JP2970946B2 - Photoconductor manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a photosensitive element of a seamless belt type or a drum type for use in electrophotography, and more particularly to a manufacturing apparatus characterized by its supply apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electrophotographic photoreceptors include a hollow drum type made of aluminum or the like and a seamless belt type made of a plastic sheet made of polyester or the like on which a metal such as aluminum is deposited.

On the other hand, in the case of the hollow drum type, a coating method for coating a photosensitive liquid on the outer surface thereof to produce an electrophotographic photosensitive member includes spray coating, dip coating, blade coating, roll coating, and the like. And a slide hopper coating method are known.

However, in the spray coating method, since the solvent evaporates before the photosensitive liquid ejected from the spray gun reaches the outer surface of the object to be coated, the dried and solidified particles adhere to the surface, and the smoothness is reduced. A good coating surface cannot be obtained, and it is difficult to control the film thickness. Further, the blade coating method and the roll coating method have a disadvantage that a uniform coating film cannot be obtained due to the viscosity of the coating liquid. Further, the dip coating method improves the above-mentioned problems of the smoothness of the coating surface and the uniformity of the coating film, but the control of the film thickness is governed by the physical properties of the coating solution and the coating speed. Therefore, the adjustment of the coating liquid is very important, but this adjustment is extremely difficult in practice, and has a drawback that the coating speed is low and the productivity is poor.

[0005] In this regard, the use of the annular coating means, for example, a slide hopper type coating apparatus, has various advantages such as high productivity and easy control of the film thickness.

[0006]

However, since the workpiece to be coated of the seamless belt type is flexible, it is significantly deformed when gripped to be supplied to the annular coating apparatus. In the case of a seamless belt type photoreceptor, an annular coating method is not adopted.

In the case of a hollow drum type photoreceptor,
Although the coating can be performed continuously using the annular coating device, when an excessive local force acts on the grip portion,
The outer surface of the hollow drum may be damaged or deformed. If scratched, there is a risk of distorting the image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to ensure that a seamless belt photoconductor is supplied into an annular coating apparatus while preventing deformation or flaws of the photoconductor during coating.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above object may include a supply device for supplying the seamless belt of the outer circumferential surface the cylindrical longitudinally continuous in the annular coating apparatus, wherein the supply device, it
Each side is on the same side and the base side of the seamless belt
Oscillating rotation with these rotation centers
It can be moved toward and away from the center of the seamless belt.
Have a plurality of grips, and the swing limit of each grip
And each gripper contacts each other on the base side of each gripper.
At the time of this contact, the tip phase on the side opposite to the base side
The grips are separated from each other.
The problem can be solved by that the surface that comes into contact with the belt has substantially the same curvature as the curvature of the outer periphery of the seamless belt , and is further capable of reciprocating in the longitudinal direction.

[0010]

In the present invention, since the seamless belt supply device has a plurality of grip portions, the grip portion is moved when the seamless belt is gripped, so that the seam is moved.
A belt can be supplied into the annular coating device. By releasing the applied seamless belt at the end of the application, the next seamless belt can be supplied. In addition, since the surface of each gripping portion that comes into contact with the seamless belt is formed with substantially the same curvature as the curvature of the outer periphery of the seamless belt , the gripping force is not locally concentrated, and the deformation is large. Easy-to-stick seams
Deformation and flaws on the outer surface of the wrestling belt can be prevented.

In addition, the plurality of gripping portions are each provided with a seam.
Rotation center on the same side and the base side of the wrestling belt
And swings and rotates with these rotation centers,
It is made to be able to approach and separate toward the center of the mules belt, and
In the swing limit of each gripper, each gripper is located on the base side.
Are in contact with each other, and at this time they are opposite to the base side
Side ends are separated from each other.
The degree of tightening can be prevented.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described more specifically with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a coating apparatus, in which a pair of left and right screw screws 2A, 2B are disposed along a gantry 1, and rotation drive motors 3A, 3A for rotating the screws at their ends.
B is provided. Screws 2A and 2B have
There are provided gripping portions 10A and 10B which are screwed into this. Further, between the screw screws 2A and 2B, a group of seamless belts 20 is continuous via a spacer 21, and these seamless belts 20 are raised by a lifting cylinder 4 disposed at a lower end.
An annular coating device 6 such as a slide hopper type is disposed on the base 5 fixed to the ground, and the group of seamless belts 20 continuously passes through the inside of the annular coating device 6. Is applied to the outer surface of the seamless belt 20. Seamless belt 2
Above the group 0, a discharge device 7 is provided to chuck the inner surface of the uppermost coated seamless belt 20 and move it to the next step.

