Reusable photoreceptor and image forming apparatus using the reusable photoreceptor and method of reusing photoreceptor

An image forming apparatus, comprising:

• a photoreceptor including a photosensitive layer and a substrate on which the photosensitive layer is formed;
• an image forming device configured to form a visual image on the photoreceptor, the image forming device including a charging device configured to uniformly charge a surface of the photoreceptor;
• a transfer device configured to transfer the visual image formed on the photoreceptor onto a recording medium;
• and
• a fixing device configured to fix the transferred visual image onto the recording medium,
• wherein assuming that “A” is a thickness of a surface portion of the photosensitive layer abraded by image forming operations of the image forming apparatus, “B” is a thickness of a portion of the photosensitive layer ground by an operation of grinding the abraded surface of the photosensitive layer, “n” is a number of times the operation of grinding the abraded surface of the photosensitive layer has been executed, “C” is an original photosensitive layer thickness of the photoreceptor, and “D” is a thickness of a remaining portion of the photosensitive layer after having been ground by the operation of grinding the abraded surface of the photosensitive layer which is obtained by equation:
• D=C−[(A+B)×n+A],
• a relationship between the thickness “A”, the thickness “B”, the number of times “n”, and the original photosensitive layer thickness “C” is set such that the thickness “D” is equal to or greater than a thickness of the photosensitive layer in which leakage from the charging device to the photoreceptor does not occur, so that the photoreceptor may be reused.

An image forming apparatus, comprising:

• image bearing means for bearing a visual image, the image bearing means including a photosensitive layer and a substrate on which the photosensitive layer is formed;
• image forming means for forming a visual image on the image bearing means, the image forming means having charging means for charging uniformly a surface of the image bearing means;
• transfer means for transferring the visual image formed on the image bearing means onto a recording medium;
• and
• fixing means for fixing the transferred visual image onto the recording medium,
• wherein assuming that “A” is a thickness of a surface portion of the photosensitive layer abraded by image forming operations of the image forming apparatus, “B” is a thickness of a portion of the photosensitive layer ground by an operation of grinding the abraded surface of the photosensitive layer, “n” is a number of times the operation of grinding the abraded surface of the photosensitive layer has been executed, “C” is an original photosensitive layer thickness of the image bearing means, and “D” is a thickness of a remaining portion of the photosensitive layer after having been ground by the operation of grinding the abraded surface of the photosensitive layer which is obtained by equation:
• D=C−[(A+B)×n+A],
• a relationship between the thickness “A”, the thickness “B”, the number of times “n”, and the original photosensitive layer thickness “C” is set such that the thickness “D” is equal to or greater than a thickness of the photosensitive layer in which leakage from the charging means to the image bearing means does not occur, so that the image bearing means may be reused.

A method of reusing a photoreceptor for an image forming apparatus including a charging device that charges a surface of the photoreceptor, comprising:

• grinding an abraded surface of a photosensitive layer of the photoreceptor;
• obtaining a thickness of a remaining portion of the photosensitive layer after having been ground by an operation of grinding the abraded surface of the photosensitive layer by equation:
• D=C−[(A+B)×n+A],
• where “A” is a thickness of a surface portion of the photosensitive layer abraded by image forming operations of the image forming apparatus, “B” is a thickness of a portion of the photosensitive layer ground by an operation of grinding the abraded surface of the photosensitive layer, “n” is a number of times the operation of grinding the abraded surface of the photosensitive layer has been executed, “C” is an original photosensitive layer thickness of the photoreceptor, and “D” is a thickness of a remaining portion of the photosensitive layer after having been ground by the operation of grinding the abraded surface of the photosensitive layer;
• and
• setting a relationship between the thickness “A”, the thickness “B”, the number of times “n”, and the original photosensitive layer thickness “C” such that the thickness “D” is equal to or greater than a thickness of the photosensitive layer in which leakage from the charging device to the photoreceptor does not occur.