JP2005352176A - Photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test method and acceleration test equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To carry out a deterioration acceleration test of an electrophotographic photoreceptor without transporting paper in an image forming apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: In a deterioration acceleration test method for an electrophotographic photoreceptor which is carried out by repeating a cycle including a charging step for charging an electrophotographic photoreceptor 13 on a sample table 12 with a charging device 10 and an exposure step for exposing the electrophotographic photoreceptor 13 with an exposure device 14 to achieve discharge, an amount of charges passing through the electrophotographic photoreceptor is adjusted to ≥3.5×10<SP>-5</SP>(C/cm<SP>2</SP>) per minute. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test method and an acceleration test apparatus used in an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer or a copying machine.

References showing prior art relating to an electrophotographic photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test method and acceleration test apparatus will be described below.
In Patent Document 1, at least one electrophotographic image forming member having a known number of image forming cycles and a cycle operation lifetime is prepared, and the photoconductivity in the cycle is repeated by repeating a cycle including an electrostatic charging step and a photodischarge step. The dark decay of the photosensitive layer is measured until the dark decay amount reaches the maximum value, and the reference value of the dark decay maximum value vs. image formation cycle is established by the above-mentioned maximum value. The cycle including the discharge step is repeated until the dark attenuation reaches the maximum value that remains substantially constant even after the cycle operation, and the dark attenuation maximum value of the fresh electrophotographic imaging member is referred to the reference data. A deterioration acceleration test method including each step of confirming the estimated cycle life of the fresh electrophotographic image forming member as compared with the above is described.

  However, this method is a deterioration acceleration test method that is different from the actual electrophotographic process of corona charging / roller charging, in which a transparent glass is pressed and bias is applied and light is irradiated. In addition, since the dark decay characteristics of samples that have reached the end of their life must be known in advance, it is necessary to perform a paper-passing test once the photoconductor is mounted on the actual machine, which takes a lot of trouble. there were.

  As another conventional technique, there is a method of checking the life without performing a paper passing test. In this method, an electrophotographic photosensitive member (hereinafter abbreviated as a photosensitive member) is rotated at a high speed (1,000 to 2,000 rpm), a charger disposed around the photosensitive member, and an exposure. There is a method of predicting the lifetime by repeatedly charging and exposing with an apparatus. This method is further divided into two test methods.

  One is to fix the output of the charger and the light quantity of the exposure device under predetermined conditions, perform the test for a predetermined time, and then measure the characteristics of the photoconductor to determine the deterioration state. The second method measures the post-exposure potential V of the photoconductor under test and the passing current I flowing through the photoconductor, and adjusts the output of the charger and the amount of light of the exposure device so that these two are always at a predetermined level. It is a method to do while.

  The important point in these two methods is that the passing current that flows through the photoconductor during the test is measured and converted into a charge amount (value per unit area) Q, while one A4 size sheet is printed on the actual machine. When the toner is out, the current passing through the photoconductor is C (capacity per unit area) of the photoconductor, the charging potential is V, and the size of the photoconductor is A4 sheet of paper printed on the photoconductor without duplication. Since the size is determined by C · V, the life test time can be made to correspond to the number of printed sheets of the actual machine by setting Q / (C · V).

Another important point is that this test is an accelerated life test. Specifically, when a current passing through the sample of 5 μA / 10 cm ² is passed through the photoconductor and a 20 Hr test is performed (a test of 10 hours per day is 2 days), 5/10 × 10 ⁻⁶ × 20 × 60 × 60 = 0. The charge of 0.036 (C / cm ² ) has passed through the photoreceptor. (The amount of charge that has passed through the photosensitive member is referred to as the amount of passing charge.) Assuming that printing is performed with A4 paper longitudinal feed, the electrostatic capacity of the photosensitive member is 100 (pF / cm ² ), and the charging potential is −700. (V) When the post-exposure potential including after static elimination is 0 (V), 100 × 10 ⁻¹² × 700 = 7 × 10 ⁻⁸ (C / cm ² ) Since it is the passing charge amount, 0.036 / (7 × 10 ⁻⁸ ) ≈514,000 (sheets) is printed out, and this is a significant acceleration test.

