Radiation imagery chemistry: process – composition – or product th – Electric or magnetic imagery – e.g. – xerography,... – Process of making radiation-sensitive product
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-09
2002-03-05
Chapman, Mark (Department: 1753)
Radiation imagery chemistry: process, composition, or product th
Electric or magnetic imagery, e.g., xerography,...
Process of making radiation-sensitive product
C430S132000, C430S133000, C430S134000, C430S135000, C430S058200, C430S058700
Reexamination Certificate
active
06352809
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a process for producing an electrophotographic photoreceptor using an optically functional coating solution, an electrophotographic photoreceptor and an image-forming apparatus.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
In recent years, optically functional organic materials have attracted much interest in electrophotographic photoreceptors, organic electroluminescence elements, memory elements and wavelength conversion elements in view of the productivity, the ease of material designing and the safety. They have been put to practical use upon making various improvements. From the aspects of stabilization of organic electronic devices and prolongation of their life, for example, materials that do not cause the change in morphology of films owing to Joule heat generated have been required for organic electroluminescence elements. Further, materials having not only a chemical stability to ozone or NO
x
but also a stability to physical stresses such as heat and mechanical forces have been required for electrophotographic photoreceptors. For example, an electrophotographic photoreceptor has been described in detail.
With respect to an electrophotographic photoreceptor, a so-called functionally separated (laminated) structure in which a charge-generating layer and a charge transfer layer are separated has been designed in view of a photoreceptivity and a stability, and it has been put to practical use. The electrophotographic photoreceptor of this structure has two layers, a layer to which a charge-generating material is adhered with an appropriate resin as a binder and a layer obtained by dispersing or dissolving a charge transfer material thereon in a binder resin. The layer containing the charge transfer material contains a hole transfer material in many cases. A thermoplastic resin such as a polycarbonate resin, a polyester resin, an acrylic resin or a polystyrene resin and a thermosetting resin such as a polyurethane resin or an epoxy resin have been studied as the binder. In this case, the surface of the charge transfer layer has to be negatively charged by corona charge or biased-roller charge. There are problems that photoreceptor characteristics are decreased from various causes such as deterioration of a resin with ozone generated at this time, wear by electric shock due to discharge in the surface of the photoreceptor, decrease in photoreceptivity, decrease in chargeability and a mechanical destruction due to abrasion in the subsequent toner development, transfer onto paper and cleaning.
Various studies have been made to cope with these problems. For example, a polysiloxane resin is used as a copolymerizable component or blended with another resin. Specific examples thereof include the use of a thermosetting resin containing a polysiloxane resin in a charge transfer layer (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 238062/1986), a protecting layer containing a polysiloxane resin (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 108260/1987), a protecting layer obtained by dispersing a thermosetting polysiloxane resin in silica gel, a urethane resin or a fluororesin (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 346356/1992), and the use of a resin obtained by dispersing a thermosetting polysiloxane resin in a thermoplastic resin as a binder resin of a protecting layer or a charge transfer material (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 273252/1992). The increase in performance, the prolongation of life and the improvement of the cleaning property on the photoreceptor have been studied upon using characteristics of the polysiloxane.
Although the polysiloxane has characteristics that are not found in other resins, such as a transparency, a resistance to insulation breakdown, a light stability and a low surface energy, a compatibility with organic compounds is extremely poor. For this reason, it has not been singly used as a resin constituting a charge transfer material, but has been used for improving a resin constituting a charge transfer material through copolymerization or blending. For the polysiloxane resin alone to be used as a binder constituting a charge transfer layer, there is a need to find a charge transfer material soluble in a polysiloxane resin. To this end, various studies have been made. Examples thereof include the use of a resin in which a charge transfer agent having an unsaturated bond is directly bound to a polysiloxane such as poly(hydrogenmethylsiloxane) through hydrosilylation as a binder resin of a protecting layer or a charge transfer material (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 319353/1996), the use of an inorganic thin film formed by plasma CVD as a protecting layer (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 333881/1995), the use of a thin film formed by the sol-gel method as a protecting layer (Proceedings of IS & T's Eleventh International Congress on Advances in Non-Impact Printing Technologies, pp. 57 to 59(1995)), and the use of an organosilicon-modified hole-transferring compound in which silicon having a hydrolyzable group is directly introduced in a charge transfer agent as an electrophotographic photoreceptor (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 190004/1997). Of these, the products disclosed in Proceedings of IS & T's Eleventh International Congress on Advances in Non-Impact Printing Technologies, pp. 57 to 59, U.S. Pat. No.2,575,536 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 190004/1997 have drawn high attention because the siloxane forms a three-dimensional network to give a strong film whereby mechanical strengths are greatly improved.
Nevertheless, in Proceedings of IS & T's Eleventh International Congress on Advances in Non-Impact Printing Technologies, pp. 57 to 59, a specific structure of a compound used is not described at all. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 190004/1997 discloses a method in which an unsaturated aliphatic group bound or newly bound to an aromatic group constituting an organosilicon-modified hole-transferring compound and a silane having hydrogen and a hydrolyzable group as a substituent of a silicon atom are linked by a hydrosilylation reaction in the presence of a catalyst made of a platinum compound. However, in this reaction, an isomer different in a bonding position of silicon is formed, and a reductant in which an unsaturated aliphatic group is reduced is easily formed. Thus, as is clear from a spectrum of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 190004/1997, a mixture of plural compounds tends to be provided. When this reductant is used as a charge transfer layer, no siloxane linkage is formed, and strengths of a film are decreased. Further, when column chromatography is conducted for purification of this, the yield is notably reduced owing to the decomposition and the reaction of the organosilicon-modified hole-transferring compound. Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 2575536 discloses specific compounds. It is, however, generally known that characteristics of an electrophotographic photoreceptor are greatly influenced by a molecular structure such as a basic skeleton of compounds used or a polarity of a bonding chain, and the compounds disclosed are still unsatisfactory.
Meanwhile, electron-transferring materials have been assiduously studied in the field of electrophotographic photoreceptors. For example, trinitrofluorenone described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 10496/1975, dicyanomethylenefluorenone derivatives described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 143764/1986, anthraquinone derivatives described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 225151/1986, thiopyrane derivatives described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 222477/1985, fluorenone derivatives described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 279582/1993, 233134/1995 and 258189/1995, benzotiazole or benzoxazole derivatives described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 245601/1996, 283249/1996, 301858/1996 and 286402/1996, benzoquinone derivatives described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 15878/1996, diphenoquinone derivatives described in
Denshishashin Gakkaishi
, vol. 30, No. 3, 266 (1991), imide compound derivatives described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 25136/1993, 25174/1993, 11
Koseki Kazuhiro
Nukada Katsumi
Uesaka Tomozumi
Yamada Wataru
Chapman Mark
Fuji 'Xerox Co., Ltd.
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
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