JP2007292772A - Method and system of evaluating surface roughness of image forming apparatus component, and method and system for cutting - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To highly sensitively and correctly know a local change or modification of a surface to be measured in measuring surface roughness of an image forming apparatus component such as a substratum for use of an electrophotographic photoreceptor. <P>SOLUTION: A profile curve defined in JIS B0601 is calculated on a surface condition of the image forming apparatus component such as the electrophotographic photoreceptor substratum. Multiple resolution analysis such as wavelet transformation of a positional data row in the surface roughness direction at equal intervals on the profile curve is performed, and the surface roughness condition is evaluated based on the results. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a surface roughness evaluation method and an evaluation system for parts for image forming apparatuses, and more particularly to a method for evaluating the surface roughness of parts for image forming apparatuses, which is suitable for evaluation of the surface roughness of a substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor. And an evaluation system.
The present invention also relates to a cutting method and a cutting processing system for parts for an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a cutting method and a cutting system that are particularly suitable for application to surface processing of an electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate. .

  In an electrophotographic apparatus, when a coherent light source such as a laser is used as a writing light source, there is a problem that interference fringes are generated in an image. The cause of this is that when coherent light is incident on the photosensitive layer, the amount of light contributing to image formation varies depending on the interference state between the incident light and the reflected light. As a countermeasure against this, a method of roughening the surface of the substrate is widely used. For example, in JP-A-5-224437 (electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate and surface treatment method thereof), fine frozen particles obtained by freezing water vapor are sprayed onto the gas surface to remove contaminants on the substrate surface, The surface of the substrate is roughened, and the electrophotographic photosensitive member formed using the substrate treated by this surface treatment method can prevent the formation of interference fringes due to laser light.

  As described above, the roughness of the surface of the substrate is important for the image quality, but conventionally, it has been often determined by measuring the surface roughness defined in JIS B0601 or the like. Widely used measurement methods include arithmetic average roughness (Ra), maximum height (Rmax), ten-point average roughness (Rz), and the like.

For example, as an example of evaluating the surface of the substrate by this surface roughness measurement method, an aluminum cylinder made by ironing or cold drawing in JP-A-5-72785 (electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate and method for producing the same). An aluminum cylindrical substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member, wherein the surface of the substrate has streaks in the axial direction of the substrate over the entire circumference, and Rmax in the circumferential direction on the surface is 0.2 to 3 μm, and a method for producing the same Has proposed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-76395 (aluminum substrate for a photoreceptor in an electrophotographic apparatus) is an aluminum substrate (substrate) for a photoreceptor in an electrophotographic apparatus in which a light emitting diode is used as a light source, and the surface roughness Rz is 0. Proposes a base that is defined as 8 μm or less. In JP-A-6-138585 (electrophotographic photosensitive member), in an electrophotographic photosensitive member having at least a photosensitive layer and a surface protective layer on a conductive support (substrate), the surface roughness Rz of the conductive support. Has been proposed to be 0.01 μm or more and 0.5 μm or less, and the surface protective layer has a surface roughness Rz of 0.2 μm or more and 1.2 μm or less.

  However, any of the above surface roughness measurement methods has a problem that the surface roughness necessary for image interference fringe countermeasures cannot be defined.

  In addition, in the definition of surface roughness Ra, Rz, etc. used as the conventional surface roughness expression method, there is a problem that the surface roughness is greatly increased in calculation when there are peaks and valleys that are out of the measurement length. . In order to solve such a problem, methods for defining the surface roughness by various methods have been studied. Next, I will introduce it.

  In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-104497, on the cross-sectional curve obtained by measuring the surface shape with a surface roughness measuring device, a partition width centered on the average line is defined, and adjacent peaks and valleys exceeding this partition width are defined. The surface shape is evaluated based on the number of pairs of peaks per unit length, and a substrate is proposed in which the number of peaks is 100 or less when the partition width is 20 μm and the unit length is 1 cm by such a method. However, such a method is not sufficient as a method for evaluating the surface roughness, and even if the above evaluation method has a sufficient value, an abnormal image may occur when a photoconductor is actually produced.

  In view of this, the present inventors have proposed a method for evaluating the surface roughness by Fourier transform in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2001-265014 and 2001-289630. However, in the Fourier transform, a change that frequently appears in the cross-sectional curve can be grasped as the frequency distribution, but a more effective one has been desired for examining a change with a low frequency. That is, even if there are several sharp peaks and valleys in the cross-sectional curve, there is a problem that it is difficult to appear in the spectrum by Fourier transform. Further, the result of Fourier transform has a problem that it is not known where the change has occurred. If there are several such sharp peaks and valleys on the electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate, there is a problem of image defects, but this cannot be detected by the conventional surface roughness method and the Fourier transform method.

  Because of these problems, conventionally, when measuring the surface roughness, the recording chart of the surface roughness meter was saved and judged from the cutting waveform recorded on the recording chart. There was a problem that had to be read and required skill.

As described above, the conventional surface roughness (Ra, Rmax, Rz) evaluation method has a problem that local changes and variations in the measurement target surface cannot be accurately and accurately grasped.
In addition, as described above, in the Fourier transform, a change that appears frequently in a signal can be grasped as the frequency distribution, but there is a problem that is not effective for examining a change with a low frequency. Further, the result of Fourier transform has a problem that it is not known where the change has occurred.

  On the other hand, a photosensitive layer is provided on a rotating drum-shaped electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate (hereinafter abbreviated as “substrate” as appropriate) widely used in electrophotographic apparatuses such as electrophotographic copying machines, digital copiers, and laser printers. As a base material constituting the electrophotographic photosensitive member, an aluminum-based material is preferably used because of advantages such as low cost, light weight, and ease of processing. A rotating drum-shaped substrate made of this aluminum material is generally finished by cutting the surface of a tubular material.

  Here, for cutting the surface of the cylindrical body, the base is rotated, the cutting tool is moved by moving the cutting tool in the axial direction of the base, and the base is fixed, and the periphery of the cutting tool is cut. There is a method of cutting by rotating. For example, the former method is introduced as a normal lathe in the precision engineering course 11 cutting engineering published by Corona Co., and as a method for processing a substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member, Japanese Patent Publication No. 3215829, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2795357, 7-77814, and JP-A-8-276301. The latter method is introduced in JP-A-6-328301 and JP-A-6-32830.

  In general, a lathe has a headstock for imparting rotation to the workpiece and a tailstock for supporting the other end of the workpiece relative to this, and a reciprocation for attaching and feeding a tool. There is a table (tool post). Working conditions such as the angle of each part of the cutting tool, cutting speed, feed, etc. when using a cutting tool on such a lathe, the chip generation mechanism, cutting resistance, cutting temperature, cutting tool life, cutting surface roughness Affects chatter vibration.

When manufacturing parts used in an image forming apparatus by cutting, particularly a substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor, a good cutting surface free from cutting chatter and cutting lines is required.
Here, it is known that chatter vibration generated during cutting includes forced chatter vibration and self-excited chatter vibration. Possible causes of forced chatter vibration include unbalanced rotating bodies and vibration due to the structure of the lathe. The cause of self-excited chatter vibration is thought to be due to fluctuations in cutting resistance and the resulting vibration characteristics of the lathe, tool and workpiece.

  As described above, problems such as chatter and streaks occur in the cutting process, so Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 8-336706, 9-29503, 9-80914, 9-192959, 9-923439 are disclosed. Many methods such as JP-A-10-58212, JP-A-10-71501, and JP-A-11-188565 have been studied. However, none of them were perfect.

  As a method for evaluating an object caused by such trouble in cutting, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-266749 “Diagnosis Method for Abnormality in Cutting” is an abnormality that can accurately identify the cause of abnormality in cutting from vibration of the cutting tool. As a diagnostic method, from the rotational vibration and radial acceleration vibration of the cutting tool, dimensional and dimensionless characteristic parameter X, effective value Xrms, peak value Xp, crest factor C, degree of distortion β1, kurtosis β2, crossover frequency No, The extreme value frequency Nm, stationary degree α, sway degree ε, and primary and secondary average frequencies f1 and f2 are obtained under recommended cutting conditions and actual machining conditions, and these values are sampled about 10 times and averaged. And a standard deviation are calculated, and then an identification index DI representing a difference between the two distributions is calculated, and the cause is specified by a combination of characteristic parameters of two or more abnormal values of the identification index. However, this evaluation method is complicated in processing, and there is a problem that an abnormality cannot be diagnosed by itself.

  The quality required of the electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate is extremely high, and even when the above-described chattering and streaking measures are taken, chattering and streaking may still occur. Thus, several methods for inspecting the cut surface after cutting have been proposed.

JP-A-8-105732 “Grinding surface inspection device” supports an object to be ground on a work cradle as a device for easily and reliably judging the presence or absence of chatter on a grinding surface when the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical member is ground. In addition, while projecting light toward the grinding surface from the light projecting portion arranged above, if reflected light is projected onto the projection surface, and chattering occurs on the grinding surface, a striped shadow is projected on the projection surface. The presence or absence of chatter is judged by the presence or absence of the shadow. However, although this method can perform inspection after cutting, it cannot grasp the cutting state during cutting.
As described above, the conventional cutting process cannot prevent sudden chatter and streaks, and it is difficult to detect during the process.

JP-A-5-224437 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-72785 JP-A-8-76395 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-138685 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-104497 JP 2001-265014 A JP 2001-289630 A Japanese Patent No. 3215829 Japanese Patent No. 2795357 JP-A-7-77814 JP-A-8-276301 JP-A-6-328301 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-32830 JP-A-8-336706 JP-A-9-29503 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-80914 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-192959 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-234639 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-58212 JP-A-10-71501 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-188565 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-276749 JP-A-8-105732

  In view of this, the present invention provides a method for making it possible to accurately and accurately grasp a local change or variation of a measurement target surface in the measurement of the surface roughness of a part for an image forming apparatus such as a substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor. It is an object of the present invention to provide an evaluation method and an evaluation system. In addition, the present invention relates to a part for an image forming apparatus such as a base for an electrophotographic photosensitive member, in particular, when a base for an electrophotographic photosensitive member is formed by cutting an aluminum or aluminum alloy tube. Another problem is to provide a cutting method and a cutting system that can accurately grasp and accurately detect the occurrence of cutting abnormalities such as chatter and streaks, and can create a cutting surface of good quality. And

According to the first invention of the present application, the above problem is solved by the following technical means.
(1) Obtain the cross-sectional curve defined in JIS B0601 for the surface condition of the parts for the image forming apparatus, perform multi-resolution analysis of the position data string in the surface roughness direction at equally spaced positions on the cross-sectional curve, and at least the result A surface roughness evaluation method for a part for an image forming apparatus, characterized in that a surface roughness state is evaluated based on the evaluation result. According to this method, it is possible to detect a local change or variation in the cross-sectional curve that could not be detected by the method using the surface roughness Rz, Ra, Rmax or the like.

(2) The method for evaluating the surface roughness of a part for an image forming apparatus according to (1), wherein the multiresolution analysis method is wavelet transform. In this method, since the multi-resolution analysis method is wavelet transform, it is possible to perform multi-resolution analysis at high speed and accurately. Thus, the method using surface roughness Rz, Ra, Rmax and the like cannot be detected. It can detect local changes and mutations in the cross-sectional curve.

(3) The method for evaluating the surface roughness of a part for an image forming apparatus as described in (1) above, wherein the multiresolution analysis method is band-pass filtering or short-time fast Fourier transform. In this method, since the multi-resolution analysis method is based on a band-pass filter, it is possible to perform multi-resolution analysis at high speed and accurately, and this cannot be detected by the method using surface roughness Rz, Ra, Rmax, or the like. It is possible to detect local changes and variations in the cross-sectional curve.

(4) Obtain the cross-sectional curve defined in JIS B0601 for the surface condition of the image forming apparatus component, obtain the Wigner distribution of the position data row in the surface roughness direction at equal intervals on the cross-sectional curve, and at least based on the result A method for evaluating the surface roughness of a component for an image forming apparatus, wherein the surface roughness is evaluated. In this method, since the Wigner distribution is obtained and the surface roughness state is evaluated based on the result, in the same manner as described above, in the cross-sectional curve that could not be detected by the method using the surface roughness Rz, Ra, Rmax, etc. Can detect certain local changes and mutations.

(5) The method for evaluating the surface roughness of an image forming apparatus component according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the image forming apparatus component is an electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate. In this method, it is possible to detect local changes and variations in the cross-sectional curve that could not be detected by the method using the surface roughness Rz, Ra, Rmax, etc. with respect to the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate.

(6) The image forming apparatus according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the image forming apparatus component is an electrophotographic photosensitive member in which a coating layer is formed on a base for an electrophotographic photosensitive member. Surface roughness evaluation method for parts for forming apparatus. In this method, the electrophotographic photosensitive member in which the coating layer is formed on the substrate for the electrophotographic photosensitive member has a cross-sectional curve that cannot be detected by the method using the surface roughness Rz, Ra, Rmax or the like. Local changes and mutations can be detected.

(7) The image forming apparatus according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the component for the image forming apparatus is a charging roller for an electrophotographic apparatus, a developing roller, a fixing roller, a transfer belt, or a conveying belt. Method for evaluating the surface roughness of equipment parts. In this method, local portions of the charging roller, developing roller, fixing roller, transfer belt, or conveying belt for an electrophotographic apparatus that are in a cross-sectional curve that cannot be detected by the method using surface roughness Rz, Ra, Rmax, etc. Changes and mutations can be detected.

(8) The surface roughness evaluation method according to any one of (1) to (7) above, a ten-point average roughness (Rz), an arithmetic average roughness (Ra), and a maximum height (Rmax) defined in JIS B0601 The surface roughness evaluation method for parts for an image forming apparatus, wherein the surface roughness is evaluated with at least one of the above.
In this method, as described above, it is possible to detect local changes and mutations in the cross-sectional curve that could not be detected by the method based only on the surface roughness Rz, Ra, Rmax and the like.

(9) The surface roughness is determined by comparing the evaluation result of the surface roughness evaluation method according to any one of (1) to (8) with a predetermined criterion. Method for evaluating surface roughness of parts for image forming apparatus. In this method, since the evaluation information is determined by comparing with separately provided criteria, accurate evaluation is possible.

(10) A sensor for measuring the surface roughness for measuring the surface roughness of the parts for the image forming apparatus, an electric circuit for amplifying a signal from the sensor, and a function for wavelet transforming the electric signal output from the electric circuit A surface roughness evaluation system for parts for an image forming apparatus, comprising: hardware or software having a surface, a surface roughness measurement sensor, and a mechanism for relatively moving a measurement target. In this system, the evaluation method can be executed at high speed and accurately.

(11) A sensor for measuring the surface roughness for measuring the surface roughness of the parts for the image forming apparatus, an electric circuit for amplifying a signal from the sensor, and a band-pass filter process for the electric signal output from the electric circuit Or a surface roughness of a component for an image forming apparatus, comprising: hardware or software having a function of performing a fast Fourier transform process for a short time; a surface roughness measuring sensor; and a mechanism for relatively moving a measurement target. Evaluation system. In this system, the evaluation method can be executed at high speed and accurately as in the above system.

(12) A sensor for measuring the surface roughness for measuring the surface roughness of the parts for the image forming apparatus, an electric circuit for amplifying a signal from the sensor, and a Wigner distribution of the electric signal output from the electric circuit. A surface roughness evaluation system for parts for an image forming apparatus, comprising: hardware or software having a function; a surface roughness measurement sensor; and a mechanism for relatively moving a measurement target. In this system, the evaluation method can be executed at high speed and accurately as in the above system.

(13) A substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member, characterized by being evaluated by the surface roughness evaluation method according to any one of (1) to (4) and (9). Since the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate is evaluated by the surface roughness evaluation method, it is possible to inspect minute variations and changes in the surface, and therefore, a good image can be obtained when used for an electrophotographic photoreceptor. Can be formed.

(14) An electrophotographic photoreceptor evaluated by the surface roughness evaluation method according to any one of (1) to (4) and (9). Since this electrophotographic photoreceptor uses the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate of (13), a good image can be formed.

(15) An electrophotographic apparatus comprising the electrophotographic photosensitive member according to (14).
Since this electrophotographic apparatus uses the electrophotographic photosensitive member (14), a good image can be formed.

(16) A vibration sensor is attached to a cutting tool or a cutting tool mounting jig, and the vibration of the cutting tool is measured by the vibration sensor during cutting, and two-dimensional array data corresponding to the cutting surface is created from the measurement signal. Then, the two-dimensional array data is evaluated, or a signal analysis of the two-dimensional array data is performed to evaluate, and the cutting is performed while grasping the cutting state. Cutting method. According to this method, it becomes possible to detect mutations and abnormalities that could not be found by one-dimensional vibration of cutting. Therefore, the workpiece can be cut while accurately grasping the state of the cut surface, and a high-quality workpiece can be obtained.

(17) The method for cutting a part for an image forming apparatus according to (16), wherein the analysis method of the created two-dimensional array data is two-dimensional Fourier transform. In this method, since the analysis method of the two-dimensional array data is the two-dimensional Fourier transform, a highly accurate evaluation can be performed.