FIG. 2 shows a first example of a gripper of the present invention, which has a pair of opposing hands 11A and 11B.
The surfaces in contact with the inner seamless belt 20 are gripping surfaces 11a, 11a having substantially the same curvature as the outer peripheral curvature of the seamless belt 20. At the other end, the hands 11A and 11B swing about an outer rotational center O. Due to this swing, when the hands 11A, 11B are closed, the stopper portions 11b, 11B of the hands 11A, 11B are prevented in order to prevent the seamless belt 20 from being excessively tightened.
b comes into contact. Hands 11A, 11B
When the stopper portions 11b, 11b of
The other protrusions 11c, 11c are slightly separated from each other, so that the hands 11A, 11B are closed until the stoppers 11b, 11b abut on each other.
Note that the hands 11A and 11B may be configured to approach each other along a line passing through the center of the seamless belt 20 or the like. Also, the seamless belt 2 of the hands 11A and 11B
The contact and separation with respect to the outer periphery are performed by a driving means and a mechanism such as an appropriate cylinder, but specific examples of the mode are omitted.

Under the equipment thus constructed, the seamless belt 20 and the spacer 2 are sequentially placed in the coating line.
1 is carried in by means not shown. Along with the carry-in, the lifting cylinder 4 is lifted, and after waiting for the lifting, the one holding unit 10 </ b> B waiting at the lower position preferably holds the spacer 21. Next, the rotation drive motor 3B is started, and the screw 2B
Rotates, and the gripper 10B rises in a gripped state. At the same time, the upper holding portion 10A holds the upper spacer 21 and the holding portion 10A similarly rises. Thereby, the group of seamless belts 20 and the group of spacers 21 are raised. In the course of this ascent, the photosensitive material is applied to the outer surface of the seamless belt 20 from the annular coating device 6.

When the application of the photosensitive material to the target seamless belt 20 is completed, the rotary drive motor 3A rotates in the reverse direction, the upper gripping portion 10A is lowered to the standby position, and the next seamless belt 20 and the spacer 21 are awaited. . While this operation is sequentially repeated, the uppermost applied seamless belt 20 and the spacer 21 are sequentially discharged from the line.

FIG. 3 shows another example of a gripping part, and the hand 12
The concave surfaces of A and 12B have a plurality of concave portions, and conversely, a plurality of gripping surfaces 12a and 12a are formed on one side. In this case, when the groups 12a and 12a are made continuous, they have substantially the same curvature as the outer surface of the seamless belt 20.

On the other hand, if necessary, the spacer 21 can be omitted.
For example, the user grips the end of the zero. In the present invention, in the case where the spacer 21 is used, the spacer 21 can be regarded as a part of the seamless belt according to the present invention.

As can be inferred from the above description,
When gripping a seamless belt or spacer directly with a hand, it is necessary to grip the outer surface in a circular state, and it is important to prevent scratches on the outer surface. Therefore, it is desired that the gripping region is such that it grips substantially the entirety of the seamless belt or the spacer. Specifically, it is preferable that the total length of the gripping surface is 50% or more of the outer peripheral length of the seamless belt or the spacer in any form of hand. If the length of one gripping surface is short, there is a possibility that a flaw may occur. Therefore, the length of one gripping surface is preferably 5 mm or more, depending on the relationship with the gripping force. On the other hand, in the above example, the number of hands is two, but the number of hands may be three or more.

In the present invention, the annular coating means includes:
Although an annular slide hopper type extrusion coating apparatus can be used favorably, as disclosed in JP-A-62-83065, the coating liquid is entrained by the movement of the seamless belt group without performing extrusion. It may be of a type applied to a coating material.

On the other hand, the present invention can be favorably applied to the production of a photosensitive member of a seamless belt type, but can be similarly applied to a photosensitive member of a hollow drum type.

As the photoreceptor, those known in the production of electrophotographic photoreceptors can be used as they are. Examples of the photosensitive liquid include inorganic photosensitive materials such as zinc oxide and cadmium sulfide, and organic photosensitive materials such as polyvinylcarbazole and trinitrofluorene dispersed in a polymer binder. In recent years, it can also be used for producing a function-separated type photosensitive layer in which a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer are laminated in order to increase sensitivity and improve durability. When the photoreceptor is formed of a plurality of layers, one or two or more types of annular coating devices for applying different coating liquids can be provided above the annular coating device 6. The photoreceptor may have an undercoat layer or an electricity generation layer in some cases.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the photosensitive member can be reliably supplied into the annular coating device while preventing the photosensitive member from being deformed or scratched.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the entire coating equipment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a first hand example of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a second hand example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 6 annular coating device 10A, 10B gripping portion 11A, 11B hand 11a gripping surface 20 seamless belt 21 spacer

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03G 5/00 101 G03G 5/05 102

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A supply device for supplying a seamless belt having a cylindrical shape on an outer peripheral surface into an annular coating device continuously in a longitudinal direction, wherein each of the supply devices is the same as the seamless belt.
Side and the base side have a center of rotation.
Oscillating and rotating around the center to the center of the seamless belt
It has a plurality of gripping parts that can be approached and separated toward, and,
At the swing limit of each gripper, each gripper is
Parts contact each other on the
There is a relationship in which the tip ends on the opposite side are separated from each other, and the surface of each of the gripping portions that contacts the seamless belt has substantially the same curvature as the curvature of the outer periphery of the work, and
Further, the apparatus for manufacturing a photoreceptor is reciprocally movable in the longitudinal direction.