JP2007072177A - Electrophotographic method and electrophotographic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrophotographic method and an electrophotographic apparatus by excellent environmental stabilitycan be obtained, image defects such as fusion of a developer or image flow can be prevented and an electric power consumption can be reduced,. <P>SOLUTION: The electrophotographic method using an electrophotographic photoreceptor successively laminated with a photoconductive layer composed of an amorphous film using silicon as a base and a surface layer consisting of an amorphous film containing at least one of silicon and carbon on a cylindrical substrate is characterized in that the atom ratio of the surface layer is expressed by SilxxCx and the value of x is set in a range of 0.05≤x≤1.0; the toner image formed on the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor is transferred to a transfer material and is simultaneously fixed thereto. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrophotographic method using an electrophotographic photosensitive member sensitive to electromagnetic waves such as light (light in a broad sense, meaning ultraviolet rays, visible rays, infrared rays, X-rays, γ rays, etc.). And an electrophotographic apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to an electrophotographic method and an electrophotographic apparatus for forming an image by fixing a toner image formed on an electrophotographic photosensitive member made of an amorphous material onto a transfer material simultaneously with transfer.

  Conventionally, many methods are known as electrophotographic methods. This method generally uses a photoconductive substance, forms an electrostatic latent image on an electrophotographic photosensitive member by various means, and then develops the electrostatic latent image with toner to form a toner image. If necessary, the toner image is transferred to a transfer material such as paper, and then the toner image is fixed on the transfer material by heat or pressure to obtain a copy or print.

  Various materials such as inorganic materials such as selenium, cadmium sulfide, zinc oxide, amorphous silicon (hereinafter referred to as a-Si), or organic materials have been proposed as materials for the electrophotographic photoreceptor. Among these, an amorphous deposited film containing silicon atoms represented by a-Si as a main component, for example, an amorphous deposited film such as a-Si containing hydrogen and / or halogen (for example, fluorine, chlorine, etc.) It has been proposed and put to practical use as a high-performance, high-durability, non-polluting photoconductor.

  The a-Si photoconductor represented by a-Si has high sensitivity to wavelength light such as a semiconductor laser (600 nm to 700 nm), and has excellent points such as almost no deterioration due to repeated use. Therefore, it is widely used as an electrophotographic photosensitive member such as a high-speed copying machine or an LBP (laser beam printer).

  As a method for forming an a-Si photosensitive member, a sputtering method, a method of decomposing a source gas by heat (thermal CVD method), a method of decomposing a source gas by light (photo CVD), and a method of decomposing a source gas by plasma Many methods such as (plasma CVD method) are known. Above all, the plasma CVD method, that is, the raw material gas is decomposed by glow discharge generated using direct current or high frequency, (RF, VHF) or microwave, etc., such as glass, quartz, heat resistant synthetic resin film, stainless steel, aluminum, etc. The method for forming a deposited film on a desired substrate is not limited to a method for forming an a-Si photoconductor for electrophotography, but is now in practical use, including a method for forming a deposited film for other uses. Various devices for this purpose have also been proposed.

  In recent years, the shift to digitalization and colorization has progressed, and the demands for environmental stability and high image quality of electrophotographic apparatuses are increasing. In addition, from the ecological point of view, the demand for reducing power consumption is also increasing rapidly. As the electrical and photoconductive properties of electrophotographic photosensitive members are further improved, the amount of ozone and power consumption can be reduced. A photographic process has also been proposed.

Specifically, there is a method in which a low-resistance toner is developed on an electrophotographic photosensitive member provided with an a-SiC surface layer, preliminarily fixed simultaneously with transfer to a recording medium while being softened by heating or pressure means, and then main fixing is performed. It is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1). Further, a method is disclosed in which toner developed on an electrophotographic photosensitive member is fixed simultaneously with transfer onto a recording medium by heat, pressure or other physical energy (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP-A 63-135981 JP-A-63-133175

  As charging and discharging means for various conventional electrophotographic photosensitive members including a-Si type photosensitive members, in most cases, wire electrodes (metal wires such as 50-100 μmφ tungsten wires with gold plating) and shield plates are mainly used. A corona charger (corotron, scorotron) is used as a constituent member. That is, the corona current generated by applying a high voltage (about 4 to 8 kV) to the wire electrode of the corona charger is applied to the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and the electrophotographic photosensitive member is charged and discharged. The corona charger is excellent in uniform charging and discharging.

However, a considerably large amount of ozone (O ₃ ) is generated with corona discharge. The ozone oxidizes nitrogen in the air to generate nitrogen oxide (NOx) and the like. Further, the nitrogen oxide reacts with moisture in the air to generate nitric acid and the like.

