JP3173474B2 - Porous photoreceptor, method of manufacturing the same, and image recording apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a porous photoreceptor used for a copying machine, a facsimile or a printer, a method for manufacturing the same, and an image recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as an image forming technique of a copying machine, for example, an electronic recording method such as the Carlson method (xerography) is known. In this recording method (Carlson method), printing is performed through six steps of charging, exposure, development, transfer, fixing, and cleaning. However, since a dedicated unit is required for each step, the size of the entire apparatus is increased. Inevitable.

[0003] For this reason, as a recording method replacing the Carlson method, the applicant of the present invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-20409.
A recording method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2 has been proposed. This is because, in a porous photoreceptor obtained by laminating an insulating layer having a large number of micropores opened on the surface layer and an electrode exposed to the outside on a photoreceptor forming cylinder, conductive colored particles are contained in each micropore. And by irradiating exposure light corresponding to the print information, the conductive colored particles are selectively flight-transferred to the counter electrode via the recording paper, and recorded on the recording paper. In such a recording method, the printing step is completed by the three steps of the colored particle filling step, the exposure flying step, and the fixing step, so that the number of dedicated units can be reduced, and the size of the entire apparatus can be reduced. it can. in this case,
The shape of the porous photoreceptor is preferably a cylindrical or endless sheet for performing continuous printing.

Conventionally, in order to manufacture such a porous photoreceptor, a method of winding a sheet made of an insulator having a large number of micropores around the outer peripheral surface of a drum for forming a photoreceptor is considered. After the sheet is wound, a seam occurs in the sheet, and this portion becomes an image defect, and the image quality deteriorates.

A method of manufacturing a porous photoreceptor of this type includes forming an insulating layer on the outer peripheral surface of a drum for forming a photoreceptor, and then providing a large number of fine holes in the insulating layer using a laser or a drill. However, in this case, usually only a single hole can be formed by one processing operation, which is not practical. For example, at a resolution of 200 dpi, the length and the diameter are 210 mm and 3 respectively corresponding to the A4 size.
When minute holes are provided on the insulating layer of a cylindrical drum having a diameter of 0 mm, the number of holes is 1,000,000 or more. The hole processing using a laser enables fine processing and high image quality, but lacks mass productivity and increases costs.

Therefore, in order to address these problems,
The insulating layer is laminated from a photocurable liquid resin having a cured-uncured portion corresponding to the hole pattern on the photoconductive layer, and the uncured portion is removed from the insulating layer to provide a large number of micropores, thereby forming a porous layer. There has been proposed a method of manufacturing a photoconductor.

[0007]

However, in this type of method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor, since a photocurable liquid resin is used as a material for the insulating layer, the thickness of the insulating layer is set to a desired size. And the handling during the application of the resin becomes difficult, and there is a problem that the formation of the insulating layer is a troublesome operation.

Further, in this kind of manufacturing method of a porous photoreceptor, in order to secure the image density at the time of recording, it is necessary to make the depth of each fine hole, that is, the thickness of the insulating layer relatively large. Will be This is because the image density is determined by the number of conductive coloring particles filled in each micropore, so that the pore diameter or depth of each micropore is set to a predetermined size or more, but the resolution is increased. This is because, in order to obtain a high-quality image, it is desirable to reduce the hole diameter as much as possible. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the thickness of the insulating layer to a predetermined size or more in order to secure image density. As a result, as the thickness of the insulating layer (depth of the micropores) increases, it becomes difficult to remove the uncured portion during the drilling, and there is also a problem that the drilling becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a plurality of micropores in a charge transport layer or an insulating layer of a photoconductive layer are arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the drum axis direction and extend in a circumferential direction of the drum. And a porous photoreceptor capable of simplifying the work of forming an insulating layer and forming a hole by forming these grooves and forming a plurality of walls arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the drum. An object is to provide a manufacturing method and an image recording apparatus.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a porous photoreceptor according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein a light is transmitted through a light transmitting conductive layer on an outer peripheral surface of a light transmitting supporting cylinder. A porous photoreceptor having a photoreceptor-forming drum formed by laminating conductive layers, and is arranged at equal intervals in the drum circumferential direction and the drum axial direction on the outer peripheral surface of the photoconductive layer, and is opened on the front and back surfaces. An insulating layer having a large number of micro holes is laminated, and the micro holes of the insulating layer are arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the axial direction of the drum and a number of grooves extending in the circumferential direction of the drum, and these grooves are partitioned at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the drum. This is a configuration formed by a large number of parallel wall portions. Therefore, drilling of the insulating layer is performed by a number of grooves extending in the circumferential direction of the drum and a number of walls arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the drum.