(18) The method for cutting a part for an image forming apparatus according to (16), wherein the analysis method of the created two-dimensional array data is a two-dimensional multi-resolution analysis. In this method, since the analysis method of the created two-dimensional array data is two-dimensional multi-resolution analysis, it is possible to analyze the evaluation target two-dimensional data for each frequency range, and it is possible to evaluate with high accuracy.

(19) The method for cutting a part for an image forming apparatus according to (18), wherein the method of two-dimensional multi-resolution analysis is discrete two-dimensional wavelet transform. In this method, since the analysis method of the two-dimensional array data is discrete two-dimensional wavelet transform, high-speed and high-precision evaluation can be performed.

(20) Two-dimensional data created by measuring vibration is subjected to discrete two-dimensional wavelet transform, and further, a part of the result of the discrete two-dimensional wavelet transform is removed or processed, and two-dimensional wavelet inverse transform is performed. The method of cutting a part for an image forming apparatus according to (19), wherein the result is analyzed and evaluated. In this method, excess or excessive information is removed by inverse wavelet transform, and therefore, high-speed and high-precision evaluation is possible.

(21) The method for cutting a part for an image forming apparatus according to (18), wherein the two-dimensional multiresolution analysis method is a method using a bandpass filter. In this method, since the method of two-dimensional multi-resolution analysis of the created two-dimensional array data is a method using a bandpass filter, high-speed and high-precision evaluation can be performed.

(22) The method for cutting a part for an image forming apparatus according to (18), wherein the two-dimensional multi-resolution analysis method is short-time fast Fourier transform. In this method, since the method of two-dimensional multi-resolution analysis of the created two-dimensional array data is short-time fast Fourier transform, high-speed and high-precision evaluation can be performed.

(23) The cutting method according to any one of (16) to (22), wherein the workpiece is aluminum or an aluminum alloy. In this method, even if the material to be cut is aluminum or an aluminum alloy, since the cutting method shown in any one of (16) to (22) is adopted, it is possible to evaluate cutting with high accuracy. .

(24) The cutting method according to any one of (16) to (23), wherein the workpiece is an electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate. In this method, even if the workpiece is an electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate that requires high quality, the cutting method shown in any one of (16) to (23) is used. High cutting evaluation becomes possible.

(25) A lathe, a vibration sensor for detecting vibration of a cutting tool used in the lathe, a storage device for recording a signal from the vibration sensor, or a memory for recording two-dimensional data created from the signal from the vibration sensor A cutting apparatus comprising: an apparatus; and hardware or software for performing discrete two-dimensional wavelet transform. According to this apparatus, the cutting according to said (16)-(24) is attained.

(26) A base for an electrophotographic photosensitive member produced by the cutting method according to any one of (16) to (24). Since the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate is prepared by the cutting method described in any one of (16) to (24), it is a high-quality substrate free from cutting defects and cutting abnormalities.

(27) An electrophotographic photosensitive member using the electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate according to (26). Since the electrophotographic photoreceptor of the present invention uses the electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate described in (26), it becomes a high-quality photoreceptor.
(28) An electrophotographic apparatus equipped with the electrophotographic photosensitive member according to (27). Since this electrophotographic apparatus is equipped with the electrophotographic photosensitive member (27), it becomes a high quality electrophotographic apparatus.

According to the first invention of the present application, it is possible to grasp a local change or minute variation of a measurement target surface that cannot be grasped by the conventional surface roughness evaluation method, that is, Rz, Ra, Rmax, and an image abnormality occurs. Therefore, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of forming a uniform and high-quality image.
According to the second invention of the present application, in cutting of parts for an image forming apparatus, in particular, aluminum or aluminum alloy pipes, the cutting state is accurately grasped, and cutting is performed while detecting occurrence of cutting defects or cutting abnormalities. Since processing can be performed, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus component having a cutting surface of good quality, and thus an image forming apparatus capable of forming a uniform and high quality image.

  The present invention will be described in detail below. First, the first invention of the present application will be described. In the surface roughness evaluation technique according to the first invention of the present application, a sectional curve defined in JIS B0601 is obtained for the surface state of the image forming apparatus component, and a position data string in the surface roughness direction at equal intervals on the sectional curve. And the surface roughness state is evaluated based on at least the result. In the first invention of the present application, specifically, the image forming apparatus component is evaluated by the following method. First, the state of the evaluation target surface is measured with a surface roughness meter, and a cross-sectional curve shown in JIS B0601 is obtained. This cross-sectional curve can be regarded as a one-dimensional data array, that is, a one-dimensional signal. This can be obtained from the surface roughness meter as an analog or digital electrical signal.

  Only the frequency component to be measured is filtered as necessary from the signal thus measured. If the signal is an analog signal, A / D conversion is performed to convert it into a digital signal. When A / D conversion is performed, the resolution is at least 8 bits or more, preferably 10 bits or more. The A / D conversion speed may be appropriately selected according to the system specifications. Hundreds or tens of thousands of data digitized in this way are temporarily stored in a memory.

Next, this data is subjected to multiresolution analysis by various methods, or a Wigner distribution is obtained and evaluated. Multi-resolution analysis is a method of analyzing the temporal transition of fluctuations simultaneously while analyzing the spectrum in the frequency domain. For example, “Wavelet analysis” written by Ryuichi Kanno and Shino Yamamoto, June 1997, published by Kyoritsu Shuppan Yes. In the present invention, multi-resolution analysis can be performed by various methods, and as described in the claims, wavelet transform, processing by a band pass filter, and processing by short-time fast Fourier transform can be used.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration example of a surface roughness evaluation apparatus for image forming apparatus parts to which the first invention of the present application is applied. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a measurement object such as a substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member or an object having an undercoat layer formed on the surface thereof, 2 is a jig to which a probe for measuring surface roughness is attached, and 3 is the jig 2 described above. 4 is a surface roughness meter, and 5 is a personal computer that performs signal analysis. In this figure, the personal computer 5 performs the above multi-resolution analysis and Wigner distribution calculation.

  This figure is shown as an example, and the configuration may be other configurations. For example, multiresolution analysis and Wigner distribution calculation may be performed by a dedicated numerical calculation processor instead of a personal computer. Moreover, you may perform this process with the surface roughness meter itself. Various methods can be used to display the results, and the results may be displayed on a CRT or a liquid crystal screen, or may be printed out. Further, it may be transmitted as an electrical signal to another device, or may be stored on a floppy disk or an MO disk.

  Next, a signal processing method in the first invention of the present application will be briefly described. First, a short-time Fourier transform (Short Time Fourier Transform) is a method conceived for capturing a temporal change in the frequency component of an unsteady signal, and a signal is cut out and Fourier-transformed every short time. In Fourier transform, it is necessary to reduce the number of samples (to shorten the extraction time length) in order to improve the accuracy, but in this case, the accuracy (frequency resolution) with respect to the frequency is lowered. In short-time Fourier transform, the time resolution is improved while maintaining the necessary frequency resolution by setting the length of the cut-out time window and the length of the Fourier transform separately. The distribution of absolute square values as a result of the short-time Fourier transform is referred to as a spectrogram. Here, the short-time Fourier transform may be a short-time fast Fourier transform obtained by speeding up the processing algorithm.

Next, a method using wavelet transform will be described. The wavelet transform of the function f (t) is expressed by (Equation 2).
here,
W (b, a) Wavelet transform ψ (t) Mother wavelet a Scale parameter b This is a translation parameter.
(Equation 1) is a wavelet transform of a continuous function, that is, a continuous wavelet transform. In the present invention, since sampling is performed at a constant interval, it is a discrete system and performs discrete wavelet transform. In the discrete wavelet transform, the wavelet coefficients c _{j, k} are expressed by (Equation 2).
It is. Further, the scaling coefficient d _{j, k} is expressed by (Equation 3).
In (Equation 3), φ (t) is a scaling function. Further, in (Equation 2) and (Equation 3), j is a level, which indicates the layer number that is the resolution for the original signal. The wavelet coefficients c _{j, k} indicate the frequency and time distribution of the signal. The scaling function d _{j, k} is a discretized representation of the j-th resolution of the original signal.

In the discrete wavelet transform, data is calculated by (Equation 4).
In (Equation 4), coefficient groups p and q are transformation bases for wavelet transformation, and have functions of a low-pass filter and a high-pass filter, respectively. Therefore, the (j + 1) -th order scaling coefficient d _{j + 1, k} is a resolution expression one level lower than the j-th order scaling coefficient d _{j, k} , and the analyzable frequency and temporal resolution are ½ of the j-th order. Become.

