline water in the storage tank 10 will not be restrict | limited especially if the temperature in the case of the brush washing mentioned later is 30-90 degreeC, for example, when the electrolysis alkaline water 100 passes along the line L1 When a temperature drop occurs, the temperature of the electrolyzed alkaline water 100 in the storage tank 10 may be set higher than the target temperature. However, in the present invention, it is preferable to suppress the temperature decrease as much as possible by a method such as covering the outer periphery of the line L1 with a heat insulating material.

  In the cleaning tank 20, the above-described shower ring nozzle 22, a cylindrical electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as “substrate”) 1, and a rotating brush member 21 are accommodated.

  The substrate 1 that is an object to be processed is rotatably supported in the cleaning tank 20 by a rotation driving means (not shown). The conductive substrate used in the electrophotographic photosensitive member is not particularly limited, but the cleaning method of the present invention is particularly suitable as a cleaning method for a substrate made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy.

  A rotating brush 21 is disposed in contact with the outer peripheral surface (cleaning surface) of the substrate 1. Similarly to the base body 1, the rotating brush member 21 is also rotatably supported by a rotation driving means (not shown), and both rotation axes are parallel to each other. The brush member 21 is not particularly limited as long as it does not cause scratches on the outer peripheral surface of the substrate 1 by rubbing, but a nylon brush member or the like is preferably used.

  Further, each of the plurality of shower ring nozzles 22 is provided to be separated from the rotating brush member 21. The shower ring nozzles 22 are arranged in parallel to each other so that the electrolyzed alkaline water 100 can be supplied to the rotating brush member 21 evenly. The spray amount of the electrolyzed alkaline water 100 per shower nozzle 22 is preferably 100 to 400 ml / min.

  Here, the relative arrangement and operation of each element during brush cleaning will be described in more detail. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the relative arrangement of the base body 1, the rotating brush member 21, and the shower ring nozzle 22 when viewed from the rotation axis direction of the base body 1 and the rotating brush member 21. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the base 1 and the rotating brush member 21 are rotated so that the movement directions of the outer peripheral surfaces are opposite to each other at the contact position. The rotation speeds of the base body 1 and the rotating brush member 21 are preferably 50 to 250 rpm, respectively.

  And the electrolysis alkaline water 100 of pH 9-13 and 30-90 degreeC is sprayed from the shower ring nozzle 22 toward the rotating brush member 21 to rotate. In addition, when the temperature of the electrolyzed alkaline water 100 is less than 30 ° C., the cleaning property and the reattachment preventing property of contaminants are insufficient. On the other hand, when the temperature exceeds 90 ° C., the electrolytic alkaline water 100 is likely to evaporate and management thereof becomes difficult, and furthermore, the cleaning surface of the substrate 1 is likely to be oxidized or corroded.

  Although not shown in detail, it is preferable to supply pure water or ion-exchanged water to the contact portion between the rotating brush member 21 and the substrate 1 during brush cleaning. Thereby, since the contaminant removed from the base | substrate 1 is washed away, the adhesion or holding-in of the contaminant in the rotating brush member 21, and the reattachment of the contaminant in the base | substrate 1 can be prevented more reliably.

  The electrolyzed alkaline water 100 subjected to brush cleaning may be discarded. However, from the viewpoint of reducing the environmental load, it is preferable to collect and reuse foreign substances as necessary through a filter. If the pH of the recovered electrolyzed alkaline water 100 is outside the range of 9 to 13, the pH needs to be adjusted to 9 to 13 when reused. For example, when the pH is less than 9, the pH can be adjusted by adding a stock solution of electrolytic alkaline water 100.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, electrolytic alkaline water 100 having a pH of 9 to 12 and 30 to 90 ° C. is sprayed onto the rotating brush member 21 so that the electrolytic alkaline water 100 is evenly supplied to the rotating brush member 21. Is done. Then, by performing brush cleaning using the rotating brush member 21, the removability of contaminants attached to the substrate 1 is sufficiently enhanced and the reattachment of contaminants is sufficiently prevented. It becomes possible to clean efficiently and reliably.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an example of a brush cleaning apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 2 is common to the cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 1 in that it includes a storage tank 10 that stores the electrolytic alkaline water 100 and a cleaning tank 20 that performs brush cleaning, but a storage tank (immersion tank). The apparatus of FIG. 1 to which the shower ring system is applied in that the electrolytic alkaline water 100 is supplied to the rotating brush member 21 by immersing the rotating brush member 21 in the electrolytic alkaline water 100 accommodated in the apparatus 10. Is different. In FIG. 2, an ultrasonic oscillator 13 is disposed at the bottom of the storage tank 10, and ultrasonic vibration can be applied to the electrolyzed alkaline water 100.

