PURPOSE: To electrically stabilize a photosensitive body by efficiently reducing the residual potential thereof and to maintain stable image quality over a long period by imparting electric charge whose polarity is reverse to uniform electrostatic charge and setting the surface potential of the photosensitive body within a specified range just before a uniform electrostatic charge process is executed.
CONSTITUTION: The surface of the photosensitive body 1 after transfer is cleaned by a cleaning device 7 after the electric charge thereof is destaticized so as to be ≤50-100V by a destaticization device 6 in order to be easily cleaned. Thereafter, the electric charge whose polarity is reverse to the uniform electrostatic charge is uniformly given to the body 1 by a pre-electorstatic-charge charging device 9 and sent to an electrostatic charging device 2 after the irregularity of the electric charge in the photosensitive layer of the body 1 is uniformized as much as possible by an optical destaticization device 8. In an actual device, the charging device 9 is actuated first at the same time that the body 1 is rotated or while it is rotated and the uniform electrostatic charging device 2 is actuated thereafter. Besides, the surface potential before the electrostatic charge is made different according to an individual copying process. However, it mast be set within the range of 200-700V.
KOJIMA SHIGETO
IKUNO HIROSHI
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