JP2003295723A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent toner remaining on the upper surface of a blade from being scattered. <P>SOLUTION: A cleaning device 70 for removing remaining toner remaining on the surface of a toner image carrier 51 for carrying the toner image on its surface and transferring the toner image to a transfer target after transferring the toner image by the carrier 51, is provided with a sheet member 80 constituted so as to be abutted/separated on/from the surface of the carrier 51 and capable of permitting the passage of toner through the abutting part when the member 80 is abutted on the surface of the carrier 51, a cleaning blade 90 constituted so as to be abutted/separated on/from the surface of the carrier 51 and capable of removing remaining toner by allowing a corner part 93 of two adjacent faces to abut on the surface of the carrier 51 from the lower part in the counter direction from the moving direction of the blade 90 when the blade 90 is abutted on the surface of the carrier 51 and a scraping mechanism 100 for scraping toner remaining on the upper surface 92 of the blade 90 by the sheet member 80 when the blade 90 is separated from the surface of the carrier 51. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile or a copying machine, which forms an image by using an electrophotographic technique. In particular, it relates to a cleaning device for the toner image carrier.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an image forming apparatus using electrophotography has a photosensitive member having a photosensitive layer on its outer peripheral surface, a charging unit for uniformly charging the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive member, and a charging unit for charging the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive member. Exposing means for selectively exposing the charged outer peripheral surface to form an electrostatic latent image, and a visible image by applying toner as a developer to the electrostatic latent image formed by the exposing means. (Toner image) developing means, transfer means for transferring the toner image developed by this developing means to a recording material such as paper as a transfer target, and removing toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor after transfer. And cleaning means for cleaning. As a transfer unit, a toner image formed by transferring a toner image formed on a photoconductor (primary transfer), carrying the toner image, and further transferring (secondary transfer) to a recording material such as paper to be transferred (secondary transfer) There is known one having a body (for example, an intermediate transfer body), and a cleaning unit is also provided for the intermediate transfer body (toner image carrier). Normally, the cleaning means for the photoconductor does not have to be configured to be brought into contact with or separated from the photoconductor, but the intermediate transfer body (toner image carrier) is, for example, after the toner images of a plurality of colors are superposed on each other. Since the image is collectively transferred onto the transfer target (recording material such as paper), it is necessary to separate the cleaning means during the superimposing operation of the toner images and contact the cleaning means after the collective transfer.

FIG. 4 shows an example of an image forming apparatus in which the cleaning means can be brought into contact with and separated from the cleaning means as described above (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-
3978). This image forming apparatus is an apparatus capable of forming a full-color image using a developing device using four color toners of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black. In FIG. 4, one photosensitive member is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow shown by an appropriate driving means (not shown). Around the photoconductor 1 along its rotation direction,
A charging roller 2 as a charging unit, a developing roller 3 (Y, C, M, K) as a developing unit, an intermediate transfer device 4, and a photoconductor cleaning unit 5 are arranged. The developing roller 3 (Y, C, M, K) can selectively come into contact with the photoconductor 1, and when it comes in contact with the toner, any one of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black toners is applied. It is applied to the surface of the photoconductor 1 to develop the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 1. The developed toner image is primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 4a, which is a toner image carrier of the intermediate transfer device 4, at the primary transfer portion T1. The intermediate transfer device 4 includes a drive roller 4b.
And four driven rollers 4c, 4d, 4e, and 4f, and the endless intermediate transfer belt 4a stretched around these rollers, and the intermediate transfer belt 4a extends in the direction of the arrow in the figure. It is designed to be circulated. During the process of cyclically driving the intermediate transfer belt 4a, the toner image on the photoconductor 1 is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 4a at the primary transfer portion T1, and the toner image transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 4a is transferred to the secondary transfer portion 4a. At the transfer portion T2, it is transferred onto the recording medium S such as the supplied paper.

A cleaning device 6 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), a sheet member 7 configured to be able to come into contact with and separate from the surface of the toner image bearing member 4a, and as shown in FIG. Two surfaces 8 adjacent to each other are configured to come into contact with and separate from the surface of the toner image carrier 4a, as shown in FIG.
A cleaning blade for removing (scraping) residual toner after secondary transfer, which will be described later, by bringing the corners 8a of a and 8b into contact with the surface of the toner image carrier 4a from above in the counter direction with respect to the moving direction. 8 and. Incidentally, 6a is a case configured to be rotatable around a shaft 6b, and the sheet member 7 and the cleaning blade 8 are attached to the case 6a.