  That is, in the cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 2, the electrolytic alkaline water 100 is evenly supplied to the rotating brush member 21 by immersing the rotating brush member 21 in the electrolytic alkaline water 100 accommodated in the storage tank 10. . Then, the rotating brush member 21 is moved to the cleaning tank 20 and placed in contact with the outer peripheral surface (cleaning surface) of the base 1 to perform brush cleaning.

  It should be noted that the relative arrangement and operation of each element during brush cleaning can be the same as in the first embodiment. Although not shown in detail, it is preferable to supply pure water or ion-exchanged water to the contact portion between the rotating brush member 21 and the substrate 1 during brush cleaning. Thereby, since the contaminant removed from the base | substrate 1 is washed away, the adhesion or holding-in of the contaminant in the rotating brush member 21, and the reattachment of the contaminant in the base | substrate 1 can be prevented more reliably.

  After performing brush cleaning in this way, the rotating brush member 21 is moved again into the storage tank 10 and immersed in the electrolytic alkaline water 100 to supply the electrolytic alkaline water 100 to the rotating brush member 21. At this time, by applying ultrasonic waves to the electrolytic alkaline water 100 by the ultrasonic oscillator 13, even if the contaminants adhere to or are embraced by the rotary brush member 21, the contaminants from the rotary brush member 21 It is preferable that the frequency of the ultrasonic wave that can be efficiently removed is 20 to 100 kHz. On the other hand, the electrolyzed alkaline water subjected to brush cleaning can be recovered and reused as in the first embodiment.

  Thus, according to the said 2nd Embodiment, electrolysis alkaline water 100 is evenly supplied to the rotary brush member 21 by immersing the rotary brush member 21 in the electrolysis alkaline water 100 of pH 9-12 and 30-90 degreeC. Is done. Then, by performing brush cleaning using the brush member 21, the removability of contaminants attached to the substrate 1 is sufficiently enhanced and the re-adhesion of contaminants is sufficiently prevented. It becomes possible to clean well and reliably.

  Further, the rotating brush member 21 subjected to brush cleaning is again immersed in the electrolyzed alkaline water 100, and ultrasonic waves are applied as necessary, so that the rotating brush member 21 can be easily regenerated and repeatedly subjected to brush cleaning. Therefore, a high level of cleanability can be achieved over a long period of time.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to said embodiment at all. For example, in the first and second embodiments described above, the method of brush cleaning a single substrate has been described, but the number of substrates 1 to be cleaned in one cleaning tank 20 is not particularly limited. Specifically, in the case of the first embodiment, a plurality of cleaning units each including a rotating brush member 21 and a corresponding shower nozzle 22 are provided in the cleaning tank 20 to perform brush cleaning on a plurality of substrates 1 at the same time. Can do. Further, in the case of the second embodiment, by providing a plurality of rotating brush members 21 that can move between the storage tank 10 and the cleaning tank 20, it is possible to perform brush cleaning on a plurality of substrates 1 at the same time.

  Further, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, a second storage tank in which the electrolytic alkaline water 100 is accommodated and an ultrasonic oscillator is disposed at the bottom is provided, and after brush cleaning, as in the second embodiment. The rotating brush member 21 may be regenerated.

  Furthermore, a preliminary cleaning step may be provided before the brush cleaning step according to the first or second embodiment. Examples of the cleaning method in the preliminary cleaning step include brush cleaning using a cleaning liquid other than electrolytic alkaline water, shower cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning, bubbling, or a combination of two or more thereof. As the cleaning liquid, pure water, ion exchange water, or an aqueous solution containing a surfactant (such as a neutral detergent) can be used.

  Furthermore, a rinsing process, a draining process, a drying process, and the like may be provided after the brush cleaning process according to the first or second embodiment.

  As described above, according to the cleaning method of the present invention, when the electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate is subjected to brush cleaning, the removal of contaminants from the substrate can be sufficiently enhanced, and the contaminants on the brush member can be removed. Adhesion or embrace and reattachment of contaminants to the substrate can be sufficiently prevented, and a cleaning method having an excellent cleaning effect can be effectively realized. In addition, the cleaning method of the present invention can achieve a high level of cleanability with a simple operation, and does not involve an increase in the number of facilities or an increase in the number of processes, so it is very useful in terms of reducing manufacturing costs. It is.

