CHARGER

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively suppress charge unevenness and to increase the degree of freedom of the resistivity of a resistance layer by providing a layer made of a material having a nonlinear current-voltage characteristic, on a surface facing a charged surface. SOLUTION: The layer 2a made of the material having the nonlinear current- voltage characteristic (abbreviated as a varistor layer in the following) is provided on the surface facing a photoreceptor 1a of a charge plate 2. In the charge plate 2, the resistor layer 2b is formed on a conductor 2c and the varistor layer 2a is formed on the resistor layer 2b as well. The varistor layer 2a dose not discharge electricity in a place where the distance between the charge plate 2 and the photoreceptor 1a is long, because the resistivity of the varistor layer 2a is high, but discharges the electricity in a place where the distance is short, because the resistivity of the varistor layer 2a is low. Thus, in the charge plate 2, the occurrence of the charge unevenness of the photoreceptor 1a is prevented and further, the setting of the resistivity of the resistor layer 2b is easier than that of a conventional contact charger.