JPH01112247A - Method for roughening surface of electrophotographic sensitive body - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a process in which the surface of a photosensitive layer of a cylindrical electrophotographic photoreceptor used in an electrophotographic apparatus, particularly a photosensitive layer made of a 5s-As-based material, is ground with a grindstone. The present invention relates to a method for roughening the surface of an electrophotographic photoreceptor.

[Conventional technology]

An electrophotographic photoreceptor (hereinafter also simply referred to as a photoreceptor) is one in which a photosensitive layer made of a photoconductive material or the like is formed on a substrate. In an electrophotographic apparatus such as a PPC plain paper copying machine, this photoreceptor is first given a nearly -like electrostatic charge to its surface by corona discharge in a dark place, and then this surface is exposed to image light to form an exposed area. Photoconductivity occurs and the electrostatic charge is attenuated, resulting in the formation of an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image on the surface of the photosensitive layer of the photoreceptor. This electrostatic latent image is visualized by toner, transferred to paper, and fixed to form a copy image. On the other hand, in the photoreceptor, toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive layer without being completely transferred is removed by a brush or blade in a cleaning process. If the residual toner is not sufficiently removed, when the electrophotographic process cycle described above is repeated, the residual toner will adhere to the copied image, causing image staining.

In order to prevent toner from remaining, it is necessary to increase the rate at which toner is transferred to paper in the transfer process, that is, the transfer efficiency, and to sufficiently remove the toner remaining without being transferred in the cleaning process.

Therefore, a method of roughening the surface of the photosensitive layer of the photoreceptor has been put into practical use as a method for increasing the transfer efficiency and improving the cleaning performance. Among these, to roughen the surface of a photoreceptor having a photosensitive layer made of a 5e-As-based material, grinding using a grindstone, particularly a superfinishing method using a grindstone, is performed.

However, - in the grinding wheel used for boat fishing, local unevenness in the processed surface roughness tends to occur due to clogging of the grindstone.
This tends to cause non-uniformity such as processing lines on the image. The main reason for this is that the contact area between the grindstone and the photoreceptor is large, and the same surface of the grindstone is always in contact. To improve this point, there is a method of roughening the surface of the photosensitive layer by pressing a rotating grindstone against the surface of the photosensitive layer. According to this method, the contact area of the grinding wheel with the photosensitive layer changes constantly as the grinding wheel rotates (and the contact area also becomes smaller, making it less likely that the grinding wheel will become clogged, which will reduce the roughness of the machined surface. This eliminates local non-uniformity and makes it possible to obtain a photosensitive layer with uniform surface roughness.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The above-mentioned method using a rotating grindstone does not have a sufficient effect of roughening the surface on cleaning performance, because
In order to improve the cleaning properties of the toner, it is desirable that the surface of the photosensitive layer be roughened to the required roughness, and at the same time, the condition of the ground surface should be such that grinding marks remain as irregularly as possible in various directions. However, this is because there is little change in the direction of the grinding marks of the rotary grindstone, and the grinding surface is monotonous.

The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks and to roughen the surface of the photosensitive layer by grinding it using a rotary grindstone so that the surface is uniform and the direction of the grinding marks is not monotonous. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for roughening the surface of an electrophotographic photoreceptor so that the body has uniform image characteristics and good toner cleaning properties, thereby extending the life of the electrophotographic photoreceptor.

[Means for solving problems]

To achieve the above object, the method of the present invention rotates a cylindrical photoreceptor about a central axis, and rotates a cylindrical grindstone at an angle of 45" or less with respect to a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the photoreceptor. The photoreceptor is rotated around a central axis and is pressed against the surface of the photoreceptor while applying vibration with a small amplitude parallel to the axial direction of the photoreceptor, and is sent parallel to the axis of the photoreceptor.

[Effect]

By bringing the cylindrical whetstone into contact with the cylindrical photoreceptor while rotating, the contact area becomes smaller, and the contact area of the end face of the whetstone changes constantly as the whetstone rotates, so the whetstone does not become clogged and there are no chips. Since the fallen grindstone is also smoothly removed, scratches and local unevenness do not occur on the surface of the photosensitive layer. Note that if a cylinder with a clear central axis portion, that is, a cylindrical one, is used as the grindstone, the part of the grindstone where the circumferential speed is very slow is eliminated, so that the effect of preventing clogging of the grindstone is further enhanced.

In addition, by making the rotation axis of the grindstone tilted rather than perpendicular to the rotation axis of the photoreceptor, the contact part of the grindstone does not cross the end face of the grindstone, but exists only on one side divided by the diameter of the end face. Since the grinding direction is the same, it is possible to prevent local unevenness or defects from occurring on the ground surface due to sudden changes in the grinding direction at a certain position of the photosensitive layer.