On the other hand, the (j + 1) -th order wavelet coefficient c _{j + 1, k} is obtained by passing the j-th order scaling coefficient d _{j, k} through a high-pass filter, and the frequency component between the scaling coefficient d _{j + 1, k} and d _{j, k} is obtained. Will represent.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a processing flow of wavelet transformation. The original signal 10 (Source Signal) is passed through a high-pass filter (HPF), and every other data is thinned out (SS). H component to be obtained. The original signal 10 (Source Signal) is passed through a low-pass filter (LPF), and every other data is thinned out (SS) to obtain a signal 12. The signal 12 obtained in this way is passed through a high-pass filter (HPF), and another data is thinned out (SS) to obtain the LH component (LH part) indicated by the signal 13. Further, the signal 12 is passed through a low-pass filter (LPF), and a process (SS) for thinning out every other data is performed to obtain a signal 14. The signal 14 obtained in this way is passed through a high-pass filter (HPF), and another data is thinned out (SS) to obtain an LLH component (LLH part) indicated by the signal 15. Further, the signal 14 is passed through a low-pass filter (LPF), and processing (SS) for thinning out every other data is performed to obtain an LLL component (LLL part) indicated by the signal 16. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the result of performing the multi-resolution analysis processing in this way, and the original signal is decomposed into four components of LLL component, LLH component, LH component, and H component.

  Here, the wavelet transform can be classified into an orthogonal wavelet transform and a non-orthogonal wavelet transform, and any of these may be used.

  In the orthogonal wavelet transform, only a real number is often used as the wavelet function. As the wavelet function, a Daubecies function, a Harr function, a Meyer function, a Simlet function, a Coiflet function, and the like can be used. Here, “Daubecies” may be expressed as “Dovesy”. In these orthogonal wavelet transforms, information corresponding to intensity can be obtained by performing envelope processing on the calculated absolute value using a low-pass filter or the like.

  Some non-orthogonal wavelet functions use complex wavelets and real wavelets. A complex wavelet function is a Gaussian wavelet function. When this complex wavelet function is used, intensity can be obtained by calculating an absolute value for the wavelet transform result. As the real wavelet function, there are a Mexican hat function, a French hat function, and the like, but the intensity cannot be obtained even if the absolute value is calculated with respect to the wavelet transform result obtained by using this function. However, it is possible to obtain a value corresponding to the intensity by performing envelope processing on the calculated absolute value with a low-pass filter or the like.

  The square absolute value of the wavelet transform result is called a scalogram, and can also be shown as a scalogram. The spectrogram obtained from the short-time Fourier transform is a constant frequency band analysis, whereas the spectrogram based on the wavelet transform is a constant log bandwidth analysis.

  Next, a process using a band-pass filter is a method in which several types of band-pass filters are prepared in advance, and signals are sequentially passed through these filters to perform multi-resolution analysis of signals. In the method using the band pass filter, the signal does not need to be a digital signal, and may be an analog signal. The band-pass filter processing of analog signals has an advantage that the processing speed can be increased.

Finally, the Wigner distribution will be described. The Wigner distribution of the time signal f (t) is expressed by (Equation 5).
Here, * indicates a complex conjugate. The Wigner distribution may be referred to as a Wigner-Ville distribution. In the present invention, the signal is a function of position, but it can be read as a function of time to calculate the Wigner distribution.

  These band pass filter processing, wavelet transform, short-time Fourier transform, and Wigner distribution calculation can be performed by various methods. For example, in the case of software, mathematica can be calculated using Wavelet Explore, which is possible with a package that performs wavelet transform. In MATLAB, calculation can be performed using a wavelet transform package (Wavelet Tool Box). Further, calculation is possible even by programming in C language or the like, and calculation is also possible by a dedicated numerical operation processor.

  In the present invention, the bandpass filter processing result, the wavelet transformation result, the short-time Fourier transformation result, and the Wigner distribution calculation result are determined separately by collating and comparing with the normal measurement result or the non-normal result. It can be carried out.

  In the measurement by the present inventor, the surface roughness meter uses a surfcom 570A manufactured by Tokyo Seimitsu Co., Ltd., the personal computer uses a personal computer manufactured by IBM, and the RS-232-C cable between the surfcom 570A and IBM personal computer. Connected with. Processing of surface roughness data sent from Surfcom to a personal computer, its multi-resolution analysis, calculation of Wigner distribution, etc. were performed with software created in C language.

  Hereinafter, a configuration example of an electrophotographic photosensitive member using an electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate evaluated by the surface roughness evaluation method according to the present invention and an electrophotographic apparatus equipped with the electrophotographic photosensitive member will be described. The electrophotographic apparatus includes an electrophotographic process cartridge, which will be described later, in a narrow sense.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the layer structure of the electrophotographic photosensitive member according to the present invention. The electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate (hereinafter also simply referred to as a substrate) 21 is interposed on the undercoat layer 22. Thus, the charge generation layer 23 mainly composed of the charge generation material and the charge transport layer 4 mainly composed of the charge transport material are stacked. Further, FIG. 5 shows a configuration in which a protective layer 25 is provided on the charge transport layer 24.

The conductive substrate (support) 21, shows the following conductive volume resistivity 10 ¹⁰ [Omega] cm, for example, aluminum, nickel, chromium, nichrome, copper, gold, silver, metals such as platinum, tin oxide, indium oxide Metal oxide such as film or cylindrical plastic or paper coated by vapor deposition or sputtering, or a plate of aluminum, aluminum alloy, nickel, stainless steel, etc. After pipe formation, pipes that have been surface-treated by cutting, superfinishing, polishing, or the like can be used. Further, an endless nickel belt and an endless stainless steel belt disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 52-36016 can also be used as the conductive substrate 21.

  In addition, the conductive base material 21 of the present invention can also be obtained by dispersing conductive powder on the base material and dispersing it in an appropriate binder resin. Examples of the conductive powder include carbon black, acetylene black, metal powder such as aluminum, nickel, iron, nichrome, copper, zinc, and silver, or metal oxide powder such as conductive tin oxide and ITO. It is done. The binder resin used at the same time is polystyrene, styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer, styrene-butadiene copolymer, styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer. , Polyvinyl acetate, polyvinylidene chloride, polyarylate resin, phenoxy resin, polycarbonate, cellulose acetate resin, ethyl cellulose resin, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl formal, polyvinyl toluene, poly-N-vinyl carbazole, acrylic resin, silicone resin, epoxy resin, Examples thereof include thermoplastic, thermosetting resins, and photocurable resins such as melamine resin, urethane resin, phenol resin, and alkyd resin. Such a conductive layer is formed by dispersing the conductive powder and the binder resin in a suitable solvent such as THF (tetrahydrofuran), MDC (dichloromethane), MEK (methyl ethyl ketone), toluene, and the like. Can be provided. Furthermore, it is electrically conductive by a heat shrinkable tube in which the conductive powder is contained in a material such as polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polyester, polystyrene, polyvinylidene chloride, polyethylene, chlorinated rubber, Teflon (registered trademark) on a suitable cylindrical substrate. Those provided with a conductive layer can also be used favorably as the conductive substrate 21 of the present invention.

  As a processing method of the conductive substrate 21, various cutting processes, grinding processes, and polishing processes are possible, and a combination of these processing methods is also effective.

  Next, the photosensitive layer will be described. The photosensitive layer may be a single layer or a laminated layer. For convenience of explanation, a case where the photosensitive layer is composed of the charge generation layer 23 and the charge transport layer 24 is described first.

  The charge generation layer 23 is a layer mainly composed of a charge generation material. As the charge generation material, organic materials such as pigments and dyes are used. As typical examples, monoazo pigments, disazo pigments, trisazo pigments, perylene pigments, perinone pigments, quinacridone pigments, quinone condensed polycyclic compounds, Squalic acid dyes, phthalocyanine pigments, naphthalocyanine pigments, azulenium salt dyes and the like are used. The charge generation material may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

  Examples of the binder resin used for the charge generation layer 23 include polyamide, polyurethane, epoxy resin, polyketone, polycarbonate, silicone resin, acrylic resin, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl formal, polyvinyl ketone, polystyrene, polysulfone, poly-N-vinylcarbazole, Examples include polyacrylamide, polyvinyl benzal, polyester, phenoxy resin, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinyl acetate, polyphenylene oxide, polyamide, polyvinyl pyridine, cellulose resin, casein, polyvinyl alcohol, and polyvinyl pyrrolidone. The amount of the binder resin is 20 to 200 parts by weight, preferably 50 to 150 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the charge generation material.

  Examples of the solvent used here include isopropanol, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, cyclohexanone, tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, ethyl cellosolve, ethyl acetate, methyl acetate, dichloromethane, dichloroethane, monochlorobenzene, cyclohexane, toluene, xylene, ligroin and the like. As a coating method for the coating solution, a dip coating method, spray coating, beat coating, nozzle coating, spinner coating, ring coating, or the like can be used. The film thickness of the charge generation layer 23 is suitably about 0.01 to 5 μm, preferably 0.1 to 2 μm.

