Flat solid discharging device

Abstract

A flat solid discharging device applicable to an electrophotographic copier, facsimile apparatus and other electrostatic recording apparatuses for charging or discharging a photoconductive element. The device includes a dielectric element, a first and a second electrode juxtaposed to each other through the dielectric element, and a power source for applying an ac voltage across the first and second electrode to produce ions in the vicinity of the two electrodes. The first electrode has a hairline configuration and extends along the length of the device. The second electrode is constituted by a plurality of comblike conductive strips each of which extends crosswise relative to the first electrode through the dielectric. By adequately selecting the pitch of the conductive strips and the distance between the second electrode and the photoconductive element, irregularity in charging which corresponds to the pitch of the conductive strips is made negligible. The second electrode is divided into a plurality of segments in order to selectively charge the photoconductive element over different charging areas as desired.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.