JPH031088A - Heating treatment method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effect heat treatment efficiently, continuously and safely by a method wherein the heating treatment of a plurality of matters to be treated, which move axially while being rotated, is effected by heat radiated from heat generating bodies in a tubular heating furnace, consisting of reflective material occupying most of an inner wall and the rod type heat generating bodies arranged axially in the heating furnace. CONSTITUTION:A shaft 1 is supported by supporting and rotating rollers 5, 7. Loading shafts 13, 14 are set on a linear way on a trestle so that the direction in the level of the shafts 13, 14 coincides with the same of the shaft 1 and are movable in left-and-right direction by an air cylinder. A pusher 9 pushes the group of works with a constant speed and when the left and of the group has exceeded the supporting roller 5, another waiting pusher 10 is advanced in a constant speed to push a flange, being pushed by the pusher 9, in parallel. Then, the flange is delivered to the pusher 10 and the pusher 9 is stopped and, thereafter, is sent quickly into a reverse direction to arrive at the vicinity of the supporting roller 4 and wait the group of next works.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention aims to efficiently (heat-treat) objects to be processed, especially cylindrical objects, while rotating and moving in a straight line. It can be used for curing, film coating, etc., but it can be used directly after coating an electrophotographic photoreceptor coating liquid and then covering the substrate or photoreceptor to which the coating liquid is applied with a heat-shrinkable tube. It is especially suitable for use in the subsequent heat shrinking process.

[Conventional technology]

Electrophotographic drums coated with organic photoreceptors are widely used. Coating of the photoreceptor is done by dip coating method, spray coating method, etc., but the spray method has less hold-up of the coating liquid than the dipping method, and the liquid is held in a sealed tank, and the liquid that comes out from the tank is It has the advantage that there is no secondary contamination because it is used up and does not return to the tank.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when spray coating an organic photoreceptor solution, a solvent with a higher boiling point is used than in dip coating, so the coating liquid that adheres to the drum remains fluid even after coating. If the wind speed is high during drying, as in the case of normal hot air drying, the formed coating film will become extremely uneven, making it impossible to obtain a photoreceptor that produces clean copies. For example, wind speed 0.3 m/
It is necessary to dry at a temperature of less than s, but under this condition, hot air drying becomes extremely inefficient.

When the present inventor heat-treats the object in this way,
As a result of research into a method that can be manufactured with good productivity without causing unevenness or dripping of the coating liquid, the present invention has been arrived at.

[Means to solve problems]

That is, the gist of the present invention is that most of the inner wall is made of a reflective material,
In a cylindrical heating furnace in which a rod-shaped heating element is arranged in the axial direction, a plurality of objects to be treated that rotate and move in the axial direction are heat-treated using the heat radiated from the heating element. The present invention resides in a heating method characterized by the following.

[For production]

In the cylindrical heating furnace used in the method of the present invention, most of the inner wall, preferably the whole, is made of a reflective material, particularly a material that reflects heat rays such as infrared rays or far infrared rays, so that the heat rays emitted from the heating element can be efficiently heated without being dispersed. Available. The shape of the cross section perpendicular to the axis of the cylindrical heating furnace is arbitrary; in particular, the inner wall on the opposite side of the object to be treated from the heating element does not contribute much to the reflection of heat rays, so it does not necessarily need to be made of reflective material. Its shape does not significantly affect heating efficiency. However, it is preferable that the cross section of the commercially available "Infrared Gold Image Furnace" (manufactured by Shinku Riko ■) is elliptical, or a plurality of ellipses share a focal point, as shown in FIG. If a heating furnace with a combined shape is used, and a rod-shaped heating element is placed at or near one focal point of the ellipse, and a workpiece is placed at or near the other focal point, all of the heat emitted from the heating element will be The most efficient method is that the heat rays can be concentrated near the object to be processed.

In addition, in the case of a shape in which a plurality of ellipses are combined and share one focal point, one focal point and the other focal point are defined as "one focal point shared by the plurality of ellipses". This refers to the case where the other focus is another "plurality of focus groups unique to each ellipse" or vice versa.