  The charge transport layer 24 can be formed by dissolving or dispersing a charge transport material and a binder resin in a suitable solvent, and applying and drying the solution on the charge generation layer 23. Moreover, a plasticizer, a leveling agent, antioxidant, etc. can also be added as needed. As the leveling agent, silicone oils such as dimethyl silicone oil and methylphenyl silicone oil, and polymers or oligomers having a perfluoroalkyl group in the side chain are used, and the amount used is 0 to 1 weight with respect to the binder resin. % Is appropriate.

  Charge transport materials include hole transport materials and electron transport materials. Examples of the electron transport material include chloroanil, bromanyl, tetracyanoethylene, tetracyanoquinodimethane, 2,4,7-trinitro-9-fluorenone, 2,4,5,7-tetranitro-9-fluorenone, 2, 4,5,7-tetranitroxanthone, 2,4,8-trinitrothioxanthone, 2,6,8-trinitro-4H-indeno [1,2-b] thiophen-4-one, 1,3,7- Examples thereof include electron-accepting substances such as trinitrodibenzothiophene-5,5-dioxide and benzoquinone derivatives.

  Examples of hole transport materials include poly-N-carbazole and derivatives thereof, poly-γ-carbazolylethyl glutamate and derivatives thereof, pyrene-formaldehyde condensates and derivatives thereof, polyvinylpyrene, polyvinylphenanthrene, polysilane, oxazole derivatives, oxalate derivatives. Diazole derivatives, imidazole derivatives, monoarylamine derivatives, diarylamine derivatives, triarylamine derivatives, stilbene derivatives, α-phenylstilbene derivatives, benzidine derivatives, diarylmethane derivatives, triarylmethane derivatives, 9-styrylanthracene derivatives, pyrazoline derivatives , Divinylbenzene derivatives, hydrazone derivatives, indene derivatives, butadiene derivatives, pyrene derivatives, etc., other known materials such as bisstilbene derivatives, enamine derivatives, etc. Charge. These charge transport materials may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

  As the binder resin, polystyrene, styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer, styrene-butadiene copolymer, styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinyl acetate, Polyvinylidene chloride, polyarylate, phenoxy resin, polycarbonate, cellulose acetate resin, ethyl cellulose resin, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl formal, polyvinyl toluene, poly-N-vinyl carbazole, acrylic resin, silicone resin, epoxy resin, melamine resin, urethane resin, Examples thereof include thermoplastic or thermosetting resins such as phenol resins and alkyd resins.

  The amount of the charge transport material is appropriately 20 to 300 parts by weight, preferably 40 to 150 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the binder resin. The thickness of the charge transport layer is preferably about 5 to 50 μm.

  Examples of the solvent used here include tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, toluene, dichloromethane, monochlorobenzene, dichloroethane, cyclohexanone, methyl ethyl ketone, and acetone.

  In addition, a polymer charge transport material having a function as a charge transport material and a function of a binder resin is also preferably used for the charge transport layer. The charge transport layer composed of these polymer charge transport materials is excellent in wear resistance. A known material can be used as the polymer charge transporting material, but a polycarbonate containing a triarylamine structure in the main chain and / or side chain is preferably used. For example, polymer charge transport materials represented by the formulas (1) to (10) of JP-A-2000-103984 are favorably used.

  In the present invention, a plasticizer or a leveling agent may be added to the charge transport layer 24. As the plasticizer, those used as general plasticizers such as dibutyl phthalate and dioctyl phthalate can be used as they are, and the amount used is suitably about 0 to 30% by weight based on the binder resin. As the leveling agent, silicone oils such as dimethyl silicone oil and methylphenyl silicone oil, and polymers or oligomers having a perfluoroalkyl group in the side chain are used, and the amount used is 0 to 1 weight relative to the binder resin. % Is appropriate.

  In the electrophotographic photoreceptor of the present invention, an undercoat layer 22 can be provided between the conductive substrate 21 and the photosensitive layers (23, 24) as shown in FIGS. The undercoat layer 22 is generally composed of a resin as a main component. However, considering that the photosensitive layer is applied with a solvent thereon, these resins are resins having a high solvent resistance with respect to a general organic solvent. Is desirable. Examples of such resins include water-soluble resins such as polyvinyl alcohol, casein, and sodium polyacrylate, alcohol-soluble resins such as copolymer nylon and methoxymethylated nylon, polyurethane, melamine resin, phenol resin, alkyd-melamine resin, and epoxy. Examples thereof include curable resins that form a three-dimensional network structure such as resins.

  Further, in order to prevent moire and reduce residual potential, the undercoat layer 22 may be added with metal oxide fine powders exemplified by titanium oxide, silica, alumina, zirconium oxide, tin oxide, indium oxide and the like. . These undercoat layers 22 can be formed using an appropriate solvent and coating method, as in the case of the photosensitive layer described above.

Furthermore, as the undercoat layer 22 in the present invention, a silane coupling agent, a titanium coupling agent, a chromium coupling agent, or the like can be used. In addition, the undercoat layer 22 is made of anodized Al ₂ O ₃ , organic materials such as polyparaxylylene (parylene), SiO ₂ , SnO ₂ , TiO ₂ , ITO, CeO _2, etc. What provided the inorganic substance with the vacuum thin film preparation method can also be used favorably. In addition, known ones can be used. The thickness of the undercoat layer 22 is suitably 0 to 5 μm.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention may be provided with a protective layer 25 on the photosensitive layer for the purpose of protecting the photosensitive layer. Materials used for the protective layer 25 include ABS resin, ACS resin, olefin-vinyl monomer copolymer, chlorinated polyether, allyl resin, phenol resin, polyacetal, polyamide, polyamideimide, polyacrylate, polyallylsulfone, polybutylene. , Polybutylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, polyethersulfone, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyimide, acrylic resin, polymethylpentene, polypropylene, polyphenylene oxide, polysulfone, polystyrene, AS resin, butadiene-styrene copolymer, polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, Examples of the resin include polyvinylidene chloride and epoxy resin. In addition to the protective layer 25, for the purpose of improving wear resistance, fluorine resins such as polytetrafluoroethylene, silicone resins, and those obtained by dispersing inorganic materials such as titanium oxide, tin oxide, and potassium titanate in these resins, etc. Can be added.

  As a method for forming the protective layer 25, a normal coating method is employed. The thickness of the protective layer 25 is suitably about 0.1 to 7 μm. In addition to the above, a known material such as a-C or a-SiC formed by a vacuum thin film manufacturing method can also be used as the protective layer 25.

  In the present invention, it is also possible to provide an intermediate layer between the photosensitive layers (23, 24) and the protective layer 25. In the intermediate layer, a binder resin is generally used as a main component. Examples of these resins include polyamide, alcohol-soluble nylon, polyvinyl hydroxide butyral, polyvinyl butyral, and polyvinyl alcohol. As a method for forming the intermediate layer, a normal coating method is employed as described above. In addition, about 0.05-2 micrometers is suitable for the thickness of an intermediate | middle layer.

  Next, an electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention on which the electrophotographic photosensitive member is mounted will be described. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for schematically explaining an example of the electrophotographic apparatus, and modifications as described below also belong to the category of the present invention. In the electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. 6, a charging mechanism 32, an exposure light source 33, a developing mechanism 34, a transfer mechanism 35, and a cleaning mechanism 37 are arranged around a drum-shaped electrophotographic photosensitive member 31. In the transfer mechanism 35, the toner is transferred to the transfer material 38 and is fixed by the fixing mechanism 36.

  In the electrophotographic method using the above-described electrophotographic apparatus, the electrophotographic photosensitive member 31 rotates counterclockwise, is charged positively or negatively by the charging mechanism 32, and is electrostatically charged by exposure from the exposure light source 33. A latent image is formed on the electrophotographic photoreceptor 31.

  For the charging mechanism 32, known charging means such as a corotron, a scorotron, a solid state charger (solid state charger), a charging roller and the like can be used. A general charger can be used for the transfer mechanism 35, but a combination of a transfer charger and a separation charger is effective.

  Further, as the light source used for the exposure light source 33 and the static elimination light source (not shown), a fluorescent lamp, tungsten lamp, halogen lamp, mercury lamp, sodium lamp, light emitting diode (LED), semiconductor laser (LD), electroluminescence A light emitting material such as (EL) can be used. Various types of filters such as a sharp cut filter, a band pass filter, a near infrared cut filter, a dichroic filter, an interference filter, and a color temperature conversion filter can be used to irradiate only light in a desired wavelength range. In addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 6, the light source or the like is provided with a transfer process, a static elimination process, a cleaning process, or a pre-exposure process using light irradiation, so that light is irradiated on the photoreceptor. Can also be used.

