JP4264370B2 - SUBSTRATE FOR ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC PHOTOSENSITIVE BODY, PROCESS FOR PRODUCING THE SUBSTRATE, ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC PHOTOSENSITIVE USING THE SUBSTRATE, ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC PHOTOSENSITIVE CARTRIDGE USING THE ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC PHOTOSENSOR - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for preventing generation of interference fringes on a printed image, which is a kind of image defect in an electrophotographic photosensitive member, and is a simple, high-productivity and roughening technique for a substrate surface that does not generate other image defects. About.

  As the base material used for the electrophotographic photosensitive member, a cylinder made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, a material in which aluminum is vapor-deposited on a resin, or a belt made of stainless steel or a nickel alloy is mainly used. Due to the low reflectance and high reflectance, shading unevenness called interference fringes may occur on the image.

This is because the writing light from the laser or LED reflects and interferes with the substrate surface and the coating film interface, and the light intensity acting on the charge generation layer is uneven due to a subtle difference in the coating film thickness, so the sensitivity varies depending on the part. Due to
As a measure for preventing this interference fringe defect, a method of roughening the substrate interface is effective, and various roughening methods have been proposed (Patent Documents 1 to 8).

JP 2000-105481 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-138683 JP 2001-296679 A JP-A-5-224437 JP-A-8-248660 JP-A-11-327168 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-138683 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-123246

  As a conventional roughening method, there are known a method of forming irregularities by blowing floating abrasive grains such as honing and blasting (for example, see Patent Document 1), a technique of grinding with a material harder than a base such as a grindstone, and the like. (For example, refer to Patent Document 2). However, the method of forming irregularities by spraying floating abrasive grains has a problem that the abrasive grains are likely to remain on the surface of the substrate and cause image defects. In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to wash away the abrasive grains in a subsequent process (see, for example, Patent Document 3), but it is difficult to completely remove the abrasive grains that have digged into the surface. In addition, ductile materials such as aluminum or aluminum alloys, which are generally used as substrates for electrophotographic photoreceptors, have a lower surface removal efficiency than a brittle material such as glass, and the productivity is too high. I can say no.

  Blasting methods using ice or dry ice have also been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 4 to 6). However, it is necessary to inject particles having a low temperature and a low specific gravity at high speed. It can be said that there are many processes. Moreover, since only one unevenness | corrugation is formed with one abrasive grain, there exists a subject in which productivity is inferior compared with grinding which is a system which rubs an abrasive grain. Here, when productivity is increased by using abrasive grains having a large particle size, the roughness becomes too large, and when an electrophotographic photosensitive member is formed, charges are liable to leak, such as minute black spots on the image. The problem which becomes a defect arises.

  Grinding using a grindstone is highly productive, but since the grindstone is not flexible, surface irregularities are transferred to the surface of the substrate, and there is a problem that deep irregularities that cause image defects are likely to occur (for example, patent documents). 7). Therefore, it is necessary to take an additional measure to remove coarse unevenness by some method after processing. Although it is possible to use a grindstone having a small grain size, there is a problem that productivity is reduced and clogging is likely to occur.

In roughening with floating abrasives such as honing and blasting, and grinding with a grindstone, the amount of surface removal to uniformly roughen the entire surface is as large as several tens of μm, so the amount of waste increases and the amount of removal is reduced. There is also a problem that it is necessary to determine the outer diameter of the base material in consideration.
Although there is a method of forming irregularities by cutting with a lathe (see, for example, Patent Document 8), since subtle changes in surface roughness affect the presence or absence of interference fringes, pay close attention to the maintenance of cutting conditions. I need to pay. First of all, in the case of cutting, continuous grooves with high regularity are formed in a direction almost perpendicular to the substrate axis, so the reflected light of the writing light to the photoconductor only scatters in a specific plane parallel to the substrate axis. The interference fringe suppression effect is inherently weak.

  In order to prevent image defects such as image black spots and dust and to stabilize electrical characteristics, an undercoat layer is often provided under the photosensitive layer with a thickness of several μm. Generally, titanium oxide is dispersed in nylon resin. The undercoat layer used is highly light transmissive and weak in preventing interference fringes.

  For these reasons, there has been a demand for a surface roughening technique that is simple, high in productivity, and does not generate other image defects.

  As a result of intensive studies on the above problems, the present inventor has formed a fine groove on the surface of the substrate, and the shape of the groove when the substrate is spread on a plane is curved and discontinuous. The inventors have found that interference fringes can be prevented and other image defects can be prevented, and the present invention has been achieved.

  That is, the first gist of the present invention is that, in a substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor having fine grooves formed on the surface, the shape of the grooves is curved and discontinuous when the substrate surface is developed on a plane. It exists in the base | substrate for electrophotographic photoreceptors characterized by a certain thing. The term “substrate surface” as used herein refers to at least a part of the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate, but usually refers to almost the entire surface of at least the image forming region of the electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate. In addition, since a large number of fine grooves formed on the surface are usually formed, a groove pattern in which a large number of fine grooves are formed is formed on the surface of the substrate. In addition, it is preferable that this groove | channel is formed in a grid | lattice form, Therefore, it is preferable that said groove | channel pattern also becomes a grid | lattice form. The second gist lies in a method of manufacturing a base for an electrophotographic photoreceptor, wherein a flexible material is brought into contact with the surface of the base and moved relative to the surface of the base. An electrophotographic photoreceptor using the substrate is a third gist.

  The fourth gist includes the electrophotographic photosensitive member, a charging unit that charges the electrophotographic photosensitive member, an exposure unit that exposes the charged electrophotographic photosensitive member to form an electrostatic latent image, and the electron The electrophotographic photosensitive member cartridge includes at least one developing unit that develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photographic photosensitive member. Further, the fifth aspect is that the electrophotographic photosensitive member, a charging unit that charges the electrophotographic photosensitive member, an exposure unit that exposes the charged electrophotographic photosensitive member to form an electrostatic latent image, and the electron An image forming apparatus comprising: a developing unit that develops an electrostatic latent image formed on a photographic photosensitive member.

  In the present invention, the regularity of the reflected light on the substrate surface is disturbed by making the groove formed on the substrate surface a curved and discontinuous groove, and interference with the coating film interface reflected light is also disturbed. Can be increased. In the case of a straight groove, the direction of the reflected light scattered by the groove is a specific angle direction, but the direction of the reflected light scattered by changing to a curved line slightly changes. Furthermore, since the direction of the reflected light at the joint portion of the groove changes by making the groove discontinuous, the direction of the reflected light on the substrate surface becomes complicated, and the effect of suppressing interference fringes is enhanced.

  When grooves are formed by cutting, the groove shape is straight and continuous, and the regularity of the grooves becomes very high, so that the effect of suppressing interference fringes becomes weak as described above. Grinding with a grindstone forms short linear discontinuous grooves. However, as described above, the irregularities become large and image defects are likely to occur, and an additional process for removing coarse irregularities is required, which is a complicated process.

  As described above, the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate of the present invention can obtain a good image without causing image defects such as black spots while completely preventing stripes due to exposure light interference.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. However, the descriptions of the constituent elements described below are representative examples of the embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention is appropriately modified without departing from the scope of the present invention. Can be implemented.

<Substrate>
On the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate of the present invention, a groove characterized by being curved and discontinuous when the substrate surface is developed on a plane (hereinafter referred to as “arc-shaped groove” as appropriate) is formed. ing.
As the substrate for forming the arc-shaped groove peculiar to the present invention, those used in known electrophotographic photoreceptors can be used. Specifically, for example, drums, sheets made of metal materials such as aluminum, stainless steel, copper, nickel, etc., laminates or vapor depositions of these metal foils, or aluminum, copper, palladium, tin oxide, indium oxide on the surface, etc. Insulating substrates such as polyester film and paper provided with the above conductive layer. Furthermore, a plastic film, a plastic drum, paper, a paper tube, and the like obtained by applying a conductive material such as metal powder, carbon black, copper iodide, and a polymer electrolyte together with an appropriate binder to conduct a conductive treatment may be used. Further, a plastic sheet or drum containing a conductive material such as metal powder, carbon black, or carbon fiber and becoming conductive can be used. Examples thereof include a plastic film and a belt subjected to conductive treatment with a conductive metal oxide such as tin oxide and indium oxide.

  Among these, an endless pipe made of a metal such as aluminum is a preferable substrate. In particular, an endless pipe made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy (hereinafter sometimes collectively referred to as aluminum) can be suitably used as the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate of the present invention. The endless pipe made of aluminum may be used as it is formed by a normal processing method such as extrusion or drawing, or may be further processed by cutting, grinding, polishing, or the like. Further, an arcuate groove unique to the present invention may be formed, and an intermediate layer such as a barrier layer may be further provided. Examples of the barrier layer include inorganic layers such as aluminum anodized film, aluminum oxide and aluminum hydroxide, organic materials such as polyvinyl alcohol, casein, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyacrylic acid, celluloses, gelatin, starch, polyurethane, polyimide and polyamide. Layers are used.

  The arc-shaped groove unique to the present invention is formed by bringing a flexible material into contact with the substrate surface as a rubbing material and moving it relatively. When the rubbing material is deformed at the contact portion, the rubbing speed changes from the start to the end of the contact, so that the shape of the arc-shaped groove becomes a curve. In a base having a curved surface that is generally used, the shape of the arc-shaped groove is a curve unless the base and the rotating shaft of the rubbing material are in contact with each other. That is, when forming the arc-shaped groove according to the present invention, the rotation axis of the base and the rubbing material is in a non-parallel positional relationship. In addition, grooves other than the arc-shaped grooves may be formed on the surface of the base body of the present invention. The grooves other than the arc-shaped grooves will be described later together with the manufacturing method of the base.

Examples of the flexible material include, but are not limited to, rubber, resin, sponge, brush, cloth, and non-woven fabric. Moreover, in order to raise the production | generation efficiency of an arc-shaped groove | channel, what put the abrasive grain in these flexible materials is preferable, and a brush material is still more preferable.
The abrasive is not particularly limited as long as it has sufficient strength to form an arcuate groove on a substrate on which the arcuate groove is to be formed, and any known one can be used. Examples include silicon carbide, silicon nitride, boron nitride, alumina and the like. Further, when the substrate is made of aluminum, alumina abrasive grains are preferable.
As for the grain size of the abrasive grains, those of # 240 to # 2500 normally defined in JIS R 6001 can be used, but among these, those of # 280 or more are preferred, and those of # 320 or more are more preferred. Also, those having # 2000 or less are preferable, and those having # 1500 or less are more preferably used.

  In addition, when a rubbing material such as an inflexible grindstone is used, it is not preferable because a part where the surface is deeply damaged is generated. Although the grooves can be made shallow by using fine abrasive grains, in this case, not only productivity is lowered but also a problem of clogging occurs. Although an aluminum alloy may be used as the substrate, clogged grinding powder is liable to be transferred to a soft aluminum surface, which is likely to cause foreign matter defects. Further, since the grindstone hardly deforms at the contact portion, the groove length is short and linear.

  As the brush material to be used, a material in which abrasive grains are kneaded into a resin such as nylon is preferable. Generally used grinding brushes mainly use the grinding force at the brush tip, but the brush with abrasive grains used in the present invention can effectively use grinding at the brush body, It can be widened, the productivity is improved, and further, the elasticity of the brush is utilized, so that the unevenness becomes too large and the gentle grinding with a reduced removal amount becomes possible. In addition, clogging is less likely to occur due to the constantly changing flexibility and contact portion of the brush material. Taking advantage of this feature, it is possible to use abrasive grains with a small particle size that cannot be used due to clogging when grinding wheels, and the surface roughness can be easily kept low, so images other than interference fringes can be used. Highly effective against defects. The high irregularity of the arcuate grooves formed also has a high effect on interference fringe suppression.

  It is preferable to perform treatment under different conditions a plurality of times to form arcuate grooves in a lattice shape because irregularities can be further increased. In particular, in the surface roughness of the substrate, the maximum height roughness Rz specified by JIS B 0601: 2001 is 0.6 ≦ Rz ≦ 2 μm, and the kurtosis Rku of the roughness curve is 3.9 ≦ Rku ≦ 30. In addition, it is preferable that the groove width L of the substrate surface is 0.5 ≦ L ≦ 6.0 μm.

If Rz is too large, defects such as image black spots are likely to occur, and is usually 2 μm or less, preferably 1.8 μm or less, and more preferably 1.6 μm or less. If Rz is too small, the scattering effect of the reflected light becomes insufficient. Therefore, it is usually 0.6 μm or more, preferably 0.8 μm or more, more preferably 1.0 μm or more.
Rku indicates the sharpness of the roughness distribution waveform. Although there is a slight difference depending on the processing method, Rku gradually decreases and converges to a value close to 3 as the surface roughening progresses. In the case of techniques such as honing and blasting that have been used in the past, Rku is usually about 2.5 to 3, and in the case of cutting using a cutting tool, Rku is usually 2 to 2 due to the formation of serrated irregularities. 3 or so.

  Rku takes a large value when the formed arc-shaped grooves are sparse, and becomes smaller as the roughening progresses. Therefore, Rku becomes smaller as the number of times and / or time of forming the arc-shaped grooves is increased. However, considering practical productivity, it is usually 3.9 or more, preferably 4.2 or more, more preferably 4.5 or more, and considering image defects, usually 30 or less, preferably 15 or less, More preferably, it is used at 10 or less.

  If the groove width L is too small, it is necessary to form many grooves and the productivity is deteriorated. Therefore, the groove width L is usually 0.5 μm or more, preferably 0.6 μm, more preferably 0.7 μm or more. If the thickness is too large, the depth of the unevenness is increased and image defects are likely to occur. Therefore, it is used at 6.0 μm or less, preferably 4.0 μm or less, more preferably 3.0 μm or less.

Rz, Rku and groove width L are the length, hardness, implantation density, physical properties such as the grain size of the abrasives kneaded into the brush material, the rotation speed of the brush material, the time for contact, etc. It is possible to control according to the processing conditions.
Among these, the Rz and the groove width L are greatly influenced by the particle size of the abrasives kneaded into the brush material, and when the abrasive particle size is large, the Rz and the groove width L are large and the abrasive particle size is small. Since Rz and groove width L also tend to be small, if Rz and groove width L are taken into consideration, the grain size is usually 1 μm or more, preferably 5 μm or more, and usually 50 μm or less, preferably 35 μm or less. .

  Rku is related to the contact frequency of the brush, and varies depending on the number of rotations, the processing time, and the number of processing. Normally, Rku is large at the beginning of processing, and decreases as processing proceeds. Therefore, if Rku is measured in the middle of processing and processing is completed within the range of numerical values defined in the present invention, a substrate on which a desired arc-shaped groove is formed is obtained. Obtainable.

<Manufacturing method>
An example of a specific method for producing the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate of the present invention is shown in FIG. The base body 1 is gripped by the inner expanding gripping mechanism 2 and rotated around the axis. A wheel-like brush (hereinafter simply referred to as “brush”) 3 is disposed so that the brush 3 contacts the base 1 and moves relative to the base 1 while rotating around the axis. The direction of rotation in the case of using a wheel-like brush is not particularly limited, but the traveling direction of the brush on the substrate surface is preferably the same as the relative movement direction of the entire brush. The relative movement direction of the entire brush is such that the substrate and the brush are in contact with each other, and the entire surface of the substrate corresponding to the image forming area may be in contact with the brush. Moving.

  Although the movement of the brush relative to the substrate is usually sufficient once, it may be performed a plurality of times. When moving a plurality of times, it may always move in one direction or may reciprocate relatively. In the case of a wheel-like brush, the brush shaft is not parallel to the base in order to form the arc-shaped groove of the present invention, and machining unevenness occurs due to unevenness of the base and brush shaft due to inclination and uneven brush wear. In order to prevent this, the brush shaft is preferably disposed at a position (twisted position) that is not on the same plane with respect to the base shaft. When the rotation axis of the substrate and the brush axis are parallel, the curved and discontinuous arc-shaped grooves defined in the present invention cannot be formed. In addition, when the rotation axis and the brush axis are parallel, the non-uniformity in the brush axis direction of the brush polishing force caused by the difference in length or density of the brush material is directly transferred to the surface of the base. The polished state becomes non-uniform in the axial direction and causes unevenness. Although the local processing unevenness is improved by the technique of relatively swinging the brush or the base in the axial direction as disclosed in JP-A-9-114118, the processing when viewed in the whole axial direction of the base is performed. Unevenness occurs.

  When the base 1 and the wheel-shaped brush 3 are arranged so that the axes of the base 1 and the brush 3 are substantially orthogonal to each other as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the oblique arc-shaped grooves in the oblique direction are formed. When the brush rotation speed is increased and the contact margin is increased, the oblique grid-shaped arc grooves as shown in FIG. 3 are formed. The latter is more preferable because of high productivity.

  In this example, a wheel-like brush is used, but another shape such as a cup-like brush may be used as shown by reference numeral 3 'in FIG. In the case of a cup-shaped brush, as long as the brush axis is not parallel to the base axis, both axes may be on the same plane. In the case of a wheel-like brush, the brush material may be staggered on the base body, but in order to increase the implantation density, a brush made by a method such as winding a channel brush around a shaft is preferable.

