JP2000293044A - Intermediate transfer body cleaning means and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prolong the life of the intermediate transfer body by making a cleaning capacity of an intermediate transfer body improved when a jamming occurs, and normally reducing the load on the intermediate transfer body, in the intermediate transfer body cleaning device. SOLUTION: This cleaning means is, letting the unnecessary toner on the intermediate transfer belt 31 being rotated in the direction of the arrow A scraped off by the cleaning blade 51 being pressurized on the intermediate transfer belt 31 surface. When the toner quantity to be scraped off is increased by the jamming or the like, the rotary speed of the intermediate transfer belt 31 is switched to the speed being slower than the speed at the ordinary image forming time, by rotary speed switching means 60. In such a manner, the toner removing capacity of the cleaning blade 51 is improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an intermediate transfer member cleaning means for cleaning an intermediate transfer member, and an image forming apparatus having the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a color image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, toner images of a plurality of colors formed by a plurality of image forming sections are temporarily superimposed on an intermediate transfer member, and thereafter, a recording material is collectively collected. There is known an intermediate transfer system for transferring the image to a medium.

FIG. 5 shows an example of such an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG.
The four image forming units Pa, Pb,
Pc and Pd are provided.

The surfaces of the photosensitive drums (image carriers) 101a to 101d of the respective image forming units Pa to Pd are placed on a primary charger 102a.
Exposure devices 103a-103
An electrostatic latent image is formed by the exposure of d. The electrostatic latent images on the photosensitive drums 101a to 101d are
The toner images are developed as toner images by a to 104d, and are primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 131 sequentially by the primary transfer chargers 106a to 106d and superimposed. The toner (primary transfer residual toner) remaining on each of the photosensitive drums 101a to 101d after the primary transfer is cleaned by a cleaning device 105a.
１０５105d. Intermediate transfer belt 131
The upper multi-color toner images are transferred to transport rollers 125A and 125A.
Secondary transfer is collectively performed by the secondary transfer roller 72 on the recording material P supplied by B or the like. The recording material P to which the toner images of a plurality of colors have been transferred is discharged to the outside of the image forming apparatus main body by a discharge roller 145 after the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 140.

In the above-described image forming apparatus, a belt-shaped intermediate transfer belt 131 which is stretched around a plurality of rollers 132 and 133 and rotates endlessly is used as the intermediate transfer body 71. The toner (secondary transfer residual toner) remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 131 after the secondary transfer without being transferred to the recording material P is removed by the cleaning device 134.

[0006]

In the above-mentioned image forming apparatus, defective feeding / discharging such as paper jam (hereinafter referred to as "jam").
That. If the copying operation (image forming operation) is interrupted due to), the incomplete toner image formed halfway on the photosensitive drums 101a to 101d and on the intermediate transfer body 71 is removed.
Cleaning must be performed in preparation for copying operation return. Therefore, the photosensitive drums 101a to 101d and the intermediate transfer body 71 are respectively provided with the cleaning devices 105a to 105a.
05d and 134 are provided.

However, since a plurality of color toner images are formed directly on the intermediate transfer member 71, the amount of toner to be cleaned (hereinafter referred to as "toner due to jam") generated by the jam is limited. There is much more secondary transfer residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer body 71 after the secondary transfer by the normal copying operation. Therefore, there is a problem that the toner due to the jam passes through the cleaning device 134 without being completely collected. For this reason, conventionally, the cleaning device 134 for the intermediate transfer body 71 has been required to have a high cleaning ability in case of a jam.