  In addition, since the cleaning surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate obtained by the cleaning method of the present invention is sufficiently cleaned, an electrophotographic photosensitive member that is subjected to an electrophotographic process by forming a photosensitive layer on the substrate. When used as a body, it is possible to obtain a good image quality with no white spots, black spots, uneven image density, or the like on the image.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although this invention is demonstrated more concretely based on an Example and a comparative example, this invention is not limited to a following example at all.

[Example 1]
First, mirror surface cutting is performed on an aluminum substrate having a diameter of 84 mm, a length of 340 mm, and a thickness of 1 mm by a mirror lathe using a diamond tool, and the surface roughness Ra (centerline average roughness limited to JIS B0601) is obtained. A smooth surface of 0.04 microns was finished.

  The cylindrical conductive substrate thus obtained was washed according to the following procedure based on the flow shown in FIG. First, the substrate is immersed in an aqueous solution of 10 to 20% by mass of a nonionic surfactant (LH? 600F manufactured by Lion Corporation) contained in a washing tank for 60 seconds, and 40 kHz ultrasonic waves are applied by an ultrasonic oscillator. First pre-cleaning was performed (step 401). Next, the substrate is immersed in an aqueous solution of 1 to 2% by mass of a nonionic surfactant (LH? 600F manufactured by Lion Corporation) contained in a washing tank for 60 seconds, and an ultrasonic wave of 40 kHz is applied by an ultrasonic oscillator. Thus, a second preliminary cleaning was performed (step 402). In the first and second preliminary cleaning steps, the substrate was oscillated at a stroke of 50 mm and a frequency of 0.5 Hz while the substrate was immersed in the nonionic surfactant aqueous solution. Moreover, the nonionic surfactant aqueous solution was circulated through a circulation line.

  Next, brush cleaning was performed using the cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 1 (step 403). In such a brush cleaning process, the rotating brush member and the substrate are rotated at 100 rpm so that the moving directions at the contact portions of the rotating brush member and the substrate are opposite to each other, and the electric conductivity is 1 μS / cm toward the contact portion between the brush and the substrate. The following ion-exchanged water was supplied to the rotating brush member brush by electrolytic ring alkaline water having a pH of 9 to 11 and a temperature controlled at 40 ° C. by showering. As the rotating brush member, a member provided with a nylon brush having a wire diameter of 65 μm was used.

  Further, as the first and second rinsing steps, ion exchange water having an electric conductivity of 1 μS / cm or less was used, and the operation of immersing the substrate for 1 minute was performed twice (steps 404 and 405).

  Then, ion-exchanged water having an electric conductivity of 1 μS / cm or less stored in the washing tank is maintained at 50 ° C., and the substrate after the second rinsing step is immersed in the ion-exchanged water for 30 seconds, and then 5 mm / The water was pulled up and drained at a speed of s (step 406).

  The substrate after the draining process was dried by performing hot air drying at 135 ° C. for 90 seconds in a drying chamber (step 407).

  The above operation was continuously performed on 50 substrates to evaluate the cleaning performance. The evaluation of the lyricity was performed by observing the presence or absence of foreign matters having a diameter of 20 μm or more on the cleaning surface (outer peripheral surface) of the substrate using a defect evaluation apparatus equipped with a CCD camera and a microscope. Table 1 shows the number of substrates (referred to as “defect occurrence rate”, hereinafter the same) in which foreign matters having a diameter of 20 μm or more were observed.

[Examples 2 to 4]
In Examples 2 to 4, an electrophotographic photosensitive member was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the pH and temperature of the electrolyzed alkaline water were as shown in Table 1 at the time of brush cleaning (Step 403). The substrate for cleaning was cleaned and the cleaned surface of the substrate was evaluated. Table 1 shows the defect occurrence rate of the obtained substrate.

[Comparative Examples 1-4]
In Comparative Examples 1 to 4, the substrate for electrophotographic photosensitive member was cleaned in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the cleaning liquid shown in Table 1 was used for brush cleaning (step 403). The cleaning surface of was evaluated. Table 1 shows the defect occurrence rate of the obtained substrate.

