JPH0720643A - Method for rising electrophotographic sensitive body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently rinse the inner and outer faces of a conductive substrate in a short time by continuously spraying pure water in the form of film from a slit nozzle on the inner and outer faces of the substrate. CONSTITUTION:A conductive substrate 1 is placed on a substrate holding tower 4, and a fluid 5a is sprayed on the outer face 1a and inner face 1b of the substrate 1 from nozzles 2 and 3. The fluid 5a is sprayed in the form of film, and its angle to the horizontal direction is preferably controlled. The tower 4 is rotated in the circumferential direction 100, and the nozzles 2 and 3 are moved in the vertical direction 101. Consequently, the rinsing area is increased, a strong rinsing force is obtained with the same amt. of pure water, the pure water applied on the substrate 1 is not scattered but flows down along the substrate 1, and the part below the point of application is simultaneosuly rinsed, Further, the upper part of the substrate is rinsed for the time more than half of the total rinsing time to simultaneously clean the part below the point of pure water application.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of rinsing and washing an electroconductive substrate of an electrophotographic photoreceptor used in an electrophotographic copying machine or a photosensitive drum of a laser printer, after rinsing in an aqueous system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a photoconductor for electrophotography is formed by coating or vapor depositing a photoconductive layer made of selenium-based material, amorphous silicon, organic-based material or the like on a conductive substrate made of aluminum or its alloy. Has been done. The most commonly used conductive substrate is a cylindrical metal drum. The cylindrical metal drum is made of a raw material such as aluminum. On the surface of the raw material, metal powder generated in the cutting process, dust from the surrounding environment, oil used during cutting and the raw material after cutting are used. The oil used to protect the surface adheres. When a photosensitive layer is applied to such a tube to form an electrophotographic photoreceptor, the above-mentioned deposits on the surface of the tube adversely affect the image characteristics of the photoreceptor. Therefore, in order to apply the coating liquid to a uniform thickness and to make the vapor deposition uniform, the conductive substrate is washed before the application and vapor deposition, and metal powder, oil and fat adhering to the surface thereof is removed. Foreign matter is removed. As a method for cleaning a conductive substrate made of aluminum or its alloy, for example, JP-A-58-58
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 108568, a method of ultrasonically vibrating a cleaning solution in which an aluminum tube is immersed,
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-154679, a method is known in which a cleaning liquid is discharged from an aluminum tube at a high pressure using a shower nozzle. However, since the cleaning liquid remains attached to the aluminum tube after such a cleaning process, it is necessary to rinse with pure water.

A schematic view of an example of the prior art of the above-mentioned rinsing step is shown in FIG. The substrate 1 is covered and held by a cylindrical tower 4 having an outer shape slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the conductive substrate.
The rinsing fluid is rod-shaped or atomized from the nozzle 2 for the outer surface of the substrate and the nozzle 3 for the inner surface of the substrate.
5a is injected perpendicularly to. At this time, the rinsing fluid is sprayed on the entire substrate. In these conventional techniques, when the fluid is ejected in the shape of a rod, the rinsing area is small, the rinsing efficiency is poor because the fluid acting on the substrate scatters around, and when the fluid is atomized, the rinsing area is large. However, sufficient pressure to act on the substrate cannot be obtained, and the rinsing efficiency is poor. When the fluid is jetted perpendicularly to the substrate, the rinsing efficiency is poor because the fluid acting on the substrate scatters around. Also, when the fluid is jetted uniformly over the substrate, the jetted fluid is directed downward. As it runs off, the lower part of the substrate finishes rinsing before the upper part, resulting in a longer rinsing time. Furthermore, in a cylindrical tower with an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the substrate,
When the base is covered and held, the inner surface of the base covered by the tower is less likely to be rinsed, and the fluid sprayed from the nozzle for the inner surface of the base flows down along the inner surface of the base, leaving the fluid between the base and the tower. , Because it is difficult to rinse,
It had a drawback that the rinsing efficiency was poor.

[0004]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method of rinsing a rinsing system by spraying, in which the inner surface and the outer surface of the substrate are efficiently rinsed in a short time as compared with the prior art.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in a method of cleaning an electroconductive substrate of an electrophotographic photosensitive member made of aluminum or an alloy thereof in an aqueous system and then rinsing and cleaning, a pure nozzle is used. It has been found that it is effective to spray the water in a film-like and continuous manner and hit the spray on the inside and the outside of the substrate, and further, the rinse time of the upper part of the substrate is more than half of the total cleaning time. It has been found that even when the tower holding the substrate has a structure in which the contact area between the inner surface of the substrate and the outer surface of the tower is small, the effect is even greater.
Pure water used in the present invention is a reverse osmosis membrane, an ion exchange resin,
It is a product from which electrolyte components, foreign substances, and bacteria have been removed by a filter or the like.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a practical example of the present invention. The conductive substrate 1 is placed on the substrate holding tower 4, and the jet fluid 5a is jetted from the substrate outer surface nozzle 2 and the substrate inner surface nozzle 3 to the outer surface 1a and the inner surface 1b of the conductive substrate.
The jet fluid 5a has a film shape, and it is preferable to adjust the angle with respect to the horizontal direction. The base body holding tower 4 rotates in the circumferential direction 100, and the base body outer surface nozzle 2 and the base body inner surface nozzle 3 move in the vertical direction 101. FIG. 3 shows the conductive substrate 1, and FIG. 4 shows the substrate holding tower 4. Figure 5
It is sectional drawing which shows the other Example of this invention. 6 to 9
Are various towers used in the present invention. FIGS. 6 and 7 show a structure in which the tower holding the base body has a small contact area between the inner surface of the base body and the outer surface of the tower. By reducing the contact area between the base body and the tower, the portion where the base body and the tower are not in contact with each other is shown. The fluid flows into the rinsing area, and the rinsing and cleaning are performed quickly. Specifically, FIG. 6 shows that the tower outer surface 4a and the tower inner surface 4 are located in the middle of the tower side surface 4c in contact with the base inner surface 1b.
7 is a tower having a hole penetrating b, and FIG. 7 is a tower having at least three rows of vertical grooves on the tower outer surface 4a in contact with the substrate inner surface 1b. FIGS. 8 and 9 show a tower having a structure having a fluid discharge port inserted in the gap between the inner surface 1b of the base and the outer surface 4a of the tower, and the fluid entered in the gap between the inner surface of the base and the outer surface of the tower is quickly drained. As a result, the fluid that has newly flown down along the inner surface of the base body easily flows into the gap, so that the rinsing and cleaning can be performed quickly. Specifically, FIG. 8 shows a tower having a structure in which a gap is formed between the lower surface 1c of the base body and the upper surface 4d of the tower. FIG. 9 shows a tower having a structure in which the upper surface 4d of the tower, which is in contact with the lower surface 1c of the base body, has a plurality of holes.

The evaluation methods in the following Examples and Comparative Examples are evaluated by the detergent concentration contained in pure water attached to the substrate after rinsing and washing under the respective conditions. The evaluation is a five-level evaluation,
“5” has a low detergent concentration, and “1” has a high detergent concentration. The evaluation was ranked by each element. Examples 1 to 4 were carried out according to the schematic diagram shown in FIG. Example 1 A conductive substrate 1 made of an aluminum alloy was placed on a tower 4 and washed under a water system. Then, while rotating the substrate 1 in the circumferential direction 100, pure water having a film-like shape sprayed from the outer surface nozzle 2 and the inner surface nozzle 3 was struck and rinsed for 5 minutes. The rating was 5. Comparative Example 1 In Example 1, rinsing and washing were performed with pure water having a rod-like shape that was ejected from the nozzle. The rating was 3. Comparative Example: 2 In Example 1, rinsing and washing were performed with pure water in which the shape sprayed from the nozzle was mist. The rating was 2. Example: 2 A conductive substrate 1 made of an aluminum alloy was placed on a tower 4 and washed under a water system. Then, while rotating the substrate 1 in the circumferential direction 100, pure water having a film-like shape sprayed from the outer surface nozzle 2 and the inner surface nozzle 3 was struck and rinsed for 5 minutes. The rinsing and cleaning time at this time was assigned as follows. Upper part of substrate = 1 /
2, base part = 1/4, base part = 1/4. The rating was 5. Example: 3 The conductive substrate 1 made of an aluminum alloy was placed on the tower shown in FIG. 6 and washed under a water system. Then, while rotating the substrate 1 in the circumferential direction 100, pure water having a film-like shape sprayed from the outer surface nozzle 2 and the inner surface nozzle 3 was struck and rinsed for 5 minutes. The rating was 5. Similar results were obtained using the tower shown in FIG. Example: 4 The conductive substrate 1 made of an aluminum alloy was placed on the tower shown in FIG. 8 and washed under a water system. Then, while rotating the substrate 1 in the circumferential direction 100, pure water having a film-like shape sprayed from the outer surface nozzle 2 and the inner surface nozzle 3 was struck and rinsed for 5 minutes. The rating was 5. Similar results were obtained using the tower shown in FIG.

[0008]

As described above, according to the method of the present invention in which pure water is spray-sprayed in the form of a film, the rinsing area is large and the rinsing force is stronger than the sprays of other fluid shapes with the same amount of pure water. The pure water obtained and acting on the substrate flows down along with the substrate without scattering around, so that rinsing below the working point is also performed at the same time. Further, by setting the rinsing time of the upper part of the substrate to be more than half of the whole, the pure water acting on the upper part flows down along the surface of the substrate, so that the rinsing and cleaning are performed at the point of action of the injected pure water or less. In addition, by reducing the contact area between the base and the tower, the fluid flows into the part where the base and the tower are not in contact with each other, rinsing and cleaning are performed quickly, and the fluid flows into the gap between the inner surface of the base and the outer surface of the tower. It is a great advantage of the present invention that the salient fluid is quickly drained by the drain port, and the rinsing and washing are performed quickly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 3 is a plan view and a front view showing a conductive substrate.

FIG. 4 is a plan view and a front view showing a substrate holding tower.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view and a front view showing another tower used in the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view and a front view showing another tower used in the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view and a front view showing another tower used in the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view and a front view showing another tower used in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 conductive base 1a conductive base outer surface 1b conductive base inner surface 1c conductive base lower end surface 2 base outer surface nozzle 3 base inner surface nozzle 4 base holding tower 4a base holding tower outer surface 4b base holding tower inner surface 4c base holding tower side surface 4d Upper surface of substrate holding tower 5a Jet fluid 5b Reflective fluid 100 Circumferential direction 101 Vertical direction

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A method of cleaning a conductive substrate of an electrophotographic photosensitive member made of aluminum or an alloy thereof in an aqueous system and then rinsing the same, wherein pure water is continuously sprayed in a film form from a slit nozzle, A method for rinsing and rinsing, characterized in that the spray spray is applied to the inner surface and the outer surface of the substrate. 2. The rinsing cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein the rinsing cleaning time of the upper part of the substrate is set to be half or more of the entire cleaning time. 3. The rinsing cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein the tower holding the base has a structure in which the contact area between the inner surface of the base and the outer surface of the tower is small. 4. The rinsing cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein the tower holding the base has a structure in which a gap is formed between the base lower surface and the tower upper surface. 5. The tower for holding the base has a structure having a plurality of holes on the upper surface of the tower.
The rinse method described.