Such an image forming apparatus operates as follows. On the outer peripheral surface of the photoconductor 1 uniformly charged by the charging roller 2, an exposure unit (not shown) selectively exposes L according to the image information of the first color (for example, yellow), and the electrostatic charge for yellow is obtained. A latent image is formed.
Only the developing roller 3Y for the first color (for example, yellow) comes into contact with the photoconductor 1, and the electrostatic latent image is developed by this, so that the toner image for the first color (for example, yellow) is formed on the photoconductor 1. It is formed and transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 4a at the primary transfer portion T1. The above operation is repeated as necessary. That is, the second color, the third color, and the fourth color are repeated according to the content of the print command signal, and the toner images according to the content of the print command signal are superposed on the intermediate transfer belt 4a and the intermediate transfer is performed. The toner images (basically full-color images) formed on the belt 4a and superposed on each other are collectively transferred onto the recording medium S at the secondary transfer portion T2.

Therefore, the cleaning device 6 is separated from the intermediate transfer body 4a while the toner images of a plurality of colors are superposed on the intermediate transfer body (toner image carrier) 4a (see FIG. 5B). The superposed toner images are collectively transferred to an object to be transferred (recording material such as paper) and then contact the intermediate transfer body 4a (see FIG. 5A), and after the secondary transfer, the intermediate transfer body 4a. The residual toner remaining on the surface of the is removed.

[0007]

As described above, in the conventional cleaning device for the image forming apparatus, the corner 8c of the cleaning blade 8 is brought into contact with the surface of the toner image carrier 4a from above and the toner is removed. To remove (scrap off) the toner, so the toner had dropped downward. However, in recent years, due to a demand for downsizing of the image forming apparatus, for example, as shown in FIG.
A situation often arises in which the cleaning blade 8 must be brought into contact with a from below. In this way, if the cleaning blade 8 is made to contact the toner image carrier 4a from below, the blade 8
The toner removed from the surface of the toner image bearing member 4a by the corner portions 8c of the blades stays on the upper surface 8b of the blade 8 as indicated by a symbol t1, and the blade 8 is again moved to the toner image bearing member 4a.
There is a problem that the above-mentioned staying toner t1 is scattered in a mist due to the impact when it comes into contact with. The scattered toner floats in the image forming apparatus and adheres to the intermediate transfer body 4a and the photoconductor 1 to deteriorate the image quality, adheres to the charging member 2 to deteriorate the charging characteristics, pollutes the inside of the apparatus, and the like. Was causing a problem.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide an image forming apparatus in which the toner staying on the upper surface of the blade does not scatter even when the cleaning blade is brought into contact with the toner image carrier from below. To provide.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a toner image carrier for carrying a toner image on the surface thereof and transferring the toner image to a transfer object, A cleaning device for removing residual toner remaining on the surface of the toner image carrier after the transfer is performed, the cleaning device being configured to be contactable with and separable from the surface of the toner image carrier, A sheet member that allows the passage of toner at the contact portion and a surface of the toner image carrier are configured to be contactable and separable, and at the time of contact, the corners of two adjacent surfaces are set to the surface of the toner image carrier. An image forming apparatus having a cleaning blade for removing the residual toner by abutting from below in a counter direction with respect to the moving direction of the toner. During spaced from the surface, the image forming apparatus, wherein a toner remaining in the upper surface of the cleaning blade provided with scraping mechanism for scraping off a sheet member. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scraping mechanism separates the cleaning blade and the sheet member from each other when the cleaning blade and the sheet member are separated from the surface of the toner image carrier. It is characterized in that a shielding mechanism is configured to close the opening between the sheet members.