  Corona discharge products such as nitrogen oxides and nitric acid adhere to and deposit on the photoreceptor surface and peripheral equipment. Since corona discharge products are highly hygroscopic, if the corona discharge products are deposited on the surface of the photoreceptor, the resistance of the corona discharge products is reduced due to moisture absorption, which substantially lowers the charge holding capacity of the photoreceptor. As a result, an image defect called image flow (state in which the charge on the surface of the photoconductor leaks in the surface direction and the electrostatic charge latent image pattern breaks or is not formed) may occur.

  Further, the corona discharge product adhering to the inner surface of the shield plate of the corona charger is volatilized and released not only during the operation of the electrophotographic apparatus but also during the rest of the apparatus at night or the like, and the photosensitive corresponding to the discharge opening of the charger. The surface of the photoreceptor is reduced in resistance by adhering to the body surface and absorbing moisture.

  As a result, when the electrophotographic apparatus is restarted, an image flow tends to occur in the area corresponding to the charger opening in the first output image or the subsequent several output images.

  Therefore, conventionally, a heater for directly heating the electrophotographic photosensitive member is provided, or warm air is blown to the electrophotographic photosensitive member by a hot air blowing device to heat the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member (30 to 50). ) And maintaining the dry state prevents the corona discharge product adhering to the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member from absorbing moisture and substantially reducing the resistance of the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member. Since a measure for preventing the phenomenon has been taken and this is a cause of increasing the power consumption of the electrophotographic apparatus, a process capable of eliminating the heating means of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is required.

  Furthermore, many of the fixing methods used in the electrophotographic process employ a heat fixing method in which toner is fixed by heat, and the heat source heater used for this heat fixing also accounts for a high proportion of the power consumption of the electrophotographic apparatus. In order to reduce the power consumption of a photographic apparatus, fixing methods other than low-temperature fixing and heat are required, and various fixing methods have been proposed.

  For example, there is an electrophotographic process in which a toner image is formed on the surface of an electrophotographic photosensitive member and then the toner image is fixed to a transfer material simultaneously with transfer by applying pressure and / or heat with a roller such as an elastic rubber member. .

  The electrophotographic process for fixing at the same time as the transfer is effective in combination with an a-Si type photoconductor having a hardness higher than that of other electrophotographic photoconductors, but the resin used for the toner is a-Si. Problems such as filming phenomenon adhering to the surface of the photoconductor and toner fusing to the surface of the a-Si photoconductor, transfer efficiency is inferior to the transfer method using the conventional corona charging, and the image density is lowered. It was necessary to solve the problem.

  Therefore, when designing an electrophotographic method or an electrophotographic apparatus, improvements from the comprehensive viewpoints such as electrophotographic physical properties and mechanical durability of the electrophotographic photosensitive member are made so as to solve the above-described problems. At the same time, it is necessary to further improve the charging method, the fixing method, and the electrophotographic apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its intended process is excellent in environmental stability, prevents image defects such as developer filming and fusion, or image flow, and power consumption. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrophotographic method and an electrophotographic apparatus capable of reducing the above.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention sequentially forms a photoconductive layer made of an amorphous film based on silicon and a surface layer made of an amorphous film containing at least one of silicon and carbon on a cylindrical substrate. In the electrophotographic method using the laminated child photographic photoconductor, the atomic ratio of the surface layer is represented by Si _1-X C _X and the value of x is in the range of 0.95 ≦ x ≦ 1.0. The toner image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor is transferred and fixed onto a transfer material at the same time.

  As a result of intensive studies to achieve the above object, the present inventors have completed an electrophotographic method and an electrophotographic apparatus capable of reducing power consumption under electrophotographic process conditions using a-Si photosensitivity. In addition, the electrophotographic process and the improvement of the surface layer of the a-Si photoreceptor were examined.

  As a result, an amorphous film containing a small amount of silicon atoms or an amorphous carbon film containing no silicon atoms in an amorphous film containing carbon atoms as a base layer as the surface layer of the a-Si-based photoconductor is a- It has been found that the releasability of the a-Si photoconductor with respect to the toner can be improved by using it for the surface layer of the Si photoconductor.

As the carbon content ratio of the surface layer, an amorphous silicon carbide film and an amorphous carbon film in which the atomic ratio is represented by Si _1-X C _X and the value of x is in the range of 0.95 ≦ x ≦ 1.0 Has found that the releasability with respect to the toner is extremely improved.

  Further, the surface layer of the a-Si photoconductor is set in the above range, and as an effect of improving the releasability of the surface layer, a toner image is formed on the surface of the a-Si photoconductor, and the toner image is transferred to a transfer material. In the electrophotographic process where fixing is performed at the same time, the toner is firmly adhered to the surface of the a-Si photoconductor, and the toner fusion or the resin component contained in the toner is coated on the surface of the a-Si photoconductor. It is possible to prevent the phenomenon.

