JP2000292956A - Electrophotographic photoreceptor, process cartridge and electrophotographic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] (with correction) [PROBLEMS] Electrophotography with high mechanical strength, electrical strength and adhesion, and high durability and stability that can always obtain high-quality images in repeated electrophotographic processes. Provision of photoconductors. SOLUTION: The surface layer contains a polyarylate resin having a structural unit represented by the following general formula (1), and is provided in a recess of a driving or driven member having a fitting recess at one end of an electrophotographic photosensitive member. An electrophotographic photoreceptor in which the end of the support is cut and bent. (Wherein X ¹ is —CR ¹³ R ¹⁴ — {where R ¹³ and R ¹⁴ are a hydrogen atom, a trifluoromethyl group or the like}, a cycloalkylidene group, a single bond, —O—, —S—
And so on. R ^{1 to} R ¹² are a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group, or the like.)

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photoreceptor,
Regarding the process cartridge and the electrophotographic apparatus, in particular, an electrophotographic photosensitive member containing a polyarylate resin in the surface layer, and cutting and bending the end of the support to a concave material of a driving or driven member having a fitting concave portion, The present invention relates to a process cartridge having the electrophotographic photosensitive member and an electrophotographic apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electrophotographic method is disclosed in U.S. Pat.
As shown in JP-A-91, a photoconductive material comprising a support coated with an insulating substance is used in which the electric resistance changes according to the amount of irradiation received during image exposure, and in a dark place. The basic characteristics required of an electrophotographic photoreceptor using this photoconductive material include (1) being able to be charged to an appropriate potential in a dark place, (2) being small in potential dissipation in a dark place, (3) Quickly dissipating the charge by light irradiation.

Conventionally, selenium,
Inorganic photoreceptors having a photosensitive layer mainly containing an inorganic photoconductive compound such as zinc oxide and cadmium sulfide have been widely used. However, they satisfy the above conditions (1) to (3), but are not always satisfactory in heat stability, moisture resistance, durability, productivity and the like.

In order to overcome the disadvantages of inorganic photoreceptors, electrophotographic photoreceptors containing various organic photoconductive compounds as main components have been actively developed in recent years. For example, US Pat.
Japanese Patent No. 37851 discloses a photoreceptor having a charge transport layer containing triallylpyrazoline, and US Pat. No. 3,871,880 discloses a charge generating layer comprising a derivative of a perylene pigment.
-Photoreceptors comprising a charge transport layer comprising a condensate of propylene and formaldehyde are known.

Further, the photosensitive wavelength range of the electrophotographic photosensitive member can be freely selected by the organic photoconductive compound depending on the compound.
As for the substances disclosed in JP-A-272754 and JP-A-56-167759, those exhibiting high sensitivity in the visible region are disclosed, and JP-A-57-19576 and JP-A-61-228453 are disclosed. It is shown that the compounds disclosed in the publication have sensitivity up to the infrared region.

[0006] Of these materials, those exhibiting sensitivity in the infrared region are used in laser beam printers (hereinafter abbreviated as LBPs) and LED printers, which have been making remarkable progress in recent years.
The demand frequency is increasing.

Electrophotographic photoreceptors using these organic photoconductive compounds are function-separated type photoreceptors in which a charge transport layer and a charge generation layer are laminated in order to satisfy both electrical and mechanical properties. Often used. On the other hand, as a matter of course, the electrophotographic photosensitive member is required to have sensitivity, electric characteristics, and optical characteristics according to the electronic process applied.

In particular, in the case of an electrophotographic photoreceptor that is used repeatedly, the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor is directly exposed to an electric or mechanical external force such as corona or direct charging, image exposure, toner development, transfer process, surface cleaning, etc. To be added,
Durability against them is also required.

More specifically, electrical deterioration due to ozone and nitrogen oxides during charging, electric discharge during charging, mechanical deterioration in which the surface is worn or scratched due to rubbing of the cleaning member, and electrical deterioration Durability against deterioration is required.

As for the mechanical deterioration, especially the organic photoreceptor which is often physically soft unlike the inorganic photoreceptor is inferior in the durability against the mechanical deterioration, and the improvement of the durability is particularly desired.

Various attempts have been made to satisfy the durability characteristics required for the photosensitive member as described above.

As a resin often used for the surface layer and having good abrasion resistance and electric characteristics, attention has been paid to a polycarbonate resin having bisphenol A as a skeleton. However, not all of the above-mentioned problems can be solved. Has the following problems.

