JPH08318189A - Method for positioning cylindrical base material and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To minimize film thickness fluctuations, to make positioning with high accuracy possible and to embody uniform and efficient coating by setting the inside diameter size of the surface having the discharge ports of a positioning means for cylindrical base materials, such as photoreceptors used in an electrophotographic device, smaller than the inside diameter size of the fluid applying section of a perpendicular coating applicator. CONSTITUTION: The positioning device 20 of an annular coating applicator 10 which executes coating on the cylindrical base material 1A by a coating head 11 while moving the base material 1A upward is composed of an outside cylindrical member 21 and an inside cylindrical member 22 fixed therein. This outside cylindrical member 21 is formed with four air feed ports 23 radially and perpendicularly in plural stages and the inside cylindrical member 22 is formed with 12 discharge ports. Four exhaust ports 26 are radially and perpendicularly formed in plural stages through both the members 21, 22. The outside diameter of the base material 1A, defined as D1, the inside diameter size of the cylindrical member 22 as D2 and the inside diameter size of the coating head 11 as D3, are set at D1<D2<D3, by which the positioning accuracy of the base material 1 is improved.

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 positioning a cylindrical substrate when continuously applying a treatment liquid onto the outer peripheral surfaces of a plurality of cylindrical substrates, and more particularly to a cylindrical substrate. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for accurately positioning a cylindrical base material when manufacturing an electrophotographic photosensitive member by applying a photosensitive liquid to a material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In manufacturing an organic photoconductor photosensitive drum which is a photosensitive member used in an electrophotographic apparatus, a photosensitive photosensitive liquid (treatment liquid) is applied to a cylindrical drum. In the coating, it is necessary to adjust the slide hopper at a predetermined position on the peripheral surface of the cylindrical drum and to keep the gap between them constant in the circumferential direction. In this case, since the required coating layer thickness is extremely thin,
Even if it is deviated by mm, with respect to the circumferential direction, it causes a large deviation in the film thickness of the coating layer when viewed as the entire cylindrical surface.

It is a well-known fact that such a film thickness deviation of the coating layer causes various problems such as a change in charge amount, a non-uniform sensitivity, and a change in residual potential in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical drum. Therefore, accurate positioning of the cylindrical drum is extremely important.

Conventionally, as a positioning device for this type of cylindrical drum, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-50537, a position regulating roller rotatably provided on a supporting member is provided on the outer periphery of the cylindrical drum. Some are provided in contact with each other.
Further, JP-A-3-280063 and JP-A-4-7
Japanese Patent No. 3655 discloses a photosensitive drum positioning device using an air bearing.

[0005]

However, since the above-mentioned conventional roller contact type positioning device positions the position regulating roller while directly contacting the cylindrical drum, the cylindrical drum is damaged. There was a difficulty that it would keep up. It is well known that scratching a cylindrical drum will degrade the electrophotographic properties.

The air bearing type positioning device is
A fluid such as air is sprayed from a spray nozzle to perform positioning, which is extremely effective because scratches on the cylindrical drum can be prevented.

However, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), when the end portions of a plurality of cylindrical drums 1A and 1B are brought into contact with each other and stacked and moved, the cylindrical drum 1A is moved forward.
7 escapes from the positioning spray nozzle 3 and moves to the next cylindrical drum 1B, when an external force is applied to move the previous cylindrical drum 1A in the horizontal direction due to an external factor, as shown in FIG. So even if the next cylindrical drum 1B
Even if the positioning can be performed, the cylindrical drum 1A may be abruptly displaced in the horizontal direction. When this movement phenomenon occurs, it appears as a horizontal step of the photosensitive solution or a coating solution running out.

The main object of the present invention is to position the cylindrical drum without damaging the cylindrical drum, and
The purpose is to prevent displacement of the cylindrical drums at the connecting portion between the cylindrical drums.