However, in the case of cleaning the secondary transfer residual toner by a normal copying operation, a high cleaning ability is not required as in the case of cleaning the toner due to a jam. Conversely, if the cleaning ability is high, the load on the driving of the intermediate transfer body 71 may increase, or the intermediate transfer body 71 itself may be damaged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and by appropriately changing the cleaning ability of the intermediate transfer member, the cleaning ability of the intermediate transfer member when a jam occurs is improved. An object of the present invention is to provide an intermediate transfer member cleaning unit that extends the life of the intermediate transfer member by reducing the load on the transfer member, and an image forming apparatus including the same.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an intermediate transfer member cleaning means for removing unnecessary toner on an intermediate transfer member driven by rotation. A cleaning member that is in contact with the surface of the transfer member and scrapes and removes unnecessary toner on the intermediate transfer member; and a capability switching unit that switches the toner removal capability of the cleaning member. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the intermediate transfer body cleaning means of the first aspect, the capacity switching means is a rotation speed switching means for switching the rotation speed of the intermediate transfer body in at least two stages. The rotation speed switching means switches the rotation speed of the intermediate transfer body to a speed lower than that during normal image formation when the amount of toner to be removed on the intermediate transfer body is large.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the intermediate transfer body cleaning means of the first aspect, the ability switching means is a rotation direction switching means for switching a rotation direction of the intermediate transfer body, and the rotation direction switching means. When the amount of toner to be removed on the intermediate transfer body is large, the intermediate transfer body is so arranged that a portion of the intermediate transfer body having a large amount of toner to be removed passes at least twice through the cleaning member. The rotation direction is switched.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the intermediate transfer body cleaning means of the first aspect, the intermediate transfer body cleaning means includes a counter member as a cleaning member in a counter direction with respect to a normal rotation direction of the intermediate transfer body. A first cleaning member abutting on the second transfer member and a second cleaning member abutting in a counter direction with respect to a rotation direction opposite to a normal rotation direction of the intermediate transfer body; Is a rotation direction switching unit that switches the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer body, and when the amount of toner to be removed on the intermediate transfer body is large, the rotation direction switching unit removes the toner on the intermediate transfer body. The direction of rotation of the intermediate transfer body is such that a portion with a large amount of toner should pass through the first cleaning member and the second cleaning member at least once. Switch, characterized in that.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the intermediate transfer body cleaning means of the first aspect, the capacity switching means switches the pressure of the cleaning member on the intermediate transfer body in at least two stages. The pressing force switching means switches the pressing force of the cleaning member on the intermediate transfer member to be higher than that during normal image formation when the amount of toner to be removed on the intermediate transfer member is large. It is characterized by.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus, wherein the step of primary-transferring a toner image formed on an image carrier to an intermediate transfer member is repeated for a plurality of color toner images. After superimposing, the toner image of the plurality of colors on the intermediate transfer body is secondarily transferred collectively to the recording material, and unnecessary toner on the intermediate transfer body is removed by an intermediate transfer body cleaning unit. Wherein said intermediate transfer member cleaning means comprises:
4. An intermediate transfer member cleaning unit according to 4 or 5.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 2 shows an example of an image forming apparatus provided with an intermediate transfer member cleaning means according to the present invention. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is an electrophotographic four-color full-color laser printer having four image forming units and using an intermediate transfer member, and FIG. is there.

The image forming apparatus shown in FIG.
P and an image reading unit 1R.

The image output unit 1P is roughly divided into an image forming unit 1P.
0 (four image forming stations a, b, c, and d are arranged side by side and have the same configuration), a sheet feeding unit 20, an intermediate transfer unit 30, a fixing unit 40, and a control unit (not (Shown).

Further, each unit will be described in detail.

The image forming section 10 has the following configuration. Photosensitive drums 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d, which are drum-type electrophotographic photosensitive members as image carriers, are rotatably supported at their centers and are driven to rotate in the direction of the arrows. Primary chargers 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, optical systems (exposure means) 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d, developing devices 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d are opposed to the outer peripheral surfaces of the photosensitive drums 11a to 11d in the rotation direction. Is arranged.
In the primary chargers 12a to 12d, the photosensitive drums 11a to 11d
A charge having a uniform charge amount is given to the surface of 11d. Next, the photosensitive drum 1 is modulated by optical systems 13a to 13d with a light beam such as a laser beam modulated according to a recording image signal.
By exposing the surfaces 1a to 11d, an electrostatic latent image is formed thereon. In addition, yellow, cyan, magenta,
The electrostatic latent images are developed (visualized) as toner images by the developing devices 14a to 14d storing the developers (toners) of the four black colors, respectively. The developed toner image is
The primary transfer is sequentially performed on an intermediate transfer belt (described later) in the image transfer areas Td, Tc, Tb, and Ta. At this time, the toner (primary transfer residual toner) remaining on the photosensitive drums 11a to 11d without being primary-transferred is cleaned by the cleaning devices 15a, 15b, and 15 downstream of the image transfer areas Ta to Td.
It is scraped off by c and 15d, and the drum surface is cleaned. According to the above-described process, image formation using the toners of each color is sequentially performed.