(1) Poor solubility, showing good solubility only in a part of halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons such as dichloromethane and 1,2-dichloroethane, and since these solvents have a low boiling point, When a photoreceptor is manufactured using a coating solution prepared with these solvents, the coated surface tends to whiten. It takes time to control the solid content of the coating liquid.

(2) Solvents other than halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons are partially soluble in tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, cyclohexanone or a mixed solvent thereof, but the solution gels in a few days. Is not suitable for photoreceptor production.

(3) Further, even if the above (1) and (2) are improved, solvent cracks are liable to occur in the polycarbonate resin having bisphenol A as a skeleton.

(4) In addition, in the conventional polycarbonate resin, since the film formed of the resin does not have lubricity, the photosensitive member is easily damaged, and an image is not formed in a cleaning setting in which the wear amount of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is reduced. Cleaning defects due to defects or premature deterioration of the cleaning blade,
In some cases, toner fusion and the like may occur.

Regarding the solution stability mentioned in the above (1) and (2), polycarbonate Z resin having a bulky cyclohexylene group as a polymer structural unit is used or copolymerized with bisphenol Z, bisphenol C or the like. It has been solved by

Solvent cracks can also be solved by using a silicone-modified polycarbonate or an ether-modified polycarbonate as disclosed in JP-A-6-51544 and JP-A-6-75415. However, these modified polycarbonates have a structure that has flexibility against internal stress in the polymer in order to prevent Besolvent cracks as compared with conventional polycarbonate resins, and as a result, the polymer body has There is a disadvantage that the mechanical strength is reduced.

In recent years, a direct charging system in which a voltage is directly applied to a charging member and a charge is applied to an electrophotographic photosensitive member as disclosed in JP-A-57-17826 and JP-A-58-40566 has been developed. It is becoming mainstream.

This is a method in which a roller-shaped charging member made of a conductive rubber or the like is brought into direct contact with an electrophotographic photosensitive member to apply an electric charge. The scorotron generates a significantly smaller amount of ozone than a scorotron or the like. Although about 80% of the current flowing through the charging device flows through the shield, it is wasted. On the other hand, direct charging has the merit that this wasted portion is very economical.

However, direct charging has a drawback that charging stability is very poor due to charging by discharge according to Paschen's rule. As a countermeasure, a so-called AC / DC charging system in which an AC voltage is superimposed on a DC voltage has been disclosed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-149668).

Although this charging method has improved the stability during charging, the amount of discharge on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is greatly increased due to the superposition of the AC voltage, and the amount of scraping of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is increased. A new drawback is that
Electrical strength as well as mechanical strength has been required.

Further, as a method of connecting a driving or driven member for achieving high durability and high stability, there is a method of cutting and bending the end of a support member into a recess of a driving or driven member provided with a fitting recess. It is disclosed (JP-A-5-200462).

However, in order to cut and bend the coating, the coating start position at the upper end is limited in order to prevent the peeling of the coating film on the surface layer. For this reason, one-sided scraping has occurred due to the influence of the discharge due to direct charging due to the sagging of the film thickness at the upper end, and fogging at the image end has been a problem.

[0025]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the conventional surface layer of polycarbonate resin, and to provide a repetitive electrophotographic apparatus having high mechanical, electrical strength and adhesion. An object of the present invention is to provide an electrophotographic photoreceptor having high durability and excellent stability that can always obtain a high-quality image in a process, a process cartridge having the electrophotographic photoreceptor, and an electrophotographic apparatus.

[0026]

According to the present invention, in an electrophotographic photosensitive member having a conductive support and a photosensitive layer, the surface layer of the electrophotographic photosensitive member has a structural unit represented by the following general formula (1). An electrophotographic photoreceptor containing a polyarylate resin, wherein the end of the support is cut and bent into a recess of a driving or driven member provided with a fitting recess at at least one end of the electrophotographic photoreceptor. A process cartridge having a photoconductor and an electrophotographic apparatus are provided.

[0027]

Embedded image

In the formula, X ¹ represents —CR ¹³ R ¹⁴ — {where R ¹³
And R ¹⁴ are each independently a hydrogen atom, a trifluoromethyl group, an alkyl group which may have a substituent, or an aryl group which may have a substituent. Alkylidene group, α, ω- which may have a substituent
Alkylene group, a single bond, -O -, - S -, - SO-, or -SO ₂ - is. R ^{1 to} R ¹² are each independently a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group which may have a substituent, or an aryl group which may have a substituent.