  For this reason, the life test is often performed by the second method. As can be seen from the specific calculation described above, if the current passing through the photoconductor is constant during the test, the number of printouts is equivalent. It is easy to calculate whether or not the test was conducted. Therefore, a method is generally employed in which the test is performed so that the passing current is constant. The essence is to know the passing charge amount. Depending on the level of the charged potential depending on the photoreceptor, the result of the life test may differ, and it is required to perform the test with the charged potential kept constant. As described above, in order to make the charging potential and the passing current constant, a system for adjusting the high-voltage power supply output of the charger and the light amount of the exposure apparatus is required, and a conventional life test apparatus has been constructed.

In this conventional deterioration acceleration test, for example, there is a method of accelerating the deterioration by a photoconductor sample piece characteristic evaluation apparatus (EPA8200 manufactured by Kawaguchi Electric Co., Ltd.) as shown in FIG. In the deterioration acceleration test method in this characteristic evaluation apparatus, the turntable 1 is provided with an opening 3 for mounting a photosensitive sample piece, and the size of the opening 3 is, for example, 44 ° when viewed from the center. It has an opening angle and the area is 19.36 cm ² (opening: 44 × 44 mm). Further, a sample piece holding plate 2 made of a conductive metal plate is provided with the turntable 1. In this apparatus, charging / exposure is repeated with the charger 4 and the exposure apparatus 5 arranged around the photoconductor at about 1,100 rpm, and the apparatus can be rotated at the same speed as the actual machine. The sample piece can be passed through the corona charger 4 many times by rotating at high speed. Further, a pulse current applied to the sample piece from the corona charger 4 and sent to the sample piece is sent to the ammeter 6 at a predetermined detection interval and smoothed by a smoothing circuit therein, and then A / D It is converted by the converter 8 and sent to the controller 9 for arithmetic processing.

  Further, the surface potential of the sample piece is monitored by a surface potential meter electrode 5 which is a monitor unit of the surface potential meter 7 arranged at a position different from the corona charger 4, and the monitored signal is detected at a predetermined detection interval. After being sent to the electrometer 7 and amplified by an amplifier therein, it is converted by the A / D converter 8 and sent to the controller 9 for arithmetic processing. In this way, this apparatus can perform a deterioration acceleration test, and can also evaluate characteristics such as charging ability, charge retention performance, and sensitivity of the photoreceptor.

  However, in such a conventional system, the relationship between the two measured quantities, the surface potential X, the passing current Y, the two manipulated variables, the output control value A of the charger high-voltage power supply, and the output control value B of the discharge lamp light quantity. Increases A, X and Y increase, decreasing A decreases X and Y, increasing B decreases X, Y increases, decreasing B increases X and Y decreases If X deviates from the target value and if A or B is operated so as to make it fall within the target range, another measurement amount Y changes, and a disturbance acts on Y. . If A or B is operated to maintain this within the target range, X will change this time, and complicated control must be performed. In addition, even if there is a momentary variation in the photoreceptor surface potential / passing current during the deterioration acceleration test, it is a system in which these are not reflected in the calculation of the passing charge as an instantaneous error. There was room for improvement in doing.

  In order to solve these problems, a deterioration acceleration test apparatus described in Patent Document 2 has been proposed. This device measures the passing current and surface potential of a photoconductor in a test system that rotates an electrophotographic photoconductor at high speed and accelerates the deterioration of the photoconductor by repeating a cycle including an electrostatic charging process and a photodischarge process. This photoconductor deterioration acceleration test apparatus is simple and accurate as a system for calculating the passing charge amount from the passing current measured during the test by controlling the potential of the photosensitive member at a constant condition.

  However, recent photoconductors have a long life, and even in such a deterioration acceleration test apparatus, it takes much time to perform a test until the life is judged. Therefore, there has been a demand for an accelerated deterioration test method capable of further accelerating deterioration and judging the life in a short time. In order to realize this, it has been found that it is important to increase the amount of passing charge per unit area.

  Therefore, as a charging method for increasing the amount of passing charge per unit area of the photoreceptor surface, a plurality of wires to which a high voltage is applied are provided, the wires are stretched only in one direction, and a casing surrounding the wires is used. A method has been proposed to increase the amount of current to the photoconductor surface per unit area by a charging device whose shape is parallel to the photoconductor surface but which is not entirely casing. Since the deterioration acceleration test was performed, it was found that uneven charging (discharge unevenness) occurred on the surface of the photoreceptor, and there was room for improvement.

  As a conventional technique for suppressing charging unevenness, Patent Document 3 discloses a heating member that heats a shield case in contact with or close to the shield case in a corona charger having a grid electrode and a discharge wire in the shield case. There is described a corona charger characterized in that In the present invention, when the photosensitive drum is charged with the corona charger when the humidity is high, uneven discharge occurs, and the charging unevenness occurs and a good image cannot be obtained. Therefore, a heating member is attached to the corona charger. Although it is characterized by preventing the occurrence of charging unevenness, this is a method different from the charging method used in the actual deterioration acceleration test, and in this method, it is necessary to attach a heating member to the corona charger. In addition, it is necessary to install a thermo-hygrometer to measure the temperature and humidity around the corona charger, and to prepare a mechanism necessary to control them. It was not a method of suppression.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-1973 JP 2002-149005 A JP 2001-22158 A

  The present invention is a state in which the sheet is passed without passing through the image forming apparatus and suppressing deterioration unevenness due to the short-time deterioration in which the charging process for charging the electrophotographic photoreceptor and the cycle including the exposure process are performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for accelerating degradation of an electrophotographic photosensitive member that can be in the same situation as the above.

The aspect of the present invention for solving the above-described problems is as follows.
(1) A method for accelerating degradation of an electrophotographic photoreceptor, comprising repeating a cycle including a charging step of charging the electrophotographic photoreceptor with a charging device and an exposure step of exposing and discharging the electrophotographic photoreceptor with an exposure device. The electrophotographic photosensitive member deterioration acceleration test method according to claim 1, wherein a passing charge amount of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is 3.5 × 10 ⁻⁵ (C / cm ² ) or more per minute.
(2) The electrophotographic photosensitive member deterioration acceleration test method according to (1), wherein charging and exposure are performed simultaneously.
(3) The charging device has a plurality of wires stretched in only one direction for applying a high voltage to the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and the shape of the casing surrounding the wire is parallel to the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member. (1) and (2) the electrophotographic photosensitive member deterioration acceleration test method according to the above (1) or (2), wherein a charging device in which all surfaces are not casing is used.
(4) An electrophotographic photosensitive member corresponding to the number of sheets to be passed in an image forming process of an image forming apparatus using the electrophotographic photosensitive member in which the charging device and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are arranged close to each other. The electrophotographic photosensitive member deterioration according to the above (1) to (3), wherein the electrophotographic photosensitive member is deteriorated by making the passing charge amount and the passing charge amount of the electrophotographic photosensitive member deterioration acceleration test method the same. Accelerated test method.
(5) The characteristic value of the electrophotographic photosensitive member after paper passing in the image forming apparatus is predicted from the passing charge amount and the characteristic value of the electrophotographic photosensitive member after the deterioration acceleration test. (4) Deterioration acceleration test method for electrophotography.
(6) The electrophotographic photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test method according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein the electrophotographic photoreceptor is moved during the deterioration acceleration test.
(7) The electrophotographic photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test method according to (6), wherein the electrophotographic photoreceptor during the deterioration acceleration test is moved in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the wire is stretched.
(8) The electrophotographic photoreceptor is deteriorated at an initial position for a half of the test time, and deteriorated at a position moved by an intermediate distance of the wire interval for the remaining half of the test time. (6) The electrophotographic photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test method according to (6) above.
(9) An electrophotographic photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test apparatus for carrying out the electrophotographic photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test method according to the above (1) to (8), comprising at least a charging device and an exposure apparatus.

