JP2004045711A - Cleaning means and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To remove, by a simple structure, a discharge product sticking to the surface of a photosensitive drum. <P>SOLUTION: A cleaning blade 54 which has reached its durable lifetime is replaced with a fresh one together with a blade holder 52. A grinding agent holer 58 supported freely swingably by the blade holder 52 swings in the direction of the arrow while its upper end is in contact with part of a cleaning container 51. Consequently, a grinding agent container portion 58a at the lower end is opened and a powder grinding agent G stored inside is supplied into the cleaning container 51. The powder grinding agent G thus supplied is further supplied to a contact area N together with residual toner by the rotation of the photosensitive drum 11 in the direction of the arrow A and by the rotation of the magnet roller 55 in the direction of the arrow. Thereby the discharge product on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 is removed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cleaning unit and an image forming apparatus for removing foreign matter attached to a surface of a member to be cleaned.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, and a facsimile, generally, a photosensitive drum is used, and a charging, exposure, development, transfer, fixing, and cleaning process is performed on a transfer material (for example, paper or a transparent film). Form a toner image.
[0003]
The above-described charging and transfer utilize a discharging phenomenon of a charger. At this time, unnecessary discharge products such as ozone products are generated. This discharge product adheres to the surface of the photosensitive drum, which causes deterioration of the performance of the photosensitive drum.
[0004]
A cleaning device is provided around the photosensitive drum to remove toner (residual toner) remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum without being transferred onto the transfer material during transfer. As a cleaning device, a device in which a cleaning blade is brought into contact with the surface of a photosensitive drum and a residual toner is removed at a nip portion thereof is generally used.
[0005]
However, the above-mentioned discharge products are attached so strongly that they cannot be removed by this cleaning blade.
[0006]
For this reason, as a method of removing a discharge product adhered due to durability (increase in the number of formed images), a method in which an abrasive roller is brought into contact with the surface of a photosensitive drum (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-111629) or a method of removing photosensitive A method of sandwiching a cleaning member between a drum and a cleaning blade (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-83254) has been proposed.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the above conventional example has the following problems.
[0008]
If the polishing and cleaning member for polishing and cleaning the surface of the photosensitive drum is constantly in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum, the surface of the photosensitive drum is excessively polished or clogged with residual toner. For this reason, it is preferable to keep the polishing cleaning member away from the photosensitive drum except when performing polishing cleaning. That is, contact / separation means for bringing the polishing / cleaning member into contact with or separating from the surface of the photosensitive drum is required.
[0009]
However, the provision of the contact / separation means complicates the configuration and increases the cost of the product. In view of the fact that the frequency of polishing and cleaning is not so high, there is a need for a method that can easily perform polishing and cleaning at predetermined time intervals without the need for contacting / separating means.
[0010]
Accordingly, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus capable of removing discharge products on the surface of an image carrier with a simple configuration without providing any special contact / separation means, and preventing image defects from occurring for a long period of time. The purpose is to provide.
[0011]
Further, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus and a polishing method capable of removing foreign substances adhered to a member to be cleaned with a simple configuration, not limited to an image carrier, and not limited to discharge products. It is intended to do so.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The cleaning means for cleaning the surface of the member to be cleaned is an exchangeable cleaning member which is disposed in contact with the surface of the member to be cleaned and removes residual toner on the surface of the member to be cleaned. A cleaning container that supports a cleaning member and collects residual toner removed by the cleaning member; and an abrasive supply unit that supplies a powdered abrasive into the cleaning container in response to the replacement operation of the cleaning member. And the powder abrasive is supplied to the contact portion together with the residual toner.
[0013]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning means for cleaning the surface of the member to be cleaned, the cleaning member is disposed in contact with the surface of the member to be cleaned and removes residual toner on the surface of the member to be cleaned. A cleaning container that supports and is movable to an image forming position where the cleaning member is brought into contact with the member to be cleaned and a retracted position where the cleaning member is separated from the member to be cleaned; Correspondingly, an abrasive supply means for supplying a powder abrasive into the cleaning container is provided, and the powder abrasive is supplied to the contact portion together with the residual toner.
