Charge roller and image forming apparatus using the same
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorsJunji Kurokawa, Kazuo Nojima, Norimasa Sohmiya
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A charge roller rotatable in contact with a photoconductive element in the form of a drum or a belt and applied with a voltage for charging the element, and an image forming apparatus using the same. The surface of the charge roller is ground in order to remove toner particles and other impurities firmly deposited thereon, as needed. The charge roller is capable of uniformly charging the photoconductive element at all times.
Claims24
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- a charger roller for charging said photoconductive element;
- and
- a cleaner having a hardness higher than a predetermined hardness for removing a toner and other impurities deposited on a surface of said charge roller, wherein said cleaner comprises an abrasive paper.
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- a charger roller for charging said photoconductive element;
- and
- a cleaner having a hardness higher than a predetermined hardness for removing a toner and other impurities deposited on a surface of said charge roller, wherein said cleaner is higher in hardness than the surface of said charge roller and the toner and other impurities.
An image forming apparatus having a photoconductive element, comprising:
- a charge roller for charging said photoconductive element;
- and
- grinding means for grinding a surface of said charge roller.
An apparatus as claimed in claim 13, further comprising:
- sensing means for sensing a charging condition of said charge roller;
- and
- control means for controlling a grinding operation of said grinding means in response to an output of said sensing means.
An image forming apparatus having a photoconductive element, comprising:
- a charge roller for charging said photoconductive element only with a DC voltage;
- display means for displaying various kinds of information;
- sensing means for sensing a charging condition;
- and
- control means responsive to an output of said sensing means for causing said display means to display a time for grinding said charge roller.
An image forming apparatus having a photoconductive element, comprising:
- a charge roller for charging said photoconductive element only with a DC voltage;
- display means for displaying various kinds of information;
- counting means for counting sheets used for image formation;
- and
- control means responsive to an output of said counting means for causing said display means to display a time for grinding said charge roller.
A charge roller for charging a photoconductive element only with a DC voltage, comprising:
- a metallic core;
- and
- an elastic layer of epichlorohydrin rubber covering said metallic core and having a rubber hardness higher than 40 (JIS A) and an electric resistance of 10.sup.7 .OMEGA.cm to 10.sup.10 .OMEGA.cm.
A charge roller for charging a photoconductive element only with a DC voltage, comprising:
- a metallic core;
- an elastic layer of epichlorohydrin rubber covering said metallic core;
- and
- a surface layer covering said elastic layer and made of a fluorine-contained resin/epichlorohydrin rubber mixture.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.