According to the above aspects (1) to (4), it is possible to achieve the same situation as a state where paper is actually passed through the image forming apparatus with a short time deterioration.
According to the above aspect (5), it is possible to predict the characteristic value after passing through a short-term deterioration test.
By the above aspects (6) and (7), deterioration unevenness can be suppressed.
According to the aspect (8), it is possible to suppress deterioration unevenness without requiring complicated control.
According to the above aspect (9), a deterioration acceleration test using a photoconductor sample piece can be performed.

As the deterioration acceleration test apparatus according to the present invention, for example, an apparatus as shown in FIG. 2 can be used. The procedure for performing the deterioration acceleration test using the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 will be described below.
First, the photosensitive member sample piece 13 is placed on the sample table 12 so that the photosensitive surface faces upward. A conductive member connected to the ground is attached to the surface of the sample table 12. Next, the photoconductor sample piece 13 is attached so as to be in close contact with the sample table 12 with an insulating tape or the like. The surface of the photosensitive member is exposed by the exposure device 14 set to have a predetermined light amount, and the corona discharge is simultaneously performed by the charging device 10 connected to the high voltage power source 11. A deterioration acceleration test can be performed by repeating the cycle of simultaneous charging simultaneous exposure.

  By using this test apparatus, it is possible to change the passing charge amount per unit area by changing the current value during the deterioration acceleration test, and it is possible to change the degree of deterioration acceleration. After the deterioration acceleration test is completed, the characteristic values such as charging ability and charge retention performance are measured and evaluated. Alternatively, the degree of deterioration of the photoconductor is also confirmed by observing the surface of the photoconductor.

By setting the passing charge amount to 3.5 × 10 ⁻⁵ (C / cm ² ) or more per minute, a deterioration test can be performed in a short time.
Further, as the charging device 10, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the charging device 10 includes a plurality of wires 16 stretched only in one direction to apply a high voltage in the charging process, and surrounds the wires. It is preferable to use a charging device in which the casing 15 has a shape whose casing is not entirely parallel to the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member.

Electrophotographic photosensitive member corresponding to the number of sheets to be passed in the image forming process of the image forming apparatus using the electrophotographic photosensitive member by performing charging and exposure at the same time by bringing the charging device and the electrophotographic photosensitive member close to each other. The test piece is deteriorated in the same manner as the passing charge amount of the body and the passing charge amount of the electrophotographic photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test method. As a result, it is possible to obtain the same situation as when the paper is actually passed through the image forming apparatus in a short-time deterioration test.
Further, the characteristic value of the electrophotographic photosensitive member after the sheet passing in the image forming apparatus can be predicted from the passing charge amount and the characteristic value in the electrophotographic photosensitive member deterioration acceleration test.

A test was conducted to confirm the discharge state when the charging device as shown in FIG. 3 was used. The outline of this test is described below.
As a charging device, there is no casing on a surface parallel to the surface of the opposing photoconductor, and an opening frame of 40 × 40 (mm) is provided, and a wire (material: gold-plated tungsten wire, Wire diameter: 60 μm) and a charging device frame using an insulating member (material: Teflon (registered trademark)) as a charging device frame (a schematic diagram of the charging device is shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B). The distance between the photoreceptor surface and the wire was 5 mm. An aluminum plate (size: 120 × 120 × 0.25 (mm)) larger than the upper surface size of the sample table was placed on the sample table (size: 75 × 75 × 50 (mm)). On this aluminum plate, an aluminum-deposited PET film (size: 80 × 1 × 0.1 (mm), aluminum-deposited surface on the upper side) is attached, and resistance (1. 5 kΩ) is connected to the electrometer so that the current flowing through the PET film can be confirmed. Pass this sample base under the charger at a constant speed (moving in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the wire is stretched), and check the current flowing through the PET film while passing through the charger. did. The current measurement results are shown in FIG.
A schematic diagram of the experimental apparatus for current measurement is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, the diamond-shaped plot is the position of the wire. This result shows the result of investigating discharge unevenness in a state where the photoconductor sample piece is opposed to the charging device and is stationary.