A plurality of brushes may be used as shown in FIG. The productivity is improved by using a plurality of brushes, and a rough surface having a more complicated shape can be obtained by changing the rotation condition of each brush, so that the interference fringe suppression effect is further improved.
The roughening process is preferably performed while applying a cleaning liquid or immersing in the cleaning liquid in order to remove polishing powder and detached abrasive grains from the surface of the substrate. As the cleaning liquid, various organic and aqueous cleaning agents may be used, but ammonia-added water used in semiconductor cleaning can also be used in order to prevent adsorption of fine particles.

  Since the new surface of the base material is exposed by the roughening process, if the coating is not performed immediately after the processing, the surface is roughened by using a processing oil instead of a cleaning solution to prevent surface corrosion. It is also possible to protect. Even in such cases, it is preferable to carry out finishing cleaning after the surface roughening process and before the coating step, and further incorporating the surface roughening step into the substrate cleaning step before the coating step increases productivity. More preferred above. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, by incorporating the roughening brush 3 of the present invention directly under the cleaning brush 4, it is possible to perform strong physical cleaning immediately after the roughening and maintain a clean substrate surface state. The surface can be roughened.

  The method for forming the arc-shaped groove in the substrate of the present invention is as described above, but the substrate of the present invention can be subjected to arbitrary processing prior to the formation of the arc-shaped groove. These processes include processes such as extrusion, drawing, cutting, grinding, and polishing performed at the time of forming the above-described substrate. Usually, the surface of the substrate before the formation of the arc-shaped groove is often a smooth mirror surface. When this mirror surface is roughened by the above method, the arc-shaped groove is formed on the surface of the substrate as shown in FIGS. Only will be formed. However, when various processes are performed in advance prior to the formation of the arc-shaped grooves, grooves other than the arc-shaped grooves corresponding to the processes are formed on the substrate surface. When any processing is performed prior to the formation of the arc-shaped groove, for example, roughening may be performed by a method as shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. Hereinafter, the method illustrated in FIGS. 7A to 7C will be described in detail with reference to examples. However, the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the following examples, and can be implemented with arbitrary modifications.

<Case 1>
For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, prior to the formation of the arc-shaped groove, rough cutting and finish cutting may be performed on the substrate surface in advance. Hereinafter, as an example of the base body before the arc-shaped groove is formed, a cylindrical pipe (hereinafter, referred to as “element tube” as appropriate) formed by extrusion processing and drawing processing with a smooth surface will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of a cutting apparatus used for rough cutting and finishing cutting of a raw tube. As shown in FIG. 8, the cutting device is a device that turns the outer surface of a cylindrical base tube 10 with a cutting tool 11, and includes a cutting tool 11, a tool post 12, a guide pipe 13, a bed 14, a slide stage 15, and a head. 16 is provided.

  The cutting tool 11 is a sword tool for cutting the raw tube 10. As the cutting tool 11, a cutting tool or an attached cutting tool in which the cutting edge 11 </ b> A is integrally formed with a shank having a square cross section, or an assembly tool in which a tip is detachably fixed to the tip of the shank is used. Here, description will be made assuming that the latter assembly tool is used.

The tool post 12 is a table for fixing the cutting tool 11. The cutting tool 11 is fixed to the tool post 12 along a shank in the radial direction of the base tube 10.
Furthermore, the guide pipe 13 is a chip guide pipe attached to the side surface of the tool post 12. The intake port of the guide pipe 13 is installed toward the cutting edge 11A of the cutting tool 11, and the guide pipe 13 is provided so as to extend along the chip flow direction.
Moreover, the bed 14 is a base part for supporting each component of the cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 8, and is a pedestal having an upper surface formed in a flat shape.

Further, the slide stage 15 is a stage that is movably attached to the bed 14, and the tool post 12 is installed on the top thereof. The slide stage 15 is configured to be movable in any direction along the upper surface of the bed 14. Therefore, the tool post 12, the cutting tool 11 attached to the tool post 12, and the guide pipe 13 are also movable with the movement of the slide stage 14.
In addition, the pair of heads 16 are configured to grip the both ends of the raw tube 10 by the grip portion of the raw tube 10 attached to the bed 14 and rotate the raw tube 10.

The cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 8 is configured as described above. When using this cutting device, the following operations are performed.
At the time of rough cutting, the raw tube 10 is first gripped by the head 16. Next, while rotating the raw tube 10 by the head 16, the slide stage 15 is moved, the cutting edge 11A of the cutting tool 11 is brought into contact with the surface of the raw tube 10, and rough cutting is performed. Here, the reason for performing the rough cutting process is to remove the deflection and bending of the base tube 10 which is the base. The shavings produced by cutting are guided through a guide pipe 13 to a waste box (not shown).

By cutting into the cutting tool 11, a groove (hereinafter referred to as “circumferential groove” as appropriate) is formed on the surface of the raw tube 10. The groove extends in the circumferential direction of the raw tube 10. Is done.
In many cases, a cutting burr (protrusion) called “beard” is formed on the surface of the raw tube 10 by rough cutting. If the beard remains, it causes leaks when used for image formation, and a black spot defect when used for image formation of a reversed image system. Therefore, it is desirable to remove the beard.

  Therefore, in order to remove the whiskers and improve the dimensional accuracy of the blank tube 10, finish machining is usually performed. At the time of finish cutting, the raw tube 10 is gripped by the head 16 and the slide stage 15 is moved while rotating the raw tube 10 in the same way as during rough cutting, and the cutting edge 11A of the cutting tool 11 is moved to the surface of the raw tube 10. Abut and cut. However, at the time of finish cutting, control suitable for the purpose is performed. Specifically, the turning conditions such as the moving speed of the slide stage 15, the rotating speed of the raw tube 10, the cutting amount of the cutting tool 11 and the feeding speed are controlled precisely.

  By performing rough cutting and finish cutting in this way, circumferential grooves suitable for roughening the base are formed on the surface of the raw tube 10. However, as described above, the groove shape of the circumferential groove is straight and continuous, and the regularity of the groove becomes very high, so the effect of suppressing interference fringes becomes weak.

  Therefore, an arc-shaped groove is further formed on the surface of the raw tube 10 in which the circumferential groove is formed in accordance with the above-described method, and an electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate is manufactured. That is, the flexible material is brought into contact with the surface of the raw tube 10 in which the circumferential groove is formed, and is moved relative to the surface. As a result, as shown in FIG. 9, arc-shaped grooves and circumferential grooves are formed on the surface of the substrate. FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing an example of the shape of a groove formed on the substrate surface when the substrate surface is developed on a plane. The substrate surface developed on the plane is indicated by reference numeral 10 '.

  In this way, if rough cutting and finish cutting are performed in advance prior to the formation of the arc-shaped groove, the surface of the base body becomes a complicated shape compared to the case where only the circumferential grooves are formed, and the surface of the base body The regularity of the reflected light can be further disturbed. Further, conventionally, when the circumferential groove is formed by cutting, the groove shape is straight and continuous, and the regularity of the groove becomes very high, so the effect of suppressing interference fringes has been weakened. If an arc-shaped groove is formed in addition to the circumferential groove, sufficient interference fringe suppression effect can be obtained.

<Case 2>
Also, for example, as shown in FIG. 7 (b), a precision cutting tube or the like is not used in advance, or rough cutting is not performed to reduce cutting costs, and finishing cutting is performed prior to the formation of the arc-shaped groove. You may make it give. Hereinafter, a raw tube will be described as an example of the base body before the arc-shaped groove is formed.

The finish cutting is performed using, for example, the cutting apparatus shown in FIG. Since the description of the finish cutting by the cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 8 has already been given in the case 1, it is omitted here.
As described above, when finishing cutting is performed, a circumferential groove extending substantially along the circumferential direction of the raw tube 10 is formed on the surface of the raw tube 10. However, unlike the case where rough cutting is used in combination, it is necessary to increase the amount of cutting, and for this reason, protrusions called “beards” are often formed.

  Therefore, in the case 1 described above, the finish cutting is performed after the rough cutting in order to remove the whiskers and improve the base accuracy. However, in the case 2, the arc-shaped groove is formed on the raw pipe 10 subjected to the finish cutting process by the above-described roughening method. That is, the flexible material is brought into contact with the surface of the raw tube 10 in which the circumferential groove is formed, and is moved relative to the surface.

