ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC PHOTORECEPTOR HAVING LIFE DETECTING GROOVES, AND ITS PHOTORECEPTOR LIFE DETECTING METHOD

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a photoreceptor life detecting method capable of surely detecting the photoreceptor life in all developing conditions and device environments by simplifying the constitution of a device. ;SOLUTION: While a photoreceptor drum 1 keeps practically usable performance, grooves 2a formed in a CT layer are clogged with the remaining toner 3, and the toner 3 remains on the photoreceptor drum 1 as a toner pattern without being scraped out with a cleaning blade 4. A user seeing this state confirms that the life of the photoreceptor drum 1 remains. When the photoreceptor drum 1 approaches its life, the CT layer of the drum 1 is scraped off and made thin, and grooves 2a disappear at last. After that, the remaining toner 3 is completely scraped out with the cleaning blade 4, and the toner pattern disappears. Since the thickness of the photosensitive body film is equal to the minimum thickness for keeping practically usable performance, the user recognizes that the life of the photoreceptor drum 1 is finished by seeing the disappearing of the grooves 2a.;COPYRIGHT: (C)1998,JPO