  As the fixing method, pressure fixing that uses an elastic rubber roller member or the like to press-contact the surface of the a-Si photosensitive member or a method of heating and fixing the elastic rubber roller member together with the pressure fixing and the heat fixing as a preliminary fixing, transfer Although two-stage fixing provided with a fixing device for performing main fixing after preliminary fixing to the material is effective, pressure fixing is desirable for any fixing process from the viewpoint of power consumption.

  Next, as a result of studying a charging method with less ozone generation for the purpose of realizing an electrophotographic process that does not use a heating means of an a-Si photosensitive member as a means for reducing power consumption of an electrophotographic apparatus, It has been found that contact charging is effective.

  Contact charging is a system in which the surface of a charged body is charged by directly injecting charges from the contact charging member into the charged body. It is also called direct charging, injection charging, or charge injection charging. More specifically, a medium-resistance contact charging member comes into contact with the surface of the member to be charged, and charge is directly injected into the surface of the member to be charged without going through a discharge phenomenon, that is, basically using no discharge. Since this charging system does not involve generation of ions, generation of ozone, NOx, etc. can be suppressed and image flow can be prevented, so that it is not necessary to provide means for directly heating the electrophotographic photosensitive member.

  According to the present invention, there are provided an electrophotographic method and an electrophotographic apparatus that are excellent in environmental stability, prevent image defects such as developer filming and fusion, or image flow and reduce power consumption. It becomes possible to do.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an image forming process of a digital copying machine using an a-Si type photosensitive member provided with a surface layer of the present invention. A charging roller 102, a developing device 104, a fixing roller 105, a transport system 106, a cleaner 109, a static elimination light source 120, and the like are disposed.

  Hereinafter, the image forming process will be described more specifically. The photosensitive member 101 is uniformly charged by the main charger 102 to which a voltage is applied, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive member 101 by light emitted from the laser unit 118. Is done.

  For the control of the laser unit 118, a signal from the image processing unit 117 using a CCD is used. That is, the light emitted from the lamp 110 is reflected by the document 112 placed on the document table glass 111, passes through the mirrors 113, 114, and 115, is imaged by the lens unit 116, and is converted into an electric signal by the image processing unit 117. The converted signal is derived. The latent image is supplied with toner from the developing device 104 to form a toner image.

  On the other hand, the transfer material P, which is adjusted in the leading edge timing by the registration roller 121 through the transfer paper supply system 103 and is supplied in the direction of the photoconductor 101, is fed from the back to the fixing roller 105 in the gap between the fixing roller 105 and the photoconductor 101. By applying pressure or / and heat, the toner image on the surface of the photoreceptor is fixed to the transfer material P at the same time as being transferred, and is carried out of the apparatus by the transport system 106.

  The toner remaining on the photoreceptor 101 is collected by the cleaning roller 107 and the cleaning blade 108 of the cleaner 109, and the remaining electrostatic latent image is erased by the static elimination light source 120.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an image forming process in which a fixing unit 222 is provided in addition to the digital copying machine process shown in FIG.

  As in FIG. 1, the transfer material P supplied in the direction of the photoconductor 201 on which the toner image is formed is subjected to pressure or / and heat from the back by the fixing roller 205 in the gap between the fixing roller 205 and the photoconductor 201. The toner image on the surface of the photoreceptor is preliminarily fixed on the transfer material P at the same time as the transfer, reaches the fixing device 222 through the transport system 206, is fixed by the heating or pressure means, and is carried out of the apparatus.

  The surface material of the fixing rollers 105 and 205 is preferably an elastic body such as silicon rubber, urethane rubber, butadiene rubber, isoprene rubber, nitrile rubber, and the form is a foamed sponge roller with a fine gap. May be.

  Further, by providing a heat source such as a heater in the hollow portion of the fixing rollers 105 and 205 and using the heat fixing together with the pressure fixing, the pressure contact state can be lowered and the input power of the heat source can be reduced.

  Further, the fixing rollers 105 and 205 rotate in the rotation direction of the photoconductors 101 and 201 while being pressed against the surfaces of the photoconductors 101 and 201 to convey the transfer material P to the conveyance systems 106 and 206. Accordingly, it may be set in a state of being released from the pressure contact state except during fixing.

  If necessary, it is also effective to provide a second fixing unit such as a fixing unit 222 in addition to the fixing roller 205 as shown in FIG.

  Further, the fixing temperature when heat fixing is used in combination varies depending on the type of toner to be used, but generally 100 ° C. to 250 ° C., particularly 150 ° C. to 200 ° C. is preferable.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an example of an apparatus for producing an electrophotographic photosensitive member by a plasma CVD method.

  This apparatus is roughly divided into a deposition apparatus 3100, a source gas supply apparatus 3200, and an exhaust apparatus (not shown) for depressurizing the inside of the reaction vessel 3110. A cylindrical substrate 3112 connected to ground, a heater 3113 for heating the cylindrical substrate, and a raw material gas introduction pipe 3114 are installed in the reaction vessel 3110 in the deposition apparatus 3100, and a high-frequency power source 3120 is connected via a high-frequency matching box 3115. Is connected.

