JPH08334913A - Method for polishing electrophotographic photoreceptor material - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To make it possible to well and efficiently polish the outer peripheral surface of an electrophotographic photoreceptor material regardless of the required removal quantity after the end of preworking. CONSTITUTION: The outer peripheral surface of an aluminum pipe 10 which is an electrophotograhic photoreceptor, is preworked by centerless polishing, etc., and is thereafter subjected to tape polishing according to the required removal quantity (x) at the point of this time. The surface is first removed by >=2x/3 by using a first polishing tape 18 having projecting abrasive grains of an average abrasive grain size of >=5x/3 to <4x and is then removed by >=x/6 by using a second polishing tape having ordinary abrasive grains of an average abrasive grain size larger than (x) and below 5x/3. The surface is thereafter removed by >=x/25 by using a third polishing tape having the ordinary abrasive grains of an average abrasive grain size of 2x/3 to x, thereby, the total removal quantity of (x) or above is attained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for polishing an electrophotographic photosensitive material made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy and used for a photosensitive drum in a copying machine or a laser printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a high surface precision is required for the electrophotographic photoreceptor. Conventionally, as a method of manufacturing such a photoreceptor, an aluminum tube is first formed by extrusion, and then the outer peripheral surface of the tube is cut by a lathe or the like until the surface roughness Rmax becomes 1 μm or less. It is common. However, it takes a very long time to perform such a cutting process, and the cost becomes high accordingly. Therefore, in recent years, the following methods have been considered as a method for rapidly processing the surface of the aluminum pipe. Has been.

A) A burnishing roller is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the aluminum tube to roll it, thereby pushing out irregularities on the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder to improve the surface accuracy (roller burnishing method; JP-A-3). No. 149180 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-305311).

B) A plurality of block-shaped polishing grindstones are arranged in order from the coarsest one, and the aluminum pipes are transferred in the direction in which the grindstones are arranged while rotating, so that the grindstones are coarser in order from the surface of the aluminum pipe. Contact them to gradually increase the surface accuracy (super finishing polishing method;
(See Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-237755).

C) The outer peripheral surface of the aluminum pipe is ground by contacting the outer peripheral surface of the aluminum pipe with the outer peripheral surface of the aluminum pipe while the polishing tape having the surface on which the abrasive particles are adhered is sent at any time (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-209457). (See the official gazette).

[0006]

In the roller burnishing process of A), the burnishing roller has to be pressed against the aluminum pipe with a considerably large pressure. Therefore, when this processing method is applied to an aluminum pipe having low rigidity, the above-mentioned pressure causes The aluminum tube itself may be deformed, which may rather deteriorate the shape accuracy. In addition, if the pressing force of the burnishing roller is lowered to prevent such deformation, the unevenness (particularly the recesses) remaining on the outer peripheral surface of the aluminum pipe cannot be completely eliminated at the stage when the preprocessing is completed, and the entire aluminum pipe is made uniform. Very difficult to process. Therefore, it is not easy to finish only by this roller burnishing process.

In the superfinishing polishing process of B), continuous processing is possible by transferring aluminum tubes one after another. However, as the processing progresses, metal powder is welded to the processed surface of the grindstone and the polishing force is increased. Therefore, it is necessary to frequently dress the grindstone to recover the grinding force, which greatly hinders the improvement of production efficiency. Further, if the timing of the dressing is delayed, the abrasive grains may fall off from the grinding wheel and be embedded in the surface of the aluminum tube or may cause peeling, which may rather deteriorate the surface quality.

On the other hand, in the tape polishing process of C),
Since a new polishing surface can be constantly supplied to the outer peripheral surface of the aluminum tube to continuously feed the polishing tape, there is almost no clogging of polishing particles on the processing surface, and there is an advantage that peeling of the processing surface does not easily occur. .

However, this tape polishing process has a smaller removal amount per unit time even with the same abrasive grain size as compared with the grindstone process such as the above-mentioned super finishing polishing process. Therefore, if the abrasive grain size is small, It takes a long time to perform sufficient processing,
Machining efficiency is significantly reduced. Furthermore, there is a possibility that such long-time processing may promote undulation of the processed surface. Further, when the removal amount is set to be small in order to shorten the processing time, scratches (hereinafter referred to as scratches) having a depth of 1 μm or more generated in the stage of pre-processing (for example, grinding processing) cannot be sufficiently erased, You cannot get a satisfactory product.

