Abstract:
The apparatus of claim 30, further comprising a container having said brush and said cleaning element dispersed and an apparatus brush cleans the inside surface of a cylindrical photoreceptor substrate such as used in xerography. The substrate can be in a cleaning solution and brushes can also be located both inside and outside the substrate. There is relative motion, e.g., rotation, translation, a combination of both, etc., between the brushes and the substrate. A photoreceptor coating is directly applied after the cleaning without intervening processing steps.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    Not Applicable  
         STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
         [0002]    Not Applicable  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0004]    The present invention relates to cleaning substrates, and more particularly, to cylindrical substrates as used in photocopying machines.  
           [0005]    2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under  37  CFR  1 . 97  and  1 . 98   
           [0006]    At present, primary cleaning of substrates is done by their supplier. At the user the outside surface of a cylindrical substrate is further cleaned before a photoreceptor coating is applied. In particular, in the cleaning system, a plurality of substrates are loaded onto rigid spindles, which are located on a lowering device (LD). Once placed onto the spindle, the lowerator first lowers the substrates into a deionized (DI) water rinse tank to remove residual transportation dirt, e.g., lint, dust, etc., and residual honing media, e.g., Al 2   0   3  beads. Then the substrates are moved down through a series of wash and rinse tanks, through an oven, and onto a transfer mechanism that takes the substrates into the series of coatings. However, this allows contaminants, typically 25 μm or less in size, to be present on the inside substrate surfaces, especially on the lower half of the substrates. These contaminants can migrate into the coating fluid or to the outside surfaces, thereby causing defects in the coating layers. In turn, this causes higher unit manufacturing costs.  
           [0007]    It is therefore desirable to have method and apparatus for cleaning at least the inside surface of a cylindrical substrate.  
           [0008]    It is also desirable to have method and apparatus for cleaning a substrate just before a coating is applied.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    A method comprises brushing the inside surface of a cylindrical photoreceptor substrate.  
           [0010]    An apparatus comprises a brush for cleaning an inside surface of a cylindrical substrate photoreceptor.  
           [0011]    A method comprises cleaning the inside surface of a cylindrical photoreceptor substrate; and directly coating the outside surface of said substrate with a photoconductor.  
           [0012]    An apparatus comprises a brush for cleaning the inside surface of a cylindrical substrate; and a coater for coating the outside surface of said substrate with a photoconductor. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a first embodiment of the invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is a bottom view of FIG. 1;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a plan view of a second embodiment;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a top view of the second embodiment;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is a plan view of a third embodiment; and  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a coating apparatus.  
         [0019]    In the figures, corresponding elements have been given corresponding reference numbers. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0020]    [0020]FIG. 1 shows a tank  10  having deionized water rinse  12 . A robot or loader arm  14  fixedly holds at least one of a plurality of right circular cylindrical substrates  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c ,  16   d , and  16   e  to be cleaned. Cylinders  16  can have other shapes, e.g., elliptical, etc., and be other than right angle cylinders. LD  18  is coupled to a device (not shown) for moving it up and down as indicated by arrow  20 . A plurality of spindles  22   a ,  22   b ,  22   c ,  22   d , and  22   e  are disposed at the bottom of LD  18  respectively in alignment with substrates  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c ,  16   d  and  16   e . In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, brushes  24   a ,  24   b ,  24   c ,  24   d , and  24   e  having about the diameter of the interior dimension of the substrates  16  and a selected, e.g. about two inches, length are placed at the top of each spindle  22 . The bristles (not shown) of brushes  24  are preferably arranged in a helical pattern for best particle removal. The brushes  24  are preferably made of a material that leaves no residue on substrates  16 , e.g., a polyamide thermoplastic. Shafts  26   a ,  26   b ,  26   c ,  26   d , and  26   e  (shown in dotted lines) respectively support brushes  24  and respectively extend through spindles  22  and mate with a drive mechanism  28  disposed on the bottom of the lowerator  18 . As best seen in FIG. 2, drive mechanism  28  comprises a plurality of drive gears  32   a ,  32   b ,  32   c ,  32   d  and  32   e  respectively coupled to shafts  26 . Disposed respectively between drive gears  32  are idler gears  34   a ,  34   b ,  34   c ,  34   d , and  34   e . An air-operated motor  36  (or any other type) is disposed on top of LD  18  and is connected to a shaft  38  (shown in dotted lines). In turn, shaft  38  is connected to a drive gear  40 , which engages idler gear  34   a.    