The paper feed unit 20 includes cassettes 21 a and 21 b for storing the recording material P, and a manual feed tray 27.
Pick-up rollers 22a, 22b, 26 for feeding out the recording material P one by one from the cassettes 21a, 21b or the manual tray 27;
a, 22b and 26, a sheet feed roller pair 23 and a sheet feed guide 24 for conveying the recording material P to the registration rollers, and secondary transfer of the recording material P in accordance with the image forming timing of the image forming unit 10. It has registration rollers 25a and 25b for sending out to the region Te.

The intermediate transfer unit 30 will be described in detail. The intermediate transfer unit 30 includes an intermediate transfer belt 31 formed in an endless shape. Intermediate transfer belt 31
Is formed of, for example, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) or PVdF (polyvinylidene fluoride), and includes a driving roller 32 for transmitting driving, a tension roller 33, and a tension roller 33 for applying an appropriate tension by biasing a spring (not shown). It is stretched over a driven roller 34 facing the next transfer area Te. Among these, a primary transfer plane S is formed between the drive roller 32 and the tension roller 33. The driving roller 32 has a surface of a metal roller coated with rubber (urethane or chloroprene) having a thickness of several mm to prevent slippage between the driving roller 32 and the intermediate transfer belt 31. The drive roller 32 is driven to rotate by a pulse motor (not shown). Each of the photosensitive drums 11a to 11d and the intermediate transfer belt 3
In the primary transfer areas Ta to Td opposed to each other, a primary transfer blade 35a is provided on the back surface (inner peripheral surface) of the intermediate transfer belt 31.
35b, 35c and 35d are arranged. A secondary transfer roller 36 is arranged to face the driven roller 34, and forms a secondary transfer area Te by nip with the intermediate transfer belt 31. The secondary transfer roller 36 is pressed with an appropriate pressure on the intermediate transfer member. Further, the intermediate transfer belt 31 is located downstream of the secondary transfer area Te in the normal (at the time of image formation) rotation direction (the direction of the arrow A) of the intermediate transfer belt 31.
An intermediate transfer body cleaning device 50 for cleaning the image forming surface (outer peripheral surface) of the image forming apparatus is provided.

An intermediate transfer member cleaning device 50 as an intermediate transfer member cleaning means includes a cleaner blade 51.
And a waste toner box 52 for storing waste toner. The material of the cleaner blade 51 is polyurethane rubber or the like. The intermediate transfer body cleaning device 50 will be described later in detail.

The fixing unit 40 includes a fixing roller 46 having a heat source 41a such as a halogen heater therein, a pressure roller 47 having a heat source 41b therein and pressed against the fixing roller 46; A guide 43 for guiding the recording material P to a fixing nip formed between the pressure roller 47 and the recording material P discharged from the fixing nip is further placed on a paper discharge tray 48 outside the image forming apparatus main body. An inner discharge roller 44 and an outer discharge roller 45 for discharging are provided.

The control unit includes a control board 70 for controlling the operation of the mechanism in each unit described above, a motor drive board (not shown), and the like.

Next, the operation of the above-described image forming apparatus will be described.

When an image forming operation start signal is issued, first, the recording material P is sent out one by one from the cassette 21a by the pickup roller 22a. Then, the recording material P is guided between the paper feed guides 24 by the paper feed roller pair 23 and is conveyed to the registration rollers 25a and 25b. At this time, the registration rollers 25a and 25b are stopped, and the leading end of the recording material strikes the nip. Thereafter, the registration rollers 25a and 25b start rotating at the timing when the image forming unit 10 starts forming an image. The rotation timing is such that the recording material P and the toner image primarily transferred from the image forming unit 10 onto the intermediate transfer belt are in the secondary transfer area T.
The timing is set so as to exactly match in e.

On the other hand, in the image forming section 10, when an image forming operation start signal is issued, the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 11d at the most upstream side in the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 31 by the above-described process. Is primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 31 in the primary transfer area Td by the primary transfer blade 35d to which a high voltage is applied.
The primary-transferred toner image is transported to the next primary transfer area Tc. In this case, image formation is performed with a delay of the time during which the toner image is conveyed between the image forming sections, and the next toner image is transferred by aligning the resist on the previous toner image. Hereinafter, the same process is repeated, and the four color toner images are sequentially primary-transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 31 and superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 31.

