Image forming apparatus, image forming method, process cartridge, photoconductor and method of preparing photoconductor

US 6,699,631 B2
Filed: 02/20/2002
Issued: 03/02/2004
Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2001
Status: Active Grant

First Claim

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1. An image forming apparatus comprising a photoconductor having a photoconductive layer provided on a support, and an exposing device for irradiating a surface of said photoconductor imagewise with a coherent light to form an electrostatic latent image thereon, the surface of said photoconductor having such characteristics as to provide I(S) of at least 3.0×

10^−

3, wherein I(S) is given by the following equations;

$\begin{matrix} I (S) = (\frac{1}{N}) \sum_{n = 0}^{N - 1} {S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t})} \\ S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \frac{1}{N} \cdot {\langle X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) \rangle}^{2} \\ X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \sum_{m = 0}^{N - 1} x (m \cdot Δ t) \exp (- i 2 π \cdot \frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t} \cdot m \cdot Δ t) \end{matrix}$ whereinN is a number of samples obtained from a sectional curve of the surface of the photoconductor and is 2^pwhere p is an integer, Δ

t is a sampling interval, in μ

m, at which the N-number of the samples are sampled, said sectional curve being obtained by measuring a profile of the surface through a preset length N·

Δ

t, x(t) is a height of the sectional curve, in μ

m, of a sample at a position t in said preset length, and n and m are integers.

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Abstract

An image forming apparatus including a photoconductor, and an exposing device for irradiating a surface of the photoconductor imagewise with a coherent light to form an electrostatic latent image thereon. The surface of the photoconductor has such roughness as to provide I(S) of at least 3.0×10⁻³, wherein I(S) is given by the following equations: $\begin{matrix} I (S) = (\frac{1}{N}) \sum_{n = 0}^{N - 1} {S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t})} \\ S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \frac{1}{N} \cdot {\langle X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) \rangle}^{2} \\ X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \sum_{m = 0}^{N - 1} x (m \cdot Δ t) \exp (- 2 π \cdot \frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t} \cdot m \cdot Δ t) \end{matrix}$ embedded image

wherein N is a number of samples obtained from a sectional curve of the surface of the photoconductor and is 2^pwhere p is an integer, Δt is a sampling interval, in μm, at which the N-number of the samples are sampled, x(t) is a height of the sectional curve, in μm, of a sample at a position t in the preset length, and n and m are integers. The sectional curve is as obtained by measuring a profile of the surface through a preset length N·Δt.

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38 Claims

1. An image forming apparatus comprising a photoconductor having a photoconductive layer provided on a support, and an exposing device for irradiating a surface of said photoconductor imagewise with a coherent light to form an electrostatic latent image thereon, the surface of said photoconductor having such characteristics as to provide I(S) of at least 3.0×
- 10^−
  
  3, wherein I(S) is given by the following equations;
  
  $\begin{matrix} I (S) = (\frac{1}{N}) \sum_{n = 0}^{N - 1} {S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t})} \\ S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \frac{1}{N} \cdot {\langle X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) \rangle}^{2} \\ X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \sum_{m = 0}^{N - 1} x (m \cdot Δ t) \exp (- i 2 π \cdot \frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t} \cdot m \cdot Δ t) \end{matrix}$ whereinN is a number of samples obtained from a sectional curve of the surface of the photoconductor and is 2^pwhere p is an integer, Δ
  
  t is a sampling interval, in μ
  
  m, at which the N-number of the samples are sampled, said sectional curve being obtained by measuring a profile of the surface through a preset length N·
  
  Δ
  
  t, x(t) is a height of the sectional curve, in μ
  
  m, of a sample at a position t in said preset length, and n and m are integers.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
- - 2. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein I(S) ranges from 5.0×
    - 10^−
      
