JPH0145630B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a selenium-based electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate. Generally, an electrophotographic photoreceptor is constructed by providing a photoconductive layer directly on a conductive substrate or via a suitable barrier layer. Various shapes are known as the substrate for electrophotographic photoreceptors, but cylindrical ones are mainly used, and the material used is aluminum, copper, stainless steel, copper, or other materials. There is. This substrate for electrophotographic photoreceptors is manufactured by processing the outer circumferential surface of the tube, which is the substrate material, by methods such as turning using a diamond or other cutting tool, buffing, super finishing, and liquid honing. However, the processing method must be able to obtain a specific surface condition so that it can be advantageously used as a substrate for electrophotographic photoreceptors, and in particular, the surface roughness must be within a certain range. Must be obtained in size. The magnitude of this surface roughness depends on the substrate material, the type of photoconductive layer formed on the substrate,
Alternatively, when a barrier layer is formed between the substrate and the photoconductive layer, it is preferably within the range of about 0.3 μmS to about 3.0 μmS, although it varies somewhat depending on the type of barrier layer. When an electrophotographic photosensitive member constructed of a substrate having a surface roughness of less than 0.3 μmS on the back surface is used repeatedly, there is a very high possibility that the photoconductive layer will peel off. Furthermore, an electrophotographic photoreceptor composed of a substrate having a surface roughness of more than 3.0 μmS is
The dark attenuation of the surface potential applied in the charging step of the electrophotographic process becomes large, and the formed image becomes uneven. In addition, if the photoconductive layer of the electrophotographic photoreceptor has deteriorated due to fatigue, etc., the photoconductive layer is removed, a new photoconductive layer is formed on the substrate, and the electrophotographic photoreceptor is reused. If configured, manufacturing costs can be significantly reduced. However, this requires a reprocessing of the substrate to remove the old photoconductive layer. Various methods are known for recycling this substrate. For example, there is a method in which only the old photoconductive layer on the substrate is removed by an arbitrary method and then cleaned. This method has a great advantage in that the surface of the substrate is not changed by the recycling treatment and its surface condition is maintained, but the electrophotographic photoreceptor constructed using the recycled substrate obtained in this way , it deteriorates rapidly with use, resulting in a significantly shortened service life. This is because the deteriorated photoconductive layer cannot be completely removed, and even if the photoconductive layer can be completely removed, the surface of the substrate cannot be left completely clean. it is conceivable that. Therefore, by removing the old photoconductive layer and further polishing (grinding) the surface, the surface of the old substrate can be polished (ground) to a thickness of 50 microns or less, preferably 10 microns or less, and A regeneration method that yields a substrate with a new surface is preferred. If the polishing allowance (thickness reduced by polishing or grinding) exceeds 50 microns, the outer diameter of the electrophotographic photoreceptor manufactured using the obtained recycled substrate will decrease, and Position adjustment of each part is required, and in some cases, good image formation may not be achieved. Further, it is desirable that the substrate be regenerated so that the light reflectance of the surface of the substrate after the regeneration matches the reflectance of the surface of the substrate before the regeneration. If the reflectances match, then as long as the polishing method (grinding method) is the same, the same polishing (grinding) state has been obtained, thus providing an electrophotographic photoreceptor with consistent performance. This is because it can be done. In addition, in order to detect an accident in which transfer paper, etc. gets wrapped around the circumferential surface of an electrophotographic photoreceptor, or to obtain a constant copy image density, the intensity of light reflected by the substrate is used as a reference. A signal is generated by comparing the intensity of the light reflected by the transfer paper, etc. that causes the wrapping accident, or the intensity of the light reflected by the image of the standard density original developed on the photoreceptor. This is because it is preferable to install a detection device that emits light in an electrophotographic copying machine, and in order to effectively utilize this detection device, it is desirable that the recycled substrate has the same light reflectance as the one before recycling. . In addition to the above-mentioned substrates for electrophotographic photoreceptors, it is of course preferable to use substrates that have a cylindrical surface with high roundness and a surface that is free from waviness and scratches. As described above, there are various demands on the processing method of a substrate material as a method of manufacturing a substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor, but no processing method that satisfies all of these is known so far. For example, if a turning method using a diamond or other tool is used as a processing method, the grinding allowance will be approximately 100 microns. Furthermore, although a smooth mirror-like substrate can be obtained by the buffing method, periodic undulations are formed on the surface. This waviness has an adverse effect on the image forming performance of an electrophotographic photoreceptor constructed using the substrate. Also, according to the super finishing method, the surface roughness can be reduced to approximately 0.3 μm.