  When image exposure is performed by positively or negatively charging the photoconductor, a positive or negative electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor. A positive image can be obtained by developing the toner with negatively or positively charged toner (detection fine particles), and a negative image can be obtained by developing the toner with a positively or negatively charged toner. For such development, a known method can be applied, and a known method is also used for the charge eliminating means.

  In this example, the conductive substrate is shown as a drum, but a sheet or endless belt can be used. As the pre-cleaning charger, known charging means such as a corotron, a scorotron, a solid charger (solid state charger), a charging roller and the like can be used. In addition, the above charging means can usually be used for the transfer charger and the separation charger. For the cleaning mechanism, a known brush such as a fur brush or a mag fur brush, or a polyurethane blade can be used.

  The image forming means of the present invention represented by the electrophotographic apparatus as described above may be fixedly incorporated in an apparatus such as a copying apparatus, a facsimile, or a printer, but in the form of a process cartridge. It may be incorporated into. A process cartridge is a single device (part) that contains a photosensitive member, and further includes a charging means, an exposure means, a developing means, a transfer means, a cleaning means, a static elimination means, and the like. There are many shapes and the like of the process cartridge, but a general example is shown in FIG.

  FIG. 7 shows an electrophotographic process cartridge according to the present invention. In FIG. 7, 31 is an electrophotographic photosensitive member, 32 is a charging means, 33 is an image exposure light source, 34 is a developing means, 35 is a transfer means, 38 is a transfer material such as paper, 36 is a fixing mechanism, 37 is a cleaning mechanism, Reference numeral 39 denotes a process cartridge container.

  This figure shows an example of the structure, and each means may have a form other than that shown in the figure. For example, the charging unit 32 may be a known charging unit such as a corotron, a scorotron, or a charging roll. Light sources such as fluorescent lamps, tungsten lamps, halogen lamps, mercury lamps, sodium lamps, light emitting diodes (LEDs), semiconductor lasers (LDs), and electroluminescence (ELs) are used as light sources for image exposure and pre-exposure light (not shown). Means can be used. In addition, various types of filters such as a sharp cut filter, a band pass filter, a near infrared cut filter, a dichroic filter, an interference filter, and a color temperature conversion filter can be used to irradiate only light in a predetermined wavelength range. The cleaning mechanism 37 may be performed only by a cleaning blade, or may be used in combination with a cleaning brush or a blade. In the process cartridge shown in FIG. 7, the cleaning means or the like may not be included in the process cartridge. Further, the light emitting means and transfer means which are not built in the drawing may be built in the process cartridge.

  Next, the second invention of the present application will be described. The second invention of the present application attaches a vibration sensor to a cutting tool or a cutting tool mounting jig when cutting a part for an image forming apparatus, and measures the vibration of the cutting tool by the vibration sensor during cutting. While grasping the cutting state by creating two-dimensional array data corresponding to the cutting surface from the signal and evaluating this two-dimensional array data or performing signal analysis of this two-dimensional array data It is characterized by cutting.

In the second invention of the present application, vibration data of a cutting tool (for example, a cutting tool) is measured at the time of cutting, and the one-dimensional data obtained by the measurement is arranged as two-dimensional data corresponding to the surface of the workpiece. In this two-dimensional data, even in the case of a mutation that occurs only once per rotation of the workpiece during cutting, the occurrence of the mutation is concentrated at a specific location. It becomes easy.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a lathe and a tool for processing bite vibration data suitable for carrying out the present invention. In FIG. 8, 41 is a workpiece and 42 is a bite attachment part. A vibration sensor (not shown) is attached to the cutting tool mounting portion 42, and the signal is transmitted to a signal processing device that processes a signal of 44 cutting tools using 43 cables. Reference numeral 45 denotes a motor for rotating the workpiece 41, and reference numeral 46 denotes a motor for moving the table on which the tool is placed left and right.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the process of creating the two-dimensional data shown in claims 16 and 17 of the present invention from the vibration signal data of the bite, and I is the data of the vibration signal of the bite. In I, the n portion is the nth rotation, the n + 1 portion is the n + 1th rotation, the n + 2 portion is the n + 2th rotation, the n + 3 portion is the n + 3th rotation, and this data is continuous. II in FIG. 9 is a diagram in which I data is arranged for each rotation, and thus two-dimensional data is created. III in FIG. 9 is data in which II is arranged in a two-dimensional array, the first line is the nth rotation, the second line is the n + 1th rotation, the third line is the n + 2th rotation, the fourth line is the n + 3th rotation, Since then, this data continues.

Next, a signal processing method in the second invention of the present application will be described. First, the method using the two-dimensional Fourier transform will be described. The spatial frequency in the x-axis direction of the image is ω _x , and the spatial frequency in the axial direction is ω _y . In this case, the two-dimensional Fourier transform is obtained by (Equation 6).
However, in the case of actual image data, it is a discrete two-dimensional Fourier transform.

  When two-dimensional Fourier transform is performed on the image data matrix, the number of rows and columns in the matrix is preferably the same. The number of rows and columns in the matrix is preferably a factorial of 2, and 512 or more is preferable. Although Fourier transformation is possible even if the number of data points is not the factorial of 2, it is not preferable because the calculation speed of the Fourier transformation is reduced. When the data score is not the factorial of 2, it is preferable to insert a column or row of 0 so that it becomes the factorial of 2 so that it becomes the factorial of 2.

  Next, a method using wavelet transform used in the second invention of the present application will be described. Since the one-dimensional wavelet transform is the same as that described in the first invention, the description thereof will be omitted to avoid redundant description.

The one-dimensional wavelet transform is performed in the same manner as described in the first invention, but the two-dimensional wavelet transform can be obtained by performing the vertical direction and the horizontal direction (column direction and row direction) on the two-dimensional data.

FIG. 10 shows a flow when discrete two-dimensional wavelet transform is performed. The original data S ₀ is divided into a low frequency component L ₁ , a vertical high frequency component V ₁ , a horizontal high frequency component H ₁ , and a diagonal high frequency component T ₁ . It is done. The low-frequency component L ₁ obtained in this way is subjected to wavelet transform in the same manner, so that it can be divided into a low-frequency component L ₂ , a vertical high-frequency component V ₂ , a horizontal high-frequency component H ₂ , and an oblique high-frequency component T _2. . Similarly, low-frequency components are wavelet transformed to obtain a low-frequency component L _n , a vertical high-frequency component V _n , a horizontal high-frequency component H _n , and a diagonal high-frequency component T _n .

  Here, when performing the discrete two-dimensional wavelet transform, the size of the image to be converted need not be performed at once on the created two-dimensional image matrix, and may be divided and processed.

  In the second invention of the present application, the surface to be evaluated is measured, its two-dimensional image data matrix is created, and wavelet transform is performed. However, the wavelet transform does not need to be performed after all the data of the two-dimensional image data matrix is prepared. While creating the two-dimensional image data matrix, wavelet transform may be performed on the portion where the matrix is prepared.

  Similarly, it is not necessary to perform the Fourier transform after all the data of the two-dimensional image data matrix is prepared. While creating the two-dimensional image data matrix, the two-dimensional Fourier transform is performed on the portion where the matrix is prepared. Also good.

  In the second invention of the present application, creation of a two-dimensional image data matrix, wavelet transform, and Fourier transform can be performed by various means. For example, a microprocessor, a DSP (digital signal processor), an ASIC, or a dedicated IC or LSI It can be used. For example, when performed by software, calculation can be performed by using Wavelet Explore, which is possible with a package that performs wavelet transformation in mathematica. In MATLAB, calculation can be performed using a wavelet transform package (Wavelet Tool Box). Further, calculation is possible even by programming in C language or the like, and calculation is also possible by a dedicated numerical operation processor. In the study by the present inventor, the calculation was made with a program created in the C ++ language.

  A typical example of a part for an image forming apparatus in the second invention of the present application is a base for an electrophotographic photosensitive member, and aluminum or an aluminum alloy is preferably used as such a base. Specifically, A1100, A3030, and A6063 alloys are particularly preferably used. Such a substrate may be subjected to anodizing or chemical conversion treatment after cutting.

  Since the electrophotographic photosensitive member and the electrophotographic apparatus according to the second invention of the present application are the same as those described in the first invention except for the substrate that is preferably applied, description thereof will be omitted. In the first to ninth aspects of the present invention, the result of the arithmetic processing may be a comparison processing by a computer, or the arithmetic processing result may be printed out or output to a screen, and the output may be judged by human eyes.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to Examples and Comparative Examples.

<First invention>
First, a method for producing a substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive member to be measured in Examples and Comparative Examples and a method for producing an electrophotographic photosensitive member from the substrate are described, and then an image evaluation result of the produced electrophotographic photosensitive member Will be explained. And the measurement by this invention is demonstrated by an Example and a comparative example, The effect of this invention is verified by collating this measurement result and an image evaluation result. The following will be described in order.

(Preparation of measurement sample)
As a sample to be measured according to the present invention, three conditions were processed by cutting to prepare three types of electrophotographic photoreceptor substrates. Further, two types of processing were performed by centerless grinding to prepare two types of electrophotographic photosensitive member bases. The conditions are shown below.

  Measurement sample A: Aluminum alloy JIS standard A6063 material was continuously extruded into a pipe shape having an outer diameter of 30.2 mm and an inner diameter of 28.5 mm by a porthole extrusion method, and cut into a length of 254 mm to obtain a cylindrical cylinder. This tube was cut to an outer diameter of 30.0 mm using an R tool on a lathe manufactured by Changun Co., Ltd. The electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate thus prepared is designated as measurement sample A. When the surface roughness of the substrate was measured, ten were measured, and the average Rz was 1.62.

  Measurement sample B: Aluminum alloy JIS standard A6063 material was continuously extruded into a pipe shape having an outer diameter of 30.2 mm and an inner diameter of 28.5 mm by a porthole extrusion method, which was cut into a length of 254 mm to obtain a cylindrical cylinder. The tube was cut to an outer diameter of 30.0 mm using an R flat bite different from that for cutting of the measurement sample A on a lathe manufactured by Changun Co., Ltd. The electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate thus prepared is designated as measurement sample B. When the surface roughness of the substrate was measured, 10 were measured, and the average Rz was 1.31.

  Measurement sample C: Cutting was performed in the same manner as measurement sample A, except that an R bit with worn tool was used. The electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate thus prepared is used as a measurement sample C. When the surface roughness of the substrate was measured, 10 were measured, and the average Rz was 1.55.

  Measurement sample D: Aluminum alloy JIS standard A6063 material was continuously extruded into a pipe shape having an outer diameter of 30.2 mm and an inner diameter of 28.5 mm by a porthole extrusion method, and cut into a length of 254 mm to obtain a cylindrical cylinder. This tube was subjected to rough centerless grinding with a centerless grinding machine manufactured by Micron Seiki, and then subjected to finish centerless grinding to obtain an outer diameter of 30.0 mm. The centerless grinding conditions are shown below. The electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate thus prepared is used as a measurement sample D. When the surface roughness of this substrate was measured, ten were measured, and the average Rz was 2.78.

(Coarse centerless machining)
Grinding wheel grain size 800 mesh grinding wheel abrasive grain material Silicon carbide (SiC)
Grinding wheel speed 1250rpm
Coarse grinding feed rate 0.0076mm / sec (finish centerless machining)
Grinding wheel grain size 1000 mesh grinding wheel abrasive grain material Silicon carbide (SiC)
Grinding wheel speed 1250rpm
Finish grinding feed rate 0.0022mm / sec

  Measurement sample E: Aluminum alloy JIS standard A6063 material was continuously extruded into a pipe shape having an outer diameter of 30.2 mm and an inner diameter of 28.5 mm by a porthole extrusion method, and cut into a length of 254 mm to obtain a cylindrical cylinder. This tube was subjected to centerless grinding in the same manner as the measurement sample C to be processed into an outer shape of 30.0 mm. Here, the grinding wheel used for finish grinding was clogged. The electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate thus prepared is designated as measurement sample E. When the surface roughness of the substrate was measured, 10 were measured, and the average Rz was 1.71.

(Creation of electrophotographic photoreceptor)
Next, an electrophotographic photosensitive member was prepared from the measurement samples A to E by the following procedure.
(1) Washing The substrates of the measurement samples A to E were washed with a water washing apparatus using a jet water flow to remove oil adhering to the surface. At that time, as a surfactant, Tokiwa Chemical Co., Ltd. Chemicol C (trade name) and an ultrasonic oscillator are used in combination, and after cleaning with jet water, the surfactant is completely removed by washing again with pure water. Drying was performed.
(2) Formation of the undercoat layer Next, a resin coating having the following composition was applied to the surface of the substrate by a dipping method, then heated at 150 ° C. for 15 minutes and thermally cured, and the substrate surface was reduced to a thickness of 5 μm. A pulling layer was formed.
Titanium oxide 20 parts by weight Alkyd resin 10 parts by weight Melamine resin 10 parts by weight Methyl ethyl ketone 60 parts by weight (3) Formation of charge generation layer Next, the following composition is formed to form a charge generation layer on this undercoat layer A resin paint (coating resin solution) was prepared, and this resin paint was applied to the substrate by the same dipping method, followed by drying at 100 ° C. for 10 minutes to form a charge generation layer on the undercoat layer.
Butyral resin (XYL manufactured by UCC) 1 part by weight disazo pigment [formula (1) below] 9 parts by weight cyclohexanone 30 parts by weight tetrahydrofuran (THF) 30 parts by weight

(4) Formation of charge transport layer Further, in order to form a charge transport layer on the charge generation layer, a resin paint (coating resin solution) having the following composition was prepared, and this was also immersed in the substrate by the dipping method. A resin paint was applied and dried at 120 ° C. for 15 minutes after application to form a charge transport layer on the charge generation layer.
Polycarbonate resin 10 parts by weight Charge transfer agent [Formula (2) below] 10 parts by weight Dichloromethane 80 parts by weight The polycarbonate resin used was Panlite K-1300 manufactured by Teijin Limited.

  Thus, an electrophotographic photosensitive member A was prepared from the substrate of the measurement sample A. In addition, an electrophotographic photosensitive member B was prepared from the base of the measurement sample B. Similarly, electrophotographic photoreceptors C, D and E were prepared.

(Image evaluation)
The produced electrophotographic photoreceptors A to E were attached to the electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. 6 and image evaluation was performed. The results are shown in Table 1. As can be seen from Table 1, A is excellent in A, B, and C prepared by the cutting method, and it is sufficient that A, B, and C can be discriminated by the evaluation of the substrate intended by the present invention. Further, D is excellent in D and E created by the centerless processing method, and it is only necessary that D and E can be distinguished from each other by the base evaluation aimed at by the present invention.

  Although the above results were obtained in the image evaluation, the substrates of the measurement samples A to E were evaluated in order to verify the effect of the present invention. This example and a comparative example will be described below.

[Example 1]
The surface roughness of the measurement samples A to E was measured with the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and wavelet transform was performed on the obtained cross-sectional curve data. As a measurement example of Example 1, FIG. 11 shows a cross-sectional curve of a measurement sample A, and FIG. 12 shows the result of wavelet transformation. Moreover, the cross-sectional curve of the measurement sample D is shown in FIG. 13, and the result of the wavelet transform is shown in FIG.

[Example 2]
The surface roughness of the measurement samples A to E was measured with the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the obtained cross-sectional curve data was subjected to wavelet transform, and the resulting scalogram was obtained. As a measurement example of Example 2, the original data of the measurement sample A and its scalogram are shown in FIG. Moreover, the original data of the sample D and its scalogram are shown in FIG.

[Example 3]
The surface roughness of the measurement samples A to E was measured with the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and the obtained cross-sectional curve data was subjected to Fourier transform for a short time.

[Example 4]
The surface roughness of the measurement samples A to E was measured with the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and the Wigner distribution of the obtained cross-sectional curve data was obtained. As a measurement example of Example 4, FIG. 17 shows the Wigner distribution of the measurement sample A, and FIG. 18 shows a three-dimensional display thereof. FIG. 19 shows the Wigner distribution of the measurement sample D, and FIG. 20 shows a three-dimensional display thereof.

[Comparative Example 1]
The surface roughness of the measurement samples A to E was measured by the method shown in JIS B0601, and cross-sectional curves were obtained.

[Comparative Example 2]
The Fourier transform of the cross-sectional curve obtained in Comparative Example 1 was performed.

  Table 2 shows the evaluation results of Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2. Here, in Table 2, Examples 1 to 4 are results obtained by further comparing the results of computing the measurement results of the measurement samples A, B, and C with a computer.

