Electrophotographic photoconductor, and electrophotographic cartridge and electrophotographic imaging apparatus employing the same
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsHwanKoo LEE, Hyeji SONG
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electrophotographic photoconductor in which a surface layer of a photosensitive layer or an overcoat layer has a glass transition temperature Tg greater than 100° C. and a hardness greater than 0.22 GPa. An electrophotographic cartridge and an electrophotographic imaging apparatus include the electrophotographic photoconductor. Flipping-over of a cleaning blade that comes into contact with the electrophotographic photoconductor may be effectively suppressed or prevented, the degree of freedom in terms of cleaning blade selection may be increased, and the possibility of causing high-frequency noise due to friction may be reduced.
Claims15
An electrophotographic photoconductor, comprising:
- an electroconductive support;
- and
- a photosensitive layer on the electroconductive support comprising one or more layers, a top layer of the photosensitive layer among the one or more layers of the photosensitive layer having properties that satisfy conditions (1) and (2) below:
- Tg>100° C. (1), and
- hardness>0.22 GPa (2),
- wherein Tg denotes a glass transition temperature of the photosensitive layer.
The electrophotographic photoconductor of claim 3, wherein
- the charge transport layer or the monolayer-type photosensitive layer further comprises a binder resin,
- a mass ratio (A/B) of the charge transporting material (A) of the charge transport layer to the binder resin (B) of the charge transport layer is in a range of about 10/10 to about 10/30, and
- a mass ratio (A/B) of the charge transporting material (A) of the monolayer-type photosensitive layer to the binder resin (B) of the monolayer-type photosensitive layer is in a range of about 10/10 to about 10/30.
An electrophotographic cartridge for an electrophotographic imaging apparatus, comprising:
- an electrophotographic photoconductor;
- and
- at least one device selected from the group consisting of a charging device to charge the electrophotographic photoconductor, a developing device to form a visible image by developing the electrostatic image formed on the electrophotographic photoconductor, or a cleaning device to clean a surface of the electrophotographic photoconductor,
- wherein
- the electrophotographic photoconductor comprises:
- an electroconductive support, and
- a photosensitive layer on the electroconductive support comprising one or more layers, a top layer of the photosensitive layer among the one or more layers of the photosensitive layer having properties that satisfy conditions (1) and (2) below:
- Tg>100° C. (1), and
- hardness>0.22 GPa (2),
- wherein Tg denotes a glass transition temperature of the photosensitive layer,
- or
- the electrophotographic photoconductor comprises:
- an electroconductive support,
- a photosensitive layer on the electroconductive support comprising one or more layers, and
- an overcoat layer is a top layer of the photosensitive layer among the one or more layers of the photosensitive layer, the overcoat layer having properties that satisfy conditions (1) and (2).
An electrophotographic imaging apparatus, comprising:
- an electrophotographic photoconductor;
- a charging device to charge the electrophotographic photoconductor;
- an exposure device to form an electrostatic image on a surface of the electrophotographic photoconductor;
- a developing device to form a visible image by developing the electrostatic image;
- a transfer device to transfer the visible image onto an image-receiving member;
- and
- a cleaning device to clean the surface of the electrophotographic photoconductor after the transfer of the visible image,
- wherein
- the electrophotographic photoconductor comprises:
- an electroconductive support, and
- a photosensitive layer on the electroconductive support comprising one or more layers, a top layer of the photosensitive layer among the one or more layers of the photosensitive layer having properties that satisfy conditions (1) and (2) below:
- Tg>100° C. (1), and
- hardness>0.22 GPa (2),
- wherein Tg denotes a glass transition temperature of the photosensitive layer,
- or
- the electrophotographic photoconductor comprises:
- an electroconductive support,
- a photosensitive layer on the electroconductive support comprising one or more layers, and
- an overcoat layer is a top layer of the photosensitive layer among the one or more layers of the photosensitive layer, the overcoat layer having properties that satisfy conditions (1) and (2).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.