Patent ID: 6445890
Filing Date: 2002-09-03
Classification: G03G

Abstract:
An image forming apparatus comprising:an image carrier including a photosensitive layer, on the photosensitive layer an electrostatic latent image being formed through a photoconductive function, a toner layer being formed on a surface of the image carrier by causing electrostatic adhesion of toner particles to the electrostatic latent image; and transfer means for transferring the toner particles electrostatically adhering to the surface of the image carrier, to a surface of a recording medium with an electrostatic force by bringing the surface of the recording medium into contact with the surface of the image carrier through the toner layer and applying a transfer voltage from the transfer means to another surface of the recording medium, wherein parameters of equivalent air thicknesses topc (&mgr;m) and yt (&mgr;m) of the photosensitive layer and toner layer, respectively, an amount of charge per unit area qpm ((mg/cm2)âˆ’1) of the toner layer, the amount of charge per unit area being normalized based on an amount of charge per unit area &rgr;opc in a non-image portion of the photosensitive layer, an amount of charge per unit area &rgr;â€²opc in the non-image portion of the photosensitive layer upon entrance into a transfer region, and a total amount of charge per unit area &rgr;o of the toner layer satisfy the following Equation (1): â€ƒ|(&rgr;â€²opcâˆ’&rgr;o)/(&rgr;opcâˆ’&rgr;o)|<1where&rgr;o=qpm{(âˆ’0.01Â·topc+0.145)yt2+(0.001Â·topc+0.937)yt}.â€ƒâ€ƒ(1)