| US 7,460,815 B2 | ||
| Charge roller for noncontact charging across a charge gap, method for producing the same, and image-forming apparatus including the same | ||
| Shinichi Kamoshida, Suwa (Japan); Katsunori Ono, Shiojiri (Japan); Tadahiro Mizutani, Shiojiri (Japan); Kazuyoshi Ohashi, Matsumoto (Japan); Masaru Kobashi, Suwa (Japan); and Ken Ikuma, Suwa (Japan) | ||
| Assigned to Seiko Epson Corporation, Tokyo (Japan) | ||
| Filed on Oct. 26, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/586,823. | ||
| Claims priority of application No. 2005-310809 (JP), filed on Oct. 26, 2005. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0092298 A1, Apr. 26, 2007 | ||
| Int. Cl. G03G 15/02 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 399—176 | 9 Claims |
| 1. A charge roller comprising:
a core;
a resistive layer disposed on a circumferential surface of the core to charge an image-bearing member without contact; and
gap members formed of tape-shaped films fixed to both ends of the charge roller by winding each of the films in a direction
opposite a rotational direction of the charge roller in use and perpendicular to the axial direction thereof to form n layers
(wherein n≧2) extending in the axial direction at every position in the circumferential direction of the charge roller, the
gap members being pressed against a circumferential surface of an image-bearing member to define a charge gap between the
image-bearing member and the charge roller, wherein
the core has annular grooves at both ends thereof;
the resistive layer is disposed on a portion of the core between the annular grooves and in the annular grooves; and
the gap members are fixed to portions of the circumferential surface of the core between the annular grooves and the ends
of the core.
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