It is easy to obtain a size in the range of S to approximately 3.0 μmS, but when this superfinishing method is used to regenerate the substrate, scratch-like scratches occur here and there on the surface of the regenerated substrate, and these scratches This results in image defects in image formation using an electrophotographic photoreceptor made of the substrate. Furthermore, it is recognized that the reflectance of the substrate obtained by this superfinishing method varies considerably even under the same processing conditions. Such scratches occur because processing is performed with the grinding wheel in surface contact with the surface of the substrate material, and fragments of the peeled off photoconductive layer become interposed between the grinding wheel and the substrate material. Furthermore, according to the liquid honing method, it is difficult to make the surface roughness of the obtained substrate within the range of 0.3 μmS to 3.0 μmS. As described above, methods for manufacturing substrates for electrophotographic photoreceptors, including conventionally known processing methods, have various unavoidable drawbacks. Another object of the present invention is to easily produce a substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor that has excellent properties equivalent to those obtained when a completely new substrate material is used, using a substrate that has already been used in the construction of an electrophotographic photoreceptor. This is to provide a method that can be used. The above objects are achieved by the "method described in the claims." The method of the present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings. In the specific example shown in FIG. 1, a cylindrical or cylindrical base material 1 is rotated around its central axis Plane and 0°～
The end surfaces of the grindstone 2 rotating around the rotation axis Y having various angles of 45 degrees are brought into contact with each other, and the grindstone 2 is further moved in the direction of the central axis X, thereby polishing the surface of the base material 1. A substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor is manufactured. In the above description, the rotation axis Y of the grindstone does not necessarily need to intersect with the center axis X, and the rotation axis Y may deviate from the center axis X as shown in FIG. In the illustrated device, the grinding wheel 2 is mounted on a support 4 at an e.g. horizontal fulcrum 3 approximately in its center.
A swingable bar 5 is provided at one end of the swingable bar 5, and the other end of the bar 5 is provided with a weight 6 fixed, for example, and a pressure contact force adjustment movable in the length direction of the bar 5 as necessary. A working weight 7 is present, and by adjusting the weight of the weight 6 and the position of the adjusting weight 7, the pressing force of the grindstone 2 against the base material 1 can be adjusted. Further, the movement of the grindstone 2 in the direction of the central axis X can be achieved, for example, by arranging the support 4 having the fulcrum 3 on a running path such as a rail. The grindstone 2 is driven by, for example, a motor that also serves as a weight 6. Although FIGS. 1 and 2 schematically show an apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention, the state of polishing a substrate material with a grindstone will be explained based on FIGS. 3 and 4. 3 and 4 are partially enlarged projection views of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 on a plane perpendicular to the plane of paper and parallel to the axis of rotation of the grindstone. A plane orthogonal to the central axis X of the base material 1 and the grindstone 2
The angle θ formed by the rotation axis Y is set to be 0° in the example shown in FIG. In this case, since polishing is performed on various parts of the grindstone with different polishing forces and polishing directions, the surface to be polished is subjected to various polishing actions, resulting in a uniformly polished substrate with no undulations and a moderate surface roughness. A surface is obtained. As shown in Figure 2,
The effect obtained is particularly remarkable if the axes X and Y are set so as to deviate from each other so that various different polishing forces are applied to the surface of the base material. In Fig. 4, the grinding wheel 2 is set so that θ is 45°.
