Patent ID: 8036565

Claim:
A charging apparatus comprising: a corona charger including a discharging wire and a shield having an opening disposed at a position closer than said discharging wire relative to a member to be charged; a cleaning member configured to clean said discharging wire, said cleaning member being reciprocable in a direction substantially along said discharging wire so that said cleaning member is in sliding contact with said discharging wire; a shutter member configured to open and close the opening of said corona charger, said shutter member being reciprocable in a direction between an opened position in which the opening is opened and a closed position in which the opening is closed, and said shutter member being capable of covering an entire area of the opening of said corona charger; a driving mechanism configured to reciprocate said cleaning member to clean said discharge wire and said shutter member to open and close the opening; and a wind-up mechanism configured to wind up said shutter member with an opening operation of said shutter member by said driving mechanism.