[0014]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning unit according to the first or second aspect, a residual toner supply that supplies at least a portion of the collected residual toner to a contact portion between the cleaning target and the cleaning member. Means are provided in the cleaning container.
[0015]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning unit according to any one of the first to third aspects, the cleaning member is an elastic cleaning blade.
[0016]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning unit according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the member to be cleaned is any one of a photosensitive member, an intermediate transfer member, and a recording material conveying belt. It is characterized by the following.
[0017]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit configured to form an image on a recording material using toner powder; and a cleaning unit configured to remove residual toner attached to a surface of a member to be cleaned. The cleaning means is the cleaning means according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
[0018]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that, in each drawing, the components denoted by the same reference numerals have the same configuration or operation, and redundant description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.
[0019]
<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 shows an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is an electrophotographic laser beam printer (hereinafter, referred to as "image forming apparatus"), and FIG.
[0020]
The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes a printer unit 1 that forms an image, and a reader unit 2 that reads an image on a document.
[0021]
The printer unit 1 includes an electrophotographic photosensitive member (hereinafter, referred to as “photosensitive drum”) 11 as an image carrier. In the present embodiment, the photosensitive drum 11 is a member to be cleaned. Around the photosensitive drum 11, a primary charger (charging unit) 12, a laser scanner (exposure unit) 13, a developing device (developing unit) 14, and a transfer charger ( (Transfer means) 15, a separation charger 21, a cleaning device (cleaning means) 25, and the like.
[0022]
Further, the paper feed cassettes 16 and 17, the feed rollers 18 and 19, the registration rollers 20, the transport belt 22, the transfer device, and the like are arranged substantially in order from the upstream side along the transport direction of the recording material S (for example, paper or transparent film). (Fixing unit) 23 and a paper discharge roller 24 are provided.
[0023]
On the other hand, the reader unit 2 includes a platen glass 31, a document pressing plate 32, an illumination lamp (scanning optical system light source) 33, a lens 34, a light receiving element (photoelectric conversion) 35, an image processing unit 36, and the like. The document placed on the platen glass 31 with the image surface facing downward is pressed against the platen glass 31 by the document pressing plate 32. In this state, the illumination lamp 33 moves to the right in FIG. 1 while irradiating the image surface of the document. The light reflected from the document surface is sent to a reflection mirror, a lens 34, and a light receiving element 35 to be converted into an electric signal. The electric signal is sent to an image processing unit 36, where various image processing is performed, and a video signal As 37, it is sent to the laser scanner 13. In FIG. 1, an automatic document feeder (ADF) 40 is shown by a two-dot chain line above the reader unit 2. If the ADF 40 is mounted instead of the original pressing plate 32, the original can be automatically supplied onto the platen glass 31 and the original after reading can be automatically discharged from the platen glass 32.
[0024]
In the image forming apparatus having the above-described configuration, the photosensitive drum 11 is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow A by driving means (not shown), and the surface is uniformly (uniformly) charged to a predetermined polarity and potential by the primary charger 12. You.
[0025]
The charged photosensitive drum 11 is exposed and scanned via a mirror 13a by a laser scanner 13 whose laser light is ON / OFF controlled in response to a video signal, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface.
[0026]
The electrostatic latent image is developed as a toner image with toner adhered by a developing sleeve 14a of the developing device 14.
[0027]
The toner image thus formed on the photosensitive drum 11 is transferred to the recording material S by the transfer charger 15. The recording material S is stored in a paper feed cassette 16 or a paper feed cassette 17, is fed by a feed roller 18 or a feed roller 19, and is further fed to a registration roller 20 at a predetermined timing (the toner on the photosensitive drum 11). The toner is supplied between the photosensitive drum 11 and the transfer charger 15 at a timing corresponding to the image). The recording material S to which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 by the separation charger 21.