[0011] The invention according to claim 2 (porous photoreceptor)
A porous photoreceptor comprising a photoconductive drum formed by laminating a photoconductive layer on a peripheral surface of a translucent support cylinder via a translucent conductive layer, wherein the charge transport layer is a photoconductive layer. In the drum circumferential direction and the drum axis direction are provided with a number of micro holes that are arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the drum axis direction and open on the surface, and these micro holes are arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the drum axis direction and extend in the drum circumferential direction with a number of grooves, These grooves are formed by a large number of walls arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the partition drum. Therefore, a hole is formed in the charge transport layer of the photoconductive layer by a large number of grooves extending in the drum circumferential direction and a large number of walls arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the drum circumferential direction.

The invention described in claim 3 is the first or second invention.
In the porous photoreceptor described, the micropores, the groove portion extending in the drum spiral direction and the pitch between the groove portions in the drum axial direction are equal,
The groove is formed by a large number of walls arranged side by side at equal intervals in the spiral direction of the partition drum. Therefore, the processing of the fine holes in the charge transport layer or the insulating layer is performed by the grooves extending in the spiral direction of the drum and the large number of walls arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the spiral direction of the drum.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the porous photoreceptor according to the first, second, or third aspect, the dimension of the groove portion in the minute hole in the extension direction is set to be equal to or greater than the dimension in the axial direction of the drum. Therefore, the precision of the dimension in the extension direction of the groove portion in the minute hole is relaxed as compared with the precision of the dimension in the axial direction of the drum.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, an image recording apparatus is provided.
An image recording apparatus comprising the porous photoreceptor according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a conveying speed of the recording paper is adjusted according to a ratio of a length of the groove in the microhole to a direction of the axis of the drum. And a controller for controlling the ratio of the peripheral speed of the porous photoreceptor. Therefore, an image output having the same resolution in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction during image recording can be obtained.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for forming a photoreceptor, comprising a photoconductive layer laminated on an outer peripheral surface of a light-transmitting support cylinder via a light-transmitting conductive layer. A method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor having a drum, wherein an insulating layer is laminated on the outer peripheral surface of the photoconductive layer, and then the insulating layer is arranged at equal intervals in the drum axis direction and extends in the drum circumferential direction. By forming a number of grooves and then forming a number of walls in parallel with the partition in the circumferential direction of the drum at equal intervals, the insulating layer is arranged in parallel in the circumferential direction of the drum and in the direction of the drum axis at equal intervals. This is a method of providing a large number of micro holes opened on the back surface. Therefore, micro holes are formed in the insulating layer by a large number of grooves extending in the circumferential direction of the drum and a large number of walls arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the drum.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for forming a photoreceptor comprising a photoconductive layer laminated on the outer peripheral surface of a light-transmitting support cylinder via a light-transmitting conductive layer. A method for producing a porous photoreceptor having a drum, comprising forming a number of grooves in the charge transport layer of the photoconductive layer arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the axial direction of the drum and extending in the circumferential direction of the drum, and then forming these grooves. By forming a large number of walls parallel to each other at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the partition drum, the charge transport layer is provided with a large number of fine holes that are parallel to each other at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the drum and in the axial direction of the drum and open to the surface. is there. Therefore, micro holes are formed in the charge transport layer of the photoconductive layer by a large number of grooves extending in the drum circumferential direction and a large number of walls arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the drum circumferential direction.

The invention according to claim 8 is the invention according to claim 6 or 7.
In the method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor described in the above, in forming the minute holes, after forming a groove extending in the drum spiral direction and having the same pitch between grooves in the axial direction of the drum, a large number of the grooves are arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the partition drum spiral direction. As a method of forming the wall portion. Therefore, the microholes are formed in the charge transporting layer or the insulating layer by the grooves extending in the drum spiral direction and the many walls arranged at equal intervals in the drum spiral direction.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to the sixth, seventh or eighth aspect, the groove is formed by laser processing. Therefore, the formation of the groove portion for the charge transport layer or the insulating layer,
This is performed by laser processing.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to the sixth, seventh or eighth aspect, the groove is formed by cutting. Therefore, the formation of the groove portion for the charge transport layer or the insulating layer,
This is done by cutting.

[0020] The invention according to claim 11 is the invention according to claims 6, 7,
9. The method for producing a porous photoreceptor according to 9 or 10,
The groove is formed by rotating the drum about an axis. Therefore, the formation of the groove in the charge transport layer or the insulating layer is performed by rotating the drum around the axis.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to the eighth, ninth or tenth aspect, the groove is formed by moving the drum in the axial direction while rotating the drum around the axis. There is. Therefore, the formation of the groove portion for the charge transport layer or the insulating layer,
This is performed by moving the drum in the axial direction while rotating it around the axis.