In the formula, the alkyl group is a methyl group,
Examples thereof include an ethyl group, a propyl group, a cyclohexyl group, and a cycloheptyl group. Examples of the aryl group include a phenyl group, a naphthyl group and an anthryl group. Examples of the cycloalkylidene group include a cyclohexylidene group, a cycloheptylidene group and a fluorenylidene group. Examples of the α, ω-alkylene group include a 1,2-ethylene group, a 1,3-propylene group, and a 1,4-butylene group. Examples of the halogen atom include a fluorine atom, a chlorine atom and a bromine atom.

Examples of the substituent which these groups may have include a halogen atom such as a fluorine atom, a chlorine atom or a bromine atom, an alkyl group such as a methyl group, an ethyl group or a propyl group, a phenyl group, a naphthyl group and an anthryl group. And an aralkyl group such as a benzyl group or a phenethyl group, or an alkoxy group such as a methoxy group, an ethoxy group or a propoxy group.

The single bond means that the benzene rings on both sides of X ¹ are directly bonded, and examples thereof include structural unit examples 7, 23 and 24 described later.

[0032]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail.

Specific examples of the constituent units of the resin used in the present invention are shown below, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0034]

[Table 1]

[0035]

[Table 2]

[0036]

[Table 3]

[0037]

[Table 4]

[0038]

[Table 5]

Preferred examples include Structural Unit Examples 1, 2 and 7, with Structural Unit Example 1 being particularly preferred.

The resin having the structural unit represented by the above general formula (1) used in the present invention is usually used for improving the solubility of the bisphenol represented by the following general formula (2), so that terephthalic acid chloride / isophthalic acid chloride is used. It can be easily produced by stirring in a solvent / water mixture system in the presence of a mixture of the products and an alkali to cause interfacial polymerization.

[0041]

Embedded image

In the formula, X ² represents —CR ²⁹ R ³⁰ — ｛where R ²⁹
And R ³⁰ are each independently a hydrogen atom, a trifluoromethyl group, an alkyl group which may have a substituent, or an aryl group which may have a substituent. Alkylidene group, α, ω- which may have a substituent
Alkylene group, a single bond, -O -, - S -, - SO-, or -SO ₂ - is. R ^{21 to} R ²⁸ each independently represent a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group which may have a substituent, or an aryl group which may have a substituent.

The ratio of terephthalic acid chloride to isophthalic acid chloride is usually determined in consideration of the solubility of the polymer, but there is no standard. However, if any chloride is 30m
When the content is less than ol%, the solubility of the synthesized polymer is extremely lowered, which is not preferable. Usually, it is preferable to synthesize at a ratio of 1/1.

In the electrophotographic photoreceptor of the present invention, a polymer having the same structural unit represented by the general formula (1) or a different type of the structural unit represented by the general formula (1) may be used. It may be a copolymer composed of units. Further, two or more resins having the structural unit represented by the general formula (1) may be blended, or a resin and another resin may be blended. The resin used in the present invention is 5000 to 25000.
It preferably has a weight average molecular weight of 0, especially 10
It preferably has a weight average molecular weight of 000 to 150,000.

The resin according to the present invention contains a unit having rigidity in a constituent unit, and the unit is partially vitrified at the time of forming an electrophotographic photosensitive member to increase the mechanical strength of the entire polymer film. It is.

Regarding the electric resistance, it is considered that the arylate structure, in which the molecular cleavage due to electric deterioration is an ester bond of an aryl group as compared with the carbonate bond, is resistant to electric current due to charging, and the electric resistance is particularly improved. Can be
Although the reason for this has not been confirmed, it is assumed that the carbonate bond has a large dipole moment due to oxygen atoms on both sides of the carboxy group and is weak against electric energy.

Further, the starting position for pulling up the surface layer according to the present invention by dip coating is 3 mm from the upper end of the electrophotographic photosensitive member.
mm, and it is effective to cut and bend the upper end.

That is, in the present invention, the end of the support is cut and bent into the concave portion of the driving or driven member having the fitting concave portion provided with the polyarylate resin in the surface layer and having the fitting concave portion. Solves the problem of having a polycarbonate resin as the surface layer, has high mechanical and electrical strength and adhesiveness, and has excellent durability and stability that can always obtain high-quality images in repeated electrophotographic processes. An electrophotographic photoreceptor can be provided.

