An electroconductive roll includes a core member, a rubber base material disposed around the core member, and a surface layer disposed around the rubber base material. The surface area of the surface layer per unit projected area is equal to or greater than 1.255, and is equal to or less than 6.635.

An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive member, a charging member, an exposing device, a developing device, a transfer member, a brush, a voltage applying portion, and a control portion controlling a surface potential of the photosensitive member at the brush contacting position. When a value of subtracting a value of the surface potential of the photosensitive member in the brush contacting position from a value of the brush voltage is defined as a contacting position potential difference, the control portion controls the surface potential of the photosensitive member in the brush contacting position so that the contacting position potential difference is changed from a first potential difference to a second potential difference in a predetermined direction which is either one of an increasing direction or a decreasing direction, and then the contacting position potential difference is changed from the second potential difference to a third potential difference in the predetermined direction.

An image forming apparatus includes a charging unit that charges an image bearing member, a developing unit that forms a toner image on an latent image formed on the image bearing member, a transfer unit that transfers the toner image onto a transfer material, a charge neutralizer that neutralizes a charge of the image bearing member downstream of a transfer portion and upstream of a charging portion in a rotating direction of the image bearing member, a conductive collecting unit that collects a material adhering on the image bearing member downstream of the transfer portion and upstream of the charging portion, wherein the developing unit collects residual toner on the image bearing member, an voltage application unit sets a potential difference between the voltage applied to the collecting unit and the surface electric potential of the image bearing member not more than a discharge threshold.

An image forming apparatus includes a charging unit that charges an image bearing member, a developing unit that forms a toner image on an latent image formed on the image bearing member, a transfer unit that transfers the toner image onto a transfer material, a charge neutralizer that neutralizes a charge of the image bearing member downstream of a transfer portion and upstream of a charging portion in a rotating direction of the image bearing member, a conductive collecting unit that collects a material adhering on the image bearing member downstream of the transfer portion and upstream of the charging portion, wherein the developing unit collects residual toner on the image bearing member, an voltage application unit sets a potential difference between the voltage applied to the collecting unit and the surface electric potential of the image bearing member not more than a discharge threshold.

An image forming apparatus includes a detection unit configured to detect an object and a power-supply control unit. The power-supply control unit shifts the image forming apparatus to a second power state, in response to a lapse of a predetermined time following no detection of the object, when a job has not been executed until the detection unit detects no object, after the power-supply control unit shifts the image forming apparatus to the first power state. The power-supply control unit shifts the image forming apparatus to the second power state before a lapse of the predetermined time, when a job has been executed until the detection unit detects no object, after the power-supply control unit shifts the image forming apparatus to the first power state.

An electrophotographic photosensitive member includes a conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer. The photosensitive layer is a single layer and contains a charge generating material, an electron transport material, a binder resin, and a hole transport material. The electron transport material includes a compound represented by general formula (1):

##STR00001##

In general formula (1), R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 each represent, independently of one another, a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, a heterocyclic group, an alkoxy group, an aralkyl group, an allyl group, or an aryl group optionally substituted with at least 1 and no more than 5 substituents selected from the group consisting of a halogen atom, an alkyl group, and alkoxy group.

An image forming apparatus includes: an image bearing member that has a toner image formed thereon while rotating and that retains the toner image until the toner image is transferred; a charging unit that receives an image-formation charge voltage having a predetermined first polarity and used for electrostatically charging the image bearing member; an exposure unit that radiates exposure light onto a region of the image bearing member so as to form an electrostatic latent image on the image bearing member, the region of the image bearing member receiving the image-formation charge voltage applied by the charging unit; a developing unit that uses a toner to develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the image bearing member by the exposure unit; a transfer unit that nips a transfer member by working together with the image bearing member and that receives a transfer voltage having a second polarity opposite to the first polarity between the transfer unit and the image bearing member so as to transfer the toner image formed on the image bearing member by the developing unit onto the transfer member; and a controller that causes a transfer-unit static-elimination voltage to be applied to the transfer unit and causes a static-elimination charge voltage to be applied to the charging unit in an image-formation terminating sequence, the transfer-unit static-elimination voltage having the second polarity and having an absolute value larger than the transfer voltage, the static-elimination charge voltage having the first polarity and having an absolute value smaller than the image-formation charge voltage.

Examples disclosed herein relate to an imaging device. The imaging device to include a discharge member to discharge a first pattern on a photoconductor; and a writing engine to control the discharge member to discharge a second pattern to the photoconductor to obscure any latent pattern formed from the first pattern remaining on the photoconductor.

An electroconductive roll includes a core member, a rubber base material disposed around the core member, and a surface layer disposed around the rubber base material. The surface area of the surface layer per unit projected area is equal to or greater than 1.255, and is equal to or less than 6.635.

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) brushes are described. An ESD brush includes a base (102) and a plurality of bristles(104-1, 104-2, 104-3, . . . , 104-n, 304-1, 304-2) integrated with the base(102).