[0028]
After the separation of the recording material S, the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 that has not been transferred to the recording material S at the time of transfer (residual toner) is removed by the cleaning device 25, and is used for the next image formation.
[0029]
On the other hand, the separated recording material S is transported to the fixing device 23 by the transport belt 22. The recording material S is nipped and conveyed by a fixing nip portion which is a pressure contact portion between the fixing roller 23a and the pressure roller 23b of the fixing device 23, and at this time, the toner image is fixed on the surface by receiving heat and pressure.
[0030]
The recording material S after the toner image is fixed is discharged to the outside of the image forming apparatus main body by the discharge roller 24. Thus, the image formation ends.
[0031]
FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the cleaning device 25. As shown in the figure, the cleaning device 25 includes a cleaning container 51, a blade holder 52, a cleaning blade (cleaning member) 54, a magnet roller (residual toner supply unit) 55, a conveying screw 56, and a sheet 57. Have.
[0032]
The above-described cleaning blade 54 is formed of a plate-like elastic body that is long along the axial direction of the photosensitive drum 11, and is held by the blade holder 52 such that the edge 54 a contacts the surface of the photosensitive drum 11. I have. A contact portion (nip portion) N is formed between the edge portion 54a and the photosensitive drum 11. The cleaning blade 54 can be formed of, for example, hard rubber or synthetic resin. The blade holder 52 is easily fixed to the cleaning container 51 by screws 53. That is, the cleaning blade 54 is configured to be replaceable together with the blade holder 52, and is appropriately replaced when the service life is reached.
[0033]
A magnet roller 55 and a transport screw 56 are rotatably attached to the cleaning container 51, and are driven to rotate by driving means (not shown). The magnet roller 55 has a toner layer formed of residual toner on its surface, and the thickness of the toner layer is regulated by a shaft 59. By bringing the toner layer into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 along the longitudinal direction of the photosensitive drum, the toner is re-coated on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11. The residual toner is scraped off together with the recoated toner by the cleaning blade 54 and collected by the magnet roller 55. The sheet 57 is in contact with the shaft 59, and has a function of sending excess residual toner collected by the magnet roller 55 and forming a toner layer to the transport screw 56. The transport screw 56 transports the residual toner to a toner collecting container (not shown).
[0034]
Since the performance of the cleaning blade 54 deteriorates due to durability, the cleaning blade 54 is replaced with a new one with a predetermined durability life. When the cleaning blade 54 reaches the end of its service life, discharge products adhere to the surface of the photosensitive drum 11, and it is time to polish and clean the surface of the photosensitive drum 11. For example, when the photosensitive drum 11 is an A-Si (amorphous silicon) photosensitive drum, the cleaning blade 54 is replaced every 250,000 to 500,000 sheets.
[0035]
3 and 4, a configuration for polishing and cleaning the photosensitive drum 11 and a polishing and cleaning method according to the present embodiment will be described.
[0036]
As shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning blade 54 which has reached the end of its service life is removed together with the blade holder 52 as a replacement part P1 from the cleaning container 51 in the direction of arrow B, replaced with a new replacement part P2, and replaced with a new replacement part P2. Is attached to the cleaning container 51 in the direction of arrow C. Each of the replacement parts P1 and P2 is provided with an abrasive holder (abrasive supply means) 58 supported by the blade holder 52.
[0037]
The new cleaning blade 54 is held by the blade holder 52, and is supplied as a replacement part P2 in a state where the powder abrasive G is replenished to the abrasive container portion 58a of the abrasive holder 58. The abrasive holder 58 is supported by the blade holder 52 so as to be swingable about a shaft 58b, and the lower end of the abrasive containing portion 58a is bladed by an urging member (not shown) as shown in FIG. The powder abrasive G is not spilled since the holder 52 is urged to abut against the rear surface (the left surface in FIG. 3).