Furthermore, by applying small-amplitude vibrations to the grindstone, the grinding marks on the surface of the photosensitive layer are not monotonous, and the surface of the photosensitive layer is formed in which the direction of the grinding marks exists in a wide angle range.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows the grinding state of an embodiment of the present invention.

The whetstone used is shown in FIG. 2, and is a cylindrical whetstone 1, which is a cylinder with an outer diameter of 100 N and a hole with a diameter of 50 mm in the center. 1st
As shown in the figure, an M tube with an outer diameter of 100 mm is used as a base, and a photoreceptor 3 with an AsgS photosensitive layer formed on its surface is rotated around its central axis 4 at a rotation speed of 200 rpm.
The central axis 5 of the C#2000 grinding wheel 1 is inclined by θ to the line 6 perpendicular to the rotation axis 4 of the photoreceptor, and the
The surface of the photosensitive layer of the photosensitive member 3 is ground while rotating at a rotation speed of 0 rpm. In this case, the grinding wheel 1 is supported by a commercially available vibrating head together with a rotation drive source, and is vibrated parallel to the photoreceptor rotating shaft 4 at an amplitude of 2ts and a frequency of 1500 cpm, while being pressed against the surface of the photoreceptor with a constant pressure with a load of 2 kg, and the shaft is 4, the entire surface of the photoreceptor 3 is roughened. As the angle θ increases, the rotation axis 5 of the grinding wheel 1 increases in order to obtain the necessary contact pressure between the grinding wheel 1 and the photoreceptor 3.
The force applied in the direction must be increased. Then, of the drag force from the photoreceptor, a component acting perpendicularly to the rotational axis of the grindstone increases, and this force adversely affects the rotational axis of the grindstone, such as shaft runout and abnormal vibration. Therefore, the inclination angle is preferably 20° or less, especially 45° or less.

Since the rotating cylindrical grinding wheel 1 is pressed against the inclined photoreceptor 3, the contact area between the grinding wheel and the photoreceptor is only the linear portion 8 indicated by diagonal lines in Fig. 1, and the contact area is very small. , it is possible to prevent clogging of the grindstone. In addition, by applying small-amplitude vibrations to the grinding wheel 1, while leaving linear grinding groups remaining at various angles on the surface of the photoreceptor 3, a uniform surface roughness of approximately Rz approximately 0.3fi is achieved as a whole. The surface can be roughened by Even if the surface roughness is the same, the cleaning performance of the toner improves as the angular component of the grinding group increases, compared to when the grinding group has a constant directionality.

The grindstone 1 may have a cylindrical shape, but as described above, if it is cylindrical, there is no part where the circumferential speed is low, so the effect of preventing clogging is high.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, when the surface of the photosensitive layer of the photoreceptor is roughened by grinding with a grindstone, a cylindrical or cylindrical grindstone is used and is tilted with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis of the photoreceptor. Since the end surface of the grinding wheel is pressed against the photoreceptor while rotating around the central axis, the contact area between the surface of the photosensitive layer and the grinding wheel is small, and the contact area of the grinding wheel changes constantly, which prevents clogging of the grinding wheel. This prevents chipping and allows the dropped whetstone to be removed smoothly. As a result, the surface of the photosensitive layer can be roughened with uniform roughness without causing local unevenness or scratches.

Furthermore, by applying small-amplitude vibrations to the grindstone, the grinding direction changes, and various angular components can be left in the grinding group of the grindstone remaining on the surface of the photosensitive layer. As a result, the cleaning properties of the toner are significantly improved, and the life of the photoreceptor can be extended.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention during grinding, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a grindstone used in the embodiment of FIG. 1: Grinding wheel, 2: Hole, 3: Photoreceptor, 5: Grinding wheel rotation axis. Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) A cylindrical photoreceptor is rotated around a central axis, and a cylindrical grindstone is rotated around the central axis at an angle of 45° or less with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis of the photoreceptor. A method for roughening the surface of a photoconductor for electrophotography, characterized by rotating and applying vibrations with small amplitude parallel to the axial direction of the photoconductor, pressing it against the surface of the photoconductor, and sending the photoconductor parallel to the axis of the photoconductor. . 2) A method for roughening the surface of an electrophotographic photoreceptor according to claim 1, wherein the grindstone has a cylindrical shape with a hole in the center. 3) The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the angle between the rotation axis of the grindstone and a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis of the photoreceptor is 20 degrees or less. How to roughen the body.