On the contrary, when the tape abrasive grain size is set to be large, a large removal amount can be obtained in a short time, but a disadvantage that sufficient surface roughness cannot be obtained occurs.

The polishing tape is prepared by mixing abrasive grains in a bonding agent and fixed in a random direction (hereinafter referred to as a normal abrasive grain polishing tape), and the direction of each abrasive grain is its length. There are those coated by electrical means so that the direction is perpendicular to the surface of the abrasive tape substrate (hereinafter referred to as the abrasive tape of protruding abrasive grains). The latter abrasive tape of protruding abrasive grains is Although it has the advantage that the removal amount is large compared to the former polishing tape with normal abrasive grains, it has the drawback of roughening the processed surface and generating a lot of burrs, and it is very difficult to use these tapes properly.

That is, when such an abrasive tape is used, it is very difficult to set the type of abrasive grains and the abrasive grain size of the tape used, which greatly hinders the tape polishing application.

It should be noted that Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-1397 discloses that good results can be obtained by using a polishing tape having an average abrasive grain size of 5 to 20 μm. Whether or not a good result can be obtained with a polishing tape depends on the surface condition before polishing (that is, the surface condition at the end of the pre-processing). Good results are not always obtained.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention uses the polishing tapes used and the tapes to be removed in order to efficiently obtain a high-quality machined surface even if the required removal amount at the end of pre-processing varies. An object of the present invention is to provide a polishing method whose amount can be easily set.

[0015]

The inventors of the present invention have, as an example,
As a result of conducting an experiment on tape polishing using the JIS 6063 aluminum tube as described in the section "Examples" below, it was found that three types of polishing tapes satisfying the specified conditions were used properly It was confirmed that such results were obtained. The present invention has been made as a result of such a study, and in the method for polishing an electrophotographic photosensitive material, the outer peripheral surface of a preprocessed electrophotographic photosensitive material is finished by a polishing tape. Assuming that the required removal depth of the outer peripheral surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive material at the time of processing is x, first, a first polishing tape having protruding abrasive grains with an average abrasive grain size of 5x / 3 or more and less than 4x is used. The outer peripheral surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive material is removed by 2x / 3 or more, and then a second abrasive having normal abrasive grains having an average abrasive grain size larger than x and less than 5x / 3 is used.
The outer peripheral surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive material is removed by x / 6 or more by using the polishing tape of No. 1, and then the third polishing tape having the normal abrasive grains having an average abrasive grain diameter of 2x / 3 or more and x or less is used. Remove the outer peripheral surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive material by x / 25 or more,
In addition, the total removal amount is x or more.

[0016]

In the above method, by first polishing with the first polishing tape, it is possible to obtain a large amount of removal in a short time while relatively suppressing the occurrence of burrs. Next, by polishing with the second polishing tape, it is possible to remove the above-mentioned burrs and increase the surface accuracy, and obtain a large removal amount next to the first polishing tape. Then, by using the third polishing tape, it is possible to surely obtain a good processed surface having the target surface roughness or less finally in a relatively short processing time.

[0017]

EXAMPLES The present inventors conducted the following experiments in order to develop a suitable polishing method.

First, JIS 6063 (Si 0.20-0.6% and M
Al) containing 0.45 to 0.9% of g) is extruded and drawn to produce an aluminum tube with an outer diameter of 30 mm as a photosensitive material for electrophotography, and a length of 2 mm
Cut to 65mm. As a pre-process, a centerless grinding process is performed using the apparatus shown in FIG. For more information,
In the figure, the aluminum tube 10 is arranged on the blade 50, and the feed roll 51 and the grinding wheel 52 are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the aluminum tube 10. Then, while the aluminum tube 10 is sandwiched by the roll 51 and the grinding wheel 52, the aluminum tube 10 is rotated in opposite directions with the central axis thereof as a rotation axis. At this time, the aluminum tube 10 tries to rotate at the same rotation speed as the high-speed rotating grinding wheel 52,
Since the aluminum pipe 10 is braked by the frictional force received from the low-speed rotating feed roll 51 and the blade 50, the aluminum tube 10 rotates at substantially the same speed as the feed roll 51. As a result, the outer peripheral surface of the aluminum tube 10 can be ground by the grinding wheel 52, and the central axis of the feed roll 51 is slightly inclined, so that the aluminum tube 10 is conveyed in the longitudinal direction thereof and sequentially polished. Can be used for

When the centerless grinding process is completed, the maximum surface roughness of the aluminum tube 10 is 3.0 μmRmax.
This scratching resulted in a state in which scratches with a maximum depth of 9 μm were scattered. Hereinafter, the surface in this state is referred to as surface S
Call. The surface S was tape-polished using the apparatus shown in FIG. This device includes a payout roller 11 and a take-up roller 12, and guide rollers 14 and 15, a contact roller 16 and a guide roller 17 are arranged between the rollers 11 and 12 in order. The aluminum pipe 10 is rotated while being in contact with the polishing tape 18 on the peripheral surface of the polishing roller 18, and polishing is performed at the same time as the polishing tape 18 is fed from the feeding roller 11 at a low speed to constantly supply a new tape polishing surface to the contact roller 16. Then, the used polishing tape 18 is wound around the winding roller 12 and collected.

Using this apparatus, each 50 mm width polishing tape having the abrasive grains shown in Table 1 (a) below was used in various combinations to perform tape polishing, and as a result, the data in the same table (b) was obtained. I was able to.

[0021]

[Table 1]

"Number of passes" in Table 1 (b) means
This means the number of passes performed with each tape when one cycle is defined as one cycle for processing the entire surface of one aluminum tube 10. Therefore, the larger the number of passes, the longer the processing time. .

From the results of Table 1 (b), the following consideration can be made.

1) Regarding the first polishing tape As in Sample Nos. 1-2, 5-8, the abrasive grains A (protruding abrasive grains having an average abrasive grain size of 36 μm or more and 55 μm or less) are first applied to the surface S. In the case of using a polishing tape having the above, the surface texture is remarkably roughened by the coarse abrasive grains, and in the subsequent tape polishing step, it cannot be recovered with a small number of passes, and many burrs are left. Also, although not carried out in this experimental example,
Even if a polishing tape having abrasive grains a (protruding abrasive grains having an average abrasive grain size of 36 μm or more and 55 μm or less) is used, improvement in surface roughness cannot be expected compared with the abrasive grains A, and the same inconvenience occurs. It is confirmed to do. On the contrary, when a tape having a small average abrasive grain size (for example, a polishing tape having abrasive grains c) is used from the beginning, a large removal amount cannot be obtained with a small number of passes.

Abrasive grain B polishing tape (average grain size 15
When using a tape with a size of μm or more and 18 μm or less), the number of passes by this tape is only 2 (Sample No. 9,
10), the removal amount is 4 μm, and the remaining required removal amount is 5 μm.
μm. In order to obtain the remaining required removal amount, a large number of passes is required when using a polishing tape having finer abrasive grains than the abrasive grains B, and scratches cannot be removed with a small number of passes. On the other hand, Sample No. 3, 4, 11, 1
If the polishing tape of abrasive grain B is used for 3 passes as in 2,
A removal amount of 6 μm is obtained, and the remaining required removal amount can be reduced to 3 μm.

Therefore, it can be understood that the tape having the abrasive grains B is suitable for the first polishing tape, and it is better to carry out three-pass polishing (that is, remove 6 μm or more) using this polishing tape. Therefore, the following second polishing tape will be considered based on the data of Sample Nos. 3, 4, 11, and 12 which were subjected to 3-pass polishing using the polishing tape of the abrasive grains B.

2) Second polishing tape As in Sample No. 3, abrasive grains c were used as the second polishing tape.
(Normal abrasive grains having an average abrasive grain size of 10 μm or more and 12 μm or less)
If only one pass is polished using, or sample No.
As shown in No. 4, when the abrasive grain D (protruding abrasive grain having an average abrasive grain size of 6 μm or more and 9 μm or less) is used as the second polishing tape for one pass polishing, the removal amount obtained is 0.4 to 0.9.
μm. In this case, if a polishing tape having abrasive grains finer than the abrasive grains c and D is used as the third polishing tape, a considerably large number of passes is required to reach the total removal amount of 9 μm. With a small number of passes, it is impossible to sufficiently remove scratches as in Samples 3 and 4.