The source gas supply device 3200 includes source gas cylinders 3221 to 3226 such as SiH ₄ , H ₂ , CH ₄ , NO, B ₂ H ₆ , and CF ₄ , valves 3231 to 2236, 3241 to 3246, 3251 to 3256, and a mass flow controller 3211. The gas cylinder of each constituent gas is connected to a gas introduction pipe 3114 in the reaction vessel 3110 via an auxiliary valve 3210.

  The cylindrical base 3112 is connected to the ground by being installed on the conductive cradle 3123.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an example of an a-Si photoreceptor manufacturing apparatus.

  In the apparatus of FIG. 4, an exhaust port is provided on the bottom surface of a cylindrical reaction vessel 402, the exhaust port is connected to an exhaust pipe 407, and the other end of the exhaust pipe 407 is connected to an exhaust apparatus (not shown). At the center of the reaction vessel 402, one cylindrical substrate 401 on which a deposited film is formed is disposed in a state of being placed on a substrate support 406.

  After the high frequency power is supplied from the high frequency power sources 408 and 415 having different frequencies through the matching boxes 409 and 416, the high frequency power is supplied into the reaction vessel 402 from the high frequency electrode 404.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining a layer configuration of an a-Si photosensitive member manufactured according to the present invention.

  FIG. 5A shows an a-Si photosensitive member in which a charge injection blocking layer 502, a photoconductive layer 503, and a surface layer 504 are laminated on a base 501 in this order. The photoconductive layer 503 is made of an a-Si photoreceptor containing at least hydrogen, and the surface layer 504 is made of an amorphous material containing hydrogen atoms and containing at least silicon atoms or carbon atoms. Has image holding ability.

  FIG. 5B shows a layer structure in the case where a buffer layer 505 is provided between the photoconductive layer 502 and the surface layer 504 in addition to the layer structure of FIG. 5A. The buffer layer 505 and the surface layer 504 are composed of the composition. When performing by change, the composition change may be continuous.

  The buffer layer 505 is not particularly limited as long as it is an amorphous material, but preferably has the same composition as the surface layer 504 so that the surface layer 504 can be continuously formed.

The surface layer 504 has a charge blocking ability, and is provided to achieve the object of the present invention in terms of moisture resistance, continuous repeated use characteristics, electrical pressure resistance, use environment characteristics, and durability.
The surface layer of the present invention can be produced by using a gaseous hydrocarbon at normal temperature and pressure as a source gas, and can be produced by a plasma CVD method, a sputtering method, an ion plating method or the like, but is produced by using a plasma CVD method. The film has high transparency and hardness, and is preferable for use as a surface layer of an electrophotographic photoreceptor.

  In addition, any frequency can be used as the discharge frequency used in the plasma CVD method for producing the surface layer of the present invention, and industrially, a high frequency of 1 to 50 MHz, particularly 13.56 MHz, called an RF frequency band is preferable. Can be used. In particular, when a high frequency of a frequency band called VHF of 50 to 450 MHz is used, both transparency and hardness can be further increased, so that it is more preferable when used as a surface layer.

The surface layer 504 in the present invention is made of an amorphous material and contains, for example, an amorphous carbonized silicon (a-Si) containing hydrogen atoms (H) and / or halogen atoms (X) and further containing carbon atoms. : H, X) and materials such as amorphous carbon (a-C: H, X) which mainly contain carbon atoms and do not contain silicon atoms are preferably used. Furthermore, the amorphous carbonized layer or amorphous carbon layer of the present invention has an atomic ratio expressed by Si _1-X C _X and the value of x is in the range of 0.95 ≦ x ≦ 1.0. Each surface layer may be formed of a single layer, or may be formed of stacked layers.

  The amorphous carbon mentioned here mainly represents amorphous carbon having an intermediate property between graphite (graphite) and diamond, but may partially contain microcrystals or polycrystals. .

As the film forming gas when the surface layer 504 is formed of an amorphous carbonized silicon film, silicon hydride such as SiH ₄ , Si ₂ H ₆ , Si ₃ H ₈ , Si ₄ H _10, and CH ₄ , Gases such as C ₂ H ₆ , C ₃ H ₈ , C ₄ H ₁₀ , and hydrocarbons that can be gasified can be effectively used. Further, these raw material gases for supplying carbon may be diluted with a gas such as H ₂ , He, Ar, Ne or the like as necessary.