The invention according to claim 13 is the invention according to claims 6 to 12
In the method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to any one of the above, the wall portion is formed by applying a photocurable liquid resin to a surface to be coated of the groove portion and exposing the same. Therefore, the wall portion is formed by applying the photocurable liquid resin to the surface to be applied of the groove portion, and then exposing and curing the resin.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to the thirteenth aspect, the exposing step comprises a number of scanning steps, and after each of these scanning steps, the exposure step is performed in the vicinity of the wall. This is a method of removing the cured photocurable liquid resin by blowing compressed gas. Therefore, by removing the uncured photocurable liquid resin with the compressed gas after each scanning step, the removal efficiency is increased.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to the fourteenth aspect, when the compressed gas is blown, the resin is soluble and insoluble before and after the photocurable liquid resin is cured. As a method of spraying a mist-like solvent having Therefore, by removing the uncured photocurable liquid resin with the compressed gas and the soluble / insoluble solvent after each scanning step, the removal efficiency can be increased.

[0025]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a porous photoconductor according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a porous photoconductor denoted by reference numeral 1 includes a drum 2 and a surface electrode 3. The drum 2 includes a translucent support cylinder 4
And a light-transmitting conductive layer 5, a photoconductive layer 6, and an insulating layer 7. The drum 2 is formed by sequentially laminating a translucent conductive layer 5, a photoconductive layer 6, and an insulating layer 7 on the outer peripheral surface of the translucent support cylinder 4 to a predetermined thickness.

The light-transmitting conductive layer 5 is formed by an evaporation method, a dip coating method, a spray coating method, or the like. The photoconductive layer 6 includes a charge generation layer 6a and a charge transport layer 6a.
b, and is formed of an inorganic material or an organic material. Of these, a dip coating method or the like is used for the formation with an organic material (hereinafter, it is assumed that the photoconductive layer 6 made of an organic material is used). Thus, when the photoconductive layer 6 is irradiated with the exposure light corresponding to the print information at the time of recording an image, charges corresponding to the exposure amount are generated from the charge generation layer 6a. On the other hand, the charge transport layer 6b transports the charge generated from the charge generation layer 6a to the surface of the photoconductive layer 6,
The counter charge on the surface of the photoconductive layer 6 which has been charged in the opposite polarity to the generated charge in advance is neutralized to eliminate the charge. An undercoat layer may be interposed between the photoconductive layer 6 and the translucent conductive layer 5.

The insulating layer 7 is arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the drum and in the axial direction of the drum, and has a large number of fine holes 7a opened on the front and back surfaces. These micro holes 7a
Is a large number of grooves 7A which are arranged in parallel in the drum axis direction at equal intervals and extend in the drum circumferential direction, and a large number of wall portions 7B which partition these grooves 7A and are arranged in parallel in the drum circumferential direction at equal intervals.
And is formed by. The surface electrode 3 includes a photoconductive layer 6
In addition to a function for forming a high electric field therein, a function for confining the conductive (colored) particles in the micropores 7a and a function for preventing the conductive particles 28 from adhering to the electrode surface, It is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the insulating layer 6.

In this embodiment, the case where the insulating layer 7 is formed with the micro holes 7a as through holes has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the surface of the charge transport layer 6b of the photoconductive layer 6 may be formed on the surface. It may be processed as a concave hole that opens in the hole.
Further, the micropores in the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiment, and a groove extending in the drum spiral direction and having the same pitch between the grooves in the axial direction of the drum, and a large number of walls which partition the groove at equal intervals in the spiral direction of the drum drum. It may be formed by a part. In this case, the intervals between the micro holes in the drum circumferential direction and the drum axial direction are equal to the pitch between the drum circumferential groove portions and the pitch between the drum axial groove portions, respectively.

Next, an image recording apparatus using the porous photoconductor constituted as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the image recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the drawings below, the same reference numerals are given to the porous photoconductors, and the detailed description is omitted. In FIG. 1, the image recording apparatus indicated by reference numeral 21 includes the porous photoconductor 1, a conductive roller 22, a counter electrode 23, a light source 24, and a controller (not shown).

The porous photoreceptor 1 is rotatably held at a speed of V2 in a direction indicated by an arrow. The conductive roller 22 has a conductive particle thin layer 26 thinned by a regulating blade 25, and is disposed upstream of the porous photoconductor 1. The counter electrode 23 is disposed downstream of the porous photoconductor 1. The recording medium 27 is disposed on the side of the porous photoconductor of the counter electrode 23. The recording medium 27 is driven by a transport device (not shown) at the time of image recording, thereby
It is transported at a speed of 1 in the direction indicated by the arrow. Light source 2
Reference numeral 4 is provided in the porous photoconductor 1.

The controller (not shown) is provided with a micro hole 7a.
And a controller for controlling the ratio between the conveying speed of the recording paper 27 (conveying device) and the peripheral speed of the porous photoconductor 1 in accordance with the ratio between the length of the groove 7A in the extension direction and the size of the drum axial direction. It is arranged near the body 1 and the counter electrode 23. As a result, an image output having the same resolution in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction at the time of image recording is obtained, and excellent printing is performed on the recording medium 27 in the vertical and horizontal directions. In the figure, reference numeral 28 denotes conductive particles which fly from inside the fine holes 7a of the porous photoreceptor 1 and adhere to the recording medium 27 during image recording.