Thereafter, when the recording material P enters the secondary transfer area Te and comes into contact with the intermediate transfer belt 31, a high voltage is applied to the secondary transfer roller 36 in synchronization with the passage of the recording material P. Then, the toner image formed by the four color toners D formed on the intermediate transfer belt by the above-described process is secondarily transferred to the surface of the recording material P at once.

The recording material P after the secondary transfer of the toner image is accurately guided to the fixing nip by the conveyance guide 43. Then, the toner image is fixed on the surface by heating and pressing of the fixing roller 46 and the pressing roller 47. Thereafter, the paper is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 48 by the internal and external paper discharge rollers 44 and 45.

Next, a characteristic portion of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The intermediate transfer member cleaning device 50 shown in FIG.
Has a rotation speed switching means 60 for rotating the intermediate transfer belt 31 at at least two types of rotation speeds.
In the present embodiment, since the rotation speed switching unit 60 switches the rotation speed of the intermediate transfer belt 31 as a capability switching unit for switching the toner removal capability for the intermediate transfer body cleaning device 50, the rotation speed switching unit 60 Is included as a component of the intermediate transfer body cleaning device 50. In the present invention, the intermediate transfer body cleaning device 50 removes the so-called secondary transfer residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 31 without being transferred onto the recording material P,
The remaining toner on the top is also scraped off. That is, unnecessary toner on the intermediate transfer belt 31 is removed.

During a normal copying operation (during an image forming operation), the intermediate transfer belt 31 rotates at a speed V1 in the direction of arrow A. At this time, the intermediate transfer body cleaning device 50 located on the downstream side of the secondary transfer area Te always cleans the secondary transfer roller on the intermediate transfer belt 31 by the cleaning blade 51 after the completion of the secondary transfer.

On the other hand, if the normal copying operation is interrupted due to the occurrence of a jam, after the jam clearing operation is completed, the primary transfer blades 35a to 35a to 35c clean a large amount of toner of a plurality of colors on the intermediate transfer belt 31. 35d
After the secondary transfer roller 36 is separated from the intermediate transfer belt 31, the rotation speed of the intermediate transfer belt 31 in the direction of arrow A is switched from the speed V1 to the speed V2 by the rotation speed switching means 60. At this time, the relationship between the speed V1 and the speed V2 is V1> V2. Thereafter, the plurality of color toners surely pass through the intermediate transfer body cleaning device 50 and are scraped off by the cleaning blade 51 into the waste toner box 52. Then, the preparation for returning to the normal copying operation is completed.

The rotational speed of the intermediate transfer belt 31, especially the speed V2, is optimally set in view of the cleaning performance in view of various conditions such as the material of the intermediate transfer belt 31 and the material of the cleaning blade 51.

According to the embodiment described above, a large amount of toner on the intermediate transfer belt 31 at the time of the occurrence of a jam is cleaned by reducing the rotation speed of the intermediate transfer belt 31 to an optimum speed. Even though the cleaning blade 51 does not slip through, the cleaning can be surely performed. Further, since the cleaning performance is increased by lowering the rotation speed of the intermediate transfer belt 31, no special mechanism is required for the intermediate transfer body cleaning device 50 itself, and the load on the intermediate transfer belt 31 during a normal copying operation is reduced. It can be kept small.

<Embodiment 2> FIG. 3 shows Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
The characteristic part of is shown. FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view near the intermediate transfer body cleaning device 50.

In FIG. 3A, the intermediate transfer body cleaning device 50 is provided with a second (upper) upstream side in the normal (at the time of image formation) rotation direction (the direction of arrow A) of the intermediate transfer belt 31.
Cleaning blade 51 as a cleaning member
B, and a cleaning blade 51A as a first cleaning member on the downstream side. The upstream cleaning blade 51B is moved from a direction that does not go against the normal rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 31 (hereinafter referred to as “with direction”), and the downstream cleaning blade 51A is moved.
Is the direction opposite to the normal rotation direction (hereinafter referred to as the “counter direction”).
That. ) Is disposed so as to contact the intermediate transfer belt 31. Further, there is provided a rotation direction switching means for switching the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 31 between a normal rotation direction (direction of arrow A) and a reverse rotation direction (direction of arrow B in FIG. 3B). As the rotation direction switching unit as the capability switching unit for switching the toner removing capability, for example, the rotation speed switching unit 60 shown in FIG. 1 of the first embodiment can be used. That is, the rotation speed switching means 60 may be configured to enable the rotation direction of the drive roller 32 to rotate forward and reverse.

According to the present embodiment, after the jam clearing operation is completed, a plurality of toners D
The primary transfer blades 35a to 35a-3
5d and the secondary transfer roller 36 (see FIG. 2) is separated from the intermediate transfer belt 31, and the intermediate transfer belt 31 is rotated in a normal rotation direction (the direction of arrow A) to remove the toner on the intermediate transfer belt 31. The cleaning is performed by passing through the intermediate transfer member cleaning device 50. At this time, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, since the cleaning blade 51B is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 31 in the width direction, the toner D
Is hardly scraped off, and the toner is scraped off by the cleaning blade 51A in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 31 in the counter direction. However, when the amount of the toner D to be scraped is large, a part of the toner D passes through the cleaning blade 51. Then, in order to scrape off the slipped toner again, the intermediate transfer belt 31 is rotated by the rotation direction switching means 60 in the opposite direction (the direction of arrow B) as shown in FIG. At this time, since the cleaning blade 51B is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 31 in the counter direction, the remaining toner can be completely scraped off.

In this embodiment, when only the cleaning blade 51A is used as in the first embodiment, the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 31 is switched a plurality of times to remove the intermediate transfer belt 31 from the intermediate transfer belt 31. A similar effect can be obtained by making the portion having a large amount of toner pass through the cleaning blade 51A multiple times in the direction of arrow A.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a large amount of toner on the intermediate transfer belt 31 at the time of occurrence of a jam is cleaned by rotating the intermediate transfer belt 31 in the forward and reverse directions to thereby remove a large amount of toner. However, cleaning can be surely performed. Further, since the cleaning performance is enhanced by the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 31 in the forward and reverse directions, no special mechanism is required for the intermediate transfer body cleaning device 50 itself. Can be reduced.

<Embodiment 3> FIG. 4 shows Embodiment 3 of the present invention.
Is shown. FIG. 5 shows the intermediate transfer body cleaning device 5.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view near 0.

In the intermediate transfer body cleaning device 50, the cleaning blade 51 is a blade support member 54.
The blade support member 54 is supported at the fulcrum M by the waste toner box 52. The other end of the blade support member 54 is in contact with the cam 56,
The cam 56 is rotated by a motor 58. Further, the blade supporting member 54 is constantly pressed by a compression spring 55, and the compression spring 55 is fixed to the side plate 57.

In this embodiment, a capability switching means for switching the capability of removing unnecessary toner on the intermediate transfer belt 31 by the above-described blade support member 54, compression spring 55, cam 56, side plate 57, and motor 58. The pressing force switching means 53 is constituted.

The intermediate transfer member cleaning device 5 having the above-described configuration.
0 indicates that the amount of the cleaning blade 51 entering the intermediate transfer belt 31 by the cam 56 during the normal copying operation is determined by the cam 56, and the intermediate transfer belt 3
1 abuts. On the other hand, when a jam occurs, it is necessary to clean a large amount of toner of a plurality of colors on the intermediate transfer belt 31. In this case, an electric signal is sent to the motor 58, and the cam 56 is rotated by a predetermined angle to perform cleaning. The amount of the blade 51 entering the intermediate transfer belt 31 is increased. That is, the pressing force of the cleaning blade 51 on the intermediate transfer belt 31 is increased. At this time, the primary transfer blades 35a to 35d and the secondary transfer roller 36 (see FIG. 2) are in a state separated from the intermediate transfer belt 31.

According to the present embodiment, the intermediate transfer belt 31 is moved by the cleaning blade 51 having the increased pressing force.
The cleaning can be reliably performed without causing the toner of the plurality of colors to pass through. In addition, by making the pressure of the cleaning blade 51 variable between the normal time and the jam time, the load on the intermediate transfer belt 31 during the normal copying operation can be reduced, and efficient and reliable cleaning can be performed. Further, depending on the shape of the cam 56, it is easy to change the pressing force of the cleaning blade 51 in a plurality of stages, and a more optimum pressing force can be realized depending on the amount of toner to be cleaned.

