JPH029685B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to an apparatus for measuring the thickness of a photosensitive layer of an electrophotographic photoreceptor without leaving measurement marks. It is necessary to measure the film thickness of the photosensitive layer in order to control the characteristics of electrophotographic photoreceptors, but since the object is a photoconductive material used in electrophotography, it is necessary to leave measurement marks on the surface of the object. This impairs the functionality of the product and is fatal. Furthermore, electrophotographic photoreceptors have a relatively large surface area, generally ranging from 0.05 m ² to 0.6 mm ² , and may be cylindrical or sheet-like in shape. . Therefore, when measuring film thickness, it is important to measure as much measurement data as possible evenly within the surface area of each photoreceptor with each shape, with high precision, and in a short time in order to improve the reliability of photoreceptor characteristics. is necessary. The eddy current method is known as a method for measuring the film thickness of a photosensitive layer, but this method generally measures by bringing a measurement probe into contact with the photosensitive layer, and human error on the part of the measurer can cause damage to the product. In addition, the contact pressure and contact angle must be kept constant, and in the case of a cylindrical shape, correction for the curvature is necessary, which often causes differences between operators. There are many problems, such as the long time it takes to obtain a large amount of data at the same time. In addition, non-contact optical interferometry requires complicated measurements and expensive equipment. The present invention, on the other hand, does not require expensive equipment;
It is an object of the present invention to provide a photosensitive layer film thickness measuring device capable of automatically obtaining a large amount of data with high accuracy without fear of leaving measurement marks on the photosensitive layer. The purpose of this is to arrange a cylindrical photoreceptor with its cylindrical axis vertical, and a support that is movable in at least one direction parallel to the surface of the photoreceptor, and a It is equipped with a vertically movable contact type film thickness measurement probe, and a weight that balances the contact pressure with the photosensitive layer when the probe contacts the photosensitive layer and maintains the contact pressure constant. This is achieved by providing it on a shaft that rotates in accordance with the movement of the probe. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, a cylindrical photoreceptor 1 whose photosensitive layer thickness is to be measured is attached to a rotating shaft 3 supported by a drive section 2. As shown in FIG. The probe support 7 moves in the direction of the arrow 6 parallel to the axial direction of the photoreceptor 1 due to the rotation of a rotating shaft 4 supported by a separate drive unit. A probe support stand 9 that can reciprocate is attached. Although the cylindrical photoreceptor shown in FIG. 1 appears to be arranged horizontally in the drawing, it is arranged so that the cylindrical axis of the photoreceptor becomes vertical during actual film thickness measurement. Therefore, this probe support
The measuring device shown in the figure is mounted so that its surface moves perpendicularly to the surface of the vertical light, that is, horizontally.
Further, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 2, the rotating cylinder 10 mounted on the probe support stand 9 has a probe support shaft 11, a rotation restriction shaft 12, and a rotation transmission shaft 13 perpendicular to these. Fixed. At the tip of the probe support shaft 11, a measurement probe 15 is held, which is connected to, for example, an eddy current type film thickness meter (trade name: Permascope) 14 manufactured by Fischia, West Germany. A control unit 16 is connected to the film thickness meter 14 and the drive unit 2. As the probe support base 9 moves in the direction of arrow 8 (vertical direction), the probe 15 approaches the surface of the photoreceptor, and when it comes into contact with the photosensitive layer, the support shaft 11 attempts to rotate in the direction of arrow 17. As a result, the rotation limiting shaft 12 in contact with the stopper 18 moves in the direction of the arrow 19, and at the same time, the perpendicularly bent portion of the rotation transmission shaft 13 can be rotated by the vertical plate 20 supported by the support base 9. A second rotation transmission shaft 22 fixed to a cylinder 21 supported by
is rotated in the direction of arrow 23. At the same time, 20 cylinders
An attempt is made to rotate the vertical plumb support shaft 24 fixed to the arrow 25 in the direction of the arrow 25. This rotation stops when the gravity applied to the weight 26 and the contact pressure between the probe 15 and the photosensitive layer are balanced. As a result, the contact pressure of the measurement probe 15 with the photosensitive layer is kept constant, and by adjusting the weight and position of the weight 26, the probe 1
5 to bring them into contact with good reproducibility with the minimum contact pressure (5 to 10 g) required for film thickness measurement to ensure measurement accuracy. When the probe 15 is separated from the photosensitive layer and is on standby for measurement, the rotating bodies 21 and 10 rotate in opposite directions due to the weight of the weight 26, but the rotation is based on the axis 1.
