Patent ID: 8126360

Claim:
A temperature control unit for an electrophotographic photoconductor substrate, said electrophotographic photoconductor substrate comprising a coated layer, and an entire face of said electrophotographic photoconductor substrate being exposed to energy externally applied from a heating element while being rotated by a rotation system, characterized in that: the temperature control unit comprising a stretchable membrane member, said membrane member detachably disposed in a hollow space of the cylindrical electrophotographic photoconductor substrate, wherein the membrane member is configured to sequentially stretch until reaching the deepest part of the hollow space of the cylindrical substrate as a result of an introduction of a refrigerant therein so as to closely contact with an entire inner wall of the cylindrical substrate, and to sequentially shrink to the original shape thereof as a result of a release of the refrigerant therefrom, so that the membrane member is detachably disposed in the hollow space of the cylindrical substrate, and wherein the membrane member is configured to make a heat transfer between a surface of the cylindrical substrate and the refrigerant introduced in the hollow space of the cylindrical substrate via the membrane member closely contacted with the inner surface of the cylindrical substrate, so as to control a surface temperature of the cylindrical substrate.