Electrophotographic Photosensitive Body Surface Roughness Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrophotographic photosensitive bodies suffer from image defects due to toner additive scraping through gaps between the cleaning blade and the photosensitive drum, leading to contamination of the charging device, and excessive rotation torque caused by surface irregularities.
Innovation Solution
An electrophotographic photosensitive body with a surface roughness characterized by an arithmetic average roughness Ra of 20 nm to 100 nm, a ten-point average roughness Rz of 0.2 μm to 1.0 μm, and an average peak-valley interval Sm of 20 μm or less, which reduces the gap between the cleaning blade and the drum, minimizing additive scraping and torque increase.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the surface irregularities are increased to suppress toner adhesion, then the cleaning performance is improved, but the rotation torque increases and additive scrapes through the gaps
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the surface roughness parameters by controlling the arithmetic average roughness Ra to be 0.03 μm or less and the ten-point average roughness Rz to be 0.15 μm or less. This parameter optimization allows the surface to maintain sufficient cleaning performance while preventing excessive torque increase and additive scraping through the gaps between the cleaning blade and drum surface.
2Reliability
If the surface irregularities are increased to prevent toner adhesion, then the image quality is improved, but the charging device becomes contaminated by additive
Solution Approach 1:
The invention optimizes the surface roughness parameters (Ra ≤ 0.03 μm, Rz ≤ 0.15 μm) to create a surface that effectively prevents toner adhesion and maintains image quality, while simultaneously preventing the scraping through of additive that would contaminate the charging device. The controlled surface irregularities reduce the gap between the cleaning blade and drum surface.
3Productivity
If the surface roughness is increased to reduce toner adhesion, then the cleaning efficiency is improved, but the gap between cleaning blade and drum increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the surface roughness parameters to Ra ≤ 0.03 μm and Rz ≤ 0.15 μm, which maintains sufficient cleaning efficiency by preventing toner adhesion while keeping the surface irregularities small enough to maintain a minimal gap between the cleaning blade and drum surface, preventing additive scraping through.
Data Source
AI summary
This electrophotographic photosensitive body (20) comprises a supporting body (20a) and a photosensitive layer (20b) that is formed on the surface of the supporting body (20a). The surface of the photosensitive layer (20b) has an arithmetic mean roughness Ra within the range of from 20 nm to 100 nm (inclusive), a ten-point average roughness Rz within the range of from 0.2 μm to 1.0 μm (inclusive) and a mean spacing of profile irregularities Sm of 20 μm or less in the initial stage of use.