On the contrary, if the number of passes of the abrasive grains c is set too large as in the case of sample No. 12, a sufficient removal amount can be obtained, but on the contrary, burrs increase, and these burrs are increased to the next third polishing. Instead of using tape, a large number of passes are needed. Although not shown in the experimental example, the abrasive grain D is not the abrasive grain c.
When the polishing tape of No. 2 is used as the second polishing tape, it can be expected that the occurrence of burrs becomes more remarkable than that of the polishing tape of the abrasive grains c, and no advantage can be obtained.

On the other hand, as in the case of sample No. 11, if the polishing tape of abrasive grains c is used for 2-pass polishing, 1.6 to 2.2 is obtained.
A removal amount of μm is obtained, and the remaining required removal amount can be reduced to almost zero.

3) Third Abrasive Tape As in Sample No. 11, abrasive grains d (normal abrasive grains having an average abrasive grain size of 6 μm or more and 9 μm or less) were used as the final third polishing tape.
If you use, the amount of removal (0.4 ~
0.7 μm) and sufficient surface roughness can be obtained.

Although not shown in the experimental example, the abrasive grains e (normal abrasive grains having an average abrasive grain size of 1 μm or more and 5 μm or less) were used as the final third polishing tape without using the tape of the abrasive grains d.
When using only the tape of No. 3, the number of passes required for finishing is increased and no advantage is obtained. Also, sample No. 5
If the polishing of the abrasive grain d with the tape as in 8 is performed only in one pass, the removal amount is 0.2 to 0.3 μm, which is insufficient to improve the surface texture.

From the above consideration, in order to obtain the removal amount of 9 μm, as in the case of sample No. 11, first, the tape of abrasive grain B is used as the first polishing tape to remove 6 μm or more, and then the second polishing tape. 1.6 μm using abrasive grain c tape as polishing tape
After the above removal, it can be concluded that 0.4 μm or more is finally removed by using the tape of the abrasive grains d as the third polishing tape.

This conclusion can be applied when the required removal amount is larger than 9 μm or smaller than it. That is, assuming that the required removal amount is x, first, the outer peripheral surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive material is 2 × / 3 by using the first polishing tape having the protruding abrasive grains having an average abrasive grain size of 5 × / 3 or more and less than 4 ×. Then, the outer peripheral surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive material is removed by x / 6 or more by using a second polishing tape having normal abrasive grains having an average abrasive grain size larger than x and less than 5x / 3, and then, ,
Third with normal abrasive grains with an average grain size of 2x / 3 or more and x or less
If the outer peripheral surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive material is removed by x / 25 or more by using the polishing tape of No. 1, and the removal amount by each polishing tape is set so that the total removal amount is x or more, a high-quality photosensitive material Will be obtained efficiently.

It should be noted that the present invention belongs to the category of the above-mentioned at least three types of polishing tapes. For example, a finer fourth polishing tape is used after polishing with the third polishing tape. Auxiliary polishing is free.

In the present invention, the type of pre-processing is not particularly limited, and in addition to the above centerless grinding, various processes such as cutting, grinding by chucking a workpiece, drawing, extrusion, superfinishing, etc. Processing can be applied.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, even when there is a variation in the required removal amount x at the end of preprocessing,
It is possible to easily set an appropriate type of polishing tape to be used and the amount of removal by each polishing tape according to the required removal amount x, and according to the set polishing tape and the set removal amount, a good-quality processed surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive material can be obtained. There is an effect that can be obtained efficiently.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of a tape polishing device used in a method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a centerless grinding apparatus used for pre-processing in the method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Aluminum tube (photosensitive material for electrophotography) 18 Polishing tape

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for polishing an electrophotographic photosensitive material, comprising: finishing the outer peripheral surface of a preprocessed electrophotographic photosensitive material with a polishing tape. The electrophotographic photosensitive material at the end of the preprocessing. When the required removal depth of the outer peripheral surface is x, first, the outer peripheral surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive material is 2x by using the first polishing tape having the protruding abrasive grains having an average abrasive grain diameter of 5x / 3 or more and less than 4x. / 3 or more, and then the outer peripheral surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive material is removed by x / 6 or more by using a second polishing tape having a normal abrasive having an average abrasive grain size larger than x and less than 5x / 3. Then, the outer peripheral surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive material is removed by x / 25 or more using a third polishing tape having normal abrasive grains having an average abrasive grain diameter of 2x / 3 or more and x or less, and a total removal amount. Of the photoconductor material for electrophotography, characterized in that Polishing method.