JPH0347577A - Drum washing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently remove foreign matter and contaminant by arranging an ultrasonic vibrator in a washing solution and driving the vibrator in such a state that a drum is brought into contact with the vibrator. CONSTITUTION:A drum 40 to be washed is immersed in a washing solution to be externally fitted to the guide part 21 of an ultrasonic oscillator 20. The lower end surface of the drum 40 is brought into contact with the support part 22 of the oscillator 20 and the whole of the drum 40 is vertically supported on the support part 22. An ultrasonic oscillator 30 is operated in this state and the oscillator 20 is driven to oscillate ultrasonic waves from the whole of the oscillator 20. At the same time, the drum 40 in contact with the support part 22 of the oscillator 20 is vibrated by the vibration of the oscillator 20 to wash the inner surface and end surface of the drum 40. By this method, washing effect is enhanced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a drum cleaning method carried out when manufacturing a photosensitive drum used, for example, in an electrophotographic copying machine. The present invention relates to a method for cleaning a drum before a photosensitive layer is formed on its outer peripheral surface.

(Prior Art) A photosensitive drum used in an electrophotographic copying machine forms a photosensitive layer by applying a coating liquid containing a photosensitive substance to the outer peripheral surface of a conductive drum such as an aluminum tube. Manufactured by When applying a coating solution containing a photosensitive substance, if oil components, foreign matter, etc. are attached to the drum, the drum will be immersed in the coating solution, and the coating solution will become contaminated. Due to deterioration, it becomes impossible to form a predetermined photosensitive layer (at the same time, foreign matter and the like adhere to the drum along with the coating liquid, resulting in uneven layer thickness of the photosensitive layer).

For this reason, the drum on which the photosensitive layer is formed on its outer peripheral surface is cleaned before the coating liquid containing the photosensitive substance is applied thereto.

The cleaning of the drum is carried out, for example, by disposing an annular brush in a cleaning liquid tank containing cleaning liquid, and moving the drum up and down inside the brush while rotating it.

In addition, the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid tank is vibrated by ultrasonic waves.
A method has also been adopted in which the drum is immersed in a vibrating cleaning solution.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In such a conventional drum cleaning method, oil components, foreign matter, etc. adhering to the outer circumferential surface of the drum can be removed from the outer circumferential surface of the drum. However, oil components, foreign matter, etc. adhering to the inner peripheral surface, end surface, etc. of the drum cannot be completely removed. Therefore, when a coating liquid containing a photosensitive substance is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the drum, there is a risk that the coating liquid may be contaminated.

The present invention solves the above conventional problems, and its purpose is to reliably remove oil components, foreign matter, etc. that adhere to not only the outer circumferential surface of the drum, but also the inner circumferential surface and end surface of the drum.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a drum cleaning method that can remove particles with high efficiency.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The drum cleaning method of the present invention includes immersing the drum in a cleaning liquid in a cleaning tank containing the cleaning liquid, and vibrating the cleaning liquid with an ultrasonic oscillator to clean the drum. A method,
It is characterized by disposing an ultrasonic vibrator in a cleaning liquid contained in a cleaning tank, and driving the ultrasonic vibrator in a state where the drum to be cleaned is in contact with the ultrasonic vibrator,
This achieves the above objective.

(Example) The present invention will be described below with reference to Examples.

The drum cleaning method of the present invention is carried out, for example, when manufacturing a photoreceptor drum. The photosensitive drum is manufactured by applying a coating liquid containing a photosensitive substance to the outer circumferential surface of an aluminum tube or the like to form a photosensitive layer on the outer circumferential surface. The drum cleaning method of the present invention is carried out before applying a coating liquid to a drum such as an aluminum tube.

In the drum cleaning method of the present invention, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, a cleaning tank 10 containing a cleaning liquid is used. An ultrasonic oscillator 20 is disposed inside the cleaning tank 10,
The ultrasonic oscillator 20 is driven by an ultrasonic oscillator 30 disposed outside the cleaning liquid tank 10 to generate ultrasonic waves.

The ultrasonic oscillator 20 disposed in the cleaning tank 10 is made of metal such as stainless steel, and has a cylindrical guide portion 21 at the top that can fit into the end of the drum 40 to be cleaned. a drum 40 whose lower part is fitted into the guide part 21;
The support portion 22 has a cylindrical shape and supports substantially vertically.

Drum cleaning is carried out as follows. The drum 40 to be cleaned is immersed in the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 10 in a substantially vertical state and fitted into the guide portion 21 of the ultrasonic oscillator 20 .

Then, a drum 40 is attached to the support portion 22 of the ultrasonic oscillator 20.
The entire drum 40 is brought into contact with the support portion 2
2. Support it approximately vertically. In this state, the ultrasonic oscillator 30 is operated, the ultrasonic oscillator 20 in the cleaning tank 10 is driven, and the entire ultrasonic oscillator 20 emits ultrasonic waves. At the same time, the drum 40 in contact with the support portion 22 of the ultrasonic oscillator 20 vibrates due to the vibration of the ultrasonic oscillator 20, and the entire drum 40 also oscillates ultrasonic waves.

As a result, the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 10 is transferred to the ultrasonic oscillator 2.
The ultrasonic waves emitted from the drum 40 and the ultrasonic waves emitted from the drum 40 reliably vibrate, and the entire drum 40 is reliably cleaned by the cleaning liquid. Since the inner body of the drum 40 is also vibrating, the inner circumferential surface and each end of the drum 40 are also reliably cleaned.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the ultrasonic oscillator 20 has a truncated conical shape in which the diameter of the guide portion 21 that is fitted into the drum 40 is gradually reduced toward the upper side. The supporting portion 22 on which the drum 40 is placed may have a wall portion 22a that surrounds the lower end of the drum 40 on which the drum 40 is placed. The circumferential surface of the truncated conical guide portion 21 is tapered diagonally upward, and the inner circumferential surface of the wall portion 22a is
The diameter gradually increases toward the top, forming a tapered shape that points diagonally upward.

In the ultrasonic oscillator 20 having such a configuration, the guide portion 21
and the wall portion 2 in the support portion 22
Ultrasonic waves emitted from the tapered inner circumferential surface of 2a are directed toward the entire inner circumferential surface and the entire outer circumferential surface of the vertical drum 40 placed between the guide section 21 and the wall section 22. The cleaning effect is further improved because each of the two components is propagated separately.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, in the ultrasonic oscillator 20, the wall portion 22a of the guide portion 21 and the support portion 22 may have a height approximately equal to the length of the drum 40 to be cleaned.

In such a configuration, the inner circumferential surface of the drum 40 is reliably cleaned by the ultrasonic vibrations emitted from the guide part 21,
Further, the outer circumferential surface of the drum 40 is reliably cleaned by the vibrations caused by the ultrasonic waves emitted from the inner circumferential surface of the wall portion 22a. In this case, the outer circumferential surface of the guide portion 21 and the inner circumferential surface of the wall portion 22a do not need to be tapered.

(Effects of the Invention) In the drum cleaning method of the present invention, since the drum is brought into contact with the ultrasonic oscillator disposed in the cleaning liquid,
The drum itself functions as an ultrasonic oscillator, and not only the outer peripheral surface but also the inner peripheral surface and end surfaces of the drum are reliably cleaned.

4. Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a cleaning tank showing an example of the implementation state of the drum cleaning method of the present invention, and Figures 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views of other examples of the ultrasonic oscillator. be.

10...Cleaning tank, 20...Ultrasonic oscillator, 21...
・Guide part, 22... Support part, 22a... Wall part, 3
0...Ultrasonic oscillator, 40...Drum.

that's all

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method of cleaning the drum by immersing the drum in the cleaning liquid in a cleaning tank containing the cleaning liquid and vibrating the cleaning liquid with an ultrasonic oscillator. A method for cleaning a drum, comprising disposing a sonic vibrator and driving the ultrasonic vibrator in a state where the drum to be cleaned is in contact with the ultrasonic vibrator.