Hereinafter, the structure of the electrophotographic photosensitive member used in the present invention will be described.

The electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention has a photosensitive layer on a support. The photosensitive layer may be a single layer containing a charge transport material and a charge generation material in the same layer, or may be a laminate type in which a charge transport layer and a charge generation layer are separated. Is preferred.

The support to be used may be any one having conductivity, for example, metal such as aluminum and stainless steel, or metal provided with a conductive layer, paper, plastic or the like. And the like.

When the exposure light such as LBP is laser light,
A conductive layer may be provided between the support and the photosensitive layer for the purpose of preventing interference fringes due to scattering or covering a scratch on the support. This can be formed by dispersing conductive powder such as carbon black and metal particles in a binder resin. The thickness of the conductive layer is preferably 5 to 40 μm, more preferably 10 to 30 μm.

Further, an intermediate layer having an adhesion function and a barrier function is provided thereon. Examples of the material of the intermediate layer include polyamide, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene oxide, ethyl cellulose, casein, polyurethane, and polyether urethane. They are,
It is applied after being dissolved in an appropriate solvent. The thickness of the intermediate layer is preferably 0.05 to 5 μm, more preferably 0.3 to 1 μm.
μm is appropriate.

The charge generation layer is formed on the intermediate layer.
Examples of the charge generation material used in the present invention include, for example, selenium-tellurium, pyrylium, thiapyrylium dyes, phthalocyanine, anthantrone, dibenzpyrenequinone, trisazo, cyanine, disazo, monoazo, indigo, quinacridone, and asymmetric quinocyanine. Pigments.

In the case of the function-separated type, the charge generation layer is formed by mixing the charge generation material with a binder resin and a solvent in an amount of 0.3 to 4 times the amount of a homogenizer, an ultrasonic dispersion, a ball mill, a vibration ball mill, a sand mill, an attritor, a roll mill and a liquid. It is well dispersed by a method such as a collision-type high-speed disperser, and is formed by applying and drying a dispersion. The thickness of the charge generation layer is preferably 5 μm or less, more preferably 0.1 to 2 μm.

The charge transport layer is formed by coating and drying a coating material in which a charge transport material and a binder resin of the present invention are dissolved in a solvent. Examples of the charge transport material used include, for example, triarylamine compounds, hydrazone compounds, stilbene compounds, pyrazoline compounds,
Oxazole-based compounds, triallylmethane-based compounds, thiazole-based compounds, and the like. These are 0.5-
Coated with 2 times amount of binder resin, dried,
Form a charge transport layer. The thickness of the charge transport layer is preferably 5 to 40 μm, and more preferably 15 to 30 μm.

A driving or driven member having a fitting recess is inserted into at least one end of a cylindrical support having a photosensitive layer, and the end of the support is cut and bent into the fitting recess. The number of cut-and-bend connections is two or more at one end, and preferably two at opposing positions, and four at equal intervals.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an electrophotographic apparatus using a process cartridge having an electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a drum-shaped electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention, which is rotated around an axis 2 at a predetermined peripheral speed in a direction indicated by an arrow. The photoreceptor 1 receives a uniform charge of a predetermined positive or negative potential on its peripheral surface by the primary charging means 3 during the rotation process, and is then output from exposure means (not shown) such as slit exposure or laser beam scanning exposure. It receives exposure light 4 that has been enhanced and modulated in accordance with a time-series electrical digital image signal of desired image information. Thus, the photoconductor 1
An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the target image information is sequentially formed on the peripheral surface of the image.

The formed electrostatic latent image is then transferred to developing means 5
The toner image thus developed is transferred from a paper supply unit (not shown) between the photoconductor 1 and the transfer unit 6 in synchronization with the rotation of the photoconductor 1 to a transfer material 7 fed and fed. Then, the toner image formed and carried on the surface of the photoconductor 1 is sequentially transferred by the transfer unit 6.

The transfer material 7 to which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the surface of the photoreceptor, introduced into the image fixing means 8 and subjected to image fixing to be printed out as an image formed product (print, copy) outside the apparatus. You.

