Patent ID: 7194224

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a photoconductor, a latent electrostatic image forming unit which comprises a charging member configured to charge the photoconductor surface and an exposing member configured to irradiate light on the charged photoconductor surface, a developing unit configured to develop the latent electrostatic image by means of a toner to form a visible image, a transferring unit configured to transfer the visible image on a recording medium, and a fixing unit configured to fix the transferred image on the recording medium, wherein, the charging member is of roller shape disposed proximate to the photoconductor, the photoconductor is charged at the charging nip portion formed between the photoconductor and the charging member, in a condition that satisfies the following Equation (1), 4.4×10 14 /m 2 -mm≦[(Number of Charged Particles)÷(circumferential length of the photoconductor)]≦17.7×10 14 /m 2 -mm Equation (1): wherein the “Number of Charged Particles” refers to the number of charged particles accepted by the photoconductor surface per its unit surface area from the operated charging member, while the photoconductor rotates one round, thus the unit is [number/m 2 ]; and the unit of “circumferential length of the photoconductor” is [mm].