JPH0675392A - Production of electrophotographic sensitive body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To sufficiently dry a conductive base body in a short time when a photosensitive layer is formed on the outer surface or a dried conductive base body, after cleaning and drying the conductive base body, and to prevent the generation of unevenness, aggregation of defects in the photosensitive layer formed on the outer surface of the conductive base body, and to stably form good image without decreasing electrification property of the obtd. electrophotographic sensitive body. CONSTITUTION:A hollow conductive base body 1 is washed and dipped in a warm water in a warm water tank, and drawn up, and then dried. A photosensitive layer is formed on the outer surface of the conductive base body 1. In this process, a drying means 30 is installed to blow air into the inside of the conductive base body 1 and to dry after drawing the body up from the warm water tank.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photosensitive member manufacturing apparatus used in an electrophotographic apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and more particularly, it is used after cleaning a hollow conductive substrate. The conductive substrate washed in step 1 is immersed in a warm water drawing tank containing hot water and pulled up, and after drying the conductive substrate, a photosensitive layer is formed on the outer surface of the conductive substrate. And an apparatus for manufacturing an electrophotographic photosensitive member.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in manufacturing an electrophotographic photosensitive member used in an electrophotographic apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, a cylindrical conductive substrate generally made of aluminum or aluminum alloy is used. The photosensitive layer was formed on the outer surface.

Here, since the conductive substrate used for manufacturing the electrophotographic photosensitive member is generally manufactured through a mechanical process, the surface of the conductive substrate is dusted, dust, metal particles, Foreign matter such as rust and oil adheres to the surface of the conductive substrate. If the photosensitive layer is formed on the outer surface of the conductive substrate without removing them sufficiently, defects are generated in the formed photosensitive layer. When an image is formed using an electrophotographic photosensitive member, there are problems that an image is lost in the formed image and that cleaning failure occurs on the electrophotographic photosensitive member.

Therefore, in the past, when a photosensitive layer was formed on the outer surface of a cylindrical conductive substrate, an electrophotographic photosensitive member was manufactured by washing the above conductive substrate to obtain the conductive material. Foreign matter such as dust, dust, metal particles, rust and oil adhering to the surface of the flexible substrate was removed.

Further, in recent years, in cleaning the conductive substrate as described above, the conductive substrate has been cleaned in an aqueous system from the viewpoint of environmental problems and the like.

Here, after the conductive substrate is washed in an aqueous system in this way, the photosensitive layer coating liquid is applied to the outer surface of the conductive substrate without sufficiently drying it to form a photosensitive layer. However, there is a problem in that coating unevenness occurs in the photosensitive layer coating liquid applied to the outer surface of the conductive substrate, and unevenness occurs in the formed photosensitive layer.

Therefore, in the prior art, in order to dry the conductive substrate that has been washed in an aqueous system as described above, the conductive substrate is immersed in a warm water drawing tank containing hot water, and then this Drying the conductive substrate while pulling it out of the warm water drawing tank, or heating (heating) the above conductive substrate.
The conductive substrate is dried by being placed in a wind drying zone or by blowing air on the outer surface thereof.

When the conductive substrate is immersed in the hot water drawing tank as described above and then dried while being pulled up from the hot water drawing tank, the conductive substrate is sufficiently dried. For this purpose, it was necessary to raise the liquid temperature in the hot and cold water drawing tank and to slow down the pulling speed for pulling up the conductive substrate from the hot and cold water drawing tank.

However, when the conductive substrate is dried while being pulled up from the hot water drawing tank as described above, when the liquid temperature in the hot water drawing tank is increased, the outer surface of the conductive substrate thus dried is When a photosensitive layer is formed by applying the photosensitive layer coating liquid, a large number of pinhole-shaped noises are generated in the formed photosensitive layer, and when an image is formed using this electrophotographic photoreceptor, There is a problem that a large number of black and white spot noises are generated in the obtained image. Furthermore, when the speed of pulling up the conductive substrate from the hot water drawing tank is slowed, it takes a long time to dry the conductive substrate. However, there is a problem that the productivity of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is significantly reduced.

