Patent ID: 8750761

Claim:
A charging device comprising: a discharge electrode that extends along an axial direction of a member to be charged, the member to be charged having a cylindrical shape or a columnar shape; and a potential control plate that is disposed between the member to be charged and the discharge electrode and curved along a peripheral surface of the member to be charged, wherein the potential control plate includes three or more structural lines that are arranged in a circumferential direction of the member to be charged and that linearly extend along the axial direction of the member to be charged, and a plurality of connecting portions that are arranged in the axial direction of the member to be charged, each connecting portion connecting two or more of the three or more structural lines to each other, the two or more structural lines being next to each other in the circumferential direction of the member to be charged, wherein the structural lines connected by one of the plurality of connecting portions and the structural lines connected by another one of the plurality of connecting portions are at least partly different from each other.