An example of setting is shown below. In this polishing method,
There is no imbalance in the forces applied to the grinding wheel on both sides of the projection of the axis Y, and therefore stable operation is achieved without vibration of the grinding wheel caused by such imbalance. In this way, arranging the grindstone as shown in Fig. 4, that is, setting the rotation axis of the grindstone at an angle on the projection diagram, is suitable for obtaining stability of the grindstone during polishing work. The aforementioned θ can take various values up to 45°. As such a polishing device, for example, the
There is one described in Publication No. 46315, and a typical example thereof is "Cylindrical grinding mirror finishing machine" manufactured by Sanko Kikai Co., Ltd. Further, as the whetstone used in the present invention, a whetstone generally used as a polishing whetstone can be used. Specific examples include "PVA whetstone" and "FBB whetstone" manufactured by Nippon Tokushu Kento Co., Ltd. As described above, the surface of a mainly cylindrical or cylindrical base material can be polished with high dimensional accuracy, and the surface roughness of the obtained base material depends on the type of grindstone 2 and the base material of the grindstone 2. The surface roughness can be controlled down to a minimum of 0.05 μmS depending on the magnitude of the pressure contact force, and the surface roughness is within the range of 0.3 μmS to 3.0 μmS, which is suitable as the surface roughness of the substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor. It is possible to easily and reliably produce a substrate having a surface having the following properties. Moreover, almost no variation in the light reflectance of the resulting substrate is observed, and as long as the polishing conditions are kept the same, a surface with a constant reflectance can always be obtained. Moreover, a substrate always having a perfectly circular cylindrical surface and no waviness can be obtained. Furthermore, the present invention uses a substrate that has already been used in the construction of an electrophotographic photoreceptor as a substrate material, and has an equivalent surface condition with substantially the same surface roughness and reflectance as the original substrate. It can be obtained without causing any problems such as waviness or scratches. This is thought to be because the contact between the grinding wheel and the base material is a line contact, so that fragments of the photoconductive layer and the like do not intervene between the two. Furthermore, in the present invention, it is easy to suppress the polishing stock to 10 microns or less, and even if the substrate is recycled, the resulting substrate, and therefore the electrophotographic photoreceptor constructed using the substrate, will be The outer diameter hardly changes, so even when an electrophotographic photoreceptor using a recycled substrate is installed, there is no need to adjust the position of each part in the electrophotographic copying machine, and the substrate can be moved multiple times. By recycling and using the electrophotographic photoreceptor, the cost of the electrophotographic photoreceptor can be significantly reduced. Further, the electrophotographic photoreceptor obtained using the substrate for electrophotographic photoreceptor obtained by the method of the present invention can provide good images without density unevenness or blemishes, and even when used repeatedly. There is no failure such as peeling of the photoconductive layer from the substrate, and the durability is high. The same applies to the electrophotographic photoreceptor using the substrate recycled according to the present invention. As the photoconductive layer formed on the substrate according to the present invention, a photoconductive layer made of amorphous selenium or an amorphous selenium alloy can be used. A barrier layer can be provided between these photoconductive layers and the substrate as necessary, for example, a generally known barrier layer made of metal oxides, various inorganic compounds, various organic compounds, etc. can be formed. Can be done. Examples of the present invention will be described below, but the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to these. Reference example 1 Outer diameter 120.007mm, length 340.00mm, surface roughness 3.0μ obtained by machining the outer peripheral surface using a turning method using a cutting tool.
A mS aluminum tube was used as the base material, and the surface was processed under the following conditions. Processing equipment: Cylindrical grinding mirror finishing machine "SM-1A-"
1500" (manufactured by Sanko Kikai Co., Ltd.) Whetstone: "FBB-CC 2000" (outer diameter 200 mm, thickness 50 mm, center hole diameter for mounting 50 mm, made by Nippon Tokushu Kento Co., Ltd.) Grinding wheel rotation speed: 600 r.pm Feed speed: 0.7m/min Grinding wheel pressure: 35Kg Angle between the plane perpendicular to the center axis of the base and the axis of rotation of the whetstone (hereinafter referred to as θ): 0° Rotational peripheral speed of base material: 160m/min Number of times of polishing: back and forth 1 time Polishing liquid: Tap water The obtained processed pipe has a uniform surface roughness of 0.3 μmS, and an outer diameter of 120.004 mm.
In addition, the reflectance of light at a wavelength of 930 nm was 37%. This processed tubular body was washed with a weak alkaline solution, then washed with water and dried. Using this as a base, a selenium-tellurium alloy (containing 10.0% by weight of tellurium) was vacuum-deposited on the surface by a conventional method to a thickness of 70 microns. A selenium-based photoconductive layer was formed to obtain an electrophotographic photoreceptor. The resulting photoreceptor had sufficient performance as a normal electrophotographic photoreceptor, and the images formed thereby were good. In addition, the photoconductor was used in the electrophotographic copying machine "U-BixV".