That is, the heating element may be placed at or near one focal point shared by a plurality of ellipses, and the object to be processed may be placed at or near a plurality of focus groups unique to each ellipse, or vice versa. In the former case, a large number of objects to be processed can be heated at the same time, and in the latter case, the objects to be processed can be heated more uniformly from the surroundings. In this case, the size of the heating furnace is such that the minor axis of the ellipse is 3 to 10 times the diameter of the workpiece, more preferably 3
~5 times, the comparison between the long sleeve and the short axis is preferably about 1.05 to 2 times, more preferably about 1.2 to 1.7 times, and the calorific value of the heating element and the long axis of the ellipse of the heating element and the object to be treated are The intensity of the heating and the focus of the heat beam can be adjusted by finely adjusting the position of the .

The method of the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of objects to be treated, which rotate and move in the axial direction, are heat-treated in the cylindrical heating furnace using heat rays emitted from a heating element, and It enables uniform heating of the surface and continuous heat treatment of multiple objects to be processed, and is particularly suitable for hollow cylindrical objects such as electrophotographic photoreceptor drums (hereinafter referred to as "hollow cylindrical workpieces"). It can be suitably applied to heat treatment of the surface of

When the object to be processed is a hollow cylindrical workpiece, the following method may be mentioned as a specific method for rotating and moving the object in the heating furnace.

That is, a shaft is provided that passes through a cylindrical heating furnace in the axial direction, a flange having a hole in the center is inserted into both ends of a hollow cylindrical workpiece, the shaft is inserted into the hole of the flange, and both ends of the shaft are inserted. The shaft is horizontally supported and rotated by a pair of vertically movable rotating rollers provided at at least two locations in each of the parts at an interval equal to or more than the length of one workpiece, and the shaft is rotated while being horizontally supported. The shaft has a relative shape that allows the workpiece to be rotated substantially coaxially with respect to the hole in the flange, and the contact portion of the rotating roller has a circular cross section and a shape that allows the hole in the flange to easily pass through. A butcher is provided for moving the workpieces on the upper part, and the pushers are sequentially inserted from one end of the shaft, which is supported horizontally by the rollers and rotates on its axis, through the holes in the flanges to move the workpieces at the front and rear ends of the plurality of flanged workpieces. are arranged in contact with each other and rotated coaxially with the shaft, and moved on the shaft in the delivery direction by the pusher,
In this method, the workpieces that have reached the other end of the shaft are successively removed from the shaft.

The shaft is supported and rotated by two rollers on the insertion side and at least two rollers on the withdrawal side, and each roller can be in a supporting or non-supporting state by contacting/separating from the shaft. is being done.

The flanged workpiece pushed by the butcher passes through the supported portion of the shaft where the roller is in an unsupported state and is delivered to the next butcher.

The pusher is a pusher (P
P+ It is preferable to move Pl and Pl at a higher speed than P8, since it is possible to simultaneously insert and remove the workpiece while moving the workpiece at a constant speed on the shaft.

Hereinafter, an example of an apparatus for applying the method of the present invention will be specifically explained based on the drawings. 1 to 9 are drawings each illustrating a preferred example of an apparatus that can realize the method of the present invention, and FIG. 1 shows an apparatus in which the cross section perpendicular to the axis of the cylindrical heating furnace is elliptical. FIG. 2 is an explanatory longitudinal cross-sectional view of the device, the cross section of which is a combination of two ellipses sharing a single focal point. 3 and 4 respectively show the apparatus whose vertical cross-sectional view is shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory cross-sectional view taken along the line AA' in FIG. 1 of the apparatus. FIG. 5 is a side explanatory view focusing only on the workpiece conveyance device in the apparatus whose cross-sectional explanatory view is shown in FIG. 3. 6th ~
9 is a time chart illustrating a method of controlling the support rollers of the apparatus shown in each of the figures above. 1 is a shaft, 2 is a workpiece, 3 is a flange, 4.5, 6.7.20°21 is a supporting/rotating roller each consisting of a pair of rollers, 8.1
8 (P+), 9.10 (Pl).

11.12.19 (Pl) is pusher 13゜1
4 is a loading shaft, 15 is a cylindrical heating furnace, 16 is a heating element, 17 is a quartz plate, 22 is a short pipe opening, and 23 is an exhaust duct. The quartz plate 17 is provided so that when steam is generated, such as during drying of an electrophotographic photoreceptor after a coating process, the steam does not enter the heating element side. Of course, plates made of other materials may be used instead, as long as they are made of non-breathable materials that allow heat rays to pass through.Also, such vapors are exhausted through the exhaust duct 23, and the opening 22 is equipped with a filter. Clean air is supplied from

Since the shaft has both linear guidance and rotational transmission for the workpiece, in order to rotate the workpiece against the friction caused by the pusher, use a shaft with a non-circular cross section, such as a spline shaft, and create a corresponding flange hole shape. is desirable. Of course, if the hole of the flange and/or the shaft can be roughened and the workpiece can be rotated evenly only by the sliding resistance of the two, there is no need to be concerned about the shape of the shaft.