From the above results, the difference between the measurement samples A, B, and C prepared by the cutting method could be detected by the method according to the first invention. Further, since the difference between the measurement samples D and E created by the centerless grinding method could be detected, the effect of the present invention could be verified.
<Second invention>

[Example 5]
An aluminum alloy having an outer diameter of 30.5 mm, an inner diameter of 28.5 mm, and a length of 340 mm prepared by extrusion processing of an A3003 aluminum alloy was attached to a lathe shown in FIG. While rotating an aluminum alloy tube attached to a lathe at 5000 rpm, a 5 mm sintered diamond cutting tool was used for the cutting tool, and cutting was performed at a tool feeding speed of 50 mm / sec while spraying kerosene. Was measured. At this time, the sampling frequency of the vibration sensor was 80 KHz. The signal from which the vibration was detected was A / D converted, taken into an IBM personal computer, and two-dimensional data corresponding to the cutting surface was created. Since this data is a numerical matrix, FIG. 21 shows an example of the result of conversion into image data so that it can be easily seen. As can be seen in FIG. 21, a striped pattern was confirmed. Here, when the cutting tool was replaced with a cutting tool with a worn tip, cutting was performed with slight chattering, and an image was created in the same manner from the cutting vibration data, a large and dark stripe corresponding to chattering was confirmed. . Moreover, the signal variation that seems to be a nest at the time of cutting was also confirmed. The situation is shown as an enlarged view in FIG.

[Example 6]
Cutting was performed in the same manner as in Example 5, and two-dimensional data was created by incorporating cutting vibration. The result of two-dimensional Fourier transform of this two-dimensional data is shown in FIG. Further, FIG. 24 shows the result of three-dimensional display. The tool was replaced with a tool with poor polishing, and cutting was performed so that a cutting streak was generated. Two-dimensional data was created by taking in the vibration at this time, and the two-dimensional data was subjected to two-dimensional Fourier transform. The result confirmed the low frequency component which seems to be due to streaks.

[Example 7]
Cutting was performed in the same manner as in Example 5, and two-dimensional data was created by incorporating cutting vibration. Next, two-dimensional discrete wavelet transform of this two-dimensional data was performed. In this wavelet transform, the de Bissy function was used. The result is shown in FIG. Next, the tool was replaced with a tool whose tip was worn, cutting was performed with the appearance of cutting chatter, two-dimensional data was created in the same way from the cutting vibration data, and this was wavelet transformed in the same way. In the conversion result, stripes corresponding to chatter were confirmed. In this wavelet transform, a cofilet function was used.

[Example 8]
Cutting was performed in the same manner as in Example 5, and two-dimensional data was created by incorporating cutting vibration. Next, two-dimensional discrete wavelet transform of this two-dimensional data was performed. In this wavelet transform, Dovecy function was used. Next, the cutting tool was replaced with a non-polishing tool, cutting was performed so that cutting streaks were generated, the vibration at this time was taken to create two-dimensional data, and this was wavelet transformed in the same way. The conversion result confirmed the stripes that seemed to correspond to the cutting stripes.

[Comparative Example 3]
Cutting was performed in the same manner as in Example 5, and cutting vibration was taken in to create one-dimensional data. This one-dimensional data was Fourier transformed. Next, the cutting tool was replaced with an unpolished cutting tool, cutting was performed so that a cutting streak was generated, and vibration at this time was taken in to create one-dimensional data, and the one-dimensional data was Fourier transformed. The two Fourier transform results were compared, but no difference was found.

[Comparative Example 4]
Cutting was performed in the same manner as in Example 5, and cutting vibration was taken in to create one-dimensional data. A one-dimensional discrete wavelet transform of this one-dimensional data was performed. Next, the cutting tool is replaced with a defective polishing tool, cutting is performed so that a cutting streak is generated, and the vibration at this time is taken to create one-dimensional data, and the one-dimensional discrete wavelet transform of this one-dimensional data is performed. went. The two wavelet transform results were compared, but no difference was observed.

Configuration diagram of a surface roughness evaluation system suitable for carrying out the present invention Wavelet transform processing flow diagram Wavelet transform concept illustration Diagram of layer structure of electrophotographic photoreceptor Illustration of another layer structure of electrophotographic photosensitive member Configuration diagram of an electrophotographic apparatus Configuration diagram of process cartridge for electrophotographic equipment Configuration diagram of a cutting system suitable for carrying out the present invention Flow diagram for creating 2D data from vibration data measured during cutting Processing flow diagram of 2D wavelet transform Figure of cross-sectional curve of the substrate made by cutting FIG. 11 is a diagram of the result of multi-resolution analysis of the cross-sectional curve data of FIG. Figure of scalogram obtained by wavelet transform of cross-section curve data of FIG. The figure which calculated the Wigner distribution of the data of the section curve of FIG. FIG. 11 is a three-dimensional display of the Wigner distribution of the cross-sectional curve data of FIG. Figure of cross-sectional curve of the substrate made by cutting FIG. 16 is a diagram of the result of multi-resolution analysis of the cross-sectional curve data of FIG. Figure of scalogram obtained by wavelet transform of cross-section curve data of FIG. The figure which calculated the Wigner distribution of the data of the section curve of FIG. FIG. 16 is a three-dimensional display of the Wigner distribution of the cross-sectional curve data of FIG. The figure which showed the two-dimensional data created in Example 5 by the two-dimensional density graph Partial enlarged view of the two-dimensional density graph of the two-dimensional data created in Example 5 Diagram of the result of two-dimensional Fourier transform of the data in FIG. The figure which displayed the result of two-dimensional Fourier transform of the data of FIG. 21 in three dimensions Diagram of the result of discrete two-dimensional wavelet transform of the data in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 Measuring object 2 Jig with probe for measuring surface roughness 3 Mechanism for moving the jig along the measuring object 4 Surface roughness meter 5 Personal computer for signal analysis 10 Original signal 11 Passed through low-pass filter Signal 12 Signal that has passed through the high-pass filter 13 Signal that has passed through the low-pass filter 14 Signal that has passed through the high-pass filter 15 Signal that has passed through the low-pass filter 16 Signal that has passed through the high-pass filter 21 Electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate 22 Subbing layer 23 Charge generation Layer 24 Charge transport layer 25 Protective layer 31 Electrophotographic photoreceptor 32 Charging mechanism 33 Exposure light source 34 Development mechanism 35 Transfer mechanism 36 Fixing mechanism 37 Cleaning mechanism 38 Transfer material 39 Process cartridge case 41 Work piece 42 Byte mounting base 43 Vibration sensor Signal from Transmitting cable 44 signal processing device 45 the spindle drive motor 47 bytes mount feed drive motor

Claims (16)

Obtain the cross-sectional curve defined in JIS B0601 for the surface condition of the parts for the image forming apparatus, perform multi-resolution analysis of the position data string in the surface roughness direction at equal intervals on the cross-sectional curve, and at least based on the result An electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate characterized by being evaluated by a method for evaluating the surface roughness of a component for an image forming apparatus for evaluating a roughness state. Obtain the cross-sectional curve defined in JIS B0601 for the surface condition of the parts for the image forming apparatus, perform multi-resolution analysis of the position data string in the surface roughness direction at equal intervals on the cross-sectional curve, and at least based on the result An electrophotographic photosensitive member evaluated by a method for evaluating the surface roughness of a component for an image forming apparatus for evaluating a roughness state. An electrophotographic apparatus comprising the electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 2. A vibration sensor is attached to the cutting tool or the cutting tool mounting jig, and during cutting, the vibration of the cutting tool is measured by the vibration sensor, and two-dimensional array data corresponding to the cutting surface is created from this measurement signal. Cutting of image forming device parts characterized by performing cutting while grasping the cutting state by evaluating two-dimensional array data or performing signal analysis of the two-dimensional array data Method. The method for cutting a part for an image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the analysis method of the created two-dimensional array data is two-dimensional Fourier transform. 5. The method for cutting a part for an image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the analysis method of the created two-dimensional array data is a two-dimensional multi-resolution analysis. 7. The method of cutting a part for an image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the two-dimensional multi-resolution analysis method is discrete two-dimensional wavelet transform. Discrete two-dimensional wavelet transform of the two-dimensional data created by measuring the vibration, and then remove or calculate part of the result of the discrete two-dimensional wavelet transform, then perform the two-dimensional wavelet inverse transform, and the result The method of cutting a part for an image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein 7. The method of cutting a part for an image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the two-dimensional multi-resolution analysis method is a method using a band pass filter. The cutting method according to claim 6, wherein the two-dimensional multi-resolution analysis method is a short-time fast Fourier transform. 11. The cutting method for a part for an image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the workpiece is aluminum or an aluminum alloy. The method for cutting a part for an image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 11, wherein the workpiece is a base for an electrophotographic photosensitive member. A lathe, a vibration sensor that detects vibration of a cutting tool used in the lathe, a storage device that records a signal from the vibration sensor, or a storage device that records two-dimensional data created from the signal from the vibration sensor; An apparatus for cutting a part for an image forming apparatus, further comprising hardware or software for performing discrete two-dimensional wavelet transform. An electrophotographic photoreceptor substrate prepared by the cutting method according to claim 4. An electrophotographic photosensitive member using the electrophotographic photosensitive member substrate according to claim 14. An electrophotographic apparatus equipped with the electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 15.