JPH0610343B2 - Electrophotographic photoconductor manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photoreceptor manufacturing apparatus for forming a photosensitive layer on a conductive substrate by vapor deposition of a selenium-based material or the like.

[Conventional technology]

In the case of high-speed type printers such as laser printers and light-emitting diode printers that apply electrophotography, in the case of high-speed type printers, most of the time, the toner with a positive charge is attached to the low-surface-potential portion of the photo-irradiated photoreceptor, It is a negative / positive transfer method that transfers paper onto paper. Negative corona discharge (hereinafter referred to as negative charging) is used for transferring toner of this type onto paper.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The negative charge generated on the entire photosensitive layer by the negative / positive transfer method is
For example, when the electron mobility is low, such as in the p-type photosensitive layer, holes are the main carriers, so light is less likely to be attenuated, and negative charges remain on the surface of the photoconductor even when light irradiation for static elimination is performed. This negative charge adversely affects the next printing process. This results in a lightly developed background fog on the image. In particular, when cut paper is used as the process paper, the negative charging efficiency is higher in areas without paper than in areas with paper in the previous process. Was occurring. As a photoreceptor for suppressing such a phenomenon, as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 61-314407 filed by the present applicant, the interface layer between the photosensitive layer and the conductive substrate is crystallized, or Japanese Patent Application No. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 110131, there is a photoconductor in which a selenium-tellurium alloy layer is interposed at an interface between a photoconductive layer and a conductive substrate to improve injection of holes from the substrate. However, in these photoreceptors, it is unavoidable that the variation between vapor deposition batches or the variation in the axial direction of the photoreceptor becomes large, and it is very difficult to set the negative charge potential to −100 V or less. Further, the adhesion between the substrate and the photosensitive layer was also very poor.

The object of the present invention is to improve the injection of holes from the substrate by crystallizing the interface layer of the photosensitive layer with the conductive substrate without deteriorating the adhesion with the substrate, and to improve the injection of holes from the substrate or between the deposition batches or the photoreceptor. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for manufacturing a photoconductor for electrophotography, which has low negative electrification characteristics without variation in the axial direction.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the apparatus of the present invention is such that an evaporation source in a vacuum deposition tank has a side wall perpendicular to a bottom plate, and an upper part is inclined with respect to the side wall and is lower than the top of the vertical side wall from the bottom plate side. It shall have an opening with a width of 4 to 6 mm formed between it and the opposing side wall that reaches up to that point.

[Action]

By narrowing the width of the evaporation source opening to 4 to 6 mm by the vertical side wall facing the substrate to be vapor-deposited and the inclined opposite side wall, the pressure of the vapor deposition material vapor inside the evaporation source increases, and the evaporation source vapor comes out above the inclined side wall. Since the density of the gas jetted along the vertical sidewall increases, the crystallization of the interface layer of the photosensitive layer can be efficiently and stably performed without lowering the adhesiveness with the interface with the substrate.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an evaporation source used in one embodiment of the present invention. The outer container is composed of a rectangular bottom plate 1 having a width W of 70 mm and a length of 2000 mm and four side walls, and the side wall 2 on the long side is Height H is
Although it is a 170 mm flat plate, the side wall facing it reaches a portion 31 having a height h perpendicular to the bottom plate 1 of 130 mm and a portion lower than the top of the side wall 2 by d, and an opening 4 having a width w is formed between the side walls 2. And an inclined portion 32 to be formed. The boat 5 for containing the vapor deposition material is housed in the external container, and the main heater 61 for heating the vapor deposition material and the temperature control heater 62 are arranged vertically. Above the boat 5 is a guide to guide the steam
There are 71 and 72. The vertical difference d between the side walls 2 and 32 of such an evaporation source is 10 mm, and the width w of the opening is 3 mm, 5 mm, 10 m.
I have created m. Also, as shown in FIG. 2 in which FIG. 1 is given the same reference numerals in common, the upper portion has side walls 2 and 3 having a cylindrical surface shape, and the width W of the bottom plate is 70 mm, A conventional evaporation source having a height H of 160 mm and a height of 140 mm in the vertical portion and having a width w of the openings 4 of 5 mm and 10 mm was prepared.

An aluminum substrate with a diameter of 80 mm that has been machined and washed is attached to the support shaft of a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus that uses these evaporation sources, the substrate temperature is maintained at 66 ° C for crystallization, and the bell jar temperature is set to 44 ° C to A charge transport layer made of pure Se was formed in a vacuum of 3 × 10 ⁻⁵ Torr. Then, the substrate temperature was lowered to 54 ° C., and the charge generation layer and the surface protective layer were sequentially deposited. The photoconductor thus manufactured was rotated at a rotation speed of 28.6 rpm, and a negative charge was applied to the photoconductor surface for 2 seconds under the condition that the current flowing into the aluminum substrate was constant at -30 μA by the corona charger with a discharge length of 280 mm. The subsequent surface potential was measured. This measurement was performed on 3 lots of one type of photoconductor in order to see the reproducibility of the batch. Table 1 shows the negative charge potential of the measurement results and the process capability index Cp value, as well as the adhesion strength of the photosensitive layer, the adhesion rate of the material to the substrate, the deposition time and the appearance of the photosensitive layer with the structure shown in FIG. The width w of the opening 4 is 5
The value of the photosensitive member according to one embodiment of the present invention was set to 1 using an evaporation source of mm, and indicated as a relative value.

It is clear from Table 1 that the width w of the opening 4 needs to be about 5 mm.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, by using an evaporation source having an opening having a width of 4 to 6 mm generated between a vertical side wall and a sloping side wall lower than the vertical side wall, the vapor density of the vapor deposition material is increased, so that the interface layer on the substrate is formed. It can be manufactured without lowering the adhesiveness of the photosensitive layer of the electrophotographic photosensitive member in which the negative charge value is lowered by improving the injection of holes from the substrate by crystallization, and there is little variation in negative charge. In addition, since the deposition rate of the vapor deposition material is improved and the vapor deposition time is shortened, it is possible to reduce the cost by reducing the material cost and man-hours. It can also be effectively used for the production of a photoconductor for use in the electrophotographic apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the structure of an evaporation source used in the apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a conventional evaporation source. 1: bottom plate of external container, 2, 31: vertical side wall, 32: inclined side wall,
4: Opening part, 61: Main heater, 62: Control heater.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A width 4 formed between an evaporation source in a vacuum evaporation chamber and a side wall perpendicular to the bottom plate and an opposite side wall whose upper portion is inclined with respect to the side wall and reaches a height lower than the top of the vertical side wall from the side of the bottom plate. An apparatus for manufacturing an electrophotographic photoreceptor, which has an opening of 6 mm.