[0010]

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, a toner image carrier for carrying a toner image on the surface and transferring the toner image to a transfer object, and a surface of the toner image carrier after the transfer is performed. And a cleaning device for removing the remaining residual toner, the cleaning device being configured to be contactable with and separable from the surface of the toner image carrier, and permitting passage of the toner at the contact portion at the time of contact. And a corner portion of two adjacent surfaces is contacted with the surface of the toner image carrier from below in the counter direction with respect to the moving direction of the toner image carrier surface. An image forming apparatus having a cleaning blade for contacting to remove the residual toner, the cleaning blade being separated from the surface of the toner image carrier. Since the toner staying in the upper surface a structure in which a scraping mechanism for scraping off a sheet member, according to the image forming apparatus of the claim 1,
The following effects can be obtained. That is, when the cleaning blade is separated from the surface of the toner image carrier, the scraping mechanism scrapes off the toner staying on the upper surface of the cleaning blade. Therefore, even if an impact occurs when the cleaning blade comes into contact with the toner image carrier again, the staying toner described above will not be scattered in a mist state. As a result, the image quality is improved and stains inside the image forming apparatus are prevented. According to the image forming apparatus of claim 2, in the image forming apparatus of claim 1, the scraping mechanism includes a cleaning blade and a sheet member when the cleaning blade and the sheet member are separated from the surface of the toner image carrier. Since the shielding mechanism that closes the opening between and is formed by the sheet member, the following operational effects are further obtained. That is, when the cleaning blade is separated from the surface of the toner image bearing member, the opening between the cleaning blade and the sheet member is closed by the shielding mechanism. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the scraped toner from leaking out of the cleaning device.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing the internal structure of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. The image forming apparatus is an apparatus capable of forming a full-color image on both sides of a sheet, and includes a case 10 and an image carrier unit 20 housed in the case 10.
And an exposure unit 30 as an exposure unit and a developing device 4
0, the intermediate transfer body unit 50, and the fixing unit 60
And a cleaning device 70 for the intermediate transfer member.

The case 10 is provided with a frame (not shown) of the apparatus main body, and the driving means for each unit and each member are attached to this frame.

The image carrier unit 20 has a photosensitive member 21 having a photosensitive layer on its outer peripheral surface and driven to rotate, and a corona discharge charger 22 as a charging means for uniformly charging the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive member 21. The outer peripheral surface of the photoconductor 21 uniformly charged by the charging means 22 is selectively exposed by the laser light from the exposure unit 30 to form an electrostatic latent image. Toner as a developer is applied to the latent image by the developing device 40 to form a visible image (toner image), and this toner image is transferred to the intermediate transfer member (intermediate transfer belt) 51 of the intermediate transfer member unit 50. The primary transfer portion T1 performs the primary transfer, and the secondary transfer portion T2 performs the secondary transfer on the sheet to be transferred.

Inside the case 10, there is a conveying path 16 for conveying a sheet having an image formed on one side thereof by the secondary transfer section T2 toward a sheet discharging section (sheet discharging tray section) 15 on the upper surface of the case 10. A return path 17 is provided for returning the sheet conveyed by the conveying path 16 toward the sheet discharge section 15 to the secondary transfer section T2 so as to switch back the sheet and form an image on the other surface. At the bottom of the case 10, there are provided a paper feed tray 18 for stacking and holding a plurality of paper sheets, and a paper feed roller 19 for feeding the paper sheets one by one toward the secondary transfer portion T2.

The developing device 40 is a rotary developing device,
A plurality of developing cartridges are detachably attached to the rotating body 41. In this embodiment, the developing cartridge 42Y for yellow, the developing cartridge 42M for magenta, and the developing cartridge 42 for cyan are used.
C and a black developing cartridge 42K are provided, and the rotating body 41 rotates in the arrow direction at a pitch of 90 degrees, whereby the developing roller 43 of the developing cartridge 42 is selectively attached to the photoconductor 21. It is possible to selectively develop the surface of the photoconductor 21 by bringing them close to each other and facing each other without making contact with each other.

The intermediate transfer body unit 50 includes a unit frame (not shown), a driving roller 54, a driven roller 55, and a primary transfer roller 5 which are rotatably supported by the frame.
6, a guide roller 57 for stabilizing the state of the belt 51 at the primary transfer portion T1, and a tension roller 58
And an intermediate transfer belt 51 which is the toner image carrier wound around these rollers and stretched, and the belt 51 is circulated and driven in the direction of the arrow in the figure. Photoconductor 21
Between the primary transfer roller 56 and the primary transfer roller 56.
1 is formed, and the secondary transfer portion T2 is formed at the pressure contact portion between the drive roller 54 and the secondary transfer roller 10b provided on the main body side. The secondary transfer roller 10b can be brought into and out of contact with the drive roller 54 (and thus with respect to the intermediate transfer belt 51), and when it comes into contact with the drive roller 54, the secondary transfer portion T2 is formed. Therefore, when the color image is formed, the secondary transfer roller 10b moves the intermediate transfer belt 51
A plurality of color toner images are superposed on the intermediate transfer belt 51 in a state of being separated from each other to form a color image.
The image is transferred onto the sheet by contacting the sheet 1 and supplying the sheet to the contact portion (secondary transfer portion T2).