The loading shirts 13 and 14 are set on a linear way on a stand so that they are in line with the shaft 1 in the level direction, and can be moved left and right using an air cylinder (not shown).

First, workpieces (in this case, aluminum drums for coating the photoreceptor) each having flanges on both sides are set at 13° I4 (of course, this can be easily automated using a robot). 1
3.14 are both rotated in synchronization with the shaft 1 which is rotated at a constant speed by an AC servo motor (not shown).

The shaft is first supported by 5.7 support/rotation rollers (hereinafter simply referred to as support rollers). As shown in the figure, several workpieces are set between the support rollers 5 and 6, and first, the workpiece on the loading shaft eco is transferred by the pusher 8 over the support roller 4 to the shaft 1 side. At this time, the pusher 11 is the rightmost drum 1.
The individual is separated from the group and moved over the support roller 6. When the workpiece passes over the support rollers 4, 6, the support rollers 4.6 rise to support the shaft, and at the same time the support rollers 5, 7 begin to descend. As mentioned above, it is preferable that the support rotating rollers 4, 6.5, and 7 form pairs and move up and down simultaneously.

The pusher 9 pushes the flange portion on the left end of the workpiece and catches up with the workpiece being moved at a constant speed by the pusher IO, and the two workpieces are brought together at the same speed without applying any impact force. After the connection, the bushing 10 moves away from the workpiece, stops once, is rapidly traversed in the opposite direction, and waits near the support roller 5. The pusher 9 pushes the work group at a constant speed, and when the left end passes the support roller 5, the pusher 10 that was waiting
moves forward at a constant speed, and pushes the flange pushed by the button shear 9 in parallel.The button shear 9 is thus handed over to the button shear 10, and the button shear 9 stops, and is fast-forwarded in the opposite direction until it reaches the vicinity of the support roller 4 and waits. .

At this time, the support roller 5 is raised, and the support roller 4 is lowered to standby for insertion of a new workpiece. When entering the next cycle, an air cylinder (not shown) is activated, and the workpiece on the loading shaft 14 side is pushed by the pusher 8 and past the support roller 4, and the above-mentioned operation is repeated.

During this time, the workpiece that has passed the support roller 6 on the exit side is sent to the transfer machine on the unloading side (equipped with shafts corresponding to shafts 13 and 14) by the pusher 12 while the support roller 7 is descending. . Then, the bushing 11 returns to its original position and waits. When the workpiece passes over the support roller 7, the support roller 7 is raised and the support roller 6 is lowered. In this way, the unloading side also enters the next cycle.

FIG. 8 shows the movements of the above-mentioned support rollers, and the movement of each pusher is always controlled so that the workpiece passes above the support rollers that are in the lowered position.

If the shaft is supported at only two points as in the example above, there may be a problem that the shaft will bend depending on the length and rigidity of the shaft. If the control is performed as shown in FIG. 7, the shaft can be supported at three or more points at all times, which is preferable. However, since the workpiece can only be passed above the support roller when it is in the lowered position, there is no need to reduce production efficiency, that is, without reducing the number of workpieces supplied to the shaft per unit time. As is clear from FIG. 7, in order to achieve the above support, it is necessary to complete the movement of the workpiece in a shorter time, and it is necessary to increase the moving speed of the pusher.

Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, both ends of the shaft are extended, and one support roller 20 and two
1 and pushers 18 and 19 accordingly, and control each support roller as shown in Fig. 8, the shaft can be moved at 3 or more points at all times without changing the moving speed of the pusher. Supportable and preferred. or,
If the movement of each support roller is as shown in FIG. 9, the shaft can be supported at four or more points at all times.

Furthermore, the number of support rollers at both ends of the shaft may be four or more if necessary, but regardless of the number of support rollers and their movements, each pusher always moves the workpiece above the support roller in the lowered position. All you have to do is control its movement so that it passes.

In addition, in FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and FIG. 9, when the line corresponding to each support roller is at a higher position, that support roller is in the raised position and supports the shaft, and the cough line is in the raised position. The lower position indicates that the support roller is in a lowered position and is not in contact with the shaft.