From the measurement results shown in FIG. 5, it can be seen that the current flows most directly under the wire. When this charging device capable of simultaneous charging is used and the photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test is performed, discharge unevenness is formed. I understand that. It can be seen that the photoconductor surface is not uniformly deteriorated when the photoconductor sample piece is opposed to the charging device and is stationary.
Next, in order to superimpose the result of this stationary state and the result when the intermediate distance of the wire interval is moved by 5 mm, the result shown in FIG. 5 and the result shown in FIG. 6) The result of superimposing the shifted result is shown in FIG. (The diamond plot in FIG. 6 is the wire position.)
From the result of FIG. 6, it can be seen that the unevenness of deterioration can be suppressed by superimposing the result in the stationary state and the result when the wire is moved at an intermediate distance of 5 mm.

  From the above results, it can be seen that in the deterioration acceleration test method, deterioration unevenness can be suppressed by moving the electrophotographic photosensitive member during the deterioration acceleration test. The electrophotographic photosensitive member can be moved by moving the sample in the deterioration acceleration test in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the wire is stretched, and the sample being half the test time. Can be performed at a position where the remaining time is moved to the intermediate distance of the wire interval.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[Example 1]
The photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test apparatus shown in FIG. 2 was used. As a charging device, there is no casing on a surface parallel to the surface of the opposing photoconductor, and there is a 40 × 40 (mm) opening frame, and a wire (material: gold-plated tungsten wire, The charging device used was an insulating member (material: Teflon (registered trademark)) as the frame of the charging device. The distance between the photoreceptor surface and the wire in this test apparatus was 5 mm, and a photoreceptor specimen was placed on a sample table (size: 75 × 75 × 50 (mm)). The photoconductor sample piece used the same material and composition as the photoconductor for Ricoh IPSIO Color 6500.

[Comparative Example 1]
Using a printer (Ricoh IPSIO Color 6500), the photoreceptor was actually deteriorated by passing paper. As the photoreceptor, a photoreceptor having the same material and composition as the photoreceptor for Ricoh IPSIO Color 6500 was used. The diameter of the photoreceptor was φ168 mm, and the capacitance was 110 pF / cm ² . The developing conditions of the printer were: charging potential: 700 V, post-exposure potential: 100 V, paper spacing: 1.5 times A4 width, paper passing conditions: A4 width, QL: yes, solid density of original: 7% .

[Comparative Example 2]
The test was performed using the current deterioration acceleration test apparatus shown in FIG. As the photoreceptor, a photoreceptor having the same material and composition as the photoreceptor for Ricoh IPSIO Color 6500 was used.
Table 1 shows the results of the amount of passing charge that can be given to the photosensitive member per minute in each of the devices of the above-described Examples and Comparative Examples.

  The deterioration conditions when the passing charge amount of Example 1 was maximized were: a passing current of −161.9 μA (photosensitive member deterioration area: 35 × 40 mm), an illuminance of 260 lux, and the passing charge amount of Comparative Example 2 The deterioration conditions at the time of maximum were a passing current of −11.2 μA (photosensitive member deterioration area 44 × 44 mm) and illuminance of 106 lux.

From the results of Table 1, it can be seen that the current photoconductor deterioration acceleration test apparatus as shown in FIG. 1 of Comparative Example 2 can significantly increase the amount of passing charge, but a method capable of further accelerating the deterioration. As shown in FIG. 2, a photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test apparatus as shown in FIG. 2 is necessary. As the condition, it can be seen that a more effective deterioration acceleration test is obtained when the passing charge amount is 3.5 × 10 ⁻⁵ or more (C / cm ² ).

[Example 2]
The photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test apparatus shown in FIG. 2 was used. As a charging device, there is no casing on a surface parallel to the surface of the opposing photoconductor, and there is a 40 × 40 (mm) opening frame, and a wire (material: gold-plated tungsten wire, The charging device used was an insulating member (material: Teflon (registered trademark)) as the frame of the charging device. The distance between the photoreceptor surface and the wire in this test apparatus was 5 mm, and a photoreceptor specimen was placed on a sample table (size: 75 × 75 × 50 (mm)). The photoconductor sample piece uses the same material and prescription structure as the photoconductor for Ricoh IPSIO Color 6500, and the current passing through the photoconductor sample surface during the deterioration acceleration test is -121.5 μA (photoconductor deterioration area: 35 × 40 mm). The deterioration acceleration test was performed with the illuminance set to 194 lux (the amount of charge passed per minute applied to the electrophotographic photoreceptor at this time was 5.21 × 10 ⁻⁴ C / cm ² ).

[Comparative Example 3]
Using a printer (Ricoh IPSIO Color 6500), the photoreceptor was actually deteriorated by passing paper. As the photoreceptor, a photoreceptor having the same material and formulation as the photoreceptor for Ricoh IPSIO Color 6500 was used. The diameter of this photoreceptor was φ168 mm, and the capacitance was 110 pF / cm ² . The developing conditions of the printer were: charging potential: -700 V, post-exposure potential: -100 V, paper spacing: 1.5 times A4 width, paper passing conditions: A4 width, QL: Yes, solid density of original: 7% .
Table 2 shows the amount of passing charge for each 250 k sheets passed by the printer and the time spent in the test under the respective conditions until the amount of passing charge is reached. Further, Table 3 shows the measurement results of the residual potential of the photoconductor during the test time (measured with EPA8200 manufactured by Kawaguchi Electric Co., Ltd. after the potential is sufficiently exposed from a predetermined potential).

From the results in Table 2, the characteristic values (diameter / capacitance) of the photoconductor to be tested and the development conditions (charge potential, post-exposure potential, inter-paper, paper-passing conditions, QL, original document) By reducing the amount of passing charge that is the same as the passing charge amount for a certain number of sheets that is calculated from the solid density) using a photoconductor deterioration acceleration test device as shown in FIG. I understand that I can do it.
Further, from the characteristic value results in Table 3, it can be seen that if the passing charge amount is the same, the characteristic value after deterioration is almost the same. If the photoconductor is deteriorated by the deterioration acceleration test apparatus as shown in FIG. It can be seen that it is possible to predict characteristic values for a certain number of sheets that have actually been passed through and prediction of characteristic values based on the number of sheets in an actual printer in a short time.

[Example 3]
A photoconductor sample piece having the same material and composition as the photoconductor for Ricoh IPSIO Color 6500 is used as the photoconductor sample piece, and the passing current during the deterioration acceleration test is −121.5 μA (deterioration area of the photoconductor: 35 × 40 mm), The illuminance was set to 194 lux, and the deterioration acceleration test was performed at the initial position for 30 minutes, and then the deterioration acceleration test was performed for 30 minutes by moving 5 mm in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the wire was stretched (for electrophotography at this time) The amount of passing charge per minute given to the photoreceptor was 5.21 × 10 ⁻⁴ C / cm ² ).