［実施例５］
実施例５においては、ブラシ洗浄（ステップ４０３）の際に、図２に示した洗浄装置を用いた。より具体的には、貯留槽にｐＨ９〜１０．５、温度３０℃に制御した電気分解アルカリ性水を収容し、この電気分解アルカリ性水に超音波発振器からの超音波（周波数４０ｋＨｚ）を加えながら、回転ブラシ部材を２分間浸漬させた。このようにして電気分解アルカリ性水が供給された回転ブラシ部材を洗浄槽に移動させ、回転ブラシ部材と基体とを両者の当接部位における移動方向が反対となるようにそれぞれ１００ｒｐｍで回転させ、ブラシと基体の接触部に向けて電気導電度が１μＳ／ｃｍ以下のイオン交換水をシャワーリングにより供給した。回転ブラシ部材としては、線径６５μｍのナイロン製ブラシを備えるものを用いた。回転ブラシ部材は、５０本の基体を洗浄するごとに別に用意した貯留槽内の電気分解アルカリ性水に浸漬し、その後洗浄槽に戻して繰り返しブラシ洗浄に供した。

[Example 5]
In Example 5, the cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 2 was used during brush cleaning (step 403). More specifically, electrolytic alkaline water controlled at a pH of 9 to 10.5 and a temperature of 30 ° C. is stored in a storage tank, and ultrasonic waves (frequency 40 kHz) from an ultrasonic oscillator are added to the electrolytic alkaline water, The rotating brush member was immersed for 2 minutes. In this way, the rotating brush member supplied with the electrolyzed alkaline water is moved to the washing tank, and the rotating brush member and the base are rotated at 100 rpm so that the moving directions at the contact portions of both are opposite to each other. The ion-exchanged water having an electric conductivity of 1 μS / cm or less was supplied by showering toward the contact portion of the substrate. As the rotating brush member, a member provided with a nylon brush having a wire diameter of 65 μm was used. The rotating brush member was immersed in electrolyzed alkaline water in a separately prepared storage tank every time 50 substrates were cleaned, then returned to the cleaning tank and repeatedly subjected to brush cleaning.

  The substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member was washed and the detergency was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the brush washing was performed in this manner. The obtained results are shown in Table 2. The numerical values in Table 2 are the average values of the number of defects when 500 electrophotographic photosensitive member substrates are continuously washed and evaluated every 50 (the same applies hereinafter).

[Examples 6 to 8]
In Examples 6 to 8, an electrophotographic photosensitive member was prepared in the same manner as in Example 5 except that the pH and temperature of the electrolyzed alkaline water were as shown in Table 2 at the time of brush cleaning (Step 403). The substrate for cleaning was cleaned and the cleaned surface of the substrate was evaluated. Table 2 shows the defect occurrence rate of the obtained substrate.

[Comparative Examples 1-4]
In Comparative Examples 1 to 4, for the electrophotographic photoreceptor, in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the cleaning liquid shown in Table 2 was used instead of the electrolytic alkaline water during brush cleaning (Step 403). The substrate was cleaned and the cleaned surface of the substrate was evaluated. Table 2 shows the defect occurrence rate of the obtained substrate.

It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the brush cleaning apparatus which concerns on the cleaning method of this invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of relative arrangement and operation of an electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate, a rotating brush member, and a shower ring nozzle in the brush cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 1. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example of the brush cleaning apparatus which concerns on the cleaning method of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the washing process in an Example.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electrophotographic photoreceptor base | substrate, 10 ... Storage tank, 11 ... Heater, 12 ... Pump, 13 ... Ultrasonic oscillator, 20 ... Cleaning tank, 21 ... Brush member, 22 ... Showering nozzle, 100 ... Electrolytic alkaline water .

Claims (4)

A method for cleaning a conductive substrate to be an electrophotographic photosensitive member on which a photosensitive layer is formed, using a brush member supplied with electrolyzed alkaline water having a pH of 9 to 12 and 30 to 90 ° C. A method for cleaning a substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member, comprising a step of brush cleaning the surface. 2. The electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein the electrolytic alkaline water is supplied to the brush member by spraying the electrolytic alkaline water toward the brush member. . The method for cleaning a substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 1, wherein the electrolytic alkaline water is supplied to the brush member by immersing the brush member in the electrolytic alkaline water. The electrophotographic method according to claim 3, further comprising a step of immersing the brush member subjected to brush cleaning in electrolytic alkaline water having a pH of 9 to 12 and 30 to 90 ° C to apply ultrasonic vibration. A method for cleaning a photoreceptor substrate.

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