JP3082998B2 - Method for cleaning conductive support for electrophotographic photoreceptor - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for cleaning a conductive support for an electrophotographic photosensitive member.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an electrophotographic photosensitive member is manufactured by forming a photosensitive layer on a conductive support (hereinafter abbreviated as a support). Aluminum alloy is widely used as a material for the support, and is excellent in workability, dimensional stability, and the like of the support. When processing the support, an oil-based substance such as a cutting oil is used. In addition, fingerprints of humans may adhere when transporting the support. Therefore, the support after processing always contains residues of oil-based substances,
Dust in the air has adhered. If the photosensitive layer is formed using the support as it is, a uniform layer cannot be formed, and even if the function as the photosensitive member cannot be sufficiently achieved, or the photosensitive layer can be formed, an electrophotographic apparatus using the photosensitive member (Copiers, laser beam printers, LED printers, liquid crystal shutter printers, laser facsimiles, and the like) cannot exhibit sufficient functions, and particularly cause image defects. Therefore, when producing an electrophotographic photosensitive member, it is necessary to sufficiently wash the support.

Conventionally, to wash a support (mainly made of an aluminum alloy) of an electrophotographic photosensitive member, halogenated hydrocarbons (such as trichloroethylene, trichloroethane, dichloromethane or carbon tetrachloride) are degreased, nonflammable, and fast. It has been used in terms of dryness and the like. Further, a method using an acid or an alkali is also known. Further, as a dry method, there is a method of irradiating ozone, ultraviolet rays, or the like to decompose the attached matter.

In the field of using electrophotography, development of full-color copying machines, laser beam printers, and the like has been actively carried out, and particularly high speed, high image quality and high durability have been demanded. In the electrophotographic photoreceptor, it has been found that it is necessary to further increase the cleanliness of the support in order to meet these requirements.

Various methods can be considered to increase the degree of cleaning of the support, and the cavitation effect by ultrasonic oscillation,
High pressure injection with a jet nozzle or the like, cleaning with a brush, a blade, or the like has been attempted. Among them, a method using ultrasonic oscillation is one of the methods suitable from the viewpoint of efficiency and the like. However, it is not easy to clean the entire surface of the support evenly by any of the methods, and excessive cleaning steps may cause scratches, denaturation, irregularities, etc. on the support surface. There is.

[0006] On the surface of the support, not only the processing oil on the support, but also the cleaning agent, dust and the like must not remain. For this purpose, it is necessary to increase the washing efficiency as described above. However, a post-treatment step such as rinsing and drying, that is, a step immediately before forming a photosensitive layer or an intermediate layer on a support is also important. Becomes This greatly affects the electrophotographic characteristics of the produced electrophotographic photoreceptor, causing a reduction in charging ability, charging unevenness, and sensitivity unevenness. On an image, non-uniform density, fog on a white background, black spots, and solid black White spots and the like on images tend to occur. These are caused by impurities and non-uniformity on the support, and especially, at present, when high speed and high image quality of copiers and printers are required, the conventional processing method of the support is used. I was no longer satisfied.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a method for cleaning a conductive support for an electrophotographic photoreceptor for efficiently processing the cleaning of the conductive support and obtaining a good image. That is.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photosensitive device.
In the cleaning method of the conductive <br/> child photoreceptor conductive support for cleaning the oil-based material adhering to-body conductive support, an aqueous
An ultrasonic oscillator which is provided so as to emit ultrasonic waves from the bottom of the cleaning tank toward the surface of the cleaning liquid using a cleaning liquid containing a cleaning agent, and has an angle of 10 degrees with the ultrasonic oscillator.
A method for cleaning a conductive support for an electrophotographic photoreceptor, wherein the conductive support is cleaned while operating both of the other ultrasonic oscillators installed at 5 to 150 °. You.

The material of the support to which the method for cleaning a conductive support for an electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention is typified by iron, copper, brass, stainless steel, and aluminum.
The present invention can be applied to any of these cases such as alloys between metals or to which other elements are added. In particular, an aluminum alloy is preferable from the viewpoint of workability and dimensional stability.

The outline of the cleaning method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The cleaning liquid 2 is put into the cleaning tank 1 and the cleaning tank 1
An ultrasonic oscillator (vibrator) 3 is provided at the bottom 7 of the apparatus, and its irradiation direction is set to be in the direction from the bottom 7 to the cleaning liquid surface 4.
The object to be cleaned (support) 5 is positioned in the irradiation direction.
Next, the other ultrasonic oscillator (vibrator) 6 is positioned so that the ultrasonic oscillator 3 emits the ultrasonic waves in a direction different from the direction in which the ultrasonic waves are emitted. When there are more than two other ultrasonic oscillators, the angles θ ₁ and θ ₂ with the ultrasonic oscillator 3 can be set independently. The shape of the object to be cleaned, differs by washing conditions such as the shape of the cleaning tank but, theta 105
１５０150 °.