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view showing the basic structure of the cleaning device 70 for the intermediate transfer member 51. The cleaning device 70 is configured as a unit that can be attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus, and has a unit case 71.
And a sheet member 80 and a cleaning blade 90. Further, the sheet member 80 is brought into contact with and separated from the intermediate transfer body 51, and an opening c between the sheet member 80 and the cleaning blade 90 is closed by the sheet member as described later and stays on the upper surface 92 of the cleaning blade 90. The scraping / shielding mechanism 100 for scraping off the toner t1 and the cleaning blade 90 for the intermediate transfer member 51.
And a contact / separation mechanism 110 for contacting and separating with respect to. The cleaning device 70, as described in detail below,
When the toner images are superimposed on the intermediate transfer body 51, the sheet member 80 and the cleaning blade 90 are separated from the surface of the intermediate transfer body 51 as shown in FIG.
After the toner image on the intermediate transfer member 51 is secondarily transferred to a sheet or the like, the sheet member 80 and the cleaning blade 90 are brought into contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer member 51 as shown in FIG.

The scraping / shielding mechanism 100 includes a case 7
1, a cover 101 having a substantially L-shaped cross section rotatably supported by a shaft 72, a lever 102 rotatably supported by a case 73 by a shaft 73, the lever 102 and the cover 10.
1 includes a link 103 that connects 1 with a cam 104 that rotates a lever 102, and a spring 105 that constantly urges the lever 102 in a clockwise direction.

The cover 101 has at least the intermediate transfer member 5.
A sheet member 80 extending in a direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. 2 is fixed so as to cover the image forming area on the sheet 1. The sheet member 80 also extends in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. . The spring 105 includes the case 71 and the lever 102.
2, the lever 102 is urged clockwise in FIG. 2, but the rotation of the lever 102 is restricted by the lever 102 coming into contact with the cam 104. The cam 104 rotates when its shaft 104a is driven by a drive mechanism (not shown). When the cam 104 is in the state shown in FIG. 2, the lever 103 is rotated in the clockwise direction (arrow X1 direction) and the link 103 is rotated. The cover 101 is rotated counterclockwise (in the direction of the arrow a) through the above, and the leading end portion 81 of the sheet member 80 is brought into light contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer member 51. The sheet member 80 has flexibility, and its tip 81 only abuts lightly on the surface of the intermediate transfer body 51. Therefore, the sheet member 80 remains attached to the surface of the intermediate transfer body 51 and moves with the intermediate transfer body 51. The toner passes through the front end portion 81 of the sheet member 80 so as to pass through.

The contact / separation mechanism 110 includes a lever 111 rotatably supported on a case 71 by a shaft 74, and the lever 11.
1, the support plate 112 that rotates together with the lever 1, and the lever 11
Cam 114 for rotating 1 as described later, and lever 1
11 and a spring 115 for constantly urging the cleaning blade 90 in the clockwise direction, and the cleaning blade 90 is fixed to the tip of the support plate 112. The cam 114 has its axis 1
14a is rotatable by being driven by a drive mechanism (not shown).

The cleaning blade 90 covers at least the image forming area on the intermediate transfer member 51.
It extends in a direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. Spring 115
Is provided between the case 71 and the lever 111,
As shown in FIG. 2, the lever 111 and the support plate 112 are urged clockwise to bring the cleaning blade 90 into contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer member 51 from below (with the upper surface 92 facing upward). The cleaning blade 90 has two adjacent surfaces (side surface and upper surface in the illustrated case) 91, 9
The second corner portion 93 is brought into contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer member 51 in the counter direction with respect to the moving direction of the intermediate transfer member 51 to scrape off the residual toner that has passed through the front end portion 81 of the sheet member 80 as described above. And remove.