Image recording in the image recording apparatus thus configured is performed as follows. First, an electric field is formed between the light-transmitting conductive layer 5 and the conductive roller 22 by applying a voltage between the light-transmitting conductive layer 5 and the surface electrode 3 and between the surface electrode 3 and the conductive roller 22. . At this time, the conductive particles 28 on the conductive roller 22 are inductively charged to a negative polarity, and the openings (micropores 7a) of the porous photoconductor 1 are formed.
Is filled in. In addition, the conductive particles 28 colliding with the surface electrode 3 are charged to a positive polarity, and return to the conductive roller 22. Therefore, the conductive particles 28 are filled only in the micropores 7 a so as to have a potential equal to the potential of the surface electrode 3. Since the electric field on the surface of the particle layer approaches zero, the conductive particles 2
8 is confined in the minute hole 7a.

Next, in the image recording section, the light-transmitting conductive layer 5
Then, an electric field is generated from the light source 24 to the counter electrode 23, and light corresponding to an image is emitted from the light source 24 to the photoconductive layer 6. At this time,
The conductivity of the irradiated portion in the photoconductive layer 6 increases,
Electric charges of the conductive particles 28 in the micro holes 7a leak through the photoconductive layer 6. For this reason, the conductive particles 2 in the minute holes 7a
8 approaches the potential of the translucent conductive layer 5, an electric field is generated on the layer surface of the conductive particles, and the conductive particles 28 on the surface electrode 3 side are positively charged and fly from the micropores 7a. It adheres to the recording medium 27. Thus, an image can be recorded on a recording medium.

In this case, since the pitch between the micro holes 7a and the hole diameter directly affect the image density, in order to ensure high image density, the pitch between the holes is set as small as possible and the hole diameter is increased. It is desirable to optimize the shape and arrangement of the micro holes 7a by setting the dimensions. Further, in order to efficiently print on the recording medium 27, it is preferable to form an image on the cylindrical porous photoconductor 1 and rotate it to continuously advance the printing process.

Next, a method for manufacturing the porous photoreceptor of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 10 are a sectional view and a perspective view illustrating a method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to the present embodiment, after forming a laminated photoreceptor P (“Formation of a laminated photoreceptor”), the laminated photoreceptor P is formed.
This is performed by forming a hole in the insulating layer ("Processing a hole in the insulating layer").

[Formation of Laminated Photoreceptor P] First, a light-transmitting conductive layer 5, a photoconductive layer 6, and an insulating layer 7 are sequentially stacked on the outer peripheral surface of the light-transmitting support cylinder 4. In this case, the thickness of the insulating layer 7 was set to about 100 μm. As the material,
Thermosetting epoxy resin is not only easy to apply (lamination), but also has good adhesion to the underlying layer, low shrinkage after curing, and excellent strength after curing. Was used.

The uncoated layer 7 is formed in a thermosetting epoxy resin coating solution once in the same manner as in the case of forming a charge transporting layer of a photoconductive layer during the conventional production of an electrophotographic photoreceptor. This is performed by dipping (after the formation of the photoconductive layer) (dipping method), pulling it up at a constant speed, and thermally curing it. As another forming method, a polymer dissolved in a solvent may be applied and dried by a method similar to the dipping method, and the insulating layer 7 may be formed by a coating method such as blade coating.

The charge generation layer 6a in the photoconductive layer 6
For example, n-type titanyl phthalocyanine and polyvinyl butyral are used as the material of which the thickness is 0.05 to 1 μm.
m. The charge transport layer 6b is formed by dissolving polycarbonate as a binder resin in a solvent such as tetrahydrofuran and containing the charge transport material disclosed in JP-A-7-168376 in an amount of 20 to 40 wt%. The height was about 20 μm.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, a surface electrode 3 is formed on the surface of the insulating layer 7 by a vacuum evaporation method. In this case, as a material of the electrode 3, a metal such as aluminum, gold, bismuth or the like, ITO or the like was used, and its thickness was about 250 °. In addition, as a method of forming the surface electrode 3, an electroless plating method or the like may be used, or a coating method of applying a conductive polymer or the like may be used.

"Processing of Holes (Through Holes) in Insulating Layer" This hole (small holes 7a) extends in the spiral direction of the drum on the outer peripheral surface of the insulating layer 7a, and the pitch between grooves in the axial direction of the drum (main scanning direction) is reduced. After forming an equal groove portion (through groove portion) 7A (first step), the groove portion 7A is formed by forming a number of wall portions 7B arranged in parallel in the spiral direction of the partition drum at equal intervals (second step).

