JPH0442668B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to a method for cleaning the base of an electrophotographic photoreceptor used in a photoreceptor drum of an electrostatic copying machine or a laser beam printer.

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an electrophotographic photoreceptor has a photoconductive layer made of a selenium-based material, amorphous silicon, an organic material, etc. formed on a conductive support made of aluminum or an alloy thereof. There is. In this case, in order to improve the adhesion of the photoconductive layer to the conductive support, the conductive support is sequentially subjected to anodizing treatment and sealing treatment to form a sealing film on the surface of the support. Formation of an anodic oxide film may be performed. Such anodic oxidation treatment is performed electrolytically in an electrolytic solution such as sulfuric acid, and the sealing treatment is performed using a pure water boiling method, an auxiliary agent sealing method, or a pure water boiling method and an auxiliary agent sealing method. This is done by a method that combines the above.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, when forming the above-mentioned base film, ionic species in the electrolyte in the anodizing treatment and in the sealing liquid in the sealing treatment, as well as ionic species generated by reaction, are exposed to the surface. A photoconductive layer may be formed while the photoconductive layer is deposited and remains. In particular, since anodic oxidation treatment and pore sealing treatment are often carried out industrially by the immersion method, the treatment liquid from the previous step is likely to be brought in, and ionic species are likely to remain. In this way, if ionic species remain on the surface of the anodic oxide film, they cause electron injection, especially in organic photoreceptors that use organic materials as the photoconductive layer (so-called OPC photoreceptors), which causes spots to form in this area. This has caused problems in that image defects such as streaks, spots, etc. appear. Of course, in order to remove residual ionic species, washing with well water is generally performed after anodizing or sealing.
Complete removal is difficult, and new
Since there is a risk of Ca ²⁺ adhering, the risk of image defects has not yet been eliminated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is capable of effectively removing ionic species adhering to the surface of a sealing anodic oxide film, which is a base film, before forming a photoconductive layer, thereby reducing image defects. The object of the present invention is to provide a method for cleaning the base of an electrophotographic photoreceptor that can prevent this occurrence.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for forming a base film on a conductive support made of aluminum or an alloy thereof by sequentially performing an anodizing treatment and a sealing treatment. A method for cleaning the base of an electrophotographic photoreceptor to be formed, wherein washing with pure water is performed after the anodizing treatment and before sealing treatment, and after the sealing treatment, washing with pure water is accompanied by rubbing the surface of the base film with a soft material. After this, washing with running pure water is further performed.

Function The ion species attached to the film surface during the anodizing process are removed by washing with pure water after the anodizing process and before the sealing process. Further, after the sealing process, the underlying film surface is first washed with pure water while being rubbed with a soft material, thereby scraping and removing ionic species that have adhered to the film surface during the sealing process. Next, the ionic species remaining on the surface are washed away by washing with running pure water. Since all of these cleanings are performed using pure water, there is no inconvenience that new ionic species such as Ca ²⁺ in well water may adhere.

Examples Any conventional aluminum or alloy thereof may be used for the conductive support.

Before forming a base film on a conductive support, pretreatments such as degreasing and water washing are generally performed first. This washing can be done with well water as in the conventional case.

Next, the conductive support is subjected to anodic oxidation treatment to form an anodized film as a base film on the surface thereof. This anodic oxide film is formed to improve adhesion to the photoconductive layer. The type of anodic oxide film, treatment conditions, etc. are not particularly limited, but in general, a sulfuric acid film formed by direct current electrolysis treatment can be suitably used. The conductive support that has undergone such an anodizing process has ionic species such as SO ₄ ^2- in the electrolyte used in the anodizing process attached to its film surface.

Next, washing is preferably performed with well water to partially remove the above-mentioned ionic species on the surface of the film, and then washing with pure water is performed using pure water of constant water quality. This pure water washing may be performed by a dipping method, or by a running water washing method such as a shower method. This pure water washing removes most of the ionic species that remained attached to the film surface during the anodizing process, or removes newly attached Ca in the well water if the above well water washing is performed. ²⁺ etc. are also removed.