Further, as a material that can be a carbon supply gas when the surface layer 504 is formed of an amorphous carbon film, a gas state such as CH ₄ , C ₂ H ₆ , C ₃ H ₈ , C ₄ H ₁₀ , or the like Hydrocarbons that can be gasified are mentioned as being effectively used, and CH ₄ and C ₂ H ₆ are preferred because they are easy to handle at the time of layer preparation, good carbon supply efficiency, and the like. Further, these raw material gases for supplying carbon may be diluted with a gas such as H ₂ , He, Ar, Ne or the like as necessary.

  Next, an outline of the production of the electrophotographic photosensitive member using the production apparatus of FIGS. 3 and 4 will be described below by taking the apparatus of FIG. 3 as an example.

  Hereinafter, an example of a procedure of a method for forming a light receiving member using the apparatus of FIG. 3 will be described.

  A cylindrical substrate 3112 is installed in the reaction vessel 3110, and the inside of the reaction vessel 3110 is evacuated by an unillustrated exhaust device (for example, a vacuum pump). Subsequently, the temperature of the cylindrical substrate 3112 is controlled to a desired temperature of 20 ° C. to 500 ° C. by the heater 3113 for heating the cylindrical substrate. Next, in order to flow the raw material gas into the reaction vessel 3110, it is confirmed that the gas cylinder valves 3231 to 2236 and the reaction vessel leak valve 3117 are closed, and the inflow valves 3241 to 3246, the outflow valves 3251 to 3256, After confirming that the auxiliary valve 3210 is opened, the main valve 3118 is opened and the reaction vessel 3110 and the gas supply pipe 3116 are exhausted.

  Thereafter, when the reading of the vacuum system 3119 reaches 0.7 Pa, the auxiliary valve 3260 and the outflow valves 3251 to 3256 are closed. Thereafter, each gas is introduced from the gas cylinders 3221 to 3226 by opening the valves 3231 to 2236, and each gas pressure is adjusted to a predetermined pressure by the pressure regulators 3261 to 3266. Next, the inflow valves 3241 to 3246 are gradually opened to introduce each gas into the mass flow controllers 3211 to 3216.

  After completing the film formation preparation by the above procedure, a charge injection blocking layer is first formed on the cylindrical substrate 3112.

  That is, when the cylindrical substrate 3112 reaches a desired temperature, necessary ones of the outflow valves 3251 to 3256 and the auxiliary valve 3260 are gradually opened to introduce a desired source gas from the gas cylinders 3221 to 2226. It introduces into the reaction vessel 3110 through the tube 3114.

  Next, it adjusts so that each source gas may become a desired flow volume by each mass flow controller 3211-216. At that time, the opening of the main valve 3118 is adjusted while looking at the vacuum gauge 3119 so that the inside of the reaction vessel 3110 has a desired pressure of 133 Pa or less. When the internal pressure is stabilized, the high-frequency power supply 3120 is set to a desired power, and high-frequency power with a frequency of 1 MHz to 450 MHz, for example, is supplied to the cathode electrode 3111 through the high-frequency matching box 3115 to cause high-frequency glow discharge. Each material gas introduced into the reaction vessel 3110 is decomposed by this discharge energy, and a charge injection blocking layer mainly containing desired silicon atoms is deposited on the cylindrical substrate 3112.

  After the formation of the desired film thickness, after the formation of the desired film thickness to switch to the source gas necessary for the formation of the photoconductive layer, the supply of the high frequency power is stopped, and each outflow valve 3251- 3256 is closed to stop the flow of each source gas into the reaction vessel 3110, and the formation of the photoconductive layer is completed.

  When the surface layer is formed on the photoconductive layer, basically, the above operation may be repeated. After the source gas in the reaction vessel 3110 is exhausted, the reaction vessel is switched to the source gas necessary for the surface layer. Flow in 3110. After adjusting to a predetermined internal pressure, a surface layer having a desired film thickness may be formed by the same operation as the previous layer.

  The layer thickness of the surface layer of the present invention is usually 0.01 μm to 3 μm, preferably 0.05 μm to 2 μm, and most preferably 0.1 μm to 1 μm. If the film thickness is less than 0.01 μm, the mechanical strength as an electrophotographic photosensitive member may be impaired. On the other hand, when the film thickness of the surface layer exceeds 3 μm, electrophotographic characteristics such as an increase in residual potential may be impaired.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example demonstrates this invention further in detail, this invention is not limited at all by these.

  Using the apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 3, high frequency power having an oscillation frequency of 13.56 MHz is supplied to the cathode electrode 3111 through the matching box 3115, and is shown in Table 1 on a cylindrical substrate having a diameter of 80 mm and a length of 358 mm. Under the conditions, an electrophotographic photosensitive member was produced with the layer structure shown in FIG. In this example, four electrophotographic photoreceptors A to D were prepared for the surface layer 504 under the conditions shown in Table 2.

