JP3465414B2 - Manufacturing method of organic photoreceptor for electrophotography - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing an electrophotographic organic photoconductor, and more particularly to a method for cleaning and cleaning the surface of a conductive substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electrophotographic technology has developed in the field of copiers and has recently been applied to printers, etc., because of its advantages of high image quality, high speed, and quietness that are not comparable to those of impact printers and thermal printers. It is becoming popular rapidly.
Recently, organic photoconductors have become the mainstream of electrophotographic photoconductors used in these devices. Such an organic photoconductor generally comprises a photosensitive layer having an organic material as a main component formed on a conductive substrate made of a material having aluminum as a main component. The photosensitive layer is usually formed as a coating film obtained by applying and drying a coating solution prepared by dispersing and dissolving a photoconductive organic material together with a suitable resin binder and an organic solvent.

It is known that in the photoreceptor having the above-mentioned structure, if the surface of the conductive substrate is not clean, a defect is caused in the photosensitive layer formed by coating on the conductive substrate, and a defect appears in the obtained image. Previously, the surface of conductive substrates was cleaned with ultrasonic waves in a chlorine-based solvent, but there are problems such as environmental pollution. In recent years, rubbing with a sponge-like substance or non-woven fabric using an alkaline detergent has been performed. The method has come to be adopted.

[0004]

However, recently, there has been an increasing market demand for improving the quality of images, and in particular, in a reversal developing type electrophotographic apparatus such as a printer, a sponge is formed by using the above alkaline detergent. With the method of scrubbing with a particulate substance or a non-woven fabric, it has become impossible to obtain an image quality that sufficiently satisfies the market demand.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a method for producing an electrophotographic organic photoconductor capable of obtaining a high quality image even when used in a reversal development type electrophotographic apparatus. The purpose is to

[0006]

The above problems are solved by using a conductive substrate made of a material containing aluminum as a main component, and after cleaning the surface of the conductive substrate, providing a photosensitive layer containing an organic material as a main component. In the method for producing an electrophotographic photoreceptor for electrophotography, an alkaline detergent aqueous solution is applied with a plastic brush containing an abrasive in the step of cleaning the surface of the conductive substrate.
It is solved by including a step of scrubbing the surface while applying .

A polyamide resin brush is suitable as the plastic brush. Silicon carbide or alumina is preferably used as the abrasive contained in the brush. As a cleaning agent used for rubbing with a brush, an alkaline cleaning agent is suitable.

[0008]

Many of the image defects are caused by stains on the surface of the conductive substrate. By scrubbing with a plastic brush containing an abrasive, dirt on the surface is scraped off by the abrasive and the cleanliness is improved, and image defects such as black spots on white paper, white spots on black paper, and uneven density are greatly generated. Is reduced to. The material of the brush may be a material that has a hardness that does not damage the surface of the aluminum substrate, is resistant to alkaline detergents and is stable, and is preferably a polyamide resin.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Reference Example 1 A substrate made of aluminum is immersed in a 5% aqueous solution of an alkaline detergent (U Cleaner manufactured by Uemura Kogyo Co., Ltd.) for degreasing, and then, while being sprinkled with water, hair containing silicon carbide particles having an average particle size of 50 μm. The surface of the substrate is rubbed with a brush made of a polyamide resin (nylon) having a diameter of 0.3 mm, rinsed with pure water, and dried.

On the surface of the substrate thus cleaned, X
0.1 parts by weight of a coating solution prepared by dispersing and dissolving 1 part by weight of metal-free phthalocyanine and 1 part by weight of polyvinyl butyral in 98 parts by weight of tetrahydrofuran, and drying.
to form a charge generation layer of mm, thereon, a hydrazone compound, 10 parts by weight of the coating solution 10 parts by weight of polycarbonate was prepared by dissolving 80 parts by weight of dichloromethane coated and dried to form a charge transport layer, reference A photoconductor of Example 1 was prepared.

[0011] In Reference Example 2 Reference Example 1, as a substrate, except that the surface of the substrate made of aluminum with substrate anodized, ginseng
A photoconductor of Reference Example 2 was produced in the same manner as in Consideration 1 . Example 3 In Reference Example 1 , an alkaline detergent was used instead of water for rubbing the surface of the substrate with a brush (Uemura Industry Co., Ltd.).
(Manufactured by U Cleaner) except that a 5% aqueous solution was used.
A photoconductor of Example 3 was prepared in the same manner as in Reference Example 1 .

[0012] In Example 4 Example 3, as the substrate, except that the surface of the substrate made of aluminum with substrate anodized, actual
A photoreceptor of Example 4 was prepared in the same manner as in Example 3 . Reference Examples 5 and 6 and Examples 7 and 8 In Reference Examples 1 and 2 and Examples 3 and 4 , polyamide resin containing silicon carbide particles as an abrasive (nylon) was used when rubbing the surface in the cleaning process of the substrate surface. instead of) made brushes, except for using polyamide resin (nylon) brush made containing alumina particles, reference
Reference examples similar to Examples 1 and 2 and Examples 3 and 4, respectively.
The photoconductors of Examples 5 and 6 and Examples 7 and 8 were produced.