On the other hand, as described above, the conductive substrate is heated (heated).
When the conductive substrate is dried by putting it in the wind drying zone or blowing air on its outer surface,
Since hot air or air is directly applied to the outer surface of the conductive substrate on which the photosensitive layer is formed, foreign matter or dust adheres to the outer surface of the conductive substrate to cause a defect in the formed photosensitive layer. There is also a problem that the electrification property of the electrophotographic photosensitive member manufactured in this manner is lowered.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems when manufacturing an electrophotographic photosensitive member used in an electrophotographic apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer. is there.

That is, in the present invention, after cleaning the hollow conductive substrate, the thus cleaned conductive substrate is dried, and then a photosensitive layer is formed on the outer surface of the conductive substrate. In producing the electrophotographic photosensitive member, the washed conductive substrate is efficiently dried in a short time, the productivity of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is improved, and the drying is sufficiently performed to prevent unevenness in drying. Does not cause coating unevenness or agglomeration on the photosensitive layer formed on the outer surface of the conductive substrate, and further, foreign matter or dust adheres to the outer surface of the conductive substrate during drying. It is possible to efficiently manufacture an electrophotographic photosensitive member that can stably form a good image without causing defects in the layer and reducing the charging property of the manufactured electrophotographic photosensitive member. It is an problem.

[0013]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a hollow conductive substrate is washed, and the washed conductive substrate is filled with hot water. In an apparatus for producing an electrophotographic photosensitive member, which is adapted to form a photosensitive layer on the outer surface of this conductive substrate after being dipped in a warm water drawing tank and pulled up to dry the conductive substrate, Air was blown into the inside of the conductive substrate pulled up from the pulling tank to provide a drying means for drying the conductive substrate.

Here, in the electrophotographic photosensitive member manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, when cleaning the conductive substrate, the conductive substrate is cleaned in an aqueous system from the viewpoint of environmental problems and the like. For example, pure water, ionic and nonionic water-soluble surfactants, hydrocarbon solvents,
An emulsion using a detergent obtained by emulsifying a higher alcohol in water, a chemical detergent used for chemical etching cleaning, etc. should be used.

When the conductive substrate is cleaned in an aqueous system as described above, for example, brush clapping is performed by pressing a brush against the conductive substrate for cleaning, or water is jetted at high pressure toward the conductive substrate. Spray cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning using ultrasonic waves, and physical cleaning such as megasonic scraping are appropriately combined. In the above brush clapping, a brush made of nylon, polyester, acrylic or the like can be used as the brush, and a sponge may be used instead of the brush.

Further, after the conductive substrate is washed in the aqueous system as described above, the conductive substrate is rinsed, and
After the conductive substrate is immersed in the warm water drawing tank containing hot water, the conductive substrate is pulled out from the warm water drawing tank.

Here, as the warm water to be stored in the warm water drawing tank, pure water having a temperature of about 50 to 90 ° C. is generally used.

When the conductive substrate is dried by blowing air to the inside of the conductive substrate pulled up from the hot water drawing tank as described above by the drying means, the inner peripheral side of both ends in the axial direction of the conductive substrate. If a step portion for attaching the flange is formed on the plate, air should be blown from the drying means to the step portion at a wind speed of 5 to 30 m / sec in order to prevent liquid from remaining on the step portion. And preferably 10 to 20 m / sec.

Further, when air is blown into the inside of the conductive substrate by the drying means, in order to efficiently dry the conductive substrate by blowing air, the blowing angle of the air is generally the center of the conductive substrate. The angle is 15 to 75 degrees, preferably 30 to 60 degrees with respect to the axis, and the air blowing angle is within 30 degrees.

After the conductive substrate is dried by blowing air into the conductive substrate by the drying means as described above, various photosensitive materials are used to form the photosensitive layer on the outer surface of the conductive substrate. Can be used, the method for forming the photosensitive layer is not particularly limited, and various known methods can be used. For example, a binder resin and a photosensitive material can be provided on the outer surface of the conductive substrate. It is possible to form a photosensitive layer on the outer surface of this conductive substrate by applying a coating solution for a photosensitive layer dissolved or dispersed in a solvent by various coating methods such as dip coating method, spray coating method and roller coating method. it can.

