Patent ID: 7072604

Claim:
An electro-conductive roll that makes contact with a body to be charged in a state in which a voltage is applied to the roll, and charges the body to be charged, wherein a surface of the electro-conductive roll satisfies the following conditions (a) and (b): (a) the surface of the electro-conductive roll has a 10-point average roughness of 5 μm or less; and (b) the surface of the electro-conductive roll has a dynamic ultra-microhardness in the range of 0.04 to 0.5; and wherein the electro-conductive roll includes, on an electro-conductive substrate, at least two electro-conductive layers comprised of at least an electro-conductive elastic layer and an electro-conductive surface layer, and the electro-conductive elastic layer is formed by dispersing an electro-conductive agent in a rubber material; and the electro-conductive elastic layer and the electro-conductive surface layer satisfy the following relationship (c): (c) (Rz of a surface of the electro-conductive elastic layer)×0.5≦thickness of the electro-conductive surface layer≦(Rz of a surface of the elastic layer)×2.