The surface of the photoreceptor after the test under each condition was observed.
As a result of observation, in both Example 3 and Comparative Example 4, discoloration was confirmed within the deterioration area of the photoreceptor. This is a color change due to the influence of deterioration, but a difference appears in the way of color change. In Example 2, no discoloration unevenness was observed, but in Comparative Example 2, discoloration unevenness was confirmed. From this, it can be seen that charging unevenness (discharge unevenness) occurs in a stationary state in which the photosensitive member is not moved during the test of Comparative Example 2.
Therefore, when deteriorating for a certain time, 1/2 time is set at the initial position and 1/2 time is moved at an intermediate distance of the wire interval (perpendicular to the direction in which the wire is stretched). It can be seen that this is a method of suppressing deterioration unevenness of the photoreceptor surface.

  According to the degradation acceleration test method of the present invention, the degradation acceleration test can be easily performed without passing through the electrophotographic photoreceptor. Therefore, the degradation acceleration test of the electrophotographic photoreceptor used in an image forming apparatus or the like can be performed. Useful as a way to do it.

It is a figure which shows the outline of the conventional deterioration acceleration test apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structure of the deterioration acceleration test apparatus of the electrophotographic photoreceptor of this invention. It is a figure which shows the charging device used in the deterioration test apparatus of the electrophotographic photoreceptor of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the experimental apparatus for measuring a passage current. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the passage current obtained by the experimental apparatus of FIG. 4, and time. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the passage current obtained by the experimental apparatus of FIG. 4, and time.

Explanation of symbols

1 Turntable 2 Sample piece presser plate
3 Opening 4 Corona Charger 5 Surface Potential Meter Electrode / Exposure Device 6 Current Measurement / Smoothing Circuit, etc. 7 Surface Potential Meter: Amplifier Circuit, etc. 8 Interface (A / D Conversion)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 Controller 10 Charging apparatus 11 High voltage power supply 12 Sample stand 13 Photoconductor sample piece 14 Exposure apparatus 15 Casing 16 Wire 17 Aluminum plate 18 Aluminum vapor deposition PET film 19 Electrometer

Claims (9)

In an electrophotographic photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test method in which a cycle including a charging process of charging an electrophotographic photoreceptor by a charging device and an exposure process of exposing and discharging the electrophotographic photoreceptor by an exposure apparatus is repeated, A method for accelerating deterioration of an electrophotographic photosensitive member, wherein a passing charge amount of the photographic photosensitive member is set to 3.5 × 10 ⁻⁵ (C / cm ² ) or more per minute.   2. The electrophotographic photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test method according to claim 1, wherein charging and exposure are performed simultaneously.   The charging device has a plurality of wires stretched only in one direction for applying a high voltage to the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and the casing surrounding the wire is parallel to the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member. 3. The electrophotographic photosensitive member deterioration acceleration test method according to claim 1, wherein the charging device is not entirely casing.   The charging device and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are arranged close to each other, and the passing charge amount of the electrophotographic photosensitive member corresponds to the number of sheets to be passed in the image forming process of the image forming apparatus using the electrophotographic photosensitive member. The electrophotographic photoconductor deterioration acceleration according to claim 1, wherein the electrophotographic photoconductor is deteriorated by using the same passage charge amount as in the electrophotographic photoconductor deterioration acceleration test method. Test method.   5. The characteristic value of the electrophotographic photosensitive member after paper passing in the image forming apparatus is predicted from the passing charge amount and the characteristic value of the electrophotographic photosensitive member after the deterioration acceleration test. The method for accelerating deterioration test for electrophotography according to crab.   6. The electrophotographic photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test method according to claim 1, wherein the electrophotographic photoreceptor is moved during the deterioration acceleration test.   7. The electrophotographic photosensitive member deterioration acceleration test method according to claim 6, wherein the electrophotographic photosensitive member during the deterioration acceleration test is moved in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the wire is stretched.   The electrophotographic photoreceptor is deteriorated at an initial position for a half of the test time, and deteriorated at a position moved by an intermediate distance of the wire interval for the remaining half of the test time. 6. An electrophotographic photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test method according to 6.   An electrophotographic photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test apparatus for carrying out the electrophotographic photoreceptor deterioration acceleration test method according to claim 1, comprising at least a charging device and an exposure apparatus.

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