[0021]

In the apparatus for producing an electrophotographic photosensitive member according to the present invention, a hollow conductive substrate is washed and the thus washed conductive substrate is immersed in a warm water drawing tank containing hot water. Then, after pulling up and drying this conductive substrate, in forming a photosensitive layer on the outer surface of this conductive substrate, air is blown by a drying means into the inside of the conductive substrate pulled up from the hot water drawing tank. As a result, the electrically conductive substrate can be evenly dried by the blown air, and the electrically conductive substrate can be efficiently dried compared to the case where the electrically conductive substrate is dried while being pulled up from the warm water drawing tank. As a result, a large number of pinhole noises are not generated in the photosensitive layer formed on the outer surface of the conductive substrate.

Further, in the electrophotographic photosensitive member manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, since the conductive substrate is dried by blowing air into the conductive substrate as described above, the conductive layer forming the photosensitive layer is formed. The outer surface of the base body is not directly exposed to hot air or air, and the outer surface of the conductive base body has foreign matter or dust adhering to the photosensitive layer to form a defect, or the electrophotographic photosensitive member manufactured. There is no possibility that the chargeability of

[0023]

EXAMPLES An electrophotographic photoreceptor manufacturing apparatus according to Examples of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, and comparative examples will be given to show the electrophotographic photoreceptors manufactured in this Example. , Which is superior to the electrophotographic photoconductors manufactured in Comparative Examples.

(Example) In this example, JIS
A cylindrical conductive substrate 1 having a diameter of 80 mm, a length of 340 mm, and a thickness of 2 mm, which is made of an aluminum alloy of A6063, is used, and the outer surface of the conductive substrate 1 is cut and At both ends of the conductive substrate 1 in the axial direction, the inner peripheral surface thereof was cut to a position 5 mm from the end to form step portions 1a for attaching the flanges.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the electroconductive substrate 1 is held by the conveying means 20, and the electroconductive substrate 1 is conveyed by the conveying means 20. The electroconductive substrate 1 was washed in each of the cleaning tanks 11 and 12 by sequentially introducing the cleaning tank 11 and the second cleaning tank 12.

Here, in cleaning the conductive substrate 1 in the first cleaning tank 11, the conductive substrate 1 is washed with a detergent (DK Beech Clear CW-5520 manufactured by Daiichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co., Ltd.) 1
While soaking in a 0 wt%, 60 ° C. solution for 20 seconds,
An ultrasonic wave of 40 KHz was applied by the ultrasonic vibrator 11a to perform cleaning.

In order to wash the conductive substrate 1 in the second cleaning tank 12, the conductive substrate 1 is washed with a detergent (DK Beech Clear CW-5520 manufactured by Daiichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co., Ltd.) 10
The nylon brush 12a is pressed against the outer surface of the conductive substrate 1 while being immersed in a solution of wt%, 60 ° C. for 30 seconds, and the nylon brush 12a is moved up and down while rotating the nylon brush 12a and the conductive substrate 1. Let me
The entire outer surface of the conductive substrate 1 was cleaned.

Next, the conductive substrate 1 washed as described above is guided by the transporting means 20 to the first rinsing tank 14, the second rinsing tank 15 and the third rinsing tank 16 in this order, and the conductive substrate 1 is removed. Rinsing was performed in the rinsing tanks 14, 15 and 16 for 30 seconds each in a room temperature solution.

Here, each of the rinsing tanks 14, 15, 1 described above
In FIG. 6, as shown in FIG. 1, the pure water overflowed from the warm water drawing tank 17 located next to the third rinsing tank 16 is supplied to the third rinsing tank 16 and is also supplied to the third rinsing tank 16. The same 1 μS pure water as in the warm water drawing tank 17 is supplied, and the liquid overflowing from the third rinsing tank 16 is supplied to the second rinsing tank 15 and further to the second rinsing tank 1.
The liquid overflowing from No. 5 was supplied to the first rinse tank 14.

Next, the conductive substrate 1 rinsed as described above is subjected to 1 ° C. at 1 ° C. by the above conveying means 20.
After introducing the conductive substrate 1 into the hot water drawing tank 17 containing μS pure water and immersing the conductive substrate 1 in the hot water drawing tank 17 for 30 seconds, the conductive substrate 1 was moved from the hot water drawing tank 17 by 5 mm / s
It was pulled up at a speed of ec.