The above operations are incorporated into a sequencer, and the next operation is automatically carried over by receiving the respective position information.

〔Example〕

(1) Drying of a single-layer photosensitive liquid coated on an aluminum drum Dry a layer-based photosensitive liquid for electrophotography shown in Attached Table 1 to a film thickness of 2
It was coated on the drum so that the thickness was 0μ.

Subsequently, a plurality of drums are mounted on a rotating main shaft of a heat treatment apparatus whose longitudinal cross-sectional view, cross-sectional view and side view are shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5 respectively. The support roller of the device is continuously supplied with the sixth
Heat treatment was performed while controlling as shown in the figure. Main shaft 1 rotation speed 200 rpm+, heater surface temperature 150'C, residence time of drum in heating furnace 15 m1n
, exhaust wind speed 0.3 m/s.

The surface condition of the photosensitive layer after drying was good, and the residual solvent was determined by gas chromatography and was below the detection limit.

(2) Long body P with body part without shrink-coated particulate line of PETTUBE
Cut off the head and continuous parts of the ET bottle. The outer diameter of the IR section is 8
．． It has a diameter of 7 m, a length of 320 mm, and a wall thickness of 200 μm. This was placed on an aluminum drum with an outer diameter of 80sφ, a length of 340mm, and a wall thickness of 1mm, and flanges with holes matching the shaft diameter were set at the front and back of the drum.
The same heat treatment equipment as used in (1) above was used, except that the surface temperature of the far-infrared heater was 140°C, and the residence time of the drum in the heating furnace was 20w1n.
), the PET bottle body was densified into an aluminum drum and a smooth surface could be obtained.

-1 1 Locus y・Polycarbonate resin 100 parts Cyclohexanone 1100 parts The following structural formula (1
) 80 parts of the hydrazone compound 20 parts of the electron-withdrawing compound 9J of the following structural formula (2) were added to a solution in which 10 parts of the azo pigment of the following structural formula (3) were added, and the mixture was uniformly fractionated using a side grinder.

CH.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the method of the present invention, heat treatment can be performed very efficiently in terms of energy and time.

Moreover, most of the energy generated from the heating element is irradiated onto the workpiece, so energy efficiency is good.

When the object to be processed is a hollow cylindrical workpiece and the transport device described in detail is adopted, the transport itself is -dimensional and is pushed out in a continuous manner, so stable operation is possible without requiring positional accuracy etc. can be done.

In addition, it is a so-called one chucking system, and there is no room for trouble due to the chuck system. The present invention provides a method for heat-treating a workpiece continuously and safely in an energy-efficient manner at a predetermined linear speed and a predetermined rotational speed without touching the outer surface of the workpiece.

Furthermore, since it is energy efficient, the surface temperature of the heater can be lowered, so it is safe and, if necessary, high-speed processing is possible within limits that do not deteriorate the film surface condition.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 9 are drawings each illustrating a preferred example of an apparatus that can realize the method of the present invention, and FIG. 1 shows an apparatus in which the cross section perpendicular to the axis of the cylindrical heating furnace is elliptical. FIG. 2 is an explanatory longitudinal cross-sectional view of the device, the cross section of which is a combination of two ellipses sharing a single focal point. Third
and FIG. 4 are the apparatuses whose vertical cross-sectional views are shown in FIG. 1, respectively, which are an apparatus in which a workpiece conveyance shaft is supported by four support rollers, and an apparatus in which the shaft is supported by six support rollers. FIG. 2 is an explanatory cross-sectional view (along line AA' in FIG. 1) of FIG. FIG. 5 is a time chart illustrating a method of transporting a workpiece within the apparatus whose cross-sectional view is shown in FIG. 3. 1... Shaft, 2... Workpiece, 3... Flange, 4.5, 6.7.20.21... Support roller 881
8... Pusher (Pl), 9.10... Pusher (P2), 11.12.19... Pusher (P3) 13.14
Loading shaft, 15 Heating furnace, 16 Heating element, 17 Quartz plate, 22 Opening, 23 Exhaust duct.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a cylindrical heating furnace in which most of the inner wall is made of reflective material and a rod-shaped heating element is arranged in the axial direction, multiple objects to be processed are rotated and moved in the axial direction. A heat treatment method characterized by heating with heat radiated from the heating element.