# US 2018/0024459 A1 · Electroconductive member for electrophotography, process cartridge, and electrophotographic apparatus > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2018/0024459 A1 - Document ID: US20180024459A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/543,656 - Filed: 2016-03-23 - Published: 2018-01-25 - Earliest claimed: 2015-03-27 - Assignees: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha - Applicants: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Yuichi Kikuchi; Kazuhiro Yamauchi; Norifumi Muranaka; Tetsuo Hino; Satoru Nishioka - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180024459A1 ## CPC - G03G 15/0233: {Structure, details of the charging member, e.g. chemical composition, surface properties} - G03G 2215/0132: vertical medium transport path at the secondary transfer - G03G: ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY ## Abstract Provided is an electroconductive member for electrophotography capable of charging an electrically chargeable body stably over a long period of time. The electroconductive member includes an electroconductive support and a surface layer on the electroconductive support. The surface layer has a skeleton that is three-dimensionally continuous and a pore that communicates in a thickness direction, and when any region measuring 150 μm per side of a surface of the surface layer is photographed and equally divided into 60 parts in a vertical direction and 60 parts in a horizontal direction to form 3,600 squares, the number of squares including through holes is 100 or less. The skeleton is non-electroconductive and includes a plurality of particles connected to each other through a neck, and an average value D1 of circle-equivalent diameters of the particles is 0.1 μm or more and 20 μm or less. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An electroconductive member for electrophotography, comprising: an electroconductive support; and a surface layer on the electroconductive support, wherein the surface layer comprises a skeleton that is three-dimensionally continuous and a pore that communicates in a thickness direction, wherein, when any region measuring 150 μm per side of a surface of the surface layer is photographed and equally divided into 60 parts in a vertical direction and 60 parts in a horizontal direction to form 3,600 squares, a number of squares including through holes is 100 or less, wherein the skeleton is non-electroconductive, and wherein the skeleton comprises a plurality of particles connected to each other through a neck, and an average value D1 of circle-equivalent diameters of the particles is 0.1 μm or more and 20 μm or less. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) An electroconductive member for electrophotography according to claim 1, wherein an average value D2 of circle-equivalent diameters of cross-sections of the neck is 0.1 time or more and 0.7 time or less of the average value D1. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) An electroconductive member for electrophotography according to claim 1, wherein the surface layer has a thickness of 1 μm or more and 50 μm or less. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) An electroconductive member for electrophotography according to claim 1, wherein the surface layer has a volume resistivity of 1×1010 Ω·cm or more and 1×1017 Ω·cm or less. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) An electroconductive member for electrophotography according to claim 1, wherein the surface layer has a porosity of 20% or more and 80% or less. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) An electroconductive member for electrophotography according to claim 1, wherein the surface layer comprises a porous body formed by heating a film of deposited particles to fuse the particles. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) An electroconductive member for electrophotography according to claim 1, further comprising a rigid structure configured to protect the surface layer. ### Claim 8 A process cartridge, which is removably mounted onto a main body of an electrophotographic apparatus, the process cartridge comprising an electroconductive member for electrophotography, comprising: an electroconductive support; and a surface layer on the electroconductive support, wherein the surface layer comprises a skeleton that is three-dimensionally continuous and a pore that communicates in a thickness direction, wherein, when any region measuring 150 μm per side of a surface of the surface layer is photographed and equally divided into 60 parts in a vertical direction and 60 parts in a horizontal direction to form 3,600 squares, a number of squares including through holes is 100 or less, wherein the skeleton is non-electroconductive, and wherein the skeleton comprises a plurality of particles connected to each other through a neck, and an average value D1 of circle-equivalent diameters of the particles is 0.1 μm or more and 20 μm or less. ### Claim 9 An electrophotographic apparatus, comprising an electroconductive member for electrophotography, comprising: an electroconductive support; and a surface layer on the electroconductive support, wherein the surface layer comprises a skeleton that is three-dimensionally continuous and a pore that communicates in a thickness direction, wherein, when any region measuring 150 μm per side of a surface of the surface layer is photographed and equally divided into 60 parts in a vertical direction and 60 parts in a horizontal direction to form 3,600 squares, a number of squares including through holes is 100 or less, wherein the skeleton is non-electroconductive, and wherein the skeleton comprises a plurality of particles connected to each other through a neck, and an average value D1 of circle-equivalent diameters of the particles is 0.1 μm or more and 20 μm or less.