[0038]
FIG. 4 shows a state in which the replacement part P2 is attached to the cleaning container 51. When the blade holder 52 is attached to the cleaning container 51, the upper end side of the abrasive holder 58 is pressed against the mounting surface 51a of the cleaning container 51, so that the abrasive holder 58 is centered on the shaft 58b in the arrow direction (clockwise) in FIG. As a result, the abrasive container portion 58a is opened, and the powder abrasive G is supplied to the residual toner layer of the magnet roller 55. The powder abrasive G coated on the photosensitive drum 11 together with the toner rubs against the photosensitive drum 11 at a contact portion N between the cleaning blade 54 and the photosensitive drum 11 to remove a discharge product attached to the surface of the photosensitive drum 11. . Since the powder abrasive G is gradually collected by the transport screw 56 together with the toner, the powder abrasive G disappears from the inside of the cleaning container 51 in a predetermined period. When the powder abrasive G is exhausted, the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 is in a good state in which discharge products are removed. In addition, since the predetermined period is not reached, the photosensitive drum 11 is not excessively polished.
[0039]
In this embodiment, the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 is coated with the powder abrasive G by the magnet roller 55. However, the present invention is also applied to a toner cleaning device that does not use the magnet roller 55 by a method such as electrostatic attraction to the photosensitive drum 11. Is possible.
[0040]
In the present embodiment, since the polishing and cleaning of the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 can be performed simultaneously with the cleaning of the residual toner at the time of image formation, the discharge products on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 can be removed during image formation. it can. However, in that case, it is necessary to consider that the characteristic value of the photosensitive drum 11 also changes due to removal of the discharge product during the image forming operation. If an operation mode for removing discharge products is provided in addition to the image forming operation, the discharge products are sufficiently removed and the image forming operation can be started in a state where the characteristic value of the photosensitive drum 11 is stable.
[0041]
In the present embodiment, the configuration of the cleaning device 25 using the magnetic toner and the magnet roller 55 is shown. However, in the case of the cleaning device using the two-component toner, the magnet roller 55 is replaced with an electrostatic roller, a sponge roller, or the like, and For example, the powder abrasive G is electrostatically attracted to the drum 11. Since the electrostatic attraction can be performed by charging the photosensitive drum 11 with the primary charger 12, the magnet roller 55 can be omitted if importance is not placed on the uniformity in the longitudinal direction.
[0042]
Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a method may be employed in which the powder abrasive G is dropped by its own weight and supplied by the arrangement of the toner cleaning device without using electrostatic attraction. However, since the period during which the powder abrasive G remains in the contact portion N differs depending on the arrangement, care must be taken to balance the polishing performance in consideration of the remaining period.
[0043]
The present embodiment is not limited to the types of the photosensitive drum 11 and the powder abrasive G. For example, a system using an A-Si photosensitive drum for the photosensitive drum 11 and cerium oxide for the powder abrasive G may be used.
[0044]
In the present embodiment, the effectiveness of the present invention has been described with the configuration using the photosensitive drum 11. However, the technique of the present invention employs a configuration in which the cleaning blade 54 is brought into contact with the means to be cleaned (object to be cleaned) and the surface of the surface is cleaned. Since the member to be cleaned can be widely applied to a configuration for performing cleaning, in addition to the above-described photosensitive drum 11, a photosensitive belt that is a belt-shaped photosensitive member, an intermediate transfer drum that is an intermediate transfer member, It can also be used for a drum, a recording material conveying belt for conveying a recording material, and the like.
[0045]
<Embodiment 2>
Second Embodiment FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 show a second embodiment. FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which the cleaning device 25 is arranged at the image forming position and the cleaning blade 54 is in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 11. FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which the cleaning device 25 is disposed at the retracted position and the cleaning blade 54 is separated from the surface of the photosensitive drum 11. FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing how the powder abrasive G is supplied to the contact portion N.