(First Step) As shown in FIG.
While rotating the laminated photoconductor P with a mark at a constant peripheral speed in the direction of arrow A, using the XY stage controlled by the servo motor, in the direction of arrow B at the feed pitch corresponding to the desired pitch between the axial holes (main direction). 5 and 6, by irradiating a spot on the groove-forming portion of the surface electrode 3 (insulating layer 7) with a laser beam S using, for example, a carbon dioxide laser for fixing, as shown in FIGS. A groove 7A is formed on the surface of the insulating layer 7 and extends in the drum spiral direction.

Here, the feed pitch of the XY stage is the pitch between the holes in the main scanning direction (the direction of the drum axis perpendicular to the recording paper conveyance direction), whereby the resolution in the main scanning direction during image recording is reduced. It is determined. In this case, the spot diameter of the laser beam is narrowed down by using a converging lens so as to correspond to the groove width of the groove 7A.

In such groove processing, the processing time can be shortened because the groove 7A is a single continuous groove (spiral groove). Here, for example, in the case of forming a polymorphic porous layer corresponding to 600 dpi, a large number of grooves are formed at equal intervals in the axial direction on the laminated photoconductor P having a main scanning direction (axial direction) dimension of 300 mm. If
7000 grooves are required. Further, in the present embodiment, since the laser processing is performed, distortion and impact on the workpiece during processing are small, and image recording with high resolution can be obtained. Further, since the groove processing in the present embodiment is performed by moving the workpiece (laminated photoconductor P) while fixing the laser, it is not necessary to control the depth of the groove, and it is not necessary to control the depth of the groove. The light irradiation angle and the distance are always constant, and it is not necessary to determine irradiation conditions more strictly as compared with the case where the laser itself is moved to perform groove processing. In addition, in the present embodiment, the groove processing can be performed by using mechanical cutting using a diamond tool or the like instead of laser processing.

(Second Step) First, as shown in FIG. 7, the laminated photoconductor P is placed in the photocurable liquid resin R in the translucent bath 71.
Is moved in the axial direction while rotating the laminated photosensitive member P about the axis in the sub-scanning direction by a dimension corresponding to the circumferential dimension of the wall 7B.
The photocurable liquid resin R is cured by lamp-scanning exposure using a mask 72 with 2a. This lamp scanning exposure is performed over the entire extending direction of the groove of the laminated photoconductor P to form a large number of walls 7B which are arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the groove 7A in the spiral direction of the partition drum. At this time, a laminated photoconductor P having a large number of fine holes 7a opened on the front and back surfaces is formed.

In this case, the lamp light has a wavelength and an energy density sufficient to cure the photocurable liquid resin R by exposure. Further, the mask surface of the mask 72 is set so that the thickness of the wall portion 7B matches the depth of the groove portion 7A and the surface of the wall portion 7B is flush with the outer peripheral surface of the insulating layer 7. Is exposed by lamp scanning so as to be in contact with. Further, the feed pitch between the wall portions in the sub-scanning direction (the dimension in the extending direction of the groove portion 7A in the minute hole 7a) is
In order to efficiently remove the uncured resin r after the exposure, the dimension of the groove 7A in the minute hole 7a is set to be equal to or greater than the dimension in the drum axis direction.

In this step, the case where the wall portion is formed by lamp scanning exposure has been described. However, the wall portion can also be formed by laser scanning exposure. In this case, in order to make the thickness of the wall portion 7B coincide with the depth of the groove portion 7A, the exposure is performed such that the bottom of the translucent bathtub 71 contacts the outer peripheral surface of the laminated photoconductor P.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8, the uncured resin r in the minute holes 7a is removed by spraying a compressed gas G such as compressed air by a nozzle 81 (air knife method). In this case, the removal of the uncured resin r is performed immediately after the exposure,
It is desirable to improve the removal efficiency and to recover and reuse the uncured resin r.

For this reason, as the photocurable liquid resin R,
A resin having a high hardness contrast between cured and uncured, that is, a resin having low viscosity characteristics when uncured and having high hardness characteristics when cured (for example, "Low viscosity photocurable liquid resin TSR (manufactured by Teijin Seiki Co., Ltd.)"). Is preferred.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 9, in order to completely remove the uncured resin r in the minute holes 7a, the minute holes 7a are introduced into the isopropyl alcohol 92 filled in the beaker 91.
, And is stored in an ultrasonic cleaning machine 93 and developed for one minute. In this case, as shown in FIG. 10, an airbrush method may be used in which a compressed gas G containing a mist-like photo-curable liquid resin-soluble solvent Y is sprayed onto the laminated photoconductor P having the fine holes 7a by a nozzle 101. . According to this airbrush method, the adhesiveness between the cured photocurable liquid resin R and the photoconductive layer 6 which is the base layer of the insulating layer 7 (porous layer) is ensured, and the uncured resin r to the groove bottom is removed. There is an advantage that a very small amount of a developing solution is required as compared with a so-called spray developing method in which a solvent alone is injected at a high pressure (using no compressed gas G).