When the third embodiment is combined with the first and second embodiments, the cleaning effect is further increased.

In the first to third embodiments, the case where the intermediate transfer member is the belt-like intermediate transfer belt 31 has been described as an example, but the present invention is a drum-like intermediate transfer drum in the present invention. The same effect can be obtained in this case as well.

In the above-described intermediate transfer member cleaning device 50, the cleaning blades 51, 51A,
Instead of 1B, it is also possible to use a roller-shaped cleaning roller.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By appropriately changing the cleaning ability of the intermediate transfer body, the cleaning ability of the intermediate transfer body when a jam occurs can be improved, and in general, the load on the intermediate transfer body can be reduced to reduce the life of the intermediate transfer body. Can be extended.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating an intermediate transfer belt, an intermediate transfer body cleaning device, and a rotation speed switching unit according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus to which an intermediate transfer body cleaning device according to the present invention is applied.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating an operation of an intermediate transfer body cleaning device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of an intermediate transfer body cleaning device according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming part 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d Image carrier (photosensitive drum) 20 Paper feed unit 30 Intermediate transfer unit 31 Intermediate transfer body (intermediate transfer belt) 40 Fixing unit 50 Intermediate transfer body cleaning means (Intermediate transfer body cleaning device) 51) Cleaning member (cleaning blade) 51A First cleaning member (first cleaning blade) 51B Second cleaning member (second cleaning blade) 53 Capacity switching means (pressing force switching means) 60 Capacity switching means (rotation) Speed switching means, rotation direction switching means) P recording material

Claims (6)

[Claims] An intermediate transfer member cleaning means for removing unnecessary toner on a rotationally driven intermediate transfer member, wherein the intermediate transfer member is brought into contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer member to scrape off unnecessary toner on the intermediate transfer member. An intermediate transfer member cleaning unit, comprising: a cleaning member to be removed; and a capability switching unit for switching a toner removal capability of the cleaning member. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the capacity switching unit is a rotation speed switching unit that switches a rotation speed of the intermediate transfer body in at least two stages. 2. The intermediate transfer body cleaning unit according to claim 1, wherein when the number of rotations is large, the rotation speed of the intermediate transfer body is switched to a speed lower than that during normal image formation. 3. The capacity switching means is a rotation direction switching means for switching a rotation direction of the intermediate transfer body. The rotation direction switching means is provided when the amount of toner to be removed on the intermediate transfer body is large. 2. The intermediate device according to claim 1, wherein the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer member is switched such that a portion of the intermediate transfer member having a large amount of toner to be removed passes at least twice through the cleaning member. Transfer member cleaning means. 4. The intermediate transfer body cleaning means includes: a first cleaning member abutting in a counter direction with respect to a normal rotation direction of the intermediate transfer body as the cleaning member; A second cleaning member abutted in the counter direction with respect to the rotation direction opposite to the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer body, wherein the capability switching means is a rotation direction switching means for switching the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer member, When the amount of toner to be removed on the intermediate transfer body is large, the rotation direction switching unit determines that the portion of the intermediate transfer body where the amount of toner to be removed is large is the first cleaning member and the second cleaning member. 2. The intermediate transfer body cleaning according to claim 1, wherein a rotation direction of the intermediate transfer body is switched so as to pass through the cleaning member at least once. means. 5. The pressure switching means is a pressure switching means for switching the pressure of the cleaning member to the intermediate transfer member in at least two stages, and the pressure switching means removes the pressure on the intermediate transfer member. 2. The intermediate transfer body cleaning unit according to claim 1, wherein when the amount of toner to be used is large, the pressing force of the cleaning member on the intermediate transfer body is switched to be higher than that during normal image formation. 6. A method of primary transferring a toner image formed on an image carrier to an intermediate transfer member for a plurality of color toner images, and superimposing a plurality of color toner images on the intermediate transfer member. In the image forming apparatus, a plurality of color toner images on the intermediate transfer body are secondarily transferred collectively to a recording material, and unnecessary toner on the intermediate transfer body is removed by an intermediate transfer body cleaning unit. Is the claim 1, 2,
An image forming apparatus, comprising: the intermediate transfer body cleaning unit according to any one of 3, 4, and 5.