JPH0712739A - Method of inspecting surface of substrate pipe for electrophotographic receptor and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To determining the presence of surface contamination by projecting a scanning beam onto dew produced on the outer surface of a substrate pipe for an electrophotographing receptor, and by receiving diffused light reflected from the dew so sa to convert thus received light into an electric signal. CONSTITUTION:A substrate pipe 1 for an electrophotographing receptor is rotated at a constant speed in a predetermined direction by a motor 10 together with a substrate pipe fixture 3. Light emitting means and light receiving means are moved at a constant speed by moving means 9 composed of a motor 11, orthogonal to the rotating direction of the substrate pipe 1 so as to scan the entire outer surface of the substrate pipe with a scanning beam 5. The substrate pipe 1 is cooled by a cooling coil as cooling means 2, the atmosphere is monitored by a temperature and humidity monitor device 7, and is feed-back- controlled by a temperature and humidity control device 8. A red-color reflective type sensor 4 is used in the light emitting and receiving means. A difference in the quantity of diffused light between a contaminated part and a cleaned part, due to a difference in dewing therebetween, is photo-electrically converted by an A/D converter. Thus obtained electric signal is processed by a computer.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for inspecting the cleanliness of the surface of a base material tube for an electrophotographic photosensitive member used in a copying machine or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional surface inspection methods for photoconductors are described in, for example, JP-A-3-229109 and JP-A-4-194944, both of which are used as support materials for electrophotographic photoreceptors. It was an inspection method for the surface layer and internal defects after coating on the surface of the pipe. As a method for inspecting the cleanliness of the surface of the base tube for the electrophotographic photoreceptor before coating, the contact angle method that evaluates the cleanliness by the change in the contact angle of water droplets, and a fine water droplet is evenly distributed on the test surface using a spraying device. A spray method (atomizer method), which evaluates the cleanliness from the state of water droplets when sprayed on the surface, and a breath method (steam method), which evaluates the cleanliness from the state of minute water droplets that are condensed by spraying steam or exhaled breath on the test surface, etc. Was used.

[0003]

However, in the case of the contact angle method, the cleanliness is inspected only at the position where water droplets are present, and it is necessary to inspect the cleanliness of the entire electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube. Has a problem in terms of time, is mostly not clean, is not suitable for cleanliness inspection when the location of contamination is unclear, and water droplets are relatively large, making it impossible to detect minute contamination. was there. Further, in the case of the spraying method, there is a problem that it is difficult to control the spraying and it is difficult to perform sensitivity and quantitative evaluation for contamination. In the case of the exhalation method,
There is a problem that the minute water droplets appear for a short time, making quantitative evaluation difficult. In addition, in the case of the contact angle method, the cleanliness test is performed by measuring the contact angle of each water drop.
There was a problem that the inspection could not be performed continuously. Further, in the case of the spray method and the exhalation method, there is a problem that empirical skill is often required because the surface contamination is judged visually. In addition, in order to improve the yield of the photoconductor, the total number of electrophotographic photoconductor support base pipes immediately after cleaning and the entire area of the electrophotographic photoconductor support base pipe surface are inspected in real time during manufacturing. In addition, when the occurrence of surface contamination is detected, detailed contamination information such as the size and type of contamination is obtained, the information is fed back to the cleaning process, and immediately processed for continuous cleaning failure. A system that can prevent the occurrence is desired. Therefore, in view of the problems in the conventional inspection method described above, an object of the present invention is to immediately clean the contamination of the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube which has been detected only by a coating defect (before coating). It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for inspecting the cleanliness of the surface of a base material tube for an electrophotographic photosensitive member that can be detected.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a support base tube for an electrophotographic photosensitive member is cooled, and scanning light is projected on the dew condensation generated on the surface of the support base tube for an electrophotographic photosensitive member. Then, the diffuse reflected light from the dew condensation is received, the optical information is converted into an electric signal, and then the electric signal is processed to determine the presence or absence of surface contamination.

Further, a cooling means for cooling the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube, and a light projecting means for demonstrating the state of dew condensation generated on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube by the cooling means. A light receiving means for receiving diffused reflected light from the condensation on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube generated by the light projecting means and converting optical information into an electric signal; and an electric signal generated by the light receiving means. It is characterized in that it has a means for treating the surface and judging the presence or absence of surface contamination.

It has a cooling means capable of controlling the surface temperature of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube and a temperature and humidity adjusting means capable of controlling the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere around the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube. It is characterized by that.

Cooling means for cooling the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube; and light projecting means for making the state of dew condensation generated on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube visible by the cooling means. Moving means for scanning the scanning light from the light projecting means on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube rotating in a fixed direction, and moving means for scanning in the direction perpendicular to the rotating direction, and scanning by the light projecting means and the moving means. It has a light receiving means for receiving the diffuse reflection light of each scanning light measurement point and converting the optical information into an electric signal, and means for processing the electric signal generated by the light receiving means to judge the presence or absence of surface contamination. It is characterized by that.

[0008]

According to the present invention, scanning light is projected by utilizing the difference in dew condensation between the contaminated part and the clean part on the surface of the base tube of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, so that the dew condensation can be realized. Since the contaminated part of the surface of the base tube for the electrophotographic photosensitive member is detected by receiving the diffuse reflected light of, the contamination of the surface of the base tube for the electrophotographic photosensitive member, which has been detected only by coating film defects until now. Can be detected immediately after washing (before coating).

The present invention will be described in detail below. The electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube is degreased and washed with an organic solvent, a water-based cleaning agent or the like, and then the surface thereof is coated with a charge generation layer, a charge transport layer or the like by dip coating. It is applied by a construction method, a ring coating method, or the like. If contaminants remain on the surface of the electrophotographic photoconductor support tube due to poor cleaning, it will appear as a coating film defect.Therefore, it is required that the electrophotographic photoconductor support tube surface is always clean. It If the surface of the electrophotographic photoconductor support tube is contaminated, it is necessary to detect the electrophotographic photoconductor support tube with surface contamination and not send it to the next step in order to improve the photoconductor yield. is necessary. Examples of contaminants present on the surface of the base material tube for the electrophotographic photoreceptor include oils and fats such as kerosene and deposits such as dust and foreign matters.

In the inspection method of the present invention, by cooling the electrophotographic photosensitive member support element tube, dew condensation is generated on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive element support element tube, and the dew state between the clean section and the contaminated section is generated. Is reflected by projecting the difference, and the reflected light from the dew condensation is received, photoelectrically converted, and the converted electric signal is processed to determine whether the surface is contaminated or not and display it. As a result, it became possible to detect the contaminated portion on the surface of the base material tube for the electrophotographic photosensitive member. In addition, while scanning the scanning light for detecting the contamination on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube in a direction orthogonal to the rotating direction of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube, the diffuse reflection light for each measurement surface is measured. The photoelectric conversion is performed, the converted electric signal is processed, and the presence or absence of contamination on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube is determined and displayed. This enables extremely efficient inspection over the entire area of the surface of the base tube for the electrophotographic photosensitive member.

The electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube 1 is set on the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube fixing device 3 and the cooling means 2 cools the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube 1 to produce an electrophotographic image. Condensation 16,1 on the surface 1a of the support tube for the photoconductor
7 is generated. In order to show the contaminated part 18 and the clean part 19 as shown in FIG. 3 by the difference in the states of the dew condensations 16 and 17, the size of the water droplets generated by the dew condensations 16 and 17 must be controlled. The smaller the size of the water droplets, the better the sensitivity to contamination, and it is preferable that the surface 1a of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube is slightly clouded white, that is, the same as the size of the water droplets obtained by the exhalation method.
The state of Nos. 6 and 17 is the surface 1a of the base material tube for the electrophotographic photosensitive member.
It is necessary to keep the time required for the cleanliness inspection constant for the whole. For this reason, the cooling of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube is performed by cooling the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube in order to cause condensation 16 and 17 on the entire surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube 1a in a uniform state. The cooling means 2 has a temperature adjusting function for uniformly maintaining the set temperature on the entire surface. Also, condensation 1
Since the states 6 and 17 are affected by the surrounding atmosphere, the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere around the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube 1 were adjusted and set in order to keep the state of the dew condensation 16 and 17 constant. The temperature and humidity were kept constant. The cooling means 2 for the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube is a semiconductor cooler utilizing the Peltier effect, a cooling coil in which cooling water and various refrigerants circulate, and the like. Do not scratch and scan light 4 and diffuse reflection light 5
Considering that it does not interfere with the above, it is preferable to cool from the inner surface of the base material tube for the electrophotographic photosensitive member. In addition, it is necessary to take care not to scratch the inner surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube. Further, the electrophotographic photoconductor support base tube 1 is rotated by the electrophotographic photoconductor support base tube fixing device 3 and the motor 10, and the electrophotographic photoconductor support tube surface 1a is perpendicular to the rotation direction. In order to detect the contamination, the scanning light 5 is scanned by the moving means and the light projecting means, and the light amount of the diffuse reflection light 6 due to the difference in the states of the dew condensations 16 and 17 between the contamination portion 18 and the cleaning portion 19 for each measurement surface. The difference is received by the light receiving means. The moving means 9 is composed of a motor 11 and a ball screw or the like, and moves the light projecting means and the light receiving means or the electrophotographic photosensitive member support base tube 1 rotating in a fixed direction in a direction perpendicular to the rotating direction. The diffuse reflection light 6 received by the light receiving means is photoelectrically converted and output as an electric signal. As shown in Fig. 7, the converted electric signal output contains noise other than pollution and changes a lot. Therefore, the electric signal is processed by a computer, etc. It was judged that the surface 1a of the base material tube for the photographic photosensitive member was contaminated and displayed. Also, the photoelectrically converted electric signal is converted into a differentiated signal output as shown in FIG. 7 by using a differentiating circuit 21 to make the contaminated portion signal noticeable and to check the presence or absence of contamination of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube surface 1a. It is also effective to judge and display. Further, in addition to the light projecting means and the light receiving means, at least one reference deviation means such as a position deviation detecting device is used, and as shown in FIG. It is also effective to detect noise due to the above and correct the electric signal output. Further, by the method described above, an apparatus for inspecting the cleanliness of the surface of the base tube for the electrophotographic photosensitive member can be manufactured, and the photosensitive member can be manufactured using this apparatus.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a cleanliness inspection apparatus used in Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an evaluation unit of the cleanliness inspection apparatus used in Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the state of dew condensation. The electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube 1 is rotated by a motor 10 together with the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube fixing member 3 in a constant direction at a constant speed of 480 rpm, and the light projecting means and the light receiving means are driven by the motor 11 and the ball screw and linear. The scanning means 5 is moved at a constant speed of 4 mm / sec in a direction orthogonal to the rotation direction of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube 1 by a moving means 9 constituted by a guide, and the scanning light 5 is scanned over the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube. I decided to do it. A cooling coil in which cooling water was circulated was used as the cooling means 2 for the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube 1, and the temperature of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube surface 1a was kept at 5 ° C. The atmosphere of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube 1 was monitored by a temperature / humidity monitor device 7 and fed back to a temperature / humidity control device 8 to be controlled, and maintained at 20 ° C. and 80%. After degreasing and cleaning the electrophotographic photoconductor support base tube 1 with Perkren, kerosene as a contaminant is 0.2 mm or less, 0.2 to 0.
5 mm, 0.5-1 mm, 1-1.5 mm, 1.5-2
A total of 100 pieces, each having a size of mm, of 20 pieces, were attached so as to be distributed over the entire surface 1a of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube. A red LED reflection type sensor 4 (wavelength 660 nm) is used for the light projecting means and the light receiving means, and the difference in light quantity of the diffuse reflected light 6 due to the difference in dew condensation 16 and 17 between the contaminated portion 18 and the cleaning portion 19 is A / D converted. The photoelectric conversion is performed by the device 13, and the electric signal is compared by the computer 14 with the light amount change point and the threshold value, and the position, size and number of the contaminated portion 18 on the entire surface 1a of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube can be displayed. It processed like this and displayed on the display device 15. The results are shown in Table 1. As for the detection of the contaminated part 18, all the contaminated parts having a size of 0.5 mm or more are detected.
The detection rate was 97% for all 8 samples.

Example 2 Example 1 was repeated except that a semiconductor cooler utilizing the Peltier effect was used as the cooling means 2 for the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube 1. The results are shown in Table 1. Regarding the detection of the contaminated portion 18, all the contamination having a size of 1 mm or more was detected, and the detection rate was 96% with respect to the total number of the contaminated portion 18.

Embodiment 3 FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the scanning system of the scanning light 5 of the cleanliness inspection apparatus used in Embodiment 3 of the present invention. The red LED reflection type sensor 4 is fixed to the sensor fixture 20, and the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube 1 is fixed at a fixed direction of 480 rp by the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube fixing device 3 and the motor 10.
At a constant speed of 4 m / sec, the motor 11 and a moving means 9 composed of a ball screw and a linear guide are moved at a constant speed of 4 mm / sec in a direction perpendicular to the rotation direction, so that the scanning light 5 is supported on the electrophotographic photosensitive member. The entire tube was scanned.
A cooling coil in which cooling water was circulated was used as the cooling means 2 for the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube 1, and the temperature of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube surface 1a was kept at 5 ° C. The evaluation section and the execution conditions were the same as in Example 1. The results are shown in Table 1.
Shown in. Regarding the detection of the contaminated portion 18, all the contamination having a size of 1 mm or more was detected, and the detection rate was 95% with respect to the total number of the contaminated portion 18.

Embodiment 4 FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an evaluation unit of a cleanliness inspection device used in Embodiment 4 of the present invention. Diffuse reflected light 6 from the dew condensations 16 and 17 is received by the red LED reflection type sensor 4, and A
After the photoelectric conversion is performed by the / D converter 13 and the electric signal is differentiated by the differentiating circuit 21, the position, size, and size of the contaminated portion 18 on the entire surface 1a of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube 1a are calculated by the computer 14. The number was processed so that it could be displayed and displayed on the display cover 15. Cleanliness evaluation device, cooling means 2
And the execution conditions were the same as in Example 1. The results are shown in Table 1. Regarding the detection of the contaminated portion 18, all the contamination having a size of 0.5 mm or more was detected, and the detection rate was 98% with respect to the total number of the contaminated portion 18.

Embodiment 5 FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a light receiving system of a cleanliness inspection apparatus used in Embodiment 5 of the present invention. A position displacement sensor 22 is used as scanning light in addition to the red LED reflective sensor 4 which is a light projecting means and a light receiving means, noise due to rotation and movement is detected, and diffused reflected light 6 is received by the red LED reflective sensor 4. The photoelectrically converted electric signal is corrected. The cooling means 2 and the operating conditions were the same as in Example 1. The results are shown in Table 1. Regarding the detection of the contaminated portion 18, all the contamination having a size of 1 mm or more was detected, and the detection rate was 98% with respect to the total number of the contaminated portion 18.

[0018]

[Table 1]

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to detect the contamination of the surface of the base tube for the electrophotographic photosensitive member, which has been detected only by the defect in the coating film, until immediately after cleaning (before coating).

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a cleanliness inspection device used in a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an evaluation unit of a cleanliness inspection device used in Examples 1 to 3 and 5 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a state of dew condensation.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a scanning system of a cleanliness inspection device used in a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an evaluation unit of a cleanliness inspection device used in Example 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a light receiving system of a cleanliness inspection device used in Example 5 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a photoelectric conversion signal output characteristic by the light receiver according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 support element tube for electrophotographic photoreceptor 1a surface of support element tube for electrophotographic photoreceptor 2 cooling means 3 fixing device for support element tube for electrophotographic photoreceptor 4 red LED reflective sensor 5 scanning light 6 Diffuse reflected light 7 Temperature / humidity monitor device 8 Temperature / humidity control device 9 Moving means 10 Motor 11 Motor 12 Amplifier 13 A / D
Transducer 14 Computer 15 Display device 16 Condensation 17 Condensation 18 Contaminated part 19 Clean part 20 Sensor fixture 21 Differentiation circuit 22 Position displacement sensor

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A substrate tube for an electrophotographic photoreceptor is cooled,
Scanning light is projected onto the dew condensation that has occurred on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube by cooling, and the diffuse reflected light from the dew condensation is received, and after converting the optical information into an electrical signal, A method for inspecting the cleanliness of the surface of a base material tube for an electrophotographic photosensitive member, which comprises processing an electric signal to determine the presence or absence of surface contamination. 2. A cooling means for cooling the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube, and a light projecting means for making the state of dew condensation generated on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube visible by the cooling means. A light receiving means for receiving diffused reflected light from the condensation on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube generated by the light projecting means and converting optical information into an electric signal; and an electric signal generated by the light receiving means. An apparatus for inspecting the cleanliness of the surface of a base tube for a support for an electrophotographic photosensitive member, characterized in that it has means for treating the surface of the base material and determining whether or not there is surface contamination. 3. A cooling means capable of controlling the surface temperature of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube, and a temperature and humidity adjusting means capable of controlling the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere around the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube. 3. The apparatus for inspecting the cleanliness of the surface of the base material tube for an electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 2. 4. A cooling means for cooling the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube, and a light projecting means for demonstrating the dew condensation state generated on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube by the cooling means. And a moving means for causing the scanning light from the light projecting means to scan the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member support tube which rotates in a fixed direction in a direction perpendicular to the rotating direction, and the light projecting means and the moving means. Light receiving means for receiving the diffuse reflection light of each scanning point of the scanning light scanned by the light receiving means for converting optical information into an electric signal, and means for processing the electric signal generated by the light receiving means to judge the presence or absence of surface contamination 4. The apparatus for inspecting the cleanliness of the surface of a base material tube for an electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: