ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC PHOTOSENSITIVE MEMBER, PROCESS CARTRIDGE, AND ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS

• US 20120243904A1
• Filed: 12/02/2010
• Published: 09/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Okuda, Atsushi, Nishida, Tsutomu
• Granted Patent: US 8,785,089 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 399/111
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 5/056 Polyesters
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 5/0564 Polycarbonates
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 5/0578 Polycondensates comprising silicon atoms in the main chain

Abstract

The present invention provides an electrophotographic photosensitive member, and a process cartridge and an electrophotographic apparatus, each of which has the electrophotographic photosensitive member. In the electrophotographic photosensitive member, a charge transport layer used as a surface layer contains a charge transport material, a polycarbonate resin A which has a specific amount of a specific repeating structural unit of a specific siloxane moiety, and a polyester resin C and/or a polycarbonate resin D, each of which has a specific repeating structural unit. In the charge transport layer, a matrix-domain structure is formed in which a matrix is formed from the charge transport material and the polyester resin C and/or the polycarbonate resin D, and domains are formed in the above matrix from the polycarbonate resin A.

Claims

1. An electrophotographic photosensitive member comprising:

a support;

a charge generation layer provided on the support; and

a charge transport layer which is provided on the charge generation layer, which contains a charge transport material and resins, and which is a surface layer,

wherein the charge transport layer contains the charge transport material, a polycarbonate resin A having a repeating structural unit represented by the following formula (1) or (101), a repeating structural unit represented by the following formula (2), and a repeating structural unit represented by the following formula (3), and at least one of a polyester resin C having a repeating structural unit represented by the following structural unit (C) and a polycarbonate resin D having a repeating structural unit represented by the following formula (D),

the content of a siloxane moiety in the polycarbonate resin A is 10 to 40 percent by mass to the total mass of the polycarbonate resin A,

the content of the repeating structural unit represented by the following formula (2) in the polycarbonate resin A is 5 to 50 percent by mass to the total mass of the polycarbonate resin A, and

the charge transport layer has a matrix-domain structure including a matrix formed from the charge transport material and at least one of the polyester resin C and the polycarbonate resin D and domains formed in the matrix from the polycarbonate resin A,

2. The electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 1, wherein the content of the siloxane moiety of the polycarbonate resin A in the charge transport layer is in a range of 2 to 20 percent by mass to the total mass of the polycarbonate resin A, the polyester resin C, and the polycarbonate resin D, each of which is in the charge transport layer.

3. The electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 1, wherein n in the formula (1) or (101) is in a range of 20 to 100.

4. A process cartridge comprising:

the electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 1; and

at least one unit selected from the group consisting of a charging unit, a developing unit, a transfer unit, and a cleaning unit, wherein the electrophotographic photosensitive member and the at least one unit are integrally supported and are detachably mountable to a main body of an electrophotographic apparatus.

5. An electrophotographic apparatus comprising:

the electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 1, a charging unit, an exposure unit, a developing unit, and a transfer unit.