In the conductive substrate 1 pulled up from the hot water drawing tank 17 in this manner, moisture remains on the stepped portion 1a formed on the inner peripheral surface on the upper end side, and the lower end side is dried. No water was left on the inner and outer surfaces.

In this embodiment, the conductive substrate 1 that has been pulled out of the warm water drawing tank 17 and is not sufficiently dried is guided to the drying tank 18 by the conveying means 20 and dried in this embodiment. After the conductive substrate 1 is fitted and fixed to the outer peripheral side of the pedestal 18a provided in the tank 18, the transport means 20 is removed from the conductive substrate 1, and then the conductive means 1 is dried by the drying means 30. Air was blown into the inside of the to dry the conductive substrate 1.

Here, the conductive substrate 1 is dried by the drying means 30.
When the conductive substrate 1 is dried by blowing air inside thereof, as shown in FIG. 2, an air blowing member 31 having a large number of nozzle holes 32 at its bottom is used, and as shown in FIG. This air blowing member 31 is 10 mm /
As shown in FIG. 4, while lowering the air blowing member 31 inserted inside the conductive substrate 1 by further lowering the air blowing member 31 inserted inside the conductive substrate 1 as shown in FIG. From each nozzle hole 32 provided in 31 to the central axis of the conductive substrate 1, a hot air of 70 ° C. was applied at an air pressure of 1.5 kg / cm ² to the conductive substrate 1. It was made to spray on the inner peripheral surface of 1.

After blowing the warm air from the upper end to the lower end of the inner peripheral surface of the conductive substrate 1 while lowering the air blowing member 31, the air blowing member 31 is moved to 10
While raising at a speed of mm / sec, the hot air of 70 ° C. was again blown from the lower end to the upper end of the inner peripheral surface of the conductive substrate 1 to dry the conductive substrate 1. When hot air is blown from the nozzle holes 32 to the inner peripheral surface of the conductive substrate 1 as described above, the wind speed at the step 1a formed on the inner peripheral surface of the conductive substrate 1 is 19.5 m. / Sec.

As described above, when the hot air of 70 ° C. is blown onto the inner peripheral surface of the conductive substrate 1 through the nozzle holes 32 provided in the air blowing member 31 to dry the conductive substrate 1, the conductive substrate 1 is dried. The outer surface and inner surface are sufficiently dried,
Water did not remain on the step portion 1a formed on the inner peripheral surface.

Next, in forming a photosensitive layer on the outer surface of the conductive substrate 1 dried as described above, first, a bisazo pigment represented by the following structural formula (Formula 1) is used as a charge generating material. Using 1 part by weight of this bisazo pigment and 1 part by weight of a polyester resin (Vylon-200, manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) as a binder resin, 98 parts by weight of cyclohexane was added to prepare a coating liquid for the charge generation layer. The conductive substrate 1 dried as described above is dipped in the applied charge generating layer coating liquid, and the charge generating layer having a thickness of about 0.5 μm is formed on the outer surface of the conductive substrate 1 by the dip coating method. Was formed.

[0037]

[Chemical 1]

Next, as a charge transport material, a hydrazone compound represented by the following structural formula (Formula 2) was used, and 13 parts by weight of this hydrazone compound and 13 parts by weight of a polycarbonate resin (K-1300 manufactured by Teijin Chemicals Ltd.) as a binder resin. And 87 parts by weight of dichloromethane to prepare a coating solution for the charge transport layer, and the conductive substrate 1 having the charge generation layer formed thereon as described above is prepared in the coating solution for the charge transport layer thus prepared. By dipping, a charge transporting layer was formed on the above charge generating layer by a dip coating method so that the film thickness after drying was about 20 μm, and the electrophotographic photosensitive member of this example was manufactured.

[0039]

[Chemical 2]

(Comparative Examples 1 to 3) In these Comparative Examples 1 to 3 as well, the same conductive substrate 1 as in the above-mentioned examples was used, and the conductive substrate 1 was pulled up from the hot water drawing tank 17 until it was pulled up. Processing was carried out in the same manner as in the above-mentioned example.

In these Comparative Examples 1 to 3, when the conductive substrate 1 pulled up from the warm water drawing tank 17 is dried, HEP is applied to the conductive substrate 1 respectively.
The hot air passed through the A filter was blown from above to dry the hot air. The hot air of 40 ° C. in Comparative Example 1, the hot air of 60 ° C. in Comparative Example 2, and the hot air of 8 in Comparative Example 3 were used.
It was made to dry by blowing hot air of 0 ° C. for 10 minutes each.

After forming the photosensitive layer on the outer surface of each conductive substrate 1 after drying the conductive substrate 1 in this manner, each conductive substrate is processed in the same manner as in the above embodiment. A charge generation layer and a charge transport layer were formed on the outer surface of No. 1 to manufacture each electrophotographic photoreceptor of Comparative Examples 1 to 3.

Next, the electrophotographic photosensitive member of the example manufactured as described above and the electrophotographic photosensitive members of Comparative Examples 1 to 3 were put into a commercially available copying machine (Minolta Camera Co., EP-470).
Z) was mounted on a modified evaluation machine to evaluate the electrostatic characteristics of each electrophotographic photosensitive member. In evaluating the electrostatic characteristics of each of the electrophotographic photoconductors, the initial charging potential Vo of each of the electrophotographic photoconductors,
Exposure amount E required for halving the initial charging potential Vo
The attenuation rate DDR5 (%) of the initial charging potential Vo when left in the dark for _1/2 (lux · s) and 5 seconds was measured, and the results are shown in Table 1 below.

[0044]

[Table 1]

As is clear from these results, the electrophotographic photosensitive members produced as in this example are comparative examples 1-3.
In comparison with each of the electrophotographic photoconductors manufactured in Example 1, the initial charging potential Vo is high, but the attenuation rate DDR5 is low. It was superior to each of the electrophotographic photoconductors.

[0046]

As described above in detail, in the electrophotographic photosensitive member manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, the hollow conductive substrate is washed, and the washed conductive substrate is heated with warm water. Immerse in the stored warm water drawing tank, pull up,
After drying the conductive substrate, in forming the photosensitive layer on the outer surface of the conductive substrate, air was blown by the drying means to the inside of the conductive substrate pulled from the hot water drawing tank. The conductive substrate will be evenly dried by the air thus obtained, and the conductive substrate will be efficiently dried, compared to the case where the conductive substrate is dried while being pulled up from the warm water drawing tank. Furthermore, a large number of pinhole noises are not generated in the photosensitive layer formed on the outer surface of the conductive substrate.

Further, in the electrophotographic photosensitive member manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, air is blown inside the conductive substrate to dry the conductive substrate. Therefore, the outer surface of the conductive substrate on which the photosensitive layer is formed is formed. There is no direct contact with warm hot air or air, and there is a defect in the photosensitive layer that is formed by foreign matter or dust adhering to the outer surface of the conductive substrate, and the electrification property of the manufactured electrophotographic photoreceptor is It never fell.

As a result, when an electrophotographic photosensitive member is manufactured using the electrophotographic photosensitive member manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, when an image is formed, black-and-white spot noise or the like occurs in the formed image. Thus, it has become possible to efficiently manufacture an electrophotographic photosensitive member which can stably form a good image without causing a problem.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view showing a process of washing a conductive substrate, rinsing it, and immersing it in a warm water drawing tank in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the air blowing member used as the drying means in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view showing a state in which the conductive substrate pulled up from the warm water drawing tank is dried in the drying tank in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a state in which hot air is blown from the nozzle holes provided in the air blowing member to the inner peripheral surface of the conductive substrate to dry the conductive substrate in one embodiment of the present invention. Is.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conductive substrate 1a Step part 11,12 Cleaning tank 14,15,16 Rinse tank 17 Hot water pulling tank 18 Drying tank 20 Conveying means 30 Drying means 31 Air blowing member 32 Nozzle hole

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hollow conductive substrate is washed, and the thus washed conductive substrate is immersed in a warm water drawing tank containing hot water and pulled up to dry the conductive substrate. Then, in an electrophotographic photoconductor manufacturing apparatus adapted to form a photosensitive layer on the outer surface of the conductive substrate, air is blown inside the conductive substrate pulled up from the hot water drawing tank to conduct the conductive film. An apparatus for producing an electrophotographic photosensitive member, characterized by comprising drying means for drying the permeable substrate.