[0046]
In the first embodiment, the powder abrasive G is supplied in conjunction with the operation of attaching the replacement part P2 to the cleaning container 51. In the present embodiment, the powder abrasive G is supplied in conjunction with the attachment / detachment operation of the cleaning device 25. Then, the powder abrasive G is supplied.
[0047]
The cleaning container 51 is divided into an upper part and a lower part by a partition wall 51b, and the powder abrasive G is stored in a storage chamber 51d formed on the upper part of the partition wall 51b. A supply port 51c is open in the partition wall 51b in the longitudinal direction (the direction along the axis of the photosensitive drum 11). The abrasive supply roller 61 has a stirring blade 62, and the stirring blade 62 is arranged near the supply port 51c. In the present embodiment, the above-described storage chamber 51d, the supply port 51c, the stirring blades 62, and a mechanism for rotating the stirring blades 62 in accordance with the operation of moving the cleaning container 51 toward and away from the photosensitive drum 11 (for example, a rack described later). The abrasive supply means is constituted by a pinion or the like.
[0048]
The cleaning device 25 normally collects the residual toner in the same manner as in the first embodiment. However, since the performance of the cleaning blade 54 deteriorates due to durability, the cleaning blade 54 is replaced with a new one with a predetermined durability life. When the cleaning blade 54 reaches the end of its service life, discharge products adhere to the surface of the photosensitive drum 11, and it is time to polish and clean the surface of the photosensitive drum 11.
[0049]
In the present embodiment, when the cleaning blade 54 is replaced, the entire cleaning device 25 needs to be taken out of the image forming apparatus main body (not shown). At this time, if the cleaning blade 54 and the photosensitive drum 11 are in contact with each other, it is difficult to remove the photosensitive drum 11. Therefore, the cleaning device 25 at the image forming position shown in FIG. The contact portion between the photosensitive drum 11 and the cleaning blade 54 is released at the retracted position shown in FIG.
[0050]
During this swinging operation, the abrasive supply roller 61 is rotated by a driving element, for example, a rack and a pinion gear (not shown), and the powder abrasive G is supplied to the supply port 51c by the stirring blade 62 attached to the abrasive supply roller 61. It is supplied by being scraped out. The blade holder 60 is removed, the cleaning blade 54 is replaced with a new one, the cleaning device 25 is swung in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow D, and a contact portion is formed again between the photosensitive drum 11 and the cleaning blade 54. Also at this time, the abrasive supply roller 61 rotates and the powder abrasive G is supplied toward the toner on the surface of the magnet roller 55 from the supply port 51c.
[0051]
The supplied powder abrasive G is coated on the photosensitive drum 11 together with the toner by a magnet roller 55 as shown in FIG. 7, and rubs against the photosensitive drum 11 at a contact portion between the cleaning blade 54 and the photosensitive drum 11. Then, the discharge products adhering to the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 are removed. Since the powder abrasive G is gradually collected by the transport screw 56 together with the toner, the powder abrasive G disappears from the inside of the cleaning container 51 within a predetermined period. When the powder abrasive G is exhausted, the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 is in a good state in which discharge products are removed. In addition, since the predetermined period is not reached, the photosensitive drum 11 is not excessively polished.
[0052]
In the above description, the powder abrasive G is supplied in both the releasing operation of the contact portion of the cleaning blade 54 to the photosensitive drum 11 and the reverse contacting operation. However, either the releasing operation or the contacting operation is performed. The supply operation may be performed only on one side.
[0053]
Since the present embodiment can be performed at the same time as the cleaning of the residual toner at the time of image formation, it is also possible to remove the discharge products on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 during the image formation. However, in that case, it is necessary to consider that the characteristic value of the photosensitive drum 11 also changes due to removal of the discharge product during the image forming operation. If an operation mode for removing discharge products is provided in addition to the image forming operation, the discharge products are sufficiently removed and the image forming operation can be started in a state where the characteristic value of the photosensitive drum 11 is stable.