  The prepared four electrophotographic photosensitive members are set in an electrophotographic apparatus similar to that shown in FIG. 1 (a Canon iR5000 modified for evaluation), and a pressure fixing toner mainly composed of a styrene resin and a polyethylene resin is used. Filming, fusing and image flow were evaluated by the following methods. At that time, the process speed was 265 mm / sec and the pre-exposure amount (LED having a wavelength of 660 nm) was 4 lux · sec.

  For the fixing roller 105, a silicon rubber material was used for simultaneous transfer and fixing with a linear pressure of 30 kgf / cm.

The evaluation results of the produced electrophotographic photoreceptors A to D are shown in Table 6. Further, Table 3 shows the carbon content ratio (value of X) of the surface layer.
(Carbon content ratio)
The composition of the surface layer was analyzed using RBS measurement for each of the produced electrophotographic photoreceptors, and the carbon content ratio C / (Si + C) was obtained.
(Filming evaluation method)
The surface of an electrophotographic photosensitive member that has sustained 100,000 sheets of A4 size paper under cleaning conditions without a cleaning roller 107 that rubs the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 101 with toner collected to promote filming. The layer thickness was measured with a reflection spectrometer. Next, 100 μm of alumina powder was applied to a wet soft cloth, and the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member was rubbed 10 times in the direction of the bus at a pressure of about 10 kgf. The pressure at this time is preferably a pressure that is confirmed to prevent the surface layer from being scraped when the surface of a new electrophotographic photosensitive member is rubbed in advance.

  Thereafter, the thickness of the surface layer was measured again with a reflection spectrometer, and the difference was defined as the filming amount.

The evaluation of the filming amount is a relative comparison with the filming amount of the photoconductor E in Comparative Example 1 being 100. Therefore, the smaller the numerical value, the smaller the amount of filming and the better.
(Fusion evaluation method)
Hereinafter, a fusion promotion evaluation method will be described with reference to FIG.

  The electrophotographic photosensitive member was mounted on the electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and the continuous sheet durability of A4 plate was 100,000 sheets under environmental conditions of room temperature (about 25 ° C.) and relative humidity of 10%, and the fusion was evaluated. . However, the original used was a one-line chart in which one black line having a width of 1 mm was printed diagonally on a white background.

  After the end of the endurance, the charging current amount of the main charging roller 102 is adjusted so that the dark portion potential at the position of the developing device 104 is 400V, and the solid white original 112 is placed on the document table 111 so that the bright portion potential is 50V. The lighting voltage of the halogen lamp 110 was adjusted to create an A3 size solid white image. With this image, black spots generated by the fusion of the developer are observed. However, the observation area for fusion is an area corresponding to one rotation of the electrophotographic photosensitive member on the A3 size solid white image.

The evaluation of fusion is a relative comparison with the number of occurrences of fusion of the photoconductor E in Comparative Example 1 as 100. Therefore, the smaller the numerical value, the smaller the number of fusion occurrences, and the better.
(Image flow evaluation method)
Hereinafter, an image flow evaluation method will be described with reference to FIG.

  The charging current of the main charging roller 102 is adjusted so that the dark part potential of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 101 at the position of the developing unit 104 is 400 V, and a document with 5 horizontal lines / mm is placed on the document table, and the relative temperature is 35 ° C. After passing 100,000 sheets of A4 size transfer paper P continuously under severe environmental conditions for an image flow of 85% humidity, the apparatus is put into a resting state for 24 hours. Next, after 24 hours, an image check is performed to evaluate the area of the area where the 5 lines / mm line cannot be seen. However, the image flow observation area is an area corresponding to one rotation of the electrophotographic apparatus photoconductor on the A3 size image.

  The evaluation of the image flow is a relative comparison with the image flow area of the photoconductor E in Comparative Example 1 as 100. Therefore, the smaller the numerical value, the smaller the area of the image flow and the better.

＜比較例１＞
図３に示す構成の装置を用い、発振周波数が１３．５６ＭＨｚの高周波電力をマッチングボックス３１１５を介してカソード電極３１１１に供給し、直径８０ｍｍ、長さ３５８ｍｍの円筒状基体上に、表１に示す条件で図５（ａ）に示す層構成で電子写真感光体を作製した。本比較例では、表面層５０４は表４に示す条件で４本の電子写真感光体Ｅ〜Ｈを作製した。又、表面層の炭素含有比率（Ｘの値）を表５に示す。

<Comparative Example 1>
Using the apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 3, high frequency power having an oscillation frequency of 13.56 MHz is supplied to the cathode electrode 3111 through the matching box 3115, and is shown in Table 1 on a cylindrical substrate having a diameter of 80 mm and a length of 358 mm. Under the conditions, an electrophotographic photosensitive member was produced with the layer structure shown in FIG. In this comparative example, the surface layer 504 produced four electrophotographic photoreceptors E to H under the conditions shown in Table 4. Further, Table 5 shows the carbon content ratio (value of X) of the surface layer.