After confirming that there is no so-called image tilt in the circumferential direction of the drum and the axial direction of the drum in the minute holes 7a, the developed laminated photoconductor P is placed in a constant temperature bath (not shown) set at a temperature of 60 ° C. Let dry for 10 minutes in. Here, in order to further improve the electrical conductivity (the surface electrode 3 was partially removed by hole processing), after drying, an electrode layer was formed on the surface of the laminated photoconductor P by the above-described vacuum deposition or the like. You may. Thus, the porous photoreceptor 1 can be manufactured.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, since a resin other than the photocurable liquid resin can be used as the material of the insulating layer 7, the thickness of the insulating layer 7 can be set to a desired size, and Removal of the hardened portion can be easily performed.

Next, another method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor (second embodiment) will be described with reference to FIGS. 4, 5 and 11 and 12. 11 and 12 are cross-sectional views illustrating a method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to the present embodiment, after forming a laminated photoreceptor P (“Formation of a laminated photoreceptor”), a hole is formed in a photoconductive layer (charge transport layer) of the laminated photoreceptor P. This is performed by performing “hole processing on the charge transport layer”).

[Formation of Laminated Photoconductor P] First, a light-transmitting conductive layer 5 and a photoconductive layer 6 are sequentially stacked on the outer peripheral surface of the light-transmitting support cylinder 4. In this case, the charge generation layer 6a of the photoconductive layer 6
Was set to about 0.1 to 1 μm, and the thickness of the charge transport layer 6b was set to about 100 to 150 μm (normally about 5 to 50 μm). As the material, in the charge generation layer 6a, n-type titanyl phthalocyanine and ponivinyl butyral were used. In the charge transport layer 6b, a polycarbonate coating solution was applied three times to obtain a polycarbonate thick film layer. Further, polystyrene or the like is used as a binder resin, which is dissolved in a solvent.
No. 6 to 20 to 40 wt.
% May be laminated on the charge generation layer 6a,
In this case, good charge transport characteristics can be obtained. Here, the binder resin is selected in consideration of the ease of groove processing in addition to the charge transport property.

Next, as shown in FIG.
The surface electrode 3 is formed on the surface b by a vacuum evaporation method.
In this case, as in the manufacturing method of the first embodiment, the material of the surface electrode 3 was a metal such as aluminum, gold, bismuth or the like, ITO, or the like, and the thickness was about 250 °.
In addition, as a method of forming the surface electrode 3, an electroless plating method or the like may be used, or a coating method of applying a conductive polymer or the like may be used.

"Processing of Holes (Concave Holes) in Charge Transport Layer" The holes (fine holes 7a) are formed by extending the outer peripheral surface of the charge transport layer 6b in the spiral direction of the drum and between the grooves in the axial direction of the drum (main scanning direction). After forming the groove portions 6A having the same pitch (first step),
This is performed by defining the groove 6A and forming a number of walls (not shown) arranged in parallel in the drum spiral direction at equal intervals (second step).

(First Step) As shown in FIG.
While rotating the laminated photoconductor P with a mark at a constant peripheral speed in the direction of arrow A, using the XY stage controlled by the servo motor, in the direction of arrow B at the feed pitch corresponding to the desired pitch between the axial holes (main direction). 5 and FIG. 12 by irradiating a laser beam S on a groove-forming portion of the surface electrode 3 (the charge transport layer 6b) using a fixing carbon dioxide laser, for example. A groove 6A extending in the drum spiral direction on the surface of the charge transport layer 6b is formed.

In such groove processing, since the groove 6A is a single continuous groove (spiral groove), the processing time can be reduced as in the first embodiment. Further, in the present embodiment, since the laser processing is performed, image recording with high resolution can be obtained as in the first embodiment.
Further, in the present embodiment, since the groove processing is performed by moving the workpiece (laminated photoconductor P) while fixing the laser, the irradiation conditions are more strict than in the case where the laser itself is moved and the groove processing is performed. Is the same as in the first embodiment. In addition, also in the present embodiment, the groove processing can be performed by using mechanical cutting using a diamond tool or the like instead of laser processing.

(Second Step) First, similarly to the first embodiment, the laminated photoconductor P is placed in the photocurable liquid resin in the light-transmitting bathtub.
Is moved in the axial direction while rotating the laminated photoreceptor P about the axis in the sub-scanning direction by a dimension corresponding to the circumferential dimension of the wall 7B, and photocuring is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The ionic liquid resin is subjected to lamp scanning exposure or laser scanning exposure. This scanning exposure is performed over the entire extending direction of the groove of the laminated photoconductor P, and a large number of walls (not shown) are formed so that the groove 6A is arranged at equal intervals in the spiral direction of the partition drum. At this time, a laminated photoconductor P having fine holes (not shown) opened on the surface is formed.

