JPH036568A - Photosensitive body coating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a uniform photosensitive body by supporting plural stirring members for coating liquid movably on a horizontal plane. CONSTITUTION:The plural stirring members 6 for the coating liquid are supported movably on the horizontal plane. Namely, the stirring blades 4 are provided at plural positions, e.g. four positions at intervals of 90 deg.; and a gear is cut in the peripheral surface of a lid 5 and a gear 7 is arranged by the lid and rotated by a motor M1. Then the rotation of the gear is transmitted to the lid 5, which is rotated to rotate the stirring blades 6 fitted to the lid, thereby performing stirring operation in the entire coating tank. Consequently, neither secondary cohesion nor sedimentation of pigment is caused and the uniform photosensitive body is manufactured.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing photoreceptors used in electrophotographic copying machines and the like, and more particularly to a photoreceptor coating apparatus for forming a photoreceptor layer on the surface of a photoreceptor substrate. .

(middle) Conventional technology Photoreceptors used in electrophotographic copying machines, etc. are conductive substrates (
A photoreceptor (substrate) has a photoreceptor (a charge generation layer, a charge transport layer, etc.) formed on its surface, and among these, there are organic photoreceptors in which the photoreceptor layer is made of an organic material, and inorganic photoreceptors in which the photoreceptor layer is made of an inorganic material. In the organic photoreceptor, a photosensitive layer is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor substrate by immersing the photoreceptor substrate in a coating tank filled with a coating liquid made of a photosensitive material. For example, a photosensitive layer can be formed on the surface of a photoreceptor substrate by passing the photoreceptor substrate through a coating liquid or by dipping and pulling up the photoreceptor substrate.

(C1 Problem to be Solved by the Invention By the way, the thickness of the photosensitive layer formed on the surface of the photoreceptor substrate is very thin, for example, the thickness of the charge generation layer is 2μ.
m or less (after drying). Therefore, the coating liquid is consumed little by little, and the coating liquid sometimes stagnates in the coating tank, causing secondary aggregation and sedimentation of the pigment. When these aggregates and sediments adhere to the surface of the photoreceptor substrate, coating defects occur, and when the concentration of the coating solution changes due to secondary aggregation and sedimentation, the thickness of the photosensitive layer formed becomes uneven.

The present invention provides a photoreceptor coating device equipped with a stirrer for stirring a coating solution, and aims to prevent secondary aggregation and sedimentation of the coating solution and to produce a photoreceptor with an even photosensitive layer. There is.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The photoreceptor coating apparatus of the present invention is an apparatus for forming a photosensitive layer on the surface of a photoreceptor substrate by immersing the photoreceptor substrate in a coating tank filled with a coating liquid. The present invention is characterized in that a plurality of stirring members for stirring the coating liquid are provided in a horizontal plane, and the stirring members are supported movably in the horizontal plane.

(e) Effect FIG. 1 is a diagram explaining the invention in detail.

The figure shows the plane of the coating layer, and the photoreceptor substrate passes through the coating liquid in the vertical direction in the figure. For example, stirring blades, ultrasonic vibrators, etc. are used as the stirring member, and as shown in the figure, there are multiple locations (
A normal stirring device that is installed at 4 points) and stirs the surrounding area is up to this point, and although the area around each stirring member is stirred, if you look at the entire tank, you may notice uneven concentration. many. On the other hand, in this device, since the stirring member moves in a horizontal plane (for example, rotates as shown by arrow A), it is possible to stir evenly throughout the tank. If stirring is performed in this manner, secondary aggregation and sedimentation of the pigment will not occur.

(f) Examples FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a photoreceptor coating device.

This device forms a photosensitive layer on the surface of a cylindrical photoreceptor substrate 3. A circular coating tank 2 is filled with a coating liquid 1. A replenishment hole 2a is formed at the upper end of the coating tank 2, and when the amount of liquid in the tank decreases, it is replenished from there. A hole 2b slightly larger than the diameter of the photoreceptor substrate 3 is formed in the center of the bottom of the coating tank 2, and the photoreceptor substrate 3 passes through this hole 2b from bottom to top to be coated with the coating liquid. . Note that the hole 2b
Since the gap between the photoreceptor substrate 3 and the photoreceptor substrate 3 is sealed with a sealing member 4, the coating liquid l will not leak.

In coating tank 2! 5 is provided. In the center of the lid 5,
Hole 5b through which the photoreceptor base 3 passes from bottom to top
is formed. l! 5, stirring blades 6 are rotatably supported in four directions around the hole 5b. The tip of the stirring blade 6 is placed in the coating liquid 1. It is preferable that the stirring blade 6 is shaped like a bifurcated rod, for example, and is difficult to entrain air bubbles. The stirring blade 6 is rotated by a motor M2 and stirs the surrounding area. The stirring blades 6 are provided at a plurality of locations, for example, about four locations at every 90 degrees.