[0009]

A method of positioning a cylindrical base material according to claim 1 of the present invention which solves the above-mentioned problems is a method of stacking a plurality of cylindrical base materials by aligning their cylindrical axes, and from top to bottom. While vertically pushing up, in the step of continuously applying the coating liquid on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical substrate by a vertical coating device, a fluid is sprayed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical substrate at a position before or after coating. In a method for positioning a cylindrical base material, the hollow cylindrical spraying means having a discharge port is positioned by the positioning means arranged coaxially with the cylindrical base material. The inner diameter of the surface having the discharge port is set to be smaller than the inner diameter of the fluid application portion of the vertical application device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a positioning apparatus for a cylindrical base material, which comprises stacking a plurality of cylindrical base materials with their cylinder axes aligned with each other, and vertically pushing them upward from below while using a vertical coating device. In the step of continuously applying the coating liquid on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical base material, a hollow cylindrical spray having a discharge port for spraying a fluid on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical base material at a position before or after application. In a positioning device for a cylindrical substrate for positioning the cylindrical substrate by a positioning device formed by arranging the device coaxially with the cylindrical substrate, an inner diameter of a surface having a discharge port of the positioning device is determined. It is characterized in that it is set to be smaller than the inner diameter dimension of the fluid application part of the vertical application device.

[0011]

In the present invention, the fluid is sprayed onto the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical substrate, and the fluid pressure causes the cylindrical substrate to be positioned. That is, when a fluid such as air is blown from around the cylindrical base material, the blowing pressure neutralizes the position of the cylindrical base material, thereby positioning the cylindrical base material at a predetermined position. Moreover, since the cylindrical base material does not come into mechanical contact with the cylindrical base material, it is possible to prevent the cylindrical base material from being damaged.

[0012] On the other hand, a plurality of cylindrical base materials are stacked by aligning the cylinder axes, and while vertically pushing upward from below, a vertical coating device continuously applies the coating liquid onto the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical base material, At a position before or after coating, a hollow cylindrical spraying means having a discharge port for spraying a fluid on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical base material is positioned by the positioning means arranged coaxially with the cylindrical base material. In a cylindrical base material positioning device that positions a cylindrical base material, when positioning, if there is at least one cylindrical base material with a bad squareness, it is ejected from the spraying device. The air enters the joint where the end faces of each of the cylindrical substrates come into contact with each other, and the cylindrical substrates float, tilt or vibrate, and adversely affect all the cylindrical substrates that progress in a stack. , Paint Sex is reduced.

In the present invention, the outer diameter of the cylindrical base material is D1, and the inner diameter dimension of the cylindrical inner surface having the discharge port of the positioning device is D.
2. When the inner diameter dimension of the fluid application portion forming the cylindrical inner surface of the vertical application device is D3, D1 <D2 ≦ D3, preferably,
By setting D1 <D2 <D3, the positioning accuracy of the cylindrical base material is improved.
It is possible to prevent contact with the fluid application portion forming the cylindrical inner surface of the vertical coating device and contact between the outer shape of the cylindrical substrate and the cylindrical inner surface having the discharge port of the positioning device. Since some of the cylindrical substrates have poor squareness and smoothness, they are unstable when stacking a plurality of cylindrical substrates. If D2>
When it is D3, the positioning accuracy is poor and the inlet of the coating device and the cylindrical substrate are likely to come into contact with each other. Note that (D2-D1) ≧
20 μm is preferable. The discharge port diameter is 0.01 to
1.0 mm, preferably 0.05 to 0.7 mm.

The positioning device having a plurality of discharge ports may be used by continuously connecting two or more sets in the axial direction.

The preferred fluid used in the positioning device is air or an inert gas (eg, nitrogen gas).
And, these fluids are preferably clean gases of class 100 or higher according to JIS standard.

As the vertical coating device, a slide hopper type, an extrusion type, a ring coater type or the like is used.