         [0021]    In operation, motor  36  rotates shaft  38  as indicated by arrow  42 . In turn, shaft  38  rotates driver gear  40  as indicated by arrow  44 . Thus, spindles  22  rotate causing rotation of the brushes  24  inside of the substrates  16  during substrate lowering onto the brushes  24  of LD  18 . This drives particulates down, thus cleaning the inside of substrates  16 .  
         [0022]    It will be appreciated that brushes  24  have both rotational and translational motion with respect to the inside surfaces of substrates  16 . This results in the best cleaning action. However, if desired, the rotation of brushes  24  can be delayed until the substrates  16  are fully seated. Thus, said relative motion is only rotational. This will clean the inner surfaces provided brushes  24  have a length about at least equal to that of substrates  16 . Also, there can be no rotation of brushes  24  at all. Thus, said relative motion is only translational. Optionally, between cleaning cycles, a set of rakes (not shown) will contact the bristles to keep them from matting, thereby maintaining optimum cleaning capability. If desired, the normally present plurality of further wash and rinse tanks can also be provided with the invention. In this case the brushes  24  can be mounted at different heights to ensure the removal of stubborn particulate.  
         [0023]    As shown in the second embodiment of FIG. 3, the additional cleaning mechanism  48  is a combination substrate holder and brush  24 . This device  48  is utilized to transport the substrate  16  into the cleaning chamber, e.g., tank  10  of FIG. 1, at which time an inflatable chucking device (not shown) grips the substrate  16  near the top and begins to rotate. This rotation is accomplished slightly above the resting point of the substrate on the holder as indicated by clearance gap  50 . This is to prevent the bottom of the substrate  16  from rubbing on the holder  48 . As the substrate rotates, the brushes scrub the interior of the substrate  16  while rinse water is sprayed  52  from the top of the holder. This will provide the mechanical action needed to remove the residual honing beads. The rotating substrate  16  is now transported by the same chucking device into the brush wash (not shown) where the outsides are cleaned. It can be seen that by simply adding brushes  24  and a spray rinse  52  to the substrate holder extra cleaning can be achieved with little additional equipment.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment of the invention. Substrate  16  is mounted on stationary inside brush  24  using an inflatable chuck  54 . Outside brush  25  engages the outer surface of substrate  16 , both brushes  24  and  25  are submerged in a cleaning liquid or solution. This is preferably a pH neutral solution such as sold under the name “NC201” by Aldon Corporation. This can also be used in the other embodiments. Substrate  16  is rotated for simultaneously cleaning both inside and outside surfaces of substrate  16 .  
         [0025]    The comments concerning relative motion made above in conjunction with the first embodiment also are pertinent to the second and third embodiments.  
         [0026]    After all wash and rinse steps as described above for any of the embodiments, substrates  16  are coated with a photoreconductive material as known in the art. Preferably, the coating step occurs directly after said cleaning step, i.e., while there can be a transporting or conveying step, the inside surface cleaning step is the last processing step before coating so as to prevent further contamination.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 6 shows a coating apparatus which comprises a dip coating tank  60  having a coating fluid input  62  at the bottom and filled with a coating solution up to level  64 . An overflow container  65  extends around tank  60 . Substrate  6  is coated by lowering it into tank  60  by chuck or holder  68  which is attached to a lowering device (not shown). This is indicated by arrow  66 . After coating takes place, it is upwardly withdrawn by chuck  68  as is also indicated by arrow  68 .  
         [0028]    While the present invention has been particularly described with respect to preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to these particular preferred embodiments, the process steps, the sequence, or the final structures depicted in the drawings. On the contrary, it is intended to cover all alternative, modifications, and equivalents as may be included with the spirit and scope of the invention defined by the appended claims. In addition, other methods and/or devices may be employed in the method and apparatus of the instant invention as claimed with similar results.