A gear is cut on the circumferential surface of 15, and a gear 7 is placed next to it. The gear 7 is rotated by a motor M, and the rotation is transmitted to the lid 5, causing the lid 5 to rotate. Coating tank 2 and lid 5
As shown enlarged in the upper right corner of the figure, a roller 8 is provided between the rollers 8 and 8. The roller 8 is made of a solvent-resistant material such as fluororesin, and its shaft 8a extends from the center of the lid 5. corresponds to the radiation of For example, the roller 8 rotates 4 times every 90 degrees.
It is only necessary to provide the lid 5 at a certain number of places, and the lid 5 can be rotated smoothly. In order to rotate the M5 smoothly, there are methods such as using a bearing or coating the upper surface of the coating tank 2 and the lower surface of the lid 5 with a film or fluororesin having a small coefficient of friction. When the lid 5 rotates, the stirring blade 6 attached to the lid also rotates, and the entire coating tank is stirred.

The photoreceptor base 3 is supported by spacers 9, 9 and pushed upward by a spindle 10. A sensor 11 is provided on the spindle 10.

A sensor 12 is provided at the bottom of the coating tank 2, and a sensor 13 is further provided approximately one length below the coating tank 2. Sensors 12, 13 correspond to sensors 11 provided on spindle IO and detect the position of spindle 10.

The coating process for the photosensitive layer will be briefly explained below.

At the end of the previous coating process, the spindle 10 is in the position of the sensor 12, and the spacer 9 is in the hole 2b of the coating tank.
is blocking the In this state, the spacer 9 is held by a holder (not shown), and then the photoreceptor base 3 is pulled upward and the spindle 1O is lowered downward. The spindle 10 is lowered to the position of the sensor 13, and a new photoreceptor substrate and spacer are inserted between the upper spacer 9 and the spindle 10. Then, the spindle 10 pushes up the photoreceptor substrate to perform the coating process.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the main parts of the coating device.

The entire device is controlled by a CPU 21. The CPU 21 receives signals from sensors 12 and 13 that detect the spindle position, a sensor (not shown) that detects the amount of liquid in the coating tank, etc.
Coating control section 22. Liquid supply control section 23. Motor Ml, Mz
Outputs operation signals to etc. The coating control section 22 controls devices for the coating process such as the spindle IO and the photoreceptor substrate attachment/detachment device, and the liquid supply control section 23 adjusts the amount of coating liquid in the coating tank 2 . Further, the motors M + and M z are motors for stirring the coating liquid, as described above.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure related to stirring processing.

When the machining process is completed, the sensor 12 is turned on.

Then, the motor M;'yx is turned on to stir the inside of the coating tank 2 (nl-n2). At this time, if there is a need to replenish the coating liquid, the liquid is replenished (n3-n4). The spindle 10 is lowered while stirring and liquid replenishment are being performed in steps n2 to n4. When the sensor 13 detects the spindle 10, liquid replenishment and stirring are stopped (n 5-=n 6-
=n7). After this, a new photoreceptor substrate is mounted and coating processing begins.

If the liquid is replenished and stirred when the spindle 10 is lowered (between coating processes) in this way, there are the following advantages. That is, it is possible to prevent temporary density unevenness caused by liquid replenishment from adversely affecting the coating process, and also to prevent disturbances in the liquid level caused by stirring from affecting the coating process. When the coating treatment was carried out in this manner, a photoreceptor having a uniform layer thickness in both the circumferential direction and the axial direction could be obtained, and no coating defects due to aggregates, sediments, etc. occurred. Furthermore, when the photoreceptor coated with the photosensitive layer was installed in a copying machine and image formation was performed, no image defects caused by coating defects such as horizontal unevenness or white streaks occurred, and a good image was obtained. did it.

Note that when stirring is performed using a stirring blade, the shape of the stirring blade and the number of rotations per rotation are determined based on the coating etch rate, the viscosity of the coating liquid, etc. For example, in this example, the viscosity of the coating liquid is 7 cP, and the stirring blade is A bifurcated rod-shaped blade is used, and the rotation speed of the blade is 1100 rpm, and the rotation speed of the li is 5 to 10 rpm. As a result, the coating liquid in the coating tank can be sufficiently stirred by stirring for about 30 seconds.

Note that although a stirring blade is used for stirring in this embodiment, stirring may be performed using an ultrasonic vibrator, a magnetic stirrer, or the like. In that case as well, sufficient stirring can be achieved by rotating and revolving them themselves.

(g) Effects of the invention According to this invention, the coating liquid in the coating tank is sufficiently stirred, so that secondary aggregation and sedimentation of pigments do not occur, and coating defects in the photosensitive layer occur due to single layer thickness unevenness. There's nothing to do. That is, a photoreceptor of good quality can be manufactured.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram explaining the invention in detail, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a photosensitive layer coating device which is an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the main parts of the same device, and Fig. 4 is a stirring 1-Coating liquid, 2-Coating tank, 3-Photoreceptor substrate, 4-Sealing member, 5-M, 6-Fi stirring blade, M,,M! -Motor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a photoconductor coating device that forms a photosensitive layer on the surface of the photoconductor substrate by immersing the photoconductor substrate in a coating tank filled with a coating solution, a stirring member for stirring the coating solution is moved in a horizontal plane. A photoreceptor coating device comprising a plurality of agitating members and supporting the agitating member movably on a horizontal plane.