After the transfer of the image, the surface of the photoreceptor 1 is cleaned by removing the untransferred toner by the cleaning means 9, and is further cleaned by a pre-exposure light 10 from a pre-exposure means (not shown).
Is used for image formation repeatedly after the charge removal processing. When the primary charging unit 3 is a contact charging unit using a charging roller or the like, the pre-exposure is not necessarily required.

In the present invention, among the above-mentioned components such as the electrophotographic photosensitive member 1, the primary charging means 3, the developing means 5 and the cleaning means 9, a plurality of components are housed in a container 11 and integrally combined as a process cartridge. The process cartridge may be configured to be detachable from an electrophotographic apparatus main body such as a copying machine or a laser beam printer. For example, at least one of the primary charging unit 3, the developing unit 5, and the cleaning unit 9 is integrally supported together with the photoreceptor 1 to form a cartridge, and is detachably attached to the apparatus main body using a guide unit 12 such as a rail of the apparatus main body. It can be a process cartridge.

When the electrophotographic apparatus is a copier or a printer, the exposure light 4 is reflected light or transmitted light from the original, or the original is read by a sensor, converted into a signal, and a laser beam is emitted in accordance with the signal. Beam scanning, LED
Light emitted by driving the array, driving the liquid crystal shutter array, and the like.

The electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention can be used not only for an electrophotographic copying machine but also for a laser beam printer,
It can be widely used in electrophotographic applications such as CRT printers, LED printers, liquid crystal printers, and laser plate making.

[0066]

The present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to specific examples. In addition, "part" in an Example shows a weight part.

(Example 1) 30 mmφ, length 254 mm
With the aluminum cylinder of the support as a support, a paint composed of the following materials is applied to the support by a dipping method,
Heat cured at a temperature of 140 ° C. for 30 minutes to obtain a film thickness of 1
A 5 μm conductive layer was formed.

Conductive pigment: SnO ₂ coated barium sulfate 10 parts Resistance adjusting pigment: titanium oxide 2 parts Binder resin: phenol resin 6 parts Leveling material: silicone oil 0.001 parts Solvent: methanol / methoxypropanol (0.2 /0.8) 20 parts

Next, 3 parts of N-methoxydimethylated nylon and 3 parts of copolymerized nylon were placed on the conductive layer.
A solution dissolved in a mixed solvent of 5 parts / 30 parts of n-butanol was applied by an immersion method to form an intermediate layer having a thickness of 0.5 μm.

Next, the CuKα characteristic X-ray diffraction Bragg angles (2θ ± 0.2 degrees) of 9.0 °, 14.2 ° and 23.
4 parts of oxytitanium phthalocyanine (TiOPc) having strong peaks at 9 ° and 27.1 ° and polyvinyl butyral (trade name: Eslec BM2, manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) 2
And 60 parts of cyclohexanone were dispersed in a sand mill using 1 mmφ glass beads for 4 hours, and then 100 parts of ethyl acetate was added to prepare a dispersion for a charge generation layer. This was applied by an immersion method to form a charge generation layer having a thickness of 0.3 μm.

Next, 9 parts of an amine compound having the following structural formula:

[0072]

Embedded image 1 part of an amine compound having the following structural formula,

[0073]

Embedded image And 10 parts of the polymer described in Condition 1 of Table 6 were dissolved in a mixed solvent of 30 parts of monochlorobenzene / 70 parts of dichloromethane to prepare a charge transport dispersion. This was pulled up from the position of 1 mm at the upper end of the support by a dipping method, and was applied.
Drying was performed at 2 ° C. for 2 hours to form a charge transport layer having a thickness of 30 μm.

Next, a driving and driven member having two square-shaped fitting concave portions opposed to each other was formed by injection molding of polyarylate resin, and the above-described photosensitive layer was coated on the surface layer of the electrophotographic photosensitive member. The driving member was inserted into the upper end of the coating member, and the driven member was inserted into the lower end of the coating member.

Next, the evaluation will be described. The device is a Hewlett-Packard LBP “Laser Jet 4p
“lus” (process speed: 71 mm / sec) was modified and used. Modification changed the control of primary charging from constant current control to constant voltage control. The produced electrophotographic photoreceptor was subjected to a durability test of repeated use of paper passing with this apparatus. The sequence was an intermittent mode in which the print was stopped once for each print. When the toner ran out, it was replenished each time, and 50,000 sheets of durability were performed.

As a result, no peeling of the coating film occurred during the running, and a very good image without edge fog was obtained. Table 7 shows the results.