      3to 150.0×
      
      10^−
      
      3.
  - 3. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein Δ
    - t ranges from 0.01 to 50.00 μ
      
      m and N is at least 2048.
  - 4. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein a ratio of I′
    - (S) to I(S) satisfies with the following condition;
5. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein particles are exposed from the surface of the photoconductor.
6. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein said photoconductive layer comprises a charge transporting layer and wherein the particles have a refractive index which is 0.8 to 1.2 times that of the charge transporting layer.
7. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the particles exposed from the surface of the photoconductor has a particle diameter in the range of 0.01-1.00 μ
- m.
8. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said photoconductive layer having a thickness of 15 μ
- m or less.
9. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said photoconductive layer has an interface on the side of said support, said interface having such characteristics as to provide I(S) of at least 1.5×
- 10^−
  
  3, wherein I(S) is given by the following equations;
  
  $\begin{matrix} I (S) = (\frac{1}{N}) \sum_{n = 0}^{N - 1} {S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t})} \\ S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \frac{1}{N} \cdot {\langle X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) \rangle}^{2} \\ X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \sum_{m = 0}^{N - 1} x (m \cdot Δ t) \exp (- 2 π \cdot \frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t} \cdot m \cdot Δ t) \end{matrix}$ whereinN is a number of samples obtained from a sectional curve of the interface and is 2^pwhere p is an integer, Δ
  
  t is a sampling interval, in μ
  
  m, at which the N-number of the samples are sampled, said sectional curve being obtained by measuring a profile of the interface through a preset length N·
  
  Δ
  
  t, x(t) is a height of the sectional curve, in μ
  
  m, of a sample at a position t in said preset length, and n and m are integers.
10. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein Δ
- t ranges from 0.01 to 50.00 μ
  
  m and N is at least 2048.
11. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said support has a surface on which said photoconductive layer is provided, said surface of said support having such characteristics as to provide I(S) of at least 3.0×
- 10^−
  
  3, wherein I(S) is given by the following equations;
  
  $\begin{matrix} I (S) = (\frac{1}{N}) \sum_{n = 0}^{N - 1} {S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t})} \\ S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \frac{1}{N} \cdot {\langle X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) \rangle}^{2} \\ X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \sum_{m = 0}^{N - 1} x (m \cdot Δ t) \exp (- 2 π \cdot \frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t} \cdot m \cdot Δ t) \end{matrix}$ whereinN is a number of samples obtained from a sectional curve of the surface of said support and is 2^pwhere p is an integer, Δ
  
  t is a sampling interval, in μ
  
  m, at which the N-number of the samples are sampled, said sectional curve being obtained by measuring a profile of the surface of said support through a preset length N·
  
  Δ
  
  t, x(t) is a height of the sectional curve, in μ
  
  m, of a sample at a position t in said preset length, and n and m are integers.
12. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein Δ
- t ranges from 0.01 to 50.00 μ
  
  m and N is at least 2048.
13. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said coherent light has a wavelength of 700 nm or less.
14. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said exposing device is of a type which outputs an image by a multi-level gradation reproducing system.
15. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and configured to produce an image with a resolution of 1000 dpi or higher.
16. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising means for applying a lubricant to the surface of the photoconductor.
17. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein said lubricant is metal soap.
18. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein said metal soap is zinc stearate.
19. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and constructed into a full color image forming machine.
20. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 19, comprising a developing unit for developing the latent image with a developer to form a toner image on the photoconductor, an intermediate transfer member to receive the toner image from the photoconductor, and an image receiving medium to receive the toner image from the intermediate transfer member.
21. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein said intermediate transfer member is an elastic belt.
22. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 19, comprising a plurality of photoconductors for forming a plurality of color toner images, respectively, an intermediate transfer member to receive the color toner images from respective photoconductors to form stacked color toner images, and an image receiving medium to receive the stacked color toner images from the intermediate transfer member.
23. An image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 22, wherein said intermediate transfer member is an elastic belt.