[0017]

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

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the whole of an annular vertical coating device including the positioning device of the present invention. The vertical type coating device applies coating liquid (photosensitive liquid) to cylindrical base materials (cylindrical drums) 1A and 1B vertically stacked along a center line O.
Vertical coating apparatus 10 for coating 2 and the vertical coating apparatus 10
A cylindrical substrate positioning device 20 fixed below the table, and a drying hood 30 installed above the vertical coating device 10.
And a supporting device 40 fixed to the lower part of the positioning device 20.

Inside the vertical coating device 10, a coating head 11 for coating the processing liquid 2 so as to surround the outer periphery of the cylindrical substrate 1A, and a tapered processing liquid outlet (processing liquid) adjacent to the coating head 11. A slide surface) 12, a processing liquid distribution slit 13 forming a narrow processing liquid passage in the horizontal direction, and a coating liquid distribution chamber 14 are formed. The coating liquid distribution chamber 14
A processing liquid supply pipe 16 is connected to the processing liquid, and the processing liquid is supplied by a pressure feed pump (not shown).

The coating method by the vertical coating device 10 is as follows.
The annular coating device 10 is fixed, and coating is performed by the coating head 11 from the upper end of the cylindrical base material 1A while moving the cylindrical base material 1A upward along the center line O in the direction of the arrow.

A fixed amount of the processing liquid is stably fed to the vertical coating device 10 by a pressure pump, and the processing liquid supply pipe 16, the coating liquid distribution chamber 14, the processing liquid distribution slit 13, and the processing liquid outlet 12 are provided. After that, it is supplied to the coating head 11, and the treatment liquid is coated on the surface of the cylindrical substrate 1A to form a photosensitive layer.

An annular drying hood 30 is fixed to the upper portion of the vertical coating device 10. A large number of openings 31 are formed in the drying hood 30. The photosensitive layer on the cylindrical substrate formed by the annular coating device 10 gradually dries the coated photosensitive liquid 2 while passing through the drying hood 30. The drying is performed by releasing the solvent contained in the photosensitive liquid to the outside through the opening 31.

A cylindrical substrate positioning device 20 is fixed to the lower part of the vertical coating device 10. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA (air supply portion) of the cylindrical base material positioning device 20 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB (exhaust portion).

The positioning device 20 for the cylindrical substrate is composed of an outer cylinder member 21 and an inner cylinder member 22 fixed inside the outer cylinder member 21. The outer cylinder member 21 and the inner cylinder member 22 are provided with a plurality of air supply ports 23 penetrating both members and a plurality of exhaust ports 26. The plurality of air supply ports 23
Is connected to the air supply pump 29, and a fluid such as air is pressure-fed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (a), the outer cylinder member 21 has four air supply ports 23 arranged horizontally in a radial direction, and further has a plurality of stages vertically (five stages shown in the figure). ) It is arranged. A horizontal groove 24 is formed in the inner peripheral surface of the outer cylindrical member 21 to form a horizontal flow path between the outer cylindrical member 21 and the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical member 22, and the grooves are arranged radially in the horizontal direction.
It communicates with the individual air supply port 23. A hole having twelve discharge ports 25 in the horizontal direction penetrates through the inner cylinder member 22. The discharge port 25 faces the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical substrate 1 with a gap G therebetween. The gap G is 20 μm to 3
mm, preferably 30 μm to 2 mm. This gap G
Is less than 20 μm, the cylindrical base material 1 is likely to be damaged by contacting the inner cylindrical member 22 with a slight shake of the cylindrical base material 1.
Further, when the gap G is larger than 3 mm, the positioning accuracy of the cylindrical base material 1 is reduced. The discharge port 25 has a diameter of 0.0
The nozzle has a small diameter of 1 to 1.0 mm, preferably 0.07 to 0.5 mm.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2B, four exhaust holes 26 are horizontally arranged in a radial pattern penetrating through the outer cylinder member 21 and the inner cylinder member 22, and further in a vertical direction. A plurality of stages (5 stages in the figure) are arranged. The exhaust ports 26 are arranged alternately with the air supply ports 23 in the vertical direction. A vertical groove 27 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the inner cylinder member 22,
The plurality of stages of exhaust ports 26 communicate with each other.

The inner peripheral surface of the lower portion of the inner cylindrical member 22 is a tapered surface 28 that widens on the inlet side. The tapered surface 28 is, for example, a conical surface having an axial length of 50 mm and a one-sided inclination angle of 0.5 mm. This taper surface 2
By providing 8, the front end of the cylindrical base material 1 is prevented from coming into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical member 22 when the cylindrical base material 1 enters the inner cylindrical member 22.

The fluid pumped from the air supply pump 29 is introduced into the outer cylinder member 23 through the plurality of air supply ports 23 and is discharged through the horizontal grooves 24 through the plurality of discharge ports 25 to form the cylindrical shape. A uniform fluid film layer is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the base material 1A (1B). The discharged fluid is discharged to the outside of the apparatus through the plurality of exhaust ports 26 through the vertical groove 27.

The opening diameter of the discharge port 25 is 0.01-1.
mm, preferably 0.05 to 0.7 mm, eg 0.2
It is formed in a circular shape of 0.5 mm. The opening diameter of the exhaust port 26 is 1.0 to 10 mm, preferably 2.0 to 8.0.
It is formed in a circular shape of mm, for example, 3 to 5 mm. The discharge port 25 and the exhaust port 26 are integrally incorporated on the side of the member (inner tubular member 22) forming the innermost surface of the positioning means 20 facing the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical substrate 1. .

The discharge amount of the fluid discharged from the discharge port 25 is changed at the connecting portion by the connecting portion detecting means (53) for detecting the connecting portion between the plurality of cylindrical substrates 1 or the timer means (51). To be controlled.

Alternatively, the pressure of the fluid discharged from the discharge port 25 is a joint portion detecting means (53) for detecting the joint portion between the plurality of cylindrical substrates 1 or a timer means (5).
It is controlled so as to change at the connecting portion by 1).

By using, for example, reflectance fluctuation detection, magnetic change measurement, eddy current measurement, capacitance change measurement, laser measurement, etc. as the connecting portion detecting means, connection between the cylindrical base materials 1 can be easily performed. The part can be detected.

The detection of the connecting portion between the cylindrical base materials 1 by the timer means is performed by the length of the cylindrical base material 1, the moving speed of the cylindrical base material 1, the distance between the plurality of discharge ports 25, and the first of the spraying means. It is detected from the discharge port distance and the like.

The positioning device 20 shown in FIG.
Although it is a set of units, two or more sets may be continuously connected in the vertical direction.

The fluid supplied to the air supply port 23 is preferably air or an inert gas such as nitrogen gas. The fluid is preferably clean gas of class 100 or higher according to JIS standard.

As the vertical coating device connected to the positioning device of the present invention, various devices such as a slide hopper type, an extrusion type, a ring coater, and spray coating are used.

[Examples] The present invention will now be described with reference to specific examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Example 1 (Examples and Comparative Examples) The conductive support (cylindrical base material) 1 has a mirror-finished diameter D1 = 80 mm and a height of 35.
A 5 mm aluminum drum support was used.

A coating liquid composition UCL-1 (3.0 W / V% polymer concentration) was prepared on the conductive support 1 as follows, and a slide hopper type coating apparatus 10 (inner diameter) as shown in FIG. 1 was prepared. D3 = 80.2 mm) was applied. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the coating device 10 and the positioning device 20, and FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the positioning device 20.
In this embodiment, a ring-shaped positioning device 20 (length H = 250 mm, inner diameter D2) shown in FIG. 3 is installed immediately before the coating device 10, and the ring of the positioning device 20 is set as shown in Table 1 below. The inner diameter D2 of the uniform discharge surface was changed, and the moving speed of the cylindrical substrate 1 was 20 mm / sec, and the gap between the coater (coating head) 11 and the cylindrical substrate 1 was 100 μm for continuous coating.