  The produced four electrophotographic photoreceptors E to H are set in an electrophotographic apparatus similar to that shown in FIG. 1 (Canon iR5000 modified for evaluation), and filming, fusing, and image are performed in the same manner as in Example 1. The flow was evaluated, and the results are shown in Table 6 together with the evaluation results of Example 1.

以上の結果から、電子写真感光体の表面層における炭素含有比率（Ｘの値）を本発明の範囲を０．９５≦ｘ≦１．０とすることにより転写同時定着プロセスを採用した電子写真装置での使用においてもフィルミング、融着及び画像流れ等の発生を防止することが可能であることが判明した。

From the above results, an electrophotographic apparatus employing the simultaneous transfer fixing process by setting the carbon content ratio (value of X) in the surface layer of the electrophotographic photosensitive member to the range of the present invention is 0.95 ≦ x ≦ 1.0. It has been found that it is possible to prevent the occurrence of filming, fusing, image flow, and the like even in the use of the image forming apparatus.

  Using the apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 3, high frequency power having an oscillation frequency of 13.56 MHz is supplied to the cathode electrode 3111 through the matching box 3115, and is shown in Table 7 on a cylindrical substrate having a diameter of 80 mm and a length of 358 mm. Under the conditions, an electrophotographic photosensitive member was produced with the layer structure shown in FIG. In this example, the surface layer 504 produced four electrophotographic photoreceptors I to L under the conditions shown in Table 2 as in Example 1.

  The prepared four electrophotographic photosensitive members are set in an electrophotographic apparatus similar to that shown in FIG. 2 (a Canon iR5000 modified for evaluation), and a pressure fixing toner mainly composed of a styrene resin and a polyethylene resin is used. Filming, fusing and image flow were evaluated by the following methods. At that time, the process speed was 265 mm / sec and the pre-exposure amount (LED having a wavelength of 660 nm) was 4 lux · sec. Further, a heater is provided in the hollow of the fixing roller 205 and heated to 80 ° C., the surface of the fixing roller 205 is made of a silicon rubber material, and the transfer and fixing are performed simultaneously by heat and a pressure of 20 kgf / cm. Two-stage fixing in which pressure fixing is performed by the fixing device 222 is adopted.

  The evaluation results of the produced electrophotographic photoreceptors I to L are shown in Table 8 as relative evaluation when the evaluation result of the electrophotographic photoreceptor E of Comparative Example 1 is 100. Incidentally, the carbon content ratio (value of X) of the surface layer is the value shown in Table 3 as in Example 1.

以上の結果から、電子写真感光体の表面層における炭素含有比率（Ｘの値）を本発明の範囲を０．９５≦ｘ≦１．０とすることによりバッファ層を設けた層構成においても転写同時定着プロセスを採用した電子写真装置で使用した場合でもフィルミング、融着及び画像流れ等の発生を防止することが可能であることが判明した。

Based on the above results, the carbon content ratio (value of X) in the surface layer of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is transferred even in a layer configuration in which a buffer layer is provided by setting the range of the present invention to 0.95 ≦ x ≦ 1.0 It has been found that filming, fusing, image flow, and the like can be prevented even when used in an electrophotographic apparatus employing a simultaneous fixing process.

  4, high-frequency power having an oscillation frequency of 60 MHz is superimposed on the electrode 404 from the high-frequency power source 408 via the matching box 409 and high-frequency power having an oscillation frequency of 105 MHz is superimposed on the electrode 404 via the matching box 416. In this state, an electrophotographic photosensitive member was produced on a cylindrical substrate having a diameter of 80 mm and a length of 358 mm under the conditions shown in Table 9 and having the layer structure shown in FIG. In this example, the surface layer 504 produced four electrophotographic photoreceptors M to P under the conditions shown in Table 10.

  The prepared four electrophotographic photosensitive members are set in an electrophotographic apparatus similar to that shown in FIG. 2 (a Canon iR5000 modified for evaluation), and a pressure fixing toner mainly composed of a styrene resin and a polyethylene resin is used. Filming, fusing and image flow were evaluated by the following methods. At that time, the process speed was 265 mm / sec and the pre-exposure amount (LED having a wavelength of 660 nm) was 4 lux · sec. Further, the surface of the fixing roller 205 is made of a silicon rubber material, and simultaneous transfer and fixing are performed by a linear pressure of 20 kgf / cm, and further, pressure fixing is performed by a fixing device 222.

  The evaluation results of the produced electrophotographic photoreceptors M to P are shown in Table 12 as relative evaluation when the evaluation result of the electrophotographic photoreceptor E of Comparative Example 1 is 100. In addition, the carbon content ratio (value of X) of the surface layer is a value shown in Table 11.

