Patent ID: 7835655

Claim:
A charger comprising: a first charging member which is brought into contact with an image carrier to charge a surface of the image carrier; a second charging member which is brought into contact with the image carrier at a portion on a downstream side relative to the first charging member in a rotational direction of the image carrier to charge the surface of the image carrier; and a controller which controls voltages applied to the first and second charging members, wherein at the time of image formation, the controller applies, to the first charging member, a voltage whose absolute value is higher than the absolute value of a discharge start voltage of the first charging member and applies, to the second charging member, a voltage whose absolute value is lower than the absolute value of a discharge start voltage of the second charging member and whose absolute value is lower than the voltage applied to the first charging member, and at the time when an image is not formed, the controller applies, to the first charging member, a voltage whose absolute value is lower than the absolute value of the discharge start voltage of the first charging member and applies, to the second charging member, a voltage whose absolute value is higher than the absolute value of the discharge start voltage of the second charging member and whose absolute value is higher than the voltage applied to the first charging member.