UCL-1 coating liquid composition Copolymerized nylon resin (CM-8000, manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.) Methanol / n-butanol = 10/1 (Vol ratio) Table 1 shows the coating results according to Examples and Comparative Examples.

[0041]

[Table 1]

As shown in Table 1, the photosensitive drum No. 1
In the present embodiment for -1, 1-2, 1-3, the inner diameter D2 of the positioning device 20 and the inner diameter D3 of the coating device 10 are
Both are D1 <D2 <D3, and the positioning accuracy is high,
There were no damages and coating unevenness, and the coating properties were good. On the other hand, when the inner diameter of each device is D2> D3, the photosensitive drum NO. In the comparative example for 1-4, the positioning performance was unstable, and the contact between the cylindrical substrate 1 and the inlet of the coating device 10
A trouble such as contact between the cylindrical substrate 1 and the inner wall surface of the positioning device 20 occurred, and vibration during this contact caused uneven coating. Further, the coating property of the coating liquid on the cylindrical substrate 1 was poor, and troubles such as scratches and abrasions occurred.

Example 2 (Example and Comparative Example) As the conductive support (cylindrical base material) 1, a mirror-finished diameter D1 = 80 mm and a height H were obtained.
= 355 mm aluminum drum support was used.

Coating solution composition C was formed on the support as follows.
GL-2 (3.0 W / V% polymer concentration) was prepared and coated using the slide hopper type coating device 10 (inner diameter D3 = 80.2 mm) as shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the coating device 10 and the positioning device 20, FIG.
FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the positioning device 20. In this embodiment, a ring-shaped positioning device 20 (length H = 200 mm, inner diameter D2) shown in FIG.
By changing the inner diameter D2 of the ring-shaped discharge surface of the cylindrical substrate 1 at a moving speed of 25 mm / sec, a coater (coating head)
Continuous coating was performed with a gap of 11 and the cylindrical substrate 1 being 100 μm.

CGL-1 coating liquid composition Perylene pigment (CGM-2) Butyral resin (S-REC BX-L Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) Methyl ethyl ketone The above coating liquid composition (solid content weight ratio CG for solid content)
M-2: BX-L = fixed at 2: 1) dispersed with a sand mill for 20 hours.

[0046]

Embedded image

The coating results are shown in Table 2.

[0048]

[Table 2]

As shown in Table 2, the photosensitive drum No. Two
In the present embodiment for -1, 2, 2 and 2-3, the inner diameter D2 of the positioning device 20 and the inner diameter D3 of the coating device 10 are
Both are D1 <D2 <D3, and the positioning accuracy is high,
There were no damages and coating unevenness, and the coating properties were good. On the other hand, when the inner diameter of each device is D2> D3, the photosensitive drum NO. In the comparative example for 2-4, the positioning performance is unstable, and the contact between the cylindrical substrate 1 and the inlet of the coating device 10
A trouble such as contact between the cylindrical substrate 1 and the inner wall surface of the positioning device 20 occurred, and vibration during this contact caused uneven coating. Further, the coating property of the coating liquid on the cylindrical substrate 1 was poor, and troubles such as scratches and abrasions occurred.

Example 3 (Example) As the conductive support (cylindrical base material) 1, the same aluminum drum support as in Example 1 was used.

A coating solution composition CTL-1 (35 W / V% solid content concentration) was prepared on the conductive support 1 as follows, and a slide hopper type coating apparatus (inner diameter D3 = 80.5 mm) 10 was applied. At this time, a positioning device 20 (length H = 250 mm, inner diameter D2) shown in FIG. 5 is installed immediately before the coating device 10, the moving speed of the cylindrical base material 1 is 5 mm / sec, the coater 11 and the cylindrical base material are moved. Continuous coating was carried out with a gap between 1 and 250 μm.

CTL-1 coating liquid composition CTM-1 polycarbonate (Z-200 manufactured by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co., Inc.) 1,2-dichloroethane Solid content weight ratio CTM-1: Z-200 for solid content.
Fixed at = 0.89: 1

[0053]

Embedded image

The coating results are shown in Table 3.

[0055]

[Table 3]

As shown in Table 3, the photosensitive drum No. Three
In this embodiment for -1, 3-2 and 3-3, the inner diameter D2 of the positioning device 20 and the inner diameter D3 of the coating device 10 are
Both are D1 <D2 <D3, and the positioning accuracy is high,
There were no damages and coating unevenness, and the coating properties were good. On the other hand, when the inner diameter of each device is D2> D3, the photosensitive drum NO. In the comparative example with respect to 3-4, the positioning performance is unstable, and the contact between the cylindrical substrate 1 and the inlet of the coating device 10
A trouble such as contact between the cylindrical substrate 1 and the inner wall surface of the positioning device 20 occurred, and vibration during this contact caused uneven coating. Further, the coating property of the coating liquid on the cylindrical substrate 1 was poor, and troubles such as scratches and abrasions occurred.

The photoconductor of the present invention is UCL / CGL / CTL.
When an OPC photosensitive member having three layers sequentially formed was produced and actually copied, it was good without uneven density, fog unevenness and image defects (black spots, white spots, streak defects, and scratch defects). It also did not damage the coater.

[0058]

By the method and apparatus for positioning a cylindrical substrate provided in the coating apparatus of the present invention, the following excellent effects are obtained.

(1) The fluctuation of the photosensitive film thickness applied on the cylindrical substrate was extremely small.

(2) The coating property of the coating liquid on the cylindrical substrate was improved.

(3) The occurrence of scratches on the surface of the cylindrical substrate was eliminated.

(4) The coating liquid discharge part (coater) of the coating device is not damaged.

(5) The positioning accuracy of the cylindrical substrate is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a positioning device and a coating device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA and a sectional view taken along the line BB of the coating apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a coating device and a positioning device.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the positioning device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the positioning device.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the positioning device.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which cylindrical base materials are stacked and conveyed.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1A, 1B Cylindrical base material (cylindrical drum, conductive support) 2 Treatment surface (photosensitive liquid surface) 10 Vertical coating device (slide hopper type coating device) 11 Coating head (coater) 20 Positioning device (positioning means) ) 21 outer cylinder member 22 inner cylinder member 23 air supply port 25 discharge port 26 exhaust port 29 air supply pump D1 outer diameter of cylindrical substrate D2 inner diameter of positioning device D3 inner diameter of coating device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A step of stacking a plurality of cylindrical base materials so that their cylindrical axes are aligned with each other and continuously pushing up the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical base material with a vertical coating device while vertically pushing upward from below. In, at the position before or after application,
A cylinder for positioning the cylindrical base material by a positioning means formed by coaxially arranging a hollow cylindrical spraying means having a discharge port for spraying a fluid on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical base material. In the method for positioning a cylindrical base material, the inner diameter of the surface of the positioning means having the discharge port is set to be smaller than the inner diameter of the fluid application section of the vertical application device. 2. A step of stacking a plurality of cylindrical base materials by aligning their cylindrical axes and vertically pushing upward from below to continuously apply a coating liquid onto the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical base material by a vertical coating device. In, at the position before or after application,
A cylinder for positioning the cylindrical base material by a positioning means formed by coaxially arranging a hollow cylindrical spraying means having a discharge port for spraying a fluid on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical base material. A cylindrical base material positioning device, wherein an inner diameter of a surface of the positioning means having a discharge port is set to be smaller than an inner diameter of a fluid application portion of the vertical application device. 3. The cylindrical substrate positioning device according to claim 2, wherein the vertical coating device is a slide hopper type coating device.