24. An image forming method wherein a coherent light is irradiated on a photoconductor having a photoconductive layer provided on a support to form an electrostatic latent image thereon, the surface of said photoconductor having such characteristics as to provide I(S) of at least 3.0×
- 10^−
  
  3, wherein I(S) is given by the following equations;
  
  $\begin{matrix} I (S) = (\frac{1}{N}) \sum_{n = 0}^{N - 1} {S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t})} \\ S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \frac{1}{N} \cdot {\langle X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) \rangle}^{2} \\ X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \sum_{m = 0}^{N - 1} x (m \cdot Δ t) \exp (- 2 π \cdot \frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t} \cdot m \cdot Δ t) \end{matrix}$ whereinN is a number of samples obtained from a sectional curve of the surface of the photoconductor and is 2^pwhere p is an integer, Δ
  
  t is a sampling interval, in μ
  
  m, at which the N-number of the samples are sampled, said sectional curve being obtained by measuring a profile of the surface through a preset length N·
  
  Δ
  
  t, x(t) is a height of the sectional curve, in μ
  
  m, of a sample at a position t in said preset length, and n and m are integers.
- View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
- - 25. An image forming method as claimed in claim 24, wherein I(S) ranges from 5.0×
    - 10^−
      
      3to 150.0×
      
      10^−
      
      3.
  - 26. An image forming method as claimed in claim 24, wherein Δ
    - t ranges from 0.01 to 50.00 μ
      
      m and N is at least 2048.
  - 27. An image forming method as claimed in claim 24, wherein a ratio of I′
    - (S) to I(S) satisfies with the following condition;
28. An image forming method as claimed in claim 24, wherein particles are exposed from the surface of the photoconductor.
29. An image forming method as claimed in claim 24, wherein said photoconductive layer comprises a charge transporting layer and wherein the particles have a refractive index which is 0.8 to 1.2 times that of the charge transporting layer.
30. An image forming method as claimed in claim 29, wherein the particles exposed from the surface of the photoconductor has a particle diameter in the range of 0.01-1.00 μ
- m.
31. An image forming method as claimed in claim 24, wherein said photoconductive layer having a thickness of 15 μ
- m or less.
32. An image forming method as claimed in claim 24, wherein said photoconductive layer has an interface on the side of said support, said interface having such characteristics as to provide I(S) of at least 1.5×
- 10^−
  
  3, wherein I(S) is given by the following equations;
  
  $\begin{matrix} I (S) = (\frac{1}{N}) \sum_{n = 0}^{N - 1} {S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t})} \\ S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \frac{1}{N} \cdot {\langle X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) \rangle}^{2} \\ X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \sum_{m = 0}^{N - 1} x (m \cdot Δ t) \exp (- 2 π \cdot \frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t} \cdot m \cdot Δ t) \end{matrix}$ whereinN is a number of samples obtained from a sectional curve of the interface and is 2^pwhere p is an integer, Δ
  
  t is a sampling interval, in μ
  
  m, at which the N-number of the samples are sampled, said sectional curve being obtained by measuring a profile of the interface through a preset length N·
  
  Δ
  
  t, x(t) is a height of the sectional curve, in μ
  
  m, of a sample at a position t in said preset length, and n and m are integers.
33. An image forming method as claimed in claim 32, wherein Δ
- t ranges from 0.01 to 50.00 μ
  
  m and N is at least 2048.
34. An image forming method as claimed in claim 24, wherein said support has a surface on which said photoconductive layer is provided, said surface of said support having such characteristics as to provide I(S) of at least 3.0×
- 10^−
  
  3, wherein I(S) is given by the following equations;
  