2 comes into contact with the stopper 18, and the probe 15 is held at a position where movement of the probe support 7 or attachment and detachment of the photoreceptor 1 is not hindered. The contact direction of the probe 15 is arranged so as to coincide with a straight line including the axis of the photoreceptor 1 and the measurement point. Next, the measurement operation using this device will be explained. Upon receiving the measurement start signal, the control system 16 brings the measurement probe 15 into contact with the surface of the photoreceptor, and the position _P10 in the axial direction of the front view of the cylindrical photoreceptor shown in FIG. 3a and the photoreceptor shown in FIG. Measure the film thickness from point P ₀₁ in the circumferential direction of the side view to point P ₁₁ shown in Table 1.

[Table] Next, after the photoreceptor 1 rotates 1/3 and stops, the same operation as described above is repeated to measure the position _P12 .
Further, rotate 1/3 and measure three points in the circumferential direction at the position _P10 in the axial direction. After measuring the three points, move the probe support 7 and adjust the position in the axial direction.
Measurements are taken at 3 points at P ₂₀ . By repeating the measurements in this manner, the film thicknesses at the nine preset points shown in Table 1 are successively measured, and the data is automatically printed out to complete the measurement. In this way, the film thickness of the photosensitive layer of the photoreceptor 1 is automatically measured by the control system 16 at points distributed over the entire surface, and is automatically recorded, resulting in highly reliable film thickness evaluation of the photoreceptor. data can be obtained. The number of measurement points can be increased as necessary, and can be set according to the shape and dimensions of the photoreceptor. Further, by appropriately adjusting the contact pressure of the probe, damage to the photoreceptor to be measured can be prevented. In the case of measuring a sheet-like photoreceptor, it may be wrapped around a cylindrical body and measured. As described above, the present invention can measure the thickness of a photoreceptor of any shape at any number of measurement points by using a contact film thickness measurement probe using eddy current, for example, by moving the probe support or in combination with the movement of the photoreceptor. The thickness can be measured, and the contact pressure of the probe with the photosensitive layer can be set to a very low pressure that does not cause damage to the photosensitive layer, making it easy to obtain highly accurate data on the photosensitive layer thickness using a commercially available film thickness meter. Obtainable. Further, by adding a data processing device, the measurement and characteristic evaluation of the photoreceptor can be performed unmanned, and the effects obtained by the present invention are extremely large.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the probe support part thereof, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing measurement points using the device according to the present invention. A is a front view, and b is a side view. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Photoreceptor to be measured, 3... Rotating shaft, 7... Probe support, 8... Probe support, 15...
Measurement probe, 24... Weight support shaft, 26... Weight.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cylindrical photoreceptor is arranged with its cylindrical axis vertical, and a support is movable in at least one direction parallel to the surface of the photoreceptor, and a support is supported by the support and perpendicular to the surface of the photoreceptor. a contact-type film thickness measurement probe that is movable in the direction of the photosensitive layer, and a weight that functions to keep the contact pressure constant by restricting an increase in the contact pressure with the photosensitive layer when the probe contacts the photosensitive layer. A photosensitive layer thickness measuring device for an electrophotographic photoreceptor, characterized in that a weight is provided on a shaft that rotates in accordance with the movement of the probe.