After removing the ionic species attached during the anodizing process, the anodized film is sealed. The sealing treatment may be performed by the pure water boiling method, the auxiliary agent sealing method, or a combination of the pure water boiling method and the auxiliary agent sealing method as in the past, and the treatment method is not limited. . The conductive support that has undergone such a sealing process has, for example, amine-based ionic species contained in the sealing agent and ionic species generated during the sealing process attached to the surface of its base film. .

Next, in order to remove these ionic species, washing with pure water is carried out accompanied by rubbing the surface of the base film with a soft material. The purpose of using a soft material is to prevent scratches on the surface of the base film when it is rubbed. A suitable example of a soft material for carrying out this step is a soft water-absorbing member such as a sponge or a soft synthetic resin sponge. In addition, as the simplest embodiment of this pure water washing step, as shown in FIG.
An example of this method is to immerse the soft water-absorbing member 3 provided with holes 3a in pure water, and then pass the conductive support 1 through the holes 3a. According to this embodiment, the peripheral surface base film 2 of the conductive support 1 is cleaned while being automatically rubbed with the soft water-absorbing member, and ionic species attached to the surface of the support can be effectively rubbed off. can. Of course, the method is not limited to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and, for example, the outer surface of a soft water-absorbing member containing pure water may be brought into contact with a conductive support to apply rubbing.

Although most of the ionic species attached to the surface of the base film during the sealing process can be removed through the water washing process, some still remain. Furthermore, since the pore sealing process is the final process of forming the base film, it has a large effect on image characteristics. Therefore, in order to ensure complete removal of ionic species, washing with running pure water is then performed. Washing with running water refers to washing performed by exposing the surface of the conductive support to a flow of pure water. As shown in FIG. 2, the simplest and most practical method of washing with running water is to spray pure water in a shower from the fountains 4 of a plurality of fountains arranged in an annular manner. One example is the shower method, in which the water is passed through a stream of water for washing. By this washing with running water, the ionic species remaining attached to the surface of the base film 2 of the conductive support are washed away, so that the removal of the ionic species is almost complete.

The conductive support that has been washed as described above is
After this is dried, a photoconductive layer is formed on the surface of the base film to form a photoreceptor. The type of photoconductive layer is not particularly limited, and any conventionally used type may be selected. However, the effect of the present invention is particularly great when using an organic photoconductive layer which has serious image defects due to the presence of ionic species.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention performs washing with pure water after anodizing treatment and before sealing treatment to remove ionic species attached in the anodizing treatment step, and after sealing treatment,
Washing with pure water accompanied by rubbing the surface of the base film with a soft material is performed to scrape and remove the ionic species that adhered during the sealing treatment process, and then further washing with running pure water is performed to remove the remaining ionic species that have adhered. Since it is characterized by removal, most of the ionic species attached to the base film can be effectively eliminated. Furthermore, since all of these cleanings are performed using pure water of constant quality, there is no risk of new ionic species such as Ca ²⁺ in the well water being attached, unlike when using well water. the result,
The occurrence of image defects such as spots and streaks due to the presence of ionic species can be prevented, and a high-quality electrophotographic photoreceptor that achieves high image quality can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a pure water washing process involving rubbing, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a running water washing process using pure water. 1... Conductive support, 2... Base film, 3...
Soft water-absorbing member, 4... fountain.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for cleaning the base of an electrophotographic photoreceptor, in which a base film is formed on a conductive support made of aluminum or an alloy thereof by sequentially performing an anodizing treatment and a sealing treatment, the method comprising: It is characterized by performing washing with pure water after the treatment and before the sealing treatment, and after the sealing treatment, performing washing with pure water accompanied by rubbing the surface of the base film with a soft material, and then performing washing with running water with pure water. A method for cleaning the base of a photoreceptor for electrophotography.