Next, as in the first embodiment, the uncured resin in the micropores (not shown) is removed by blowing a compressed gas such as compressed air with a nozzle (air knife method). In order to completely remove the uncured resin therein, the laminated photoconductor P having minute holes is immersed in isopropyl alcohol filled in a beaker, and this is accommodated in an ultrasonic cleaner and developed for one minute. In this case, as in the first embodiment, an airbrush method in which a compressed gas containing a mist-like photocurable liquid resin-soluble solvent is sprayed onto the laminated photoconductor P having fine holes by a nozzle may be used. .

After confirming that there is no so-called image tilt in the circumferential direction of the drum and the axial direction of the drum in the minute hole 7a, the developed laminated photoconductor P is placed in a thermostat (not shown) set at a temperature of 60 ° C. Let dry for 10 minutes in. Here, similarly to the first embodiment, an electrode layer may be formed on the surface of the laminated photoconductor P by the above-described vacuum deposition or the like after drying in order to further improve the electrical conductivity. Thus, the porous photoreceptor 1 can be manufactured.

Accordingly, in this embodiment, a resin other than the photocurable liquid resin can be used as the material of the charge transport layer 6b. And the work of removing the uncured portion can be easily performed.

In each embodiment, the micro holes 7a
Is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 2 in the helical direction, the groove 7A having the same pitch between the grooves in the axial direction of the drum 2, and a plurality of wall portions 7B formed in parallel at equal intervals in the helical direction of the partitioning drum. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and includes a large number of grooves parallel to each other in the drum axis direction at equal intervals and extending in the circumferential direction of the drum, and a large number of walls partitioning these grooves at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the drum. It may be formed.

In this case, a plurality of grooves are formed in parallel with the outer peripheral surface of the insulating layer 7 or the charge transporting layer 6b at equal intervals in the drum axis direction and extend in the drum circumferential direction (first step). This is done by forming a large number of wall portions in which these grooves are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the partition drum (second step).

The first of these two steps is to irradiate the laminated photoreceptor P with a spot using a carbon dioxide gas laser for fixing while rotating the laminated photoreceptor P about an axis, or to use a cutting process. This is performed by cutting the grooved portion. On the other hand, in the second step, a part of the laminated photoconductor P is immersed in the photocurable liquid resin in the translucent bath, and the laminated photoconductor P is dimensioned in the sub-scanning direction by a dimension corresponding to the circumferential direction of the drum of the wall. This is carried out by subjecting the photocurable liquid resin to lamp scanning or laser scanning exposure while rotating around the axis. The exposure scan in the second step is performed for each groove portion. Immediately after each exposure scan (before the next exposure scan), the uncured resin in the micropores is removed by an air knife method to increase the removal efficiency, and the uncured resin is removed. It is desirable to recover the resin so that it can be reused.

[0065]

As described above, according to the present invention, an insulating layer having fine holes is laminated on the outer peripheral surface of the photoconductive layer, and the fine holes of the insulating layer are arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the axial direction of the drum. Since a large number of grooves extending in the circumferential direction of the drum and a large number of walls parallel to each other at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the partitioning drum are formed, the hole processing for the insulating layer is performed.
This is performed by a large number of grooves extending in the circumferential direction of the drum and a large number of walls arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the drum.

Therefore, since a resin other than the photocurable liquid resin can be used as the material of the insulating layer, the thickness of the insulating layer can be set to a desired size, and the work of removing the uncured portion can be simplified. Accordingly, the work of forming the insulating layer and the hole processing can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a porous photoconductor according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the image recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a laminated photoconductor with an electrode layer formed by the method for manufacturing a porous photoconductor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a step of forming a groove in the method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a step of forming a groove in the method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the laminated photoconductor after groove processing formed by the method for manufacturing a porous photoconductor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a step of forming a wall in the method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view for explaining an uncured resin removing step after forming a wall in the method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a final uncured resin removing step in the method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view for explaining another final uncured resin removing step in the method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a laminated photoconductor with an electrode layer formed by a method for manufacturing a porous photoconductor according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view showing a laminated photoreceptor after groove processing formed by a method for manufacturing a porous photoreceptor according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Porous photoreceptor 2 Drum 3 Electrode 4 Translucent support cylinder 5 Translucent conductive layer 6 Photoconductive layer 7 Insulating layer 7a Micropore 7A Groove 7B Wall 21 Image recorder 22 Conductive roller 23 Counter electrode 24 Light source 25 Regulator blade 26 Thin layer of conductive particles 27 Recording medium 71 Translucent bath 72 Mask 72a Slit 91 Beaker 92 Isopropyl alcohol 93 Ultrasonic cleaner 101 Nozzle a Rotation axis A Rotation direction around the axis of the laminated photoconductor B Axis of the laminated photoconductor Moving direction P Laminated photoreceptor G Compressed gas R Photocurable liquid resin r Uncured resin S Laser beam Y Solvent

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Funayama 5-7-1 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo Within NEC Corporation (56) References JP-A-8-95356 (JP, A) JP-A-9-204092 ( JP, A) JP-A-9-254429 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 5/00-5/16

Claims (15)

(57) [Claims] 1. A porous photoreceptor comprising a photoreceptor forming drum in which a photoconductive layer is laminated on an outer peripheral surface of a translucent support cylinder via a translucent conductive layer, On the outer peripheral surface of the conductive layer, an insulating layer having a large number of micropores which are arranged in parallel in the drum circumferential direction and the drum axial direction at equal intervals and are opened on the front and back surfaces is laminated, and the micropores of the insulating layer are aligned in the drum axial direction. A porous photoreceptor comprising: a plurality of grooves arranged in parallel at intervals and extending in the circumferential direction of the drum; and a plurality of walls formed in parallel with the partitions at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the partition drum. 2. A porous photoconductor comprising a photoconductor-forming drum in which a photoconductive layer is laminated on a peripheral surface of a light-transmitting support cylinder with a light-transmitting conductive layer interposed therebetween, wherein: A large number of fine holes are formed in the charge transport layer of the conductive layer at regular intervals in the drum circumferential direction and in the drum axial direction, and are opened on the surface.These fine holes are arranged in parallel at regular intervals in the drum axial direction and are arranged in the drum circumferential direction. A porous photoreceptor comprising: a plurality of grooves extending; and a plurality of walls arranged in parallel at equal intervals in a circumferential direction of a partition drum. 3. The microholes are formed by grooves extending in the drum spiral direction and having the same pitch between grooves in the axial direction of the drum, and a plurality of walls arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the spiral direction of the partition drum. The porous photoreceptor according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 4. The porous photoreceptor according to claim 1, wherein an extension dimension of said groove portion in said minute hole is set to be greater than or equal to a dimension in a drum axis direction. 5. An image recording apparatus provided with the porous photoreceptor according to claim 1, wherein a ratio of an extension direction dimension of the groove in the minute hole to a drum axis direction dimension is determined. An image recording apparatus, comprising: a controller that controls a ratio of a recording paper conveyance speed to a peripheral speed of the porous photoconductor in accordance with the speed. 6. A method for producing a porous photoreceptor comprising a photoreceptor forming drum comprising a photoconductive layer laminated on an outer peripheral surface of a translucent support cylinder via a translucent conductive layer. An insulating layer is laminated on the outer peripheral surface of the photoconductive layer. Next, a large number of grooves extending in the drum circumferential direction are formed in the insulating layer in parallel at equal intervals in the drum axis direction. By forming a large number of walls arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, the insulating layer is provided with a large number of minute holes which are arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the drum circumferential direction and the drum axis direction and open on the front and back surfaces. A method for producing a porous photoreceptor. 7. A method for producing a porous photoreceptor comprising a photoreceptor-forming drum in which a photoconductive layer is laminated on a peripheral surface of a light-transmitting support cylinder via a light-transmitting conductive layer. Forming a number of grooves in the charge transport layer of the photoconductive layer in parallel at equal intervals in the axial direction of the drum and extending in the circumferential direction of the drum, and thereafter partitioning these grooves in equal numbers in the circumferential direction of the drum; Forming a plurality of micro holes which are arranged in parallel in the circumferential direction of the drum and in the axial direction of the drum at equal intervals in the charge transport layer and are opened on the surface. 8. In providing the minute holes, after forming a groove portion extending in the drum spiral direction and having the same pitch between the groove portions in the axial direction of the drum, a large number of wall portions are formed which partition the groove portions at equal intervals in the spiral direction of the drum. 8. The method for producing a porous photoreceptor according to claim 6, wherein: 9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the groove is formed by laser processing. 10. The method according to claim 6, wherein the groove is formed by cutting. 11. The method according to claim 6, wherein the groove is formed by rotating the drum around an axis. 12. The method according to claim 8, wherein the groove is formed by moving the drum in the axial direction while rotating the drum around the axis. 13. The porous structure according to claim 6, wherein the wall is formed by applying a photocurable liquid resin to a surface to be coated of the groove and exposing the resin to light. Of producing a photoconductor. 14. The exposing step comprises a number of scanning steps, and after completion of each of these scanning steps, removing the uncured photocurable liquid resin adhering near the wall portion by spraying a compressed gas. The method for producing a porous photoreceptor according to claim 13, wherein: 15. The method according to claim 14, wherein, at the time of spraying the compressed gas, a mist-like solvent having solubility and insolubility is sprayed on the photo-curable liquid resin before and after the resin is cured. A method for producing a porous photoreceptor.