Patent ID: 7460815

Claim:
A charge roller comprising: a core; a resistive layer disposed on a circumferential surface of the core to charge an image-bearing member without contact; and gap members formed of tape-shaped films fixed to both ends of the charge roller by winding each of the films in a direction opposite a rotational direction of the charge roller in use and perpendicular to the axial direction thereof to form n layers (wherein n≧2) extending in the axial direction at every position in the circumferential direction of the charge roller, the gap members being pressed against a circumferential surface of an image-bearing member to define a charge gap between the image-bearing member and the charge roller, wherein the core has annular grooves at both ends thereof; the resistive layer is disposed on a portion of the core between the annular grooves and in the annular grooves; and the gap members are fixed to portions of the circumferential surface of the core between the annular grooves and the ends of the core.