The toner scraped off stays on the upper surface 92 of the cleaning blade 90 as indicated by reference numeral t1 in the figure, or the case 71, the sheet member 80, and the cover 10.
1, the support plate 112, the cleaning blade 90, and the surface of the intermediate transfer body 51 will be fogged in the closed space A closed. Incidentally, t2 is toner stored in the closed space A, and 75 is toner stored in the closed space t2.
Is a screw that conveys the toner toward a waste toner box (not shown) in a direction orthogonal to the paper surface.

76a and 76b are provided between the cover 101 and the case 71, and are a pair of flexible sheet-like seals for keeping the closed space A airtight (keeping the toner t airtight). It is a member. These sheet-shaped sealing members 76a and 76b are provided so as to sandwich the lower end portion 101b of the back plate 101a of the cover 101 from both sides and have flexibility, so that the lower end portion 101b of the cover 101 is Even if it rotates, one of the seal members 76a or 76b is always in contact with the lower end 101b and bends so as to follow (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

Reference numeral 77 is a seal member (for example, a foaming body such as a sponge) which is provided between the lever 111 and the case 71 and which keeps the closed space A airtight (keeps the toner t airtight).

As described above (as shown in FIG. 2), with the sheet member 80 and the cleaning blade 90 in contact with the intermediate transfer body 51, the cleaning operation (removing operation) of the residual toner on the surface of the intermediate transfer body 51 is performed. Is done.

When the toner image from the photosensitive member 21 is transferred to the intermediate transfer member 51, the contact / separation mechanism 110 and the scraping / shielding mechanism 100 operate as follows from the state shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet member 80 and the cleaning blade 90 are separated from the surface of the intermediate transfer body 51. That is, first, the cam 1 of the contact / separation mechanism 110 and the scraping / shielding mechanism 100 from the state shown in FIG.
When 14 and 104 rotate, the lever 111 of the contact / separation mechanism 110 rotates counterclockwise against the biasing force of the spring 115 as shown in FIG.
0 separates from the surface of the intermediate transfer body 51, the lever 102 of the scraping and shielding mechanism 100 rotates counterclockwise (moves the link 103 in the arrow X2 direction), and the cover 101 rotates in the arrow b direction. When moved, the sheet member 80 is also separated from the surface of the intermediate transfer body 51. At this time, the contact / separation mechanism 1
Rotation of the cam 114 of 10 and scraping and shielding mechanism 10
The rotation of the cam 104 of 0 is synchronized in the drive mechanism, and the cleaning blade 90 moves the intermediate transfer member 51.
In the process of separating from the sheet member 80, the sheet member 80 contacts the cleaning blade 90 as quickly as possible, and closes the opening c formed between the sheet member 80 and the cleaning blade 90 in the state shown in FIG. Therefore, even if the toner t fluctuates in the space A, the toner t hardly leaks out of the space A.

Next, from the state shown in FIG. 3A, the cam 104 of the scraping / shielding mechanism 100 is further rotated, and the cover 101 is further rotated in the direction of arrow b, whereby the upper surface 92 of the cleaning blade 90. The toner t1 accumulated (mounted) on the sheet member 80 is scraped off by the sheet member 80 as indicated by a symbol t3. Further, after the toner t1 is scraped off as described above (the leading end portion 81 of the sheet member 80 is the upper surface 9 of the cleaning blade 90).
2), as shown in FIG. 3B, the cam 1
04 reversely rotates, the cover 101 slightly rotates in the direction of arrow a, the sheet member 80 abuts on the inner side corner of the cleaning blade 90, and the opening c is closed.

From the state shown in FIG. 3B, the state shown in FIG.
In order to obtain the cleaning state shown in FIG. 3B, the cams 114 and 104 of the contact / separation mechanism 110 and the scraping / shielding mechanism 100 are reversed or further rotated from the state shown in FIG. Just return to the state.