(manufactured by Konishiroku Photo Industry Co., Ltd.) and a durability test was conducted, and no failures such as peeling of the photoconductive layer were observed even after 60,000 uses. Example 1 In order to remove the photoconductive layer of the photoreceptor that had completed the durability test of Reference Example 1, the method described in Example 7 of JP-A-50-87651 was applied. However, the photoconductive layer at the edge of the substrate was not removed and remained even after several repeated applications of the method. Therefore, the same polishing treatment as described above was performed to completely remove the remaining photoconductive layer. The recycled substrate obtained here is virtually the same as the processed tube obtained from the new substrate material, with a surface roughness of 0.3 μmS, an outer diameter of 120.002 mm, and a light reflectance.
It was 37%. An electrophotographic photoreceptor obtained by forming a selenium-based photoconductive layer using this recycled substrate in the same manner as in Reference Example 1 is an electrophotographic photoreceptor constructed using a processed tube obtained from a new substrate material. It had performance equivalent to that of a photographic photoreceptor, and its durability was also sufficiently satisfactory. The outer diameter of the tube was measured using the "E-DC-M760-3B three-dimensional digital coordinate measuring machine" (manufactured by Tokyo Seimitsu Co., Ltd.), and the surface roughness was measured using the "E-ST-S03A surface roughness meter". '' (manufactured by Tokyo Seimitsu Co., Ltd.), and the reflectance was measured using an ``EPS-3T ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer'' (manufactured by Hitachi, Ltd.). Reference Example 2 Processing was carried out using the same aluminum tube as the base material under the same conditions as Reference Example 1 except that θ was changed to 30'' among the processing conditions in Reference Example 1. The obtained processed tube had a surface It has a uniform surface roughness of 0.3μmS and an outer diameter of 120.003mm.
In addition, the reflectance of light with a wavelength of 930 nm was 35%. Using this processed tube, an electrophotographic photoreceptor was obtained in the same manner as in Reference Example 1. The obtained photoreceptor is
It had sufficient performance as a normal electrophotographic photoreceptor, and the images formed thereby were good. Further, when the photoreceptor was subjected to a durability test in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, no failures such as peeling of the photoconductive layer were observed even after 60,000 uses. Example 2 The photoconductive layer of the photoreceptor that had undergone the durability test of Reference Example 2 was removed in the same manner as in Example 1. The recycled substrate obtained here is virtually identical to the processed tube obtained from the new substrate material, with a surface roughness of 0.3 μmS, an outer diameter of 120.001 mm, and a light reflectance of 34.
It was %. An electrophotographic photoreceptor obtained by forming a selenium-based photoconductive layer using this recycled substrate in the same manner as described above is an electrophotographic photoreceptor constructed using a processed tube obtained from a new substrate material. It had the same performance as the body, and its durability was also sufficiently satisfactory. Comparative Example Four aluminum tubes similar to those in Reference Example 1 were used as the base material, and these were subjected to (1) turning with a diamond tool, (2) buffing, (3) superfinishing, and (4) liquid Surface processing was performed by honing under the following conditions. (1) Turning conditions using a diamond cutting tool Machining equipment: Ultra-precision lathe "L-3001" (manufactured by Toyota Machinery Machinery Co., Ltd.) Bit: "Miracle Diamond Tooling Tool" (manufactured by Tokyo Diamond Tool Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) Rotational peripheral speed of base material : 942 m/min Feeding speed of base material: 471 m/min Number of turnings: 1 Turning fluid: Kerosene (2) Buffing processing conditions Processing equipment: "LPT-35C type" (manufactured by Washino Kikai Co., Ltd.)
Buffing machine “1VM type” (manufactured by Todoroki Seisakusho Co., Ltd.) Buffing: “Tobakopatsu Card 1 H36” (manufactured by Tokyo Buff Co., Ltd.) Buffing agent: “Tripoli K-2000” (manufactured by Koyosha Co., Ltd.) Buffing peripheral speed: 2000 m/min Rotational peripheral speed of base material: 75 m/min Feeding speed of base material: 68 m/min Number of polishing times: 1 time (3) Super finishing processing conditions Processing equipment: Lathe "LPT-35 C type" (manufactured by Wasino Kikai Co., Ltd.) Super finishing Equipment “T-SE140
"Mold" (manufactured by Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd.) Grinding wheel: "FBB-CC 1000" (manufactured by Nippon Tokushu Kento Co., Ltd.) Grinding wheel vibration frequency: 1500c/min Grinding wheel pressure: 0.6 Kg/cm ² Rotational peripheral speed of base material: 150m/min Grindstone feed speed: 500mm/min Number of polishing times: 1 time Polishing liquid: Tap water (4) Liquid honing processing conditions Processing equipment: "F-5 type" (manufactured by Fuji Seiki Seisakusho Co., Ltd.) Polishing agent: Silica stone Powder "#2000" Processing liquid: Tap water (abrasive/processing liquid = 4:1
(Weight)) Air pressure: 3.0Kg/cm Distance between ^two nozzles and base material: 80mm Spraying angle: 60 degrees Nozzle diameter: Surface roughness of the four processed pipes obtained by processing to a diameter of 8.3mm or more The degree, outer diameter, and reflectance of light at a wavelength of 930 nm were measured. Also, in the same manner as Reference Example 1,
Each processed tube was washed with a weak alkaline solution, washed with water, and dried. Using these as a base, four selenium-based electrophotographic photoreceptors were made in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and image forming performance tests and durability tests were conducted on each of them. I did this. Furthermore, after the photoconductive layer was temporarily removed from the four photoreceptors for which the durability test had been completed using the same method as in Example 1, the remaining light was removed using the same processing method used to obtain the first processed tube. The conductive layer was removed to obtain a recycled substrate. Then, the surface roughness, outer diameter, and reflectance of light at a wavelength of 930 nm of these recycled substrates were measured.
Thereafter, selenium-based electrophotographic photoreceptors were prepared in the same manner using these as substrates, and image forming performance tests and durability tests were conducted. The results of each of the above measurements and tests are as shown in the table below, together with those in Reference Example 1, Reference Example 2, Example 1, and Example 2. As is clear from this table, the grinding method using a diamond bite, the buffing method, the super finishing method, and the liquid honing method each have serious drawbacks, but the method of the present invention can produce a substrate that provides an excellent photoreceptor. can be manufactured.

【table】

[Table] In the table, "〇" indicates good condition, and regarding the surface condition, "A" is wavy, "B" is uneven, and "C"
For images, "D" indicates uneven density, "E" indicates defects, "F" indicates defects due to scratches, and for durability, "G" indicates peeling of the photoconductive layer. This indicates that the product is defective. According to the method of the present invention, a substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor having an appropriate surface roughness can be obtained as described above.
The polishing pattern on its surface is determined by: The rotational direction and speed of the whetstone The rotational direction and speed of the base material The direction and size of the offset (the deviation between the rotational axis of the whetstone and the rotational axis of the base material) The center of the base material of the whetstone's rotational axis Angle with respect to the plane perpendicular to the axis Depending on factors such as the direction of movement of the grindstone, the speed of movement, and the number of times of movement, various patterns such as parallel striped patterns and mesh patterns with various slopes can be formed around the surface of the base material.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the main parts of a specific example of a polishing apparatus used in the method for manufacturing an electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a modification thereof, and FIG.
Figures 1 and 4 are partially enlarged projections of the apparatus of Figures 1 and 2 onto a plane perpendicular to the plane of the paper and parallel to the axis of rotation of the grindstone. 1...Base material, 2...Whetstone, 4...Support,
5... Bar, 6... Weight, 7... Adjustment weight.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Selenium-based electrophotography in which a base material for an electrophotographic photoreceptor having a cylindrical surface is rotated around the central axis of the cylinder and a grindstone is brought into pressure contact with the cylindrical surface to polish the surface. In a manufacturing method for recycling a substrate for a photoconductor, the grindstone is a rotating grindstone, and the angle θ between the rotating axis and a plane perpendicular to the central axis of the substrate material is
The grindstone is arranged so that 0°≦θ≦45°, and the grindstone is supported by a swingable support member, and among the rotation surfaces of the grindstone, a rotation surface that is non-parallel to the rotation axis thereof A selenium-based electronic material characterized in that the surface is polished and regenerated to a surface roughness of 0.3 μmS to 3.0 μmS by polishing the surface with a grinding wheel and running the grindstone in the axial direction of the base material. A method for manufacturing a substrate for a photographic photoreceptor.