  $\begin{matrix} I (S) = (\frac{1}{N}) \sum_{n = 0}^{N - 1} {S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t})} \\ S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \frac{1}{N} \cdot {\langle X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) \rangle}^{2} \\ X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \sum_{m = 0}^{N - 1} x (m \cdot Δ t) \exp (- 2 π \cdot \frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t} \cdot m \cdot Δ t) \end{matrix}$ whereinN is a number of samples obtained from a sectional curve of the surface of said support and is 2^pwhere p is an integer, Δ
  
  t is a sampling interval, in μ
  
  m, at which the N-number of the samples are sampled, said sectional curve being obtained by measuring a profile of the surface of said support through a preset length N·
  
  Δ
  
  t, x(t) is a height of the sectional curve, in μ
  
  m, of a sample at a position t in said preset length, and n and m are integers.
35. An image forming method as claimed in claim 34, wherein Δ
- t ranges from 0.01 to 50.00 μ
  
  m and N is at least 2048.

36. A photoconductor comprising a support, and a photoconductive layer provided on said support, said photoconductor having such surface characteristics as to provide I(S) of at least 3.0×
- 10^−
  
  3, wherein I(S) is given by the following equations;
  
  $\begin{matrix} I (S) = (\frac{1}{N}) \sum_{n = 0}^{N - 1} {S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t})} \\ S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \frac{1}{N} \cdot {\langle X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) \rangle}^{2} \\ X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \sum_{m = 0}^{N - 1} x (m \cdot Δ t) \exp (- 2 π \cdot \frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t} \cdot m \cdot Δ t) \end{matrix}$ whereinN is a number of samples obtained from a sectional curve of the surface of the photoconductor and is 2^pwhere p is an integer, Δ
  
  t is a sampling interval, in μ
  
  m, at which the N-number of the samples are sampled, said sectional curve being obtained by measuring a profile of the surface through a preset length N·
  
  Δ
  
  t, x(t) is a height of the sectional curve, in μ
  
  m, of a sample at a position t in said preset length, and n and m are integers.
- View Dependent Claims (37)
- - 37. A process cartridge freely detachable from an image forming apparatus, comprising a photoconductor according to claim 36, and at least one means selected from the group consisting of charging means, image exposure means having a coherent light source, developing means, image transfer means, and cleaning means.

38. A method of producing a photoconductor comprising forming a photoconductive layer on a support such that said photoconductor has surface characteristics providing I(S) of at least 3.0×
- 10^−
  
  3, wherein I(S) is given by the following equations;
  
  $\begin{matrix} I (S) = (\frac{1}{N}) \sum_{n = 0}^{N - 1} {S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t})} \\ S (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \frac{1}{N} \cdot {\langle X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) \rangle}^{2} \\ X (\frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t}) = \sum_{m = 0}^{N - 1} x (m \cdot Δ t) \exp (- 2 π \cdot \frac{n}{N \cdot Δ t} \cdot m \cdot Δ t) \end{matrix}$ whereinN is a number of samples obtained from a sectional curve of the surface of the photoconductor and is 2^pwhere p is an integer, Δ
  
  t is a sampling interval, in μ
  
  m, at which the N-number of the samples are sampled, said sectional curve being obtained by measuring a profile of the surface through a preset length N·
  
  Δ
  
  t, x(t) is a height of the sectional curve, in μ
  
  m, of a sample at a position t in said preset length, and n and m are integers.

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Current Assignee
Ricoh Company Limited
Original Assignee
Ricoh Company Limited
Inventors
Aruga, Tamotsu, Kabata, Toshiyuki, Miyamoto, Yuka
Primary Examiner(s)
Chapman, Mark A.

Application Number

US10/077,756
Publication Number

US 20020160287A1
Time in Patent Office

741 Days
Field of Search

430/56, 430/30, 399/159
US Class Current

430/56
CPC Class Codes

G03G 5/005 Materials for treating the ...

G03G 5/04 Photoconductive layers; Cha...

Image forming apparatus, image forming method, process cartridge, photoconductor and method of preparing photoconductor

First Claim

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Image forming apparatus, image forming method, process cartridge, photoconductor and method of preparing photoconductor

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