In the image forming apparatus as described above, a toner image carrier 51 that carries a toner image on the surface thereof and transfers the toner image to a transfer target, and a surface of the toner image carrier 51 after the transfer is performed. A cleaning device 70 for removing the residual toner remaining. The cleaning device 70 is configured to be capable of coming into contact with and separating from the surface of the toner image carrier 51, and allows the passage of the toner at the abutting portion at the time of abutting. The sheet member 80 and the surface of the toner image carrier 51 are configured to be capable of coming into contact with and separating from each other. At the time of abutting, the corner portions 93 of two adjacent surfaces are countered with respect to the surface of the toner image carrier 51 in the moving direction. And a cleaning blade 90 that removes the residual toner by contacting the cleaning blade 90 from below in the direction of the toner image carrier 51. Since the toner t1 that staying on the upper surface 92 of the training blade 90 as structure in which a scraping mechanism 100 scraped by the sheet member, according to the the image forming apparatus, the following effects can be obtained.
That is, when the cleaning blade 90 is separated from the surface of the toner image carrier 51, the scraping mechanism 100 scrapes off the toner t1 accumulated on the upper surface 92 of the cleaning blade 90. Therefore, the cleaning blade 90 again causes the toner image carrier 5 to move.
Even if an impact occurs when the toner abuts on No. 1, the staying toner t1 described above will not be scattered in a mist state. As a result, the image quality is improved and stains inside the image forming apparatus are prevented. Furthermore, the scraping mechanism 10
0 is the cleaning blade 90 and the sheet member 80.
Since the shielding mechanism for closing the opening c between the cleaning blade 90 and the sheet member 80 by the sheet member 80 when the toner image carrier 51 is separated from the surface of the toner image carrier 51, the following operational effects are further obtained. That is, when the cleaning blade 90 is separated from the surface of the toner image bearing member 51, the opening c between the cleaning blade 90 and the sheet member 80 is closed by the shielding mechanism 100. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the scraped toner from leaking out of the cleaning device 70.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various modifications can be appropriately made within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

[0031]

According to the image forming apparatus of any one of claims 1 and 2, when the cleaning blade is separated from the surface of the toner image carrier, the scraping mechanism scrapes the toner accumulated on the upper surface of the cleaning blade. Will be dropped. Therefore, even if an impact occurs when the cleaning blade comes into contact with the toner image carrier again, the accumulated toner is not scattered in the form of mist on the upper surface of the blade. As a result, the image quality is improved,
Contamination in the image forming apparatus is also prevented. Further, according to the image forming apparatus of the second aspect, when the cleaning blade is separated from the surface of the toner image carrier, the opening between the cleaning blade and the sheet member is closed by the shielding mechanism. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the scraped toner from leaking out of the cleaning device.

[0032]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing the internal structure of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

2 is a schematic front view showing the basic configuration of a cleaning device 70 for the intermediate transfer member 51. FIG.

3A and 3B are explanatory views of the operation of the cleaning device 70.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

5A and 5B are explanatory views of a conventional technique.

6A and 6B are explanatory views of a problem.

[Explanation of symbols]

51 Intermediate transfer member (toner image bearing member) 70 Cleaning device 80 sheet members 90 cleaning blade c opening 100 Scraping and shielding mechanism

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yamasaki Toshihiko             Seiko, 3-3-3 Yamato, Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture             -In Epson Corporation F-term (reference) 2H134 GA01 GA06 GB02 HD01 HD06                       HD08 HD16 HD18 JA07 JA08                       JB01 JB03 JB04 KB07 KF06                       KG04 KH07 KJ02                 2H200 FA08 GA23 GA34 GA44 GA47                       GA50 GB25 HA02 HA12 HB03                       HB12 JA02 JC04 JC09 JC12                       LA24 LB13 LB17 LB39 PA12

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A toner image carrier that carries a toner image on its surface and transfers the toner image to a transfer target, and residual toner remaining on the surface of the toner image carrier after the transfer is removed. A cleaning device, the cleaning device being configured to come into contact with and separate from the surface of the toner image carrier, and a sheet member that allows passage of toner at the contact part at the time of contact; and the surface of the toner image carrier. And the corner portions of two adjacent surfaces are brought into contact with the surface of the toner image carrier from below in the counter direction with respect to the moving direction of the toner image carrier to remove the residual toner. An image forming apparatus having a cleaning blade, wherein the toner staying on the upper surface of the cleaning blade when the cleaning blade is separated from the surface of the toner image carrier. An image forming apparatus characterized in that a scraping mechanism for scraping off a sheet member. 2. The scraping mechanism constitutes a shielding mechanism that closes the opening between the cleaning blade and the sheet member with the sheet member when the cleaning blade and the sheet member are separated from the surface of the toner image carrier. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus comprises: