Patent ID: 6830857
Filing Date: 2004-12-14
Classification: G03G,H04N

Abstract:
An image forming method using a photoconductor having an upper surface and including a conductive support, and a photoconductive layer provided on said conductive support, said photoconductive layer having a lower surface opposite said upper surface and positioned on the side of the support, said method comprising charging said upper surface with a charger having a charging surface located in contact with said upper surface or spaced apart a distance of not greater than 100 &mgr;m from said upper surface, and scanning said charged upper surface of said photoconductor with a writing light beam having a wavelength of &lgr; &mgr;m and a spot diameter &phgr; &mgr;m at least along a main scanning direction to form an electrostatic latent image thereon,wherein said upper surface of said photoconductor has such a roughness that a sectional curve thereof along the main scanning direction is represented by a function y=f(x) when the main scanning direction and the direction of the vertical height are assumed to be the X-axis and the Y-axis, respectively, wherein the maximum height of said sectional curve in a region from an arbitral position x on the X-axis to a position (x+&phgr;) on the X-axis is Hx, said maximum height Hx is a distance between the maximum level in the direction of the Y-axis in that region and the minimum level in the direction of the Y-axis in that region, wherein the minimum value R1 of the maximum height Hx is not greater than &lgr;/2n &mgr;m where n is a refractive index of said photoconductive layer at the wavelength of said light beam and &lgr; is as defined above, wherein said lower surface of said photoconductive layer has such a roughness that the sectional curve thereof along the main scanning direction is represented by a function yâ€²=f(xâ€²) when the main scanning direction and the direction of the vertical magnitude are assumed to be the X-axis and the Y-axis, respectively, wherein the maximum height of said sectional curve in a region from an arbitral position xâ€² on the X-axis to a position (xâ€²+&phgr;) on the X-axis is Hxâ€² &mgr;m, said maximum height Hxâ€² is a distance between the maximum level in the direction of the Y-axis in that region and the minimum level in the direction of the Y-axis in that region, wherein the minimum value R2 of the maximum height Hxâ€² is not greater than &lgr;/2n &mgr;m where n and &lgr; are as defined above, and wherein a sum of R1 and R2 is not smaller than &lgr;/2n &mgr;m where n and &lgr; are as defined above.