Comparative Example 1 A substrate made of aluminum was immersed in the same alkaline detergent as in Reference Example 1 and ultrasonically cleaned, and subsequently, a silicone resin was used instead of a polyamide resin (nylon) brush containing silicon carbide particles. Using a normal polyamide resin (nylon) brush containing no carbide particles, the surface was scrubbed while applying the above alkaline detergent, and then rinsed with pure water and dried to clean. Reference example 1 on this substrate surface
A photosensitive layer was formed in the same manner as in 1. to prepare a photoconductor of Comparative Example 1.

Comparative Example 2 A substrate made of aluminum was immersed in the same alkaline detergent as in Reference Example 1 , ultrasonically cleaned, rinsed with pure water and dried without rubbing with a brush to clean the surface. did. A photosensitive layer was formed on the surface of the substrate in the same manner as in Reference Example 1 to prepare a photoreceptor of Comparative Example 2.

Comparative Example 3 A photoconductor of Comparative Example 3 was carried out in the same manner as Comparative Example 2 except that the substrate made of aluminum in Comparative Example 2 was replaced with a substrate whose surface was anodized. Was produced. Comparative Example 4 A substrate made of aluminum was immersed in the same alkaline detergent as in Reference Example 1 and ultrasonically cleaned, and subsequently, the above-mentioned alkaline detergent was used instead of the polyamide resin (nylon) brush containing silicon carbide particles. The surface was rubbed and washed with a sponge containing, and then rinsed with pure water and dried for cleaning.
A photosensitive layer was formed on the surface of the substrate in the same manner as in Reference Example 1 to prepare a photoconductor of Comparative Example 4.

Comparative Example 5 A photoconductor of Comparative Example 5 was carried out in the same manner as Comparative Example 4 except that the aluminum substrate was replaced with an anodizing substrate on the surface of the aluminum substrate. Was produced. With respect to each of the photoconductors thus produced, the appearance of the photoconductor surface was visually evaluated, and the adhesion of the photoconductive layer was evaluated by a goose stitch test (JIS K5400).
A printing test was conducted using a commercially available semiconductor laser beam printer. The results are shown in Table 1.

[0017]

[Table 1]

As can be seen from Table 1, the surface appearance and the adhesion of the photosensitive layer were almost the same as those of the photoconductors and were good (○). However, regarding the printing quality, an abrasive was included in the cleaning process of the substrate surface. Each of the photoconductors of the examples using the base on which the brush made of a polyamide resin (nylon) was rubbed was used, and the photoreceptor on which the base was rubbed while applying the alkaline detergent was used in Example 3,
Each of the photoreceptors 4, 7, and 8 showed excellent (⊚) quality,
The photoconductors of Reference Examples 1, 2, 5 and 6 using a substrate which was simply scrubbed with water instead of the alkaline detergent also show good or excellent quality. The photoconductors of Comparative Examples 1 and 2 using the substrate which was ultrasonically cleaned with and not rubbed had poor print quality (x), and Comparative Example 3 and the substrate which was rubbed with a sponge were used. The photoconductor of No. 4 is also referred to as Reference Example 1,
The printing quality is inferior to the photoconductors 2, 5, and 6 . The photoconductor of Comparative Example 5 using a base body that has been scrubbed with an ordinary polyamide resin (nylon) brush containing no abrasive is also printed as compared with the photoconductors of Reference Examples 1, 2, 5 and 6. Poor quality. The effect of scrubbing with a brush made of polyamide resin (nylon) containing an abrasive according to the present invention is clear.

In the above examples, the average particle size of the abrasive contained in the polyamide resin brush was 50 μm and the bristle diameter of the brush was 0.3 mm. However, both the average particle size and the bristle diameter are not limited to this. Not something. Further, the material of the brush is not limited to the polyamide resin, and may be any one that has a hardness that does not damage the surface of the substrate and has a high chemical stability.

The present invention is also effective for a photoreceptor having a structure in which an undercoat layer is interposed between the substrate and the charge generation layer. Further, the photosensitive layer is not limited to the laminated type as described above, and may be a single layer type photosensitive layer.

[0021]

According to the present invention, for electrophotography, a conductive substrate made of a material containing aluminum as a main component is used, and a photosensitive layer containing an organic material as a main component is provided after cleaning the surface of the conductive substrate. In the method of manufacturing an organic photoreceptor,
In the cleaning process of the surface of the conductive substrate, a plastic brush containing an abrasive, especially a polyamide resin brush ,
Include a step of rubbing while applying an aqueous detergent solution . By adopting such a method, it is possible to manufacture an electrophotographic organic photoconductor that can obtain a high quality image even when used in a reversal development type electrophotographic apparatus.

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for producing an organic photoconductor for electrophotography, which comprises using a conductive substrate made of a material containing aluminum as a main component, and cleaning a surface of the conductive substrate, and thereafter providing a photosensitive layer containing an organic material as a main component. In, in the step of cleaning the surface of the conductive substrate, with a plastic brush containing an abrasive ,
A method for producing an organic photoconductor for electrophotography, comprising a step of rubbing while applying an aqueous alkaline detergent solution . 2. The method for producing an organic photoconductor for electrophotography according to claim 1, wherein the plastic brush is a polyamide resin brush. 3. The method for producing an organic photoconductor for electrophotography according to claim 1, wherein the abrasive is silicon carbide. 4. The method for producing an organic photoconductor for electrophotography according to claim 1, wherein the polishing agent is alumina.