JP2005070700A - Cleaning device and image forming apparatus provided with same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning device capable of preventing toner leakage from a side end part of a cleaning blade and an image forming device provided with the same. <P>SOLUTION: The cleaning device comprises; a cleaning blade 48 which is brought into contact with the surface of a photoreceptor drum 300 along its axial direction and removes residual toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 30; a housing 53 in which the cleaning blade 48 is housed and residual toner removed by the cleaning blade 48 is recovered; and a seal member 54 which is fixed to the housing 53 and has a part of the side surface brought into contact with the side end part of the cleaning blade 48 and has a part of the surface brought into contact with the surface of the drum 30. The seal member 54 is constituted of a soft elastic material 72 to be brought into contact with the side end part of the cleaning blade 48 and a hard elastic material 71 harder than the soft elastic material 72, and the soft elastic material 72 and the hard elastic material 71are arranged in order from the side of the side end part 48a of the cleaning blade 48. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning device that removes residual toner remaining on the surface of an electrostatic latent image carrier, and an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile machine including the cleaning device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, image forming apparatuses have been equipped with a cleaning device that removes residual toner remaining on the surface of a photosensitive drum (electrostatic latent image carrier), and this cleaning device has a cleaning blade. Are known.

  The cleaning blade is disposed in the opening of the housing of the cleaning device and is in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum along the axial direction thereof. A toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum by a charger, an exposure device, a developing device, or the like is transferred to a transfer material such as paper or an intermediate transfer member. At this time, a part of the toner on the photosensitive drum remains as residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum without being transferred to the transfer material. The cleaning blade described above is for removing the residual toner and collecting it in the housing. In order to prevent the residual toner removed by the cleaning blade from leaking out from both side end portions in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning blade, the gap between both side end portions and the housing is used to block this gap. A seal member is provided.

  7 (a) and 7 (b) are conceptual diagrams showing main parts in a conventional cleaning device. As shown in FIG. 7A, this cleaning device includes a cleaning blade 101 that removes residual toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 104, and an elastic material whose side surface 103a contacts the side end portion 101a of the cleaning blade 101. And a housing 102 for collecting the residual toner removed by the cleaning blade 101. The back surface of the seal member 103 is bonded and fixed to the housing 102 (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In