[0054]
The present embodiment is not limited to the types of the photosensitive drum 11 and the powder abrasive G. For example, a system using an A-Si photosensitive drum for the photosensitive drum 11 and cerium oxide for the powder abrasive G may be used.
[0055]
In the present embodiment, the present invention can be applied to an intermediate transfer drum, a photosensitive belt, an intermediate transfer belt, a transfer belt, and the like in addition to the photosensitive drum 11 as in the first embodiment.
[0056]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, in accordance with the replacement operation of the cleaning member that needs to be replaced at a predetermined time interval due to the durable life, or in response to the operation of bringing the cleaning container into and out of the member to be cleaned, Since the powder abrasive can be supplied to the contact portion between the member to be cleaned and the cleaning member at the time intervals of, for example, a special configuration for bringing the polishing member into and out of contact with the member to be cleaned is provided. In addition, the surface of the member to be cleaned can be polished and cleaned at a predetermined time interval with a simple configuration to effectively remove attached matter (for example, discharge products).
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a configuration of the cleaning device according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing that a cleaning blade is replaced as a replacement part together with a blade holder in the first embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a view for explaining how a powder abrasive is supplied into the cleaning container in accordance with the operation of attaching the cleaning blade to the cleaning container together with the blade holder in the first embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which a cleaning container is arranged at an image forming position and a cleaning blade is in contact with a surface of a photosensitive drum in the second embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which a powder abrasive is supplied into the cleaning container when the cleaning container is disposed at the retreat position and the cleaning blade is separated from the surface of the photosensitive drum in the second embodiment. is there.
FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing how a powdered abrasive supplied into a cleaning container is supplied to a contact portion by rotation of a photosensitive drum in the second embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a cleaning container when a magnet roller is omitted in Embodiment 1, and a state in which a powder abrasive is supplied into the cleaning container.
[Explanation of symbols]
11 Member to be cleaned (photoreceptor, photosensitive drum)
25 Cleaning means (cleaning device)
51 cleaning container 54 cleaning member (cleaning blade)
55 Residual toner supply means (magnet roller)
58 abrasive supply means (abrasive holder)
G powder abrasive

Claims (6)

In cleaning means for cleaning the surface of the member to be cleaned,
An exchangeable cleaning member that is disposed in contact with the surface of the member to be cleaned and removes residual toner on the surface of the member to be cleaned;
A cleaning container that supports the cleaning member and collects residual toner removed by the cleaning member;
Abrasive supply means for supplying a powder abrasive into the cleaning container in response to the replacement operation of the cleaning member,
Supplying the powder abrasive to the contact portion together with the residual toner,
Cleaning means, characterized in that: In cleaning means for cleaning the surface of the member to be cleaned,
A cleaning member disposed in contact with the surface of the member to be cleaned to remove residual toner on the surface of the member to be cleaned;
An image forming position for supporting the cleaning member and bringing the cleaning member into contact with the member to be cleaned, and a cleaning container movable to a retracted position for separating the cleaning member from the member to be cleaned;
Abrasive supply means for supplying a powder abrasive to the inside of the cleaning container in response to the contacting / separating operation of the cleaning container,
Supplying the powder abrasive to the contact portion together with the residual toner,
Cleaning means, characterized in that: A residual toner supply unit that supplies at least a part of the collected residual toner to a contact portion between the cleaning target unit and the cleaning member is provided in the cleaning container.
The cleaning means according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The cleaning member is a cleaning blade having elasticity,
The cleaning means according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning means comprises: The member to be cleaned is any one of a photosensitive member, an intermediate transfer member, and a recording material conveying belt,
The cleaning means according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material using powder toner; and a cleaning unit that removes residual toner attached to a surface of a member to be cleaned.
The cleaning unit is the cleaning unit according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
An image forming apparatus comprising:

Images