Example 2 Example 1 was repeated except that the binder resin for the surface layer was prepared from the polymer described in Condition 2 in Table 6.
An electrophotographic photoreceptor was prepared and evaluated in the same manner as described above. As a result, there was no peeling of the coating film throughout the durability, and a very good image without edge fog was obtained. Table 7 shows the results.

Example 3 Example 1 was repeated except that the binder resin for the surface layer was prepared using the polymer described in Condition 3 in Table 6.
An electrophotographic photoreceptor was prepared and evaluated in the same manner as described above. As a result, there was no peeling of the coating film throughout the durability, and a very good image without edge fog was obtained. Table 7 shows the results.

Example 4 An electrophotographic photosensitive member was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that neither the conductive layer nor the intermediate layer was provided.
evaluated. As a result, there was no peeling of the coating film throughout the durability, and a very good image without edge fog was obtained. Table 7 shows the results.

(Comparative Example 1) A binder resin for the surface layer was prepared with a polycarbonate resin (trade name: Z-200, manufactured by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Ltd.), and the same procedure as in Example 1 was carried out except that the lower end of 10 mm was peeled off. An electrophotographic photoreceptor was prepared and evaluated. As a result, the peeling of the coating film at the upper end deteriorated after 5,000 sheets, making it impossible to continue the durability. Table 7 shows the results.

(Comparative Example 2) The top surface of the support was 10 mm
An electrophotographic photoreceptor was prepared and evaluated in the same manner as in Comparative Example 1, except that it was pulled up from the position and applied. As a result, no peeling of the coating film occurred during the durability, but image fogging occurred at 25,000 sheets. Table 7 shows the results.

[0082]

[Table 6]

[0083]

[Table 7]

[0084]

According to the present invention, the end of the support is cut and bent into the recess of the driving or driven member having the fitting recess in which the polyarylate resin is contained in the surface layer and the fitting recess is provided. An electrophotographic photoreceptor having high electrical strength and adhesion, and high durability and excellent stability that can always obtain high quality images in an electrophotographic process, a process cartridge having the electrophotographic photoreceptor, and an electrophotographic apparatus. It became possible to provide.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an electrophotographic apparatus using a process cartridge having an electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 photoconductor 2 shaft 3 charging means 4 exposure light 5 developing means 6 transfer means 7 transfer material 8 fixing means 9 cleaning means 10 pre-exposure light 11 process cartridge container 12 guide means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An electrophotographic photosensitive member having a conductive support and a photosensitive layer, wherein the surface layer of the electrophotographic photosensitive member contains a polyarylate resin having a structural unit represented by the following general formula (1): An electrophotographic photoreceptor characterized in that an end of the support is cut and bent into a recess of a driving or driven member having a fitting recess at at least one end of the electrophotographic photoreceptor. Embedded image (Wherein X ¹ is —CR ¹³ R ¹⁴ — ｛wherein R ¹³ and R ¹⁴ each independently represent a hydrogen atom, a trifluoromethyl group, an alkyl group which may have a substituent, or a substituent. A aryl group, a cycloalkylidene group optionally having a substituent, an α, ω-alkylene group optionally having a substituent, a single bond, -O-, -S-, -SO-, Or -SO ₂
-. R ^{1 to} R ¹² are each independently a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group which may have a substituent, or an aryl group which may have a substituent. 2. The electrophotographic photoreceptor according to claim 1, wherein a starting position at which the surface layer is pulled up by dip coating is within 3 mm from an upper end of the electrophotographic photoreceptor, and the upper end is cut and bent. 3. A charging means for charging the electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 1, wherein the charging means charges the electrophotographic photosensitive member.
Integrated with at least one means selected from the group consisting of developing means for developing the electrophotographic photosensitive member on which the electrostatic latent image is formed with toner, and cleaning means for collecting residual toner on the photosensitive member after the transfer step And a process cartridge which is detachably mounted on the main body of the electrophotographic apparatus. 4. An electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 1, a charging means for charging said electrophotographic photosensitive member, and an electrostatic latent image is formed by exposing said charged electrophotographic photosensitive member to light. An electrophotographic apparatus comprising: an exposure unit; a developing unit that develops an electrophotographic photosensitive member on which an electrostatic latent image is formed with toner; and a transfer unit that heats and transfers a toner image on a transfer material.