以上の結果から、６０ＭＨｚと１０５ＭＨｚを重畳した高周波電力を用いて作製した電子写真感光体においても表面層の炭素含有比率（Ｘの値）を本発明の範囲を０．９５≦ｘ≦１．０とすることにより、転写同時定着プロセスを採用した電子写真装置での使用においてもフィルミング、融着及び画像流れ等の発生を防止することが可能であることが判明した。

From the above results, the carbon content ratio (value of X) in the surface layer of the electrophotographic photosensitive member produced using the high frequency power superposing 60 MHz and 105 MHz is within the range of 0.95 ≦ x ≦ 1.0. Thus, it has been found that filming, fusing, image flow, and the like can be prevented even when used in an electrophotographic apparatus employing a simultaneous transfer fixing process.

It is a figure which shows typically the electrophotographic apparatus of this invention. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an electrophotographic apparatus that employs two-stage fixing according to the present invention. FIG. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the manufacturing apparatus which can apply the PCVD method using RF electric power which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the manufacturing apparatus which can apply the PCVD method using the VHF electric power which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the layer structure which shows an example of the electrophotographic photoreceptor which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

101, 201 Electrophotographic photosensitive member 102, 202 Main charging roller 103, 203 Transfer paper supply system 104, 204 Developer 105, 205 Fixing roller 106, 206 Conveying system 107, 207 Cleaning roller 108, 208 Cleaning blade 109, 209 Cleaner 110 , 210 Lamp 111, 211 Document table 112, 212 Document 113-114, 213-215 Mirror 116, 216 Lens unit 117, 217 Image processing unit 118, 218 Laser unit 119, 219 Mirror 120, 220 Static elimination light source 121, 221 Registration roller 222 Fixing device 3100 Deposition device 3110 Reaction vessel 3111 Cathode electrode 3112 Cylindrical substrate 3113 Heater for substrate heating 3114 Gas introduction tube 3115 High-frequency matching 3116 Gas piping 3117 Leak valve 3118 Main valve 3119 Vacuum system 3120 High frequency power supply 3120 High frequency power supply 3121 Insulating material 3122 Exhaust pipe 3123 Receiving base 3200 Gas supply device 3211 1-3216 Mass flow controller 3221-3226 Cylinder 3231 1-3236 Valve 3241-3246 Inflow valve 3251-3256 Outflow valve 3260 Auxiliary valve 3261-3266 Pressure regulator 400 Vacuum processing device 401 Cylindrical substrate 402 Reaction vessel 403 Gas introduction tube 404 High frequency electrode 405 High frequency power supply system 406 Base support 407 Exhaust tube 408, 415 High frequency power source 409, 416 Matching Box 410 Rotating shaft 411 Motor 412 Gear 413 Power branch 414 Shield 501 Base 502 Electric Load injection blocking layer 503 Photoconductive layer 504 Surface layer 505 Buffer layer

Claims (14)

Electrophotography using an electrophotographic photosensitive member in which a photoconductive layer made of an amorphous film based on silicon and a surface layer made of an amorphous film containing at least one of silicon and carbon are sequentially laminated on a cylindrical substrate. In the method
A toner image formed on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is transferred to a transfer material, wherein the atomic ratio of the surface layer is represented by Si _1-X C _X and the value of x is in the range of 0.95 ≦ x ≦ 1.0. An electrophotographic method characterized by fixing simultaneously.   2. The electrophotographic method according to claim 1, wherein the simultaneous transfer fixing is pressure fixing.   2. The electrophotographic method according to claim 1, further comprising a second fixing step subsequent to the simultaneous transfer fixing.   4. The electrophotographic method according to claim 3, wherein the simultaneous transfer fixing and / or the second fixing step is pressure fixing.   5. The electrophotographic method according to claim 1, wherein the main charging is roller charging.   6. The electrophotographic method according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is rubbed by rubbing means.   7. The electrophotographic method according to claim 1, wherein temperature control of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is not performed. Electrophotography using an electrophotographic photosensitive member in which a photoconductive layer made of an amorphous film based on silicon and a surface layer made of an amorphous film containing at least one of silicon and carbon are sequentially laminated on a cylindrical substrate. In the device
An electrophotographic photosensitive member in which the atomic ratio of the surface layer is expressed by Si1-xCx and the value of x is in the range of 0.95 ≦ x ≦ 1.0 is charged, exposed, and developed by means of the electrophotographic photosensitive member. An electrophotographic apparatus comprising a transfer simultaneous fixing means for forming a toner image on a surface and fixing the toner image on a transfer material at the same time as the transfer.   9. The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the simultaneous transfer fixing unit is pressure fixing.   9. The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a second fixing unit is provided after the simultaneous transfer fixing unit.   The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the simultaneous transfer fixing unit and / or the second fixing unit is pressure fixing.   The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the main charging means is roller charging.   The electrophotographic apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 12, further comprising a rubbing means for rubbing the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member.   The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a temperature control unit for the electrophotographic photosensitive member is not provided.

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