Patent ID: 7693456

Claim:
A conductive member, comprising: a conductive supporting body; an electric resistance adjusting layer formed on the conductive supporting body; space holding members provided on opposite ends of the electric resistance adjusting layer, the space holding members being configured to be in contact with a contacted member to form a gap between the electric resistance adjusting layer and the contacted member; a plurality of engaging openings having different diameters and provided in one of the electric resistance adjusting layer and each of the space holding members, the plurality of engaging openings including first and second engaging openings provided in the one of the electric resistance adjusting layer and each of the space holding members; and a plurality of engaging projections having different diameters and provided on an other of the electric resistance adjusting layer and each of the space holding members to be inserted in the engaging openings, respectively, the plurality of engaging projections including first and second engaging projections provided on the other of the electric resistance adjusting layer and each of the space holding members to be inserted in the engaging openings, respectively, wherein the first engaging projection has an external diameter smaller than an external diameter of the electric resistance adjusting layer and smaller than an external diameter of each of the space holding members, and wherein the second engaging projection has an external diameter smaller than the external diameter of the first engaging projection.