Irradiating the ultrasonic oscillator 6 from the cleaning liquid level 4 to the bottom 7 is also effective for cleaning.
There is a drawback that it is difficult to take in and out the object to be cleaned.

[0012] Ultrasonic oscillator used need not all have the same oscillation frequency, the output is intended to influence the effect of cleaning, it is necessary to select the oscillator that suitable. That is,
If the output is low, the cleaning effect is low, and if it is too high, the object to be cleaned is damaged. Further, the frequency affects the ease of ultrasonic irradiation depending on the shape and material of the object to be cleaned. From these, it is not possible to make an absolute determination, but for an ordinary conductive support for an electrophotographic photosensitive member, an oscillation frequency of 20 to
1000 kHz and an output of about 200 to 2000 W. An automatic tracking type that automatically tunes the effective frequency for cleaning is preferred.

In the case of ultrasonic cleaning, unevenness of cleaning is caused unless the object to be cleaned and the oscillating portion are moved relatively due to the standing wave of ultrasonic waves. Since the sound wave is irradiated, the object to be cleaned can be uniformly cleaned even when the object is kept at a fixed position. In addition, since irradiation is performed from different directions, there is no need to perform cleaning with a strong output from one direction, and there is no damage to the object to be cleaned.

[0014] a cleaning liquid to be used, the ultrasound effect, damage of the cleaning tank, in consideration of the environmental impact, aqueous cleaning agents
It contains .

[0015] The washed conductive support has a surface modification,
It is preferable to move to the preparation of the electrophotographic photosensitive member as soon as possible in order to avoid the attachment of dust and the like.

The support treated according to the present invention is effective regardless of whether it is an organic photoreceptor or an inorganic photoreceptor. In particular, it is effective for organic systems that are easily affected by the environment (temperature and humidity).

A photosensitive layer constituting an electrophotographic photosensitive member is laminated on the conductive support cleaned by the cleaning method of the present invention.

The constitution of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is effective for either a function-separated type in which a charge generating layer and a charge transporting layer are laminated, or a single-layer type in which a single layer has a function.

An undercoat layer is preferably provided between the photosensitive layer and the conductive support in order to improve adhesion and control charge injection. Examples of the material of the undercoat layer include polyvinyl alcohol, casein, sodium caseinate, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyacrylic acid, celluloses, gelatin, starch, polyurethane, polyimide, polyamide, and phenol resin. The thickness of the undercoat layer is 5 μm or less, preferably 2 μm or less.

Examples of the charge generating material include azo pigments, phthalocyanine pigments, anthantrone pigments, indigo pigments, perylene pigments, polycyclic quinone pigments, squarium dyes, pyrylium and thiopyrylium salts, and triphenylmethane pigments. Examples thereof include organic photoconductors such as dyes and inorganic photoconductors such as selenium and amorphous silicon. These charge generating substances may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

Examples of the charge transport material include pyrazoline compounds, hydrazone compounds, stilbene compounds,
It is selected from carbazole compounds, oxazole compounds, thiazole compounds, triarylmethane compounds, polyarylalkanes and the like, and may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

In the single-layer type photoreceptor, the above-mentioned charge generating material and charge transporting material are dissolved or dispersed in a suitable binder resin, and a photosensitive layer is formed on a conductive support by coating. On the other hand, the laminated photoreceptor is formed by laminating (1) a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer on a conductive support in this order. Alternatively, (2) the charge transport layer and the charge generation layer are laminated in this order. In the case of (1), as a method for forming the charge generation layer, there are a method of applying a paint obtained by dispersing or dissolving a charge generation material in a binder resin and a solvent, and a method of vapor deposition, sputtering and the like. The film thickness is 5 μm or less, preferably 0.01 to 3 μm. In this case, an inorganic photoconductor such as selenium or amorphous silicon can be used. In the charge transport layer, a paint obtained by dissolving a charge transport material in a binder resin having a film-forming property is laminated on the charge generation layer. The film thickness is 5 to 40 μm, preferably 8 to
35 μm. On the other hand, in the case of (2), both layers can be formed by applying the above-mentioned photoconductive material together with a binder resin, and at this time, a charge transport material is also contained in the charge generation layer. Is preferred.

[0023]

EXAMPLE 1 A cleaning apparatus having the structure shown in FIG. 1 was prepared. The size of the bottom surface of the cleaning tank was 550 mm × 750 mm, and the height was 600 mm. The output is 1200 W, the frequency is 38 kHz (trade name UE-1200Z38S, manufactured by Ultrasonic Industry Co., Ltd.) for the ultrasonic oscillator for the bottom surface, and the irradiation area is 290 mm for the ultrasonic vibrator.
X 400 mm (trade name: UT-30Z38 / 24, manufactured by Ultrasonic Industry Co., Ltd.). The output scale was 50%. The same two ultrasonic oscillators and vibrators were used for the side portions, for a total of three units. The angle of the vibrator for the bottom surface and the vibrator for each side surface was 110 °.

The cleaning liquid is an aqueous cleaning agent (trade name Van Rise D)
20, manufactured by Tokiwa Chemical Co., Ltd.) and the liquid temperature was 40 ° C. The cleaning tank was of a type in which the cleaning liquid overflowed in order to avoid reattachment of the material removed by the cleaning.

Aluminum cylinder (30 mmφ × 260 mm × 1 mm thick) for conductive support for electrophotographic photosensitive member
Was prepared. Processing oil and rust-preventive oil adhere to this cylinder, and there is also a case where dirt, dust, and the like adhere to the cylinder.

Therefore, the cylinder was washed with the washing device before the photosensitive member was applied. First, the cylinder was placed vertically in the washing tank. Next, while stopping at that position, ultrasonic waves were irradiated for 30 seconds. Then, after being lifted, the washing liquid was rinsed with warm pure water (80 ° C.) and dried. A photosensitive layer was provided on this cylinder.

3 parts of methoxymethylated 6-nylon (trade name, trade name, manufactured by Teikoku Science Co., Ltd.) and 3 parts of polyamide (trade name, Amilan CM-8000, manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.) were treated with methanol. 50 parts, butanol 50
Dissolves in the part. This coating solution was applied onto the cylinder by dip coating to form a 0.3 μm undercoat layer.

Next, 10 parts of a disazo pigment having the following structural formula was used as a charge generation material.

[0029]

[Outside 1] 6 parts of polyvinyl butyral (trade name: SREC BX-1, manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) and 50 parts of scrohexanone were dispersed by a sand mill using glass beads, and 100 parts of tetrahydrofuran was further added to this dispersion to form a charge generation layer. Paint was prepared. This paint was applied onto the undercoat layer by dip coating to form a 0.1 μm charge generation layer.

Next, 10 parts of a stilbene compound having the following structural formula is used as a charge transporting material.

[0031]

[Outside 2] 10 parts of polycarbonate (trade name: Z-200, manufactured by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co., Ltd.) was dissolved in 50 parts of chlorobenzene and 10 parts of dichloromethane. This solution was applied onto the charge generation layer by dip coating to form an 18 μm charge transport layer, thereby producing an electrophotographic photoreceptor.

Example 2 An electrophotographic photosensitive member was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, except that one of the side ultrasonic oscillators was stopped.

Comparative Example 1 An electrophotographic photosensitive member was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the ultrasonic oscillator for the side portion was stopped and the output of the ultrasonic oscillator at the bottom portion was changed to 100%. did.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 2 In Example 1, the output of only one of the side ultrasonic oscillators was set to 100%, and the other two ultrasonic oscillators were stopped. An electrophotographic photosensitive member was prepared in the same manner.

By the methods of Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2, 100 electrophotographic photosensitive members were prepared, and the coating process was evaluated by visual inspection. Furthermore, 10 of them are randomly picked out of each 100, and an electrophotographic copying machine (trade name: FC
-5, manufactured by Canon Inc.), and copying was performed at a halftone density to evaluate the image. Table 1 shows the results.

[0036]

[Table 1]

Good images were obtained by processing with a system having two or more ultrasonic oscillators (vibrators). The electrophotographic photoreceptor of the comparative example had image unevenness due to non-uniformity of the photoreceptor coating film due to poor cleaning. In addition, the support was partially damaged in the portion where the ultrasonic irradiation was strong.

Example 3 As an ultrasonic oscillator for the side of the cleaning tank, an output of 1000 W,
Except for using an oscillation frequency of 29 kHz (trade name Type 7332, manufactured by Kaikai Denki Co., Ltd.), the same cleaning device as in Example 1 (the ultrasonic oscillator at the bottom is used as it is) was used, and the output scale was 50%. The angle between the ultrasonic oscillation surface for the bottom portion and the oscillation surface for the side portion was 135 °. The same cleaning liquid as in Example 1 was used as the cleaning liquid.

An aluminum cylinder (80 mmφ × 360 mm × 1 mm thick) was prepared as a conductive support for an electrophotographic photosensitive member. Since the processing oil and rust preventive oil adhere to this cylinder, it needs to be cleaned. Put this cylinder vertically in the above-mentioned washing tank, while stopping at that position,
Ultrasonic waves were irradiated for 30 seconds. Then, after being lifted, the washing liquid was rinsed with warm pure water (80 ° C.) and dried. A photosensitive layer was provided on this cylinder.

An undercoat layer similar to that of Example 1 was formed on the cleaned aluminum cylinder.

Next, 10 parts of a disazo pigment having the following structural formula was used as a charge generation material.

[0042]

[Outside 3] 6 parts of polyvinyl butyral (trade name: SREC BL-S, manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) and 50 parts of scrohexanone are dispersed by a sand mill using glass beads, and 100 parts of methyl ethyl ketone is added to the dispersion to form a charge generation layer. Paint was prepared. This paint was applied onto the undercoat layer by dip coating to form a 0.2 μm charge generation layer.

Next, 10 parts of a compound having the following structural formula was used as a charge transporting material.

[0044]

[Outside 4] 10 parts of polycarbonate (trade name Panlite L-1250, manufactured by Teijin Chemicals Ltd.) was dissolved in 10 parts of chlorobenzene and 50 parts of dichloromethane. This solution was applied onto the charge generation layer by dip coating to form a 20 μm charge transport layer, thereby producing an electrophotographic photoreceptor.

Example 4 An electrophotographic photosensitive member was prepared in the same manner as in Example 3, except that one of the side ultrasonic oscillators was stopped.

Comparative Example 3 An electrophotographic photosensitive member was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the ultrasonic oscillator for the side portion was stopped and the output of the ultrasonic oscillator at the bottom portion was set to 100%. did.

Comparative Example 4 In Example 3, the output of only one of the side ultrasonic oscillators was set to 100%, and the other two ultrasonic oscillators were stopped. An electrophotographic photosensitive member was prepared in the same manner.

Using the methods of Examples 3 and 4, and Comparative Examples 3 and 4, 100 electrophotographic photosensitive members were prepared, and the degree of coating was evaluated by visual inspection. Furthermore, 10 of them are randomly taken out of each 100, and an electrophotographic copying machine (trade name CL)
C-200 (manufactured by Canon Inc.), and the image was evaluated by copying at a halftone density. Table 2 shows the results.

[0049]

[Table 2]

[0050]

[0051]

[0052]

[0053]

[0054]

[0055]

[0056]

[0057]

The method of cleaning a conductive support for an electrophotographic photosensitive member according to the present invention has an effect that a good electrophotographic photosensitive member can be produced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a cleaning device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cleaning tank 2 Cleaning liquid 3 Bottom ultrasonic oscillator (vibrator) 4 Cleaning liquid surface 5 Object to be cleaned (aluminum cylinder) 6 Side ultrasonic oscillator (vibrator) 7 Bottom θ ₁ Angle between bottom and side ultrasonic oscillation surface theta ₂ bottom, the angle between the sides ultrasonic oscillation surface

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kyoichi Sawada Canon Inc. 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Mutsumi Otaka 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon stock Inside the company (72) Inventor Kazuhiro Shimotani 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Hideaki Maruoka 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72 ) Inventor ▲ Yoshi ▼ Taiji 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-2-181159 (JP, A) JP-A-1-271762 (JP, A) JP-A-4-335355 (JP, A) JP-A-4-335356 (JP, A) JP-A-4-369654 (JP, A) JP-A-5-127396 (JP, A) JP-A-5 JP-A-6-3835 (JP, A) JP-A-2-48088 (JP, A) JP-A 63-153530 (JP, U) JP-A 61-143686 (JP, U) ) JP-A-61-143685 (JP, U) JP-A-57-35815 (JP, U) JP-B-37-10041 (JP, B1) JP-B-37-3840 (JP, B1) (58) Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 5/00 101 B08B 3/00-3/14

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. The method according to claim 1, wherein the conductive material adheres to a conductive support for an electrophotographic photosensitive member.
In the method for cleaning a conductive support for an electrophotographic photosensitive member for cleaning an oil-based substance, a cleaning liquid containing an aqueous cleaning agent is used.
Used, the angle from the bottom of the cleaning tank installed ultrasonic oscillators as ultrasound in the direction of the cleaning liquid surface is irradiated, and the ultrasonic oscillator is installed so as to 105 to 150 ° A method for cleaning a conductive support for an electrophotographic photosensitive member, comprising cleaning the conductive support while operating both of the other ultrasonic oscillators.