As a result, the whisker formed on the surface of the element tube 10 is removed, and a base for an electrophotographic photosensitive member in which circumferential grooves and arc-shaped grooves are formed on the surface as shown in FIG. 9 can be obtained. . This also makes it possible to obtain a sufficient interference fringe suppression effect. Therefore, as in the case 1, if the finish cutting process is performed in advance prior to the formation of the arc-shaped groove, the base surface has a more complicated shape than the case where only the circumferential groove is formed, and the base surface The regularity of the reflected light can be further disturbed.
In addition, compared with the case 1, that is, compared with the case where rough cutting and finish cutting are performed in advance, the time required for rough cutting can be omitted, so that the time required for manufacturing the substrate of the present invention can be reduced. .

<Case 3>
Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 7C, prior to the formation of the arc-shaped groove, the surface of the substrate may be ironed in advance. Hereinafter, an extruded tube will be described as an example of the base body before the arc-shaped groove is formed.

  FIG. 10 is a front view showing a part of the ironing apparatus used for the ironing process of the extrusion pipe 21. FIG. 10 (a) shows the ironing apparatus in which the extrusion pipe 21 is mounted before the ironing process. FIG. 10B shows an overall image immediately before the claw 24 comes out and the punch 22 rises in order to separate the extruded tube 21 that is in close contact with the punch 22 after ironing. Note that one end of the extrusion tube 21 is formed with an inner diameter smaller than that of the other portion so that a punch 22 described later can be pressed from the inside.

  The ironing device of FIG. 10 is a device that performs ironing by passing a cylindrical extrusion tube 21 through a die, and includes a punch 22, a die holder 23, a claw 24, a hydraulic cylinder 25, a punch mounting plate 26, A guide 27, a jig 28, and a pump 29 are provided.

The punch 22 is a pressing member that enters the extrusion tube 21 and pushes the extrusion tube 21 into a mold attached to the mold holder 23.
The mold holder 23 is a mold holding part in which a plurality of molds are stored.
Further, the claw 24 is a claw for removing the extruded tube 21 from the punch 22 after the ironing process.

The hydraulic cylinder 25 is a punch driving unit for raising and lowering the punch 22 in the vertical direction in the drawing.
Further, the punch attachment plate 26 is a punch attachment portion for fixing the punch 22 and can be raised and lowered together with the punch 22 in the vertical direction in the drawing along a guide 27 described later.

The guide 27 is a guide portion for guiding the punch mounting plate 26 in the vertical direction in the figure.
Furthermore, the jig 28 is a jig for receiving the extruded tube 21 removed from the punch 22.
The pump 29 is a pump for supplying lubricating oil to the ironing portion during ironing, and can be supplied while circulating the lubricating oil to each mold held by the mold holder 23. it can.

The ironing apparatus shown in FIG. 10 is configured as described above. When using this ironing device, the following operation is performed.
At the time of ironing, first, lubricating oil is circulated through each mold by the pump 29. The extruded tube 21 before processing is attached to the punch 22 with the lubricating oil circulating. At this time, the punch 22 is kept waiting at a limit position above the mold holder 23.

  Next, a hydraulic pump (not shown) that supplies hydraulic pressure to the hydraulic cylinder 25 is switched to drive the hydraulic cylinder 25. As the hydraulic cylinder 25 is driven, the punch 22 is lowered. At this time, the punch 22 descends while pressing one end (the lower end in FIG. 10) of the pushing tube 21 with its tip.

  As the punch 22 descends, the extrusion tube 21 also passes through a plurality of molds attached to the mold holder 23. When passing through the mold, the extrusion tube 21 is repeatedly ironed and processed into a predetermined dimension. Further, a groove (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as “axial groove”) is formed in the axial direction of the extruded tube 21 by ironing.

  When all of the extrusion tube 21 passes through the mold, the claw 24 moves forward, and the other end (upper end) of the extrusion tube 21 is locked. Subsequently, the valve of the hydraulic pump that drives the hydraulic cylinder 25 is switched, and the hydraulic cylinder 25 raises the punch 22. The extruded tube 21 that has been pressed and is in close contact with the punch 22 is removed from the punch 22 by the claw 24 and delivered to the jig 28. Further, the punch 22 returns to the limit position above the mold holder 23.

  By performing the ironing process as described above, the extruded tube 21 is processed to a predetermined dimension, and an axial groove is formed, and the surface is roughened by the axial groove. However, since the axial groove is formed linearly and continuously along the axial direction of the extruded tube 21, the regularity becomes very high, and roughening with only the axial groove has a weak effect of suppressing interference fringes. .

Therefore, an arc-shaped groove is formed on the extruded pipe 21 subjected to the ironing process by the roughening method described above. That is, the flexible material is brought into contact with the surface of the extruded tube 21 in which the axial groove is formed, and is moved relative to the surface.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 11, an electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate in which arc-shaped grooves are formed in addition to the axial grooves can be obtained. Therefore, when forming an axial groove by ironing, the groove shape is straight and continuous, and the regularity of the groove becomes very high, so the effect of suppressing interference fringes has been weakened. Further, since the arc-shaped groove is formed in addition to the axial groove, a sufficient interference fringe suppression effect can be obtained. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the shape of the groove formed on the surface of the substrate when the surface of the obtained substrate is developed on a plane. The surface of the substrate developed on the plane is denoted by reference numeral 21 '. It shows with.

  Further, by forming the arc-shaped groove by the above-described roughening method, Rz, Rku, groove width L, and the like of the axial groove are also within a preferable range. Therefore, if ironing is performed in advance prior to the formation of the arc-shaped grooves, the surface of the substrate will have a complicated shape as compared with the case where only the axial grooves are formed, and the regularity of the reflected light on the substrate surface will be further disturbed. Can be made.

In addition, since forming by ironing is much more productive than forming by cutting, if the substrate is formed by ironing, the surface is roughened by cutting as in cases 1 and 2. Compared with the molding, the time required for the production of the substrate of the present invention can be greatly reduced.
The axial grooves Rz, Rku, groove width L and the like do not necessarily fall within the above-described ranges, and may be sufficiently roughened as the base of the electrophotographic photosensitive member.

<Electrophotographic photoreceptor>
The electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate of the present invention has a specific arc-shaped groove, so that writing light reflects and interferes with the substrate surface and the coating film interface, and light that acts on the charge generation layer due to a subtle difference in coating film thickness. Interference fringes generated due to unevenness in intensity are solved by providing irregularities in the exposure light reflection on the substrate surface.

Therefore, any configuration generally known as an electrophotographic photosensitive member can be applied as the form of the photosensitive layer of the electrophotographic photosensitive member using the electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate of the present invention. For example, in addition to a so-called dispersion type single layer photosensitive layer in which particles of a charge generation material are dispersed in a charge transport medium containing a charge transport material, a charge generation layer containing a charge generation material and a charge containing a charge transport material A so-called laminated type in which a transport layer is laminated can be applied. In a laminated photoreceptor, a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer are laminated on a substrate in this order (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a forward laminated photosensitive layer), or a reverse order (hereinafter, reverse lamination). Various types are known, such as a type photosensitive layer), and any of these structures can be used as the photosensitive layer of the electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention.
Also, the exposure light source is not only the light of relatively long wavelength of 700 to 850 nm and the light of relatively short wavelength of 350 to 500 nm that are usually widely used, but all interference fringes are problems regardless of the wavelength. The present invention can be applied to an electrophotographic photoreceptor.

<Charge generation material>
The charge generation material used in the electrophotographic photosensitive layer using the charge transport material of the present invention is arbitrary, but for example, inorganic photoconductivity such as selenium, selenium-tellurium alloy, selenium-arsenic alloy, cadmium sulfide, amorphous silicon, etc. Particle: Metal-free phthalocyanine, metal-containing phthalocyanine, perinone pigment, indigo, thioindigo, quinacridone, perylene pigment, anthraquinone pigment, azo pigment, bisazo pigment, trisazo pigment, tetrakis azo pigment, cyanine pigment, many Various organic pigments and dyes such as ring quinone, pyrylium salt, thiopyrylium salt, anthanthrone, and pyranthrone can be used. In addition, a charge generation material may be used individually by 1 type, and may use 2 or more types together by arbitrary combinations and ratios.

Among them, metal-free phthalocyanine or metal such as copper, indium chloride, gallium chloride, tin, oxytitanium, zinc, vanadium, or oxides or chlorides thereof are coordinated in that a highly sensitive photoreceptor can be obtained. Azo pigments such as phthalocyanines, monoazo, bisazo, trisazo and polyazo are preferred.
Among these charge generation materials, metal-free and metal-containing phthalocyanines can provide a photosensitive material with high sensitivity to a relatively long wavelength laser beam, and azo such as monoazo, bisazo, and trisazo. The pigment is excellent in that it has sufficient sensitivity to white light and laser light having a relatively short wavelength.

  Further, among phthalocyanines, oxytitanium phthalocyanine, in which the black angle (2θ ± 0.2 °) of the X-ray diffraction spectrum with respect to CuKα characteristic X-ray shows a main diffraction peak at 27.3 °, 9.3 °, 13 Oxytitanium phthalocyanine showing main diffraction peaks at 2 °, 26.2 ° and 27.1 °, main diffraction at 9.2 °, 14.1 °, 15.3 °, 19.7 ° and 27.1 ° Dihydroxysilicon phthalocyanine having peaks, dichlorotin phthalocyanine showing main diffraction peaks at 8.5 °, 12.2 °, 13.8 °, 16.9 °, 22.4 °, 28.4 ° and 30.1 ° 7.5, 9.9 °, 12.5 °, 16.3 °, 18.6 °, 25.1 ° and 28.3 °, hydroxygallium phthalocyanine showing main diffraction peaks at 7.4 ° 16.6 °, is chlorogallium phthalocyanine showing a 25.5 ° and 28.3 ° diffraction peaks, preferred.

  In the case of the dispersion type photosensitive layer, the particle size of the charge generating material needs to be sufficiently small, and is preferably 1 μm or less, more preferably 0.5 μm or less. The amount of the charge generating material dispersed in the dispersion type photosensitive layer is, for example, in the range of 0.5 to 50% by weight. However, if the amount is too small, sufficient sensitivity cannot be obtained, and if it is too large, the chargeability is lowered and the sensitivity is lowered. More preferably, it is used in the range of 1 to 20% by weight. The film thickness of the dispersion type photosensitive layer is usually 5 μm or more, preferably 10 μm or more, and usually 50 μm or less, more preferably 45 μm or less.

<Charge generation layer>
The charge generation material is dissolved or dispersed in a solvent together with a binder polymer (binder resin) and other organic photoconductive compounds, dyes, electron-withdrawing compounds as required, and the resulting coating solution is applied onto a substrate and dried. Thus, a charge generation layer is obtained.
In the present invention, the dye coloring matter optionally added to the charge generation layer is arbitrary, for example, triphenylmethane dyes such as methyl violet, brilliant green and crystal violet, thiazine dyes such as methylene blue, quinone dyes such as quinizarin and cyanine dyes And bililium salt, thiabililium salt, benzobililium salt, and the like. In addition, an electron-withdrawing compound that forms a charge transfer complex with an arylamine compound is also arbitrary. For example, chloranil, 2,3-dichloro-1,4-naphthoquinone, 1-nitroanthraquinone, 1-chloro-5-nitro Quinones such as anthraquinone, 2-chloroanthraquinone, phenanthrenequinone; aldehydes such as 4-nitrobenzaldehyde; 9-benzoylanthracene, indandione, 3,5-dinitrobenzophenone, 2,4,7-trinitrofluorenone, 2, Ketones such as 4,5,7-tetranitrofluorenone and 3,3 ′, 5,5′-tetranitrobenzophenone; acid anhydrides such as phthalic anhydride and 4-chloronaphthalic anhydride; tetracyanoethylene, terephthalal Malononitrile, 9-anthrylmethylidenemalononitrile Cyano compounds such as 4-nitrobenzalmalononitrile and 4- (p-nitrobenzoyloxy) benzalmalononitrile; 3-benzalphthalide, 3- (α-cyano-p-nitrobenzal) phthalide, 3- (α-cyano- p-nitrobenzal) -4,5,6,7-tetrachlorophthalide and other electron-withdrawing compounds such as phthalides. In addition, an organic photoconductive compound, a pigment | dye, an electron withdrawing compound, etc. may be used individually by 1 type, and may use 2 or more types together by arbitrary combinations and ratios.

  For the charge generation layer, the above materials are made of various binder resins such as polyester resin, polyvinyl acetate, polyester, polycarbonate, polyvinyl acetoacetal, polyvinyl propional, polyvinyl butyral, phenoxy resin, epoxy resin, urethane resin, cellulose ester, and cellulose ether. It may be used in the form bound by. Furthermore, examples of the binder resin include polymers and copolymers of vinyl compounds such as styrene, vinyl acetate, vinyl chloride, acrylic acid ester, methacrylic acid ester, vinyl alcohol, and ethyl vinyl ether, polyamide, and silicon resin. In this case, the charge generation material is used in an amount of usually 20 parts by weight or more, preferably 30 parts by weight or more, more preferably 33 parts by weight or more, and usually 2000 parts by weight or less, preferably 500 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the binder resin. The thickness of the charge generation layer is usually 0.05 μm or more, preferably 0.1 μm or more, more preferably 0.15 μm or more, and usually 5 μm or less, preferably 2 μm or less, more preferably Is preferably 0.8 μm or less. The charge generation layer may be a vapor deposition film of the charge generation material.

<Charge transport material>
There are no particular restrictions on the charge transport material, and known materials can be used arbitrarily. Examples include aromatic nitro compounds such as 2,4,7-trinitrofluorenone and cyano compounds such as tetracyanoquinodimethane. , Electron-withdrawing substances such as quinones such as diphenoquinone, carbazole derivatives, indole derivatives, imidazole derivatives, oxazole derivatives, pyrazole derivatives, oxadiazole derivatives, pyrazoline derivatives, heterocyclic compounds such as thiadiazole derivatives, aniline derivatives, hydrazone compounds, Examples include electron-donating substances such as aromatic amine derivatives, stilbene derivatives, butadiene derivatives, enamine compounds, polymers in which a plurality of these compounds are bonded, or polymers having groups composed of these compounds in the main chain or side chain. . Among these, carbazole derivatives, hydrazone derivatives, aromatic amine derivatives, stilbene derivatives, butadiene derivatives and those in which a plurality of these derivatives are bonded are preferable, and those in which a plurality of aromatic amine derivatives, stilbene derivatives, and butadiene derivatives are bonded. preferable. In addition, a charge transport material may be used individually by 1 type, and may use 2 or more types together by arbitrary combinations and a ratio.

<Binder resin>
The binder resin used for the charge transport layer in the case of the laminated type photosensitive layer or the binder resin used as a matrix in the case of the dispersion type photosensitive layer is optional, but has good compatibility with the charge transport material, and the coating film Polymers in which the charge transport material does not crystallize or phase-separate after formation are preferable, for example, polymers and copolymers of vinyl compounds such as styrene, vinyl acetate, vinyl chloride, acrylic acid ester, methacrylic acid ester, and butadiene And various polymers such as polyvinyl acetal, polycarbonate, polyester, polyester carbonate, polysulfone, polyimide, polyphenylene oxide, polyurethane, cellulose ester, cellulose ether, phenoxy resin, silicon resin, epoxy resin, etc. Things can also be used. In addition, binder resin may be used individually by 1 type, and may use 2 or more types together by arbitrary combinations and a ratio.

  If the amount of the binder used is increased, the mechanical strength of the layer is preferably increased, but the content of the arylamine compound is relatively decreased, and the electrical characteristics are deteriorated. Therefore, the amount of the binder used is usually 0.5 times or more, preferably 0.7 times or more, particularly preferably 0.9 times or more, and usually 30 times or more based on the arylamine compound. Hereinafter, it is preferably in the range of 10 times by weight or less, particularly preferably in the range of 8 times by weight or less.

<Charge transport layer>
The charge transport materials contained in the charge transport layer of the multilayer photosensitive layer may be used alone or in combination of two or more in any combination and ratio. In the case of a laminated type photoreceptor, the charge transport layer is usually formed in a form in which these charge transport materials are bound to a binder resin. The charge transport layer may be composed of a single layer, or may be a stack of a plurality of layers having different constituent components or composition ratios.

The ratio of the binder resin to the charge transport material is such that when the charge transport material is too small relative to the binder resin, the electrical characteristics are deteriorated. Used in In addition, when the amount of the charge transport material is excessive with respect to the binder resin, the mechanical strength of the charge transport layer is lowered. Used.
The thickness of the charge transport layer is usually 10 μm or more, preferably 15 μm or more, and usually 60 μm or less, preferably 45 μm or less, more preferably 40 μm or less.

<Additives>
Furthermore, the photosensitive layer of the electrophotographic photoreceptor of the present invention is a known plasticizer, cross-linking agent, antioxidant, stabilizer, sensitizer, coating for improving the film formability, flexibility, and mechanical strength. In order to improve the properties, additives such as various leveling agents and dispersion aids may be contained. Examples of the plasticizer include phthalic acid esters, phosphoric acid esters, epoxy compounds, chlorinated paraffins, chlorinated fatty acid esters, and aromatic compounds such as methyl naphthalene. Leveling agents include, for example, silicone oil and fluorine-based oil. Etc. are raised. Examples of the antioxidant include hindered phenol compounds, hindered amine compounds, and benzylamine compounds.

<Other functional layers>
The photoreceptor formed in this manner also includes layers for improving electrical and mechanical properties, such as an intermediate layer such as a barrier layer, an adhesive layer, and a blocking layer, a transparent insulating layer, or a protective layer, if necessary. Needless to say, it may have.
As the outermost surface layer, a conventionally known overcoat layer mainly composed of, for example, a thermoplastic or thermosetting polymer may be provided.

<Solvent>
The solvent for preparing the coating solution is arbitrary, and examples thereof include ethers such as tetrahydrofuran and 1,4-dioxane, ketones such as methyl ethyl ketone and cyclohexanone; aromatic hydrocarbons such as toluene and xylene; N, N-dimethyl Aprotic polar solvents such as formamide, acetonitrile, N-methylpyrrolidone and dimethyl sulfoxide; esters such as ethyl acetate, methyl formate and methyl cellosolve acetate; and arylamine compounds such as chlorinated hydrocarbons such as dichloroethane and chloroform Solvent to be used. Of course, it is necessary to select one that dissolves the binder. Moreover, the solvent for coating liquid adjustment may be used individually by 1 type, and may use 2 or more types together by arbitrary combinations and ratios.

<Layer formation method>
As a method for applying the photosensitive layer, any known method such as a spray coating method, a spiral coating method, a ring coating method, or a dip coating method can be used, but a dip coating method is usually used.
Spray coating methods include air spray, airless spray, electrostatic air spray, electrostatic airless spray, rotary atomizing electrostatic spray, hot spray, and hot airless spray. Considering the degree of conversion, adhesion efficiency, etc., in the rotary atomizing electrostatic spray, the conveying method disclosed in the republished Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-805198, that is, the cylindrical workpiece is rotated while the axial direction is spaced. By continuously transporting the electrophotographic photosensitive member, an electrophotographic photosensitive member excellent in film thickness uniformity can be obtained with a comprehensively high adhesion efficiency.

  Examples of the spiral coating method include a method using a liquid injection coating machine or a curtain coating machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 52-119651, and paint from a minute opening disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-2231966. There are a method of continuously flying in a streak shape, a method using a multi-nozzle body disclosed in JP-A-3-193161, and the like.

  Thereafter, the coating film is dried, and the drying temperature time may be adjusted so that necessary and sufficient drying is performed. The drying temperature is usually 100 ° C. or higher, preferably 110 ° C. or higher, more preferably 120 ° C. or higher, and usually 250 ° C. or lower, preferably 170 ° C. or lower, more preferably 140 ° C. or lower. As a drying method, a hot air dryer, a steam dryer, an infrared dryer, a far infrared dryer, or the like can be used.

<Image forming apparatus>
Next, an embodiment of an image forming apparatus using the electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention (image forming apparatus of the present invention) will be described with reference to FIG. However, the embodiment is not limited to the following description, and can be arbitrarily modified without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the image forming apparatus includes an electrophotographic photosensitive member 31, a charging device 32, an exposure device 33, and a developing device 34, and further, a transfer device 35, a cleaning device 36, and a fixing device as necessary. A device 37 is provided.

  The electrophotographic photoreceptor 31 is not particularly limited as long as it is the above-described electrophotographic photoreceptor of the present invention, but in FIG. 12, as an example, a drum in which the above-described photosensitive layer is formed on the surface of a cylindrical conductive support. The photoconductor is shown. A charging device 32, an exposure device 33, a developing device 34, a transfer device 35, and a cleaning device 36 are arranged along the outer peripheral surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member 31, respectively.

  The charging device 32 charges the electrophotographic photoreceptor 31 and uniformly charges the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor 31 to a predetermined potential. As the charging device 32, a corona charging device such as corotron or scorotron, a direct charging device (contact type charging device) for charging a direct charging member to which a voltage is applied by contacting the surface of the photoreceptor, and a contact type charging device such as a charging brush, etc. Is often used. Examples of direct charging means include contact chargers such as charging rollers and charging brushes. In FIG. 12, a roller-type charging device (charging roller) is shown as an example of the charging device 32. As the direct charging means, either charging with air discharge or injection charging without air discharge is possible. Moreover, as a voltage applied at the time of charging, it is possible to use only a direct current voltage or to superimpose an alternating current on a direct current.

  The type of the exposure device 33 is not particularly limited as long as it can expose the electrophotographic photoreceptor 31 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor 31. Specific examples include halogen lamps, fluorescent lamps, lasers such as semiconductor lasers and He—Ne lasers, LEDs, and the like. Further, exposure may be performed by a photoreceptor internal exposure method. The light used for the exposure is arbitrary. For example, the exposure may be performed using monochromatic light with a wavelength of 780 nm, monochromatic light with a wavelength slightly shorter than 600 nm to 700 nm, or monochromatic light with a short wavelength of 380 nm to 500 nm. .

  The type of the developing device 34 is not particularly limited, and an arbitrary device such as a dry development method such as cascade development, one-component insulating toner development, one-component conductive toner development, or two-component magnetic brush development, or a wet development method is used. be able to. In FIG. 12, the developing device 34 includes a developing tank 41, an agitator 42, a supply roller 43, a developing roller 44, and a regulating member 45, and has a configuration in which toner T is stored inside the developing tank 41. . Further, a replenishing device (not shown) for replenishing the toner T may be attached to the developing device 34 as necessary. The replenishing device is configured to be able to replenish toner T from a container such as a bottle or a cartridge.

  The supply roller 43 is formed from a conductive sponge or the like. The developing roller 44 is made of a metal roll such as iron, stainless steel, aluminum, or nickel, or a resin roll obtained by coating such a metal roll with a silicon resin, a urethane resin, a fluorine resin, or the like. The surface of the developing roller 44 may be smoothed or roughened as necessary.

  The developing roller 44 is disposed between the electrophotographic photosensitive member 31 and the supply roller 43 and is in contact with the electrophotographic photosensitive member 31 and the supply roller 43, respectively. The supply roller 43 and the developing roller 44 are rotated by a rotation drive mechanism (not shown). The supply roller 43 carries the stored toner T and supplies it to the developing roller 44. The developing roller 44 carries the toner T supplied by the supply roller 43 and contacts the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor 31.

  The regulating member 45 is formed of a resin blade such as silicon resin or urethane resin, a metal blade such as stainless steel, aluminum, copper, brass, phosphor bronze, or a blade obtained by coating such a metal blade with resin. The regulating member 45 contacts the developing roller 44 and is pressed against the developing roller 44 side with a predetermined force by a spring or the like (a general blade linear pressure is 5 to 500 g / cm). If necessary, the regulating member 45 may be provided with a function of imparting charging to the toner T by frictional charging with the toner T.

  The agitator 42 is rotated by a rotation driving mechanism, and agitates the toner T and conveys the toner T to the supply roller 43 side. A plurality of agitators 42 may be provided with different blade shapes and sizes.

  The type of the transfer device 35 is not particularly limited, and an apparatus using an arbitrary system such as an electrostatic transfer method such as corona transfer, roller transfer, or belt transfer, a pressure transfer method, or an adhesive transfer method can be used. . Here, it is assumed that the transfer device 35 includes a transfer charger, a transfer roller, a transfer belt, and the like disposed so as to face the electrophotographic photoreceptor 31. The transfer device 35 applies a predetermined voltage value (transfer voltage) having a polarity opposite to the charging potential of the toner T, and transfers the toner image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive member 31 onto the recording paper (paper, medium) P. Is.

  There is no restriction | limiting in particular about the cleaning apparatus 36, Arbitrary cleaning apparatuses, such as a brush cleaner, a magnetic brush cleaner, an electrostatic brush cleaner, a magnetic roller cleaner, a blade cleaner, can be used. The cleaning device 36 scrapes residual toner adhering to the photoreceptor 31 with a cleaning member and collects the residual toner.

  The fixing device 37 includes an upper fixing member (fixing roller) 71 and a lower fixing member (fixing roller) 72, and a heating device 73 is provided inside the fixing member 71 or 72. FIG. 12 shows an example in which a heating device 73 is provided inside the upper fixing member 71. As the upper and lower fixing members 71 and 72, known heat fixing members such as a fixing roll in which a metal base tube such as stainless steel or aluminum is coated with silicon rubber, a fixing roll coated with a fluororesin, or a fixing sheet are used. be able to. Further, each of the fixing members 71 and 72 may be configured to supply a release agent such as silicone oil in order to improve releasability, or may be configured to forcibly apply pressure to each other by a spring or the like.

When the toner transferred onto the recording paper P passes between the upper fixing member 71 and the lower fixing member 72 heated to a predetermined temperature, the toner is heated to a molten state and cooled after passing through the recording paper. Toner is fixed on P.
The type of the fixing device is not particularly limited, and a fixing device of any type such as heat roller fixing, flash fixing, oven fixing, pressure fixing, etc. can be provided including those used here.

  In the electrophotographic apparatus configured as described above, an image is recorded as follows. That is, first, the surface (photosensitive surface) of the photoconductor 31 is charged to a predetermined potential (for example, −600 V) by the charging device 32. At this time, charging may be performed by a DC voltage, or charging may be performed by superimposing an AC voltage on the DC voltage.

  Subsequently, the photosensitive surface of the charged photoreceptor 31 is exposed by the exposure device 33 according to the image to be recorded, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive surface. The developing device 34 develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive surface of the photoconductor 31.

  The developing device 34 thins the toner T supplied by the supply roller 43 with a regulating member (developing blade) 45 and has a predetermined polarity (here, the same polarity as the charging potential of the photoconductor 31) and negative polarity. ) And is carried while being carried on the developing roller 44 and brought into contact with the surface of the photoreceptor 31.

When the charged toner T carried on the developing roller 44 comes into contact with the surface of the photoreceptor 31, a toner image corresponding to the electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive surface of the photoreceptor 31. The toner image is transferred onto the recording paper P by the transfer device 35. Thereafter, the toner remaining on the photosensitive surface of the photoreceptor 31 without being transferred is removed by the cleaning device 36.
After the transfer of the toner image onto the recording paper P, the final image is obtained by passing the fixing device 37 and thermally fixing the toner image onto the recording paper P.

  In addition to the above-described configuration, the image forming apparatus may have a configuration capable of performing, for example, a static elimination process. The neutralization step is a step of neutralizing the electrophotographic photosensitive member by exposing the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and a fluorescent lamp, an LED, or the like is used as the neutralizing device. In addition, the light used in the static elimination process is often light having an exposure energy that is at least three times that of the exposure light.

  The image forming apparatus may be further modified. For example, the image forming apparatus may be configured to perform processes such as a pre-exposure process and an auxiliary charging process, or may be configured to perform offset printing. A full-color tandem system configuration using toner may be used.

  The electrophotographic photosensitive member 31 is combined with one or more of the charging device 32, the exposure device 33, the developing device 34, the transfer device 35, the cleaning device 36, and the fixing device 37 to form an integrated cartridge ( The electrophotographic photosensitive member cartridge may be configured to be detachable from a main body of an electrophotographic apparatus such as a copying machine or a laser beam printer. In this case, for example, when the electrophotographic photosensitive member 31 and other members deteriorate, the electrophotographic photosensitive member cartridge is removed from the main body of the image forming apparatus, and another new electrophotographic photosensitive member cartridge is mounted on the main body of the image forming apparatus. This facilitates maintenance and management of the image forming apparatus.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.
Example 1
Nylon material containing alumina abrasive grains with a diameter of 0.3 mm and a particle size of # 1500 (average particle size of 10 μm) (Asahi Kasei Co., Ltd.) in a cylindrical cylindrical base made of PVC with an outer diameter of φ60 mm, with a hole diameter of φ5 mm × hole spacing of 10 mm. ) "Sangrit" manufactured by the company) using a brush planted to have a length of 25 mm, a mirror-cut tube made of A3003 (similar to Comparative Example 4 below) having an outer diameter of 30 mm x length of 346 mm x thickness of 1.0 mm On the other hand, the surface roughening was performed under the conditions of a substrate rotation speed of 250 rpm, a brush rotation speed of 750 rpm, a contact allowance of 6 mm, a lifting speed of 3 mm / second, and a sprinkling water amount of 1 L / min. Here, the pulling speed was set to be as fast as possible so that the density of the grooves was not sparse. In addition, as for arrangement | positioning of a brush and a drum, as shown in FIG.

Next, the roughened tube was washed. First, it is immersed for 5 minutes in a 60 ° C solution in which a degreasing agent “NG-30” manufactured by Kizai Co., Ltd. is dissolved at a concentration of 4% by weight, and then sequentially immersed in room temperature pure water consisting of 3 tanks for 1 minute each. After removing the degreasing agent, it was dipped in pure water at 82 ° C. for 10 seconds, pulled up at a speed of 10 mm / second, and dried with hot water. Finally, finish drying was performed in a clean oven at 150 ° C. for 10 minutes, and the mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature. As a result, curved and discontinuous, oblique lattice-like grooves as shown in FIG. 3 were formed on the substrate surface.
A part of the tube thus formed was set aside for measurement of surface roughness and groove width, and a photosensitive layer was formed as follows on another tube after cleaning.

[Coating liquid for undercoat layer]
The following copolymer polyamide (number average molecular weight 35,000) was dissolved in a mixed alcohol (methanol / n-propanol = 7/3) solution at 60 to 65 ° C. with stirring for 3 hours. The solution was then heated at 68-73 ° C. for 30 minutes. A mixed alcohol (methanol / n-propanol = 7/3) solution of alumina (manufactured by Showa Denko KK: UA-5305) that has been ultrasonically dispersed in advance is mixed with the solution thus treated with a homomixer. And heated at 68 ° C. to 73 ° C. for 1 hour. Then, after filtering, the dispersion process was performed with ultrasonic waves for 2 hours. In this way, an undercoat layer coating solution having a solid content concentration of 8% was prepared with UA-5305 / copolymerized polyamide = 1/1 composition (weight ratio).

[Coating liquid for charge generation layer]
Add 500 parts of 1,2-dimethoxyethane to 10 parts of Y-type oxytitanium phthalocyanine and 5 parts of polyvinyl butyral (trade name # 6000-C, manufactured by Denki Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd.), and grind and disperse in a sand grind mill. A charge generation layer coating solution was prepared.
[Coating liquid for charge transport layer] 56 parts by weight of a hydrazone compound shown below

14 parts by weight of the following hydrazone compound,

And 1.5 parts by weight of the following cyanide compound

And 100 parts by weight of the following polycarbonate resin (monomer molar ratio 1: 1)

Was dissolved in a mixed solvent of 1,4 dioxane and tetrahydrofuran to prepare a charge transport layer coating solution.
[Application]
Using the above coating solution, an undercoat layer, a charge generation layer, and a charge transport layer were applied and dried in this order by dip coating to form a laminated photosensitive layer. The undercoat layer was formed to have a thickness of 1.25 μm, the charge generation layer had a thickness of 0.5 μm, and the charge transport layer had a thickness of 20 μm.

  A flange member for driving was attached to the photoreceptor thus obtained, and it was incorporated into a cartridge of a monochrome laser beam printer LBP-850 manufactured by Canon, an image was formed, and image evaluation was performed visually.

Example 2
The brush material is a nylon material containing alumina abrasive grains having a diameter of 0.3 mm and a particle size of # 1000 (average particle size of 16 μm) (“Sangrit” manufactured by Asahi Kasei Co., Ltd.). As shown in FIG. 2, curved and discontinuous, oblique grooves were formed on the surface of the substrate under the conditions of a brush rotation speed of 100 rpm, a contact allowance of 3 mm, a lifting speed of 1 mm / second, and a sprinkling water amount of 1 L / min. An image was formed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that this substrate was used, and image evaluation was performed.

Example 3
Using the brush material used in Example 2, as shown in FIG. 3 on the substrate surface, the substrate rotation speed is 250 rpm, the brush rotation speed is 750 rpm, the allowance is 6 mm, the lifting speed is 5 mm / second, and the sprinkling water amount is 1 L / min. Curved and discontinuous, oblique grid-like grooves were formed. An image was formed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that this substrate was used, and image evaluation was performed.

Example 4
The brush material is a nylon material containing alumina abrasive grains having a diameter of 0.4 mm and a particle size of # 800 (average particle size of 20 μm) (“Tregrit” manufactured by Toray Monofilament Co., Ltd.). As shown in FIG. 3, curved, discontinuous, slanted grid-like grooves were formed on the surface of the substrate as conditions of the brush rotation speed of 750 rpm, the allowance of 6 mm, the lifting speed of 8 mm / second, and the sprinkling water amount of 1 L / min. . An image was formed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that this substrate was used, and image evaluation was performed.

Example 5
The brush material is a nylon material containing alumina abrasive grains ("Sangrit" manufactured by Asahi Kasei Co., Ltd.) with a diameter of 0.3 mm and a particle size of # 500 (average particle size: 34 μm). As shown in FIG. 3, curved, discontinuous, slanted lattice-like grooves were formed on the surface of the substrate as conditions of the brush rotation speed of 750 rpm, the allowance of 6 mm, the lifting speed of 5 mm / second, and the sprinkling water amount of 1 L / min. . An image was formed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that this substrate was used, and image evaluation was performed.

Example 6
The brush material is made of nylon material containing alumina abrasive grains with a diameter of 0.45 mm and a particle size of # 500 (average particle size of 34 μm) (“Tinex A” manufactured by DuPont). As a condition of a rotational speed of 750 rpm, a contact allowance of 6 mm, a pulling speed of 10 mm / second, and a sprinkling water amount of 1 L / min, curved and discontinuous diagonal lattice-like grooves as shown in FIG. 3 were formed on the substrate surface. An image was formed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that this substrate was used, and image evaluation was performed.

Example 7
The brush material was made of nylon material containing alumina abrasive grains ("Tinex A" manufactured by DuPont) having a diameter of 0.55 mm and a particle size of # 320 (average particle size of 48 μm). As a condition of a rotational speed of 750 rpm, a contact allowance of 6 mm, a pulling speed of 8 mm / sec, and a sprinkling water amount of 1 L / min, curved and discontinuous oblique grid-like grooves as shown in FIG. 3 were formed on the substrate surface. An image was formed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that this substrate was used, and image evaluation was performed.

Comparative Example 1
The roughening treatment was not performed, and the same evaluation as in Example 1 was performed using the ironing tube as it was.
Comparative Example 2
The A3003 material drawn tube was cut using a single crystal diamond tool, and a mirror-like cutting tube having an arithmetic average roughness Ra of 0.03 μm and a maximum height Ry of 0.2 μm was used. Evaluation was performed.

Comparative Example 3
The A3003 material drawn tube was cut using a polycrystalline diamond tool, and a mirror-like cutting tube having an arithmetic average roughness Ra of 0.07 μm and a maximum height Ry of 0.6 μm was used. Evaluation was performed.
Comparative Example 4
A 3003 material drawn tube was cut using a polycrystalline diamond tool, and a mirror-like cutting tube having an arithmetic average roughness Ra of 0.14 μm and a maximum height Ry of 1.0 μm was used. Evaluation was performed.

Comparative Example 5
A 3003 material drawn tube was cut using a polycrystalline diamond tool, and a mirror-like cutting tube having an arithmetic average roughness Ra of 0.15 μm and a maximum height Ry of 1.4 μm was used. Evaluation was performed.

Evaluation Method The substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor of the present invention was evaluated by visually observing an image formed by the electrophotographic photoreceptor using the substrate. Image evaluation is an evaluation result of interference fringes, black spots, black stripes (mainly cutting stripes) appearing in a halftone image, ○ is good, ○ △ is a slight defect, △ is a defect, X means fatal defect expression.

  Regarding the surface roughness of each substrate surface, a numerical value measured in accordance with JIS B0601: 1994 using a surface roughness measuring machine “Surfcom 480A” manufactured by Tokyo Seimitsu Co., Ltd. is read as defined in JIS B0601: 2001. The arithmetic average roughness Ra, the maximum height roughness Rz, and the kurtosis Rku of the roughness curve were measured. The numerical value was the average value of the five measurements. For the groove width L, a minimum value and a maximum value were obtained from a surface photograph (magnification 400 times) that was observed and photographed with an optical microscope.

  The evaluation results of Examples 1 to 7 and Comparative Examples 1 to 5 are summarized in Table 1 below.

  Except that a slight interference fringe was seen in the roughened product with the brush of the particle size # 1500 of Example 1 and a slightly small black spot was seen with the roughened product with the brush of the particle size # 320 of Example 7. There were no defects. It was confirmed that the surface roughness and the groove width had a high correlation with the grain size of the abrasive grains, and that the larger the particle size, the larger Ra, Rz, and the groove width L, and the smaller Rku. It was confirmed that the groove width L has a high correlation with the processing force, the rotation speed of the brush is high, the brush diameter is thick, that is, the stronger the condition per brush, the larger the groove width.

  In Comparative Example 1, the ironing tube is used as it is, and the surface state is almost a mirror surface, and there are some grooves generated by ironing. Therefore, although Ra and Rz are small, Rku has a large value. In Comparative Example 2, a mirror surface is created by cutting, but Rku is a value of about 2 to 3 due to a slightly serrated surface shape. In either case, strong interference fringes occur because the surface of the substrate is a mirror surface. Comparative Examples 3 to 5 are examples in which the surface is roughened by cutting, but when the surface becomes rougher than the conditions shown in Comparative Example 4 (Comparative Example 5), cutting streaks appear in the image and become smooth (Comparative Example 3). Interference fringes were likely to appear and good images could not be obtained. In all cases, Rku was a value of about 2 to 3, which was different from the surface state obtained by the present invention.

  The present invention can be carried out in any field that requires an electrophotographic photoreceptor, and is suitable for use in, for example, a copying machine, a printer, a printing machine, and the like.

It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the method of manufacturing the base | substrate for electrophotographic photoreceptors of this invention. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of the shape of the groove when the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate of the present invention is developed in a plane. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of the shape of the groove when the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate of the present invention is developed in a plane. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the method of manufacturing the base | substrate for electrophotographic photoreceptors of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the method of manufacturing the base | substrate for electrophotographic photoreceptors of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the method of manufacturing the base | substrate for electrophotographic photoreceptors of this invention. (A)-(c) is a flowchart which shows the method of roughening the base | substrate for electrophotographic photoreceptors of this invention. It is a perspective view of a cutting device used when manufacturing the base for an electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of the shape of the groove when the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate of the present invention is developed in a plane. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view showing a partially broken ironing device used when manufacturing a substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member according to the present invention, in which (a) shows before ironing, and (b) shows after ironing. To express. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of the shape of the groove when the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate of the present invention is developed in a plane. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a main configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Base | substrate 1'10 ', 21' The surface of a base | substrate was expand | deployed and made into a plane 2 Inner expansion gripping mechanism 3 Wheel-shaped brush 3 'Cup-shaped brush 4 Cleaning brush 10 Base tube 11 Bit 11A Tool tip 12 Tool post 13 Guide Pipe 14 Bed 15 Slide stage 16 Head 21 Extrusion pipe 22 Punch 23 Mold holder 24 Claw 25 Hydraulic cylinder 26 Punch mounting plate 27 Guide 28 Jig 29 Pump 31 Photoconductor (Electrophotographic photoconductor)
32 Charging device (charging roller; charging unit)
33 Exposure equipment (exposure section)
34 Developing device (developing part)
35 Transfer Device 36 Cleaning Device 37 Fixing Device 41 Developing Tank 42 Agitator 43 Supply Roller 44 Developing Roller 45 Regulating Member 71 Upper Fixing Member (Fixing Roller)
72 Lower fixing member (fixing roller)
73 Heating device T Toner P Recording paper (paper, medium)

Claims (14)

In an electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate having a fine groove formed on the surface, the shape of the groove is curved and discontinuous when the substrate surface is developed on a flat surface, and the maximum height of the surface of the substrate. The roughness Rz is 0.6 ≦ Rz ≦ 2 μm, the kurtosis Rku is 3.9 ≦ Rku ≦ 30, and the groove width L formed on the substrate surface is 0.5 ≦ L ≦ 6. A substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member, characterized by having a thickness of 0 μm. 2. The substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 1 , wherein the grooves formed on the surface of the substrate have a lattice shape. A method for producing the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate according to claim 1 or 2 ,
A method for producing a substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor, wherein a flexible material is brought into contact with the surface of the substrate and moved relative to the surface of the substrate. 4. The method for producing a substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor according to claim 3 , wherein the surface of the substrate is subjected to rough cutting and finish cutting in advance. 4. The method for producing a substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 3 , wherein the surface of the substrate is subjected to finish cutting in advance. 4. The method for producing a substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor according to claim 3 , wherein the substrate is subjected to ironing in advance. Which comprises using a plurality of said flexible material, manufacturing method of an electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate according to any one of claims 3-6. The method for producing a substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member according to any one of claims 3 to 7 , wherein a brush is used as the flexible material. The method for producing a base for an electrophotographic photosensitive member according to any one of claims 3 to 8 , wherein a brush made of a resin kneaded with abrasive grains is used as the flexible material. The method for producing a substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 9 , wherein the maximum diameter of the abrasive grains is 50 μm or less. An electrophotographic photosensitive member comprising a photosensitive layer formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate according to claim 1 . The electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 11 , further comprising an intermediate layer between the photosensitive layer and the substrate. The electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 11 or 12 , and
A charging unit for charging the electrophotographic photosensitive member, an exposure unit for exposing the charged electrophotographic photosensitive member to form an electrostatic latent image, and developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive member An electrophotographic photosensitive member cartridge comprising at least one of the developing units. The electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 11 or 12 , and
A charging unit for charging the electrophotographic photosensitive member;
Exposing the charged electrophotographic photoreceptor to form an electrostatic latent image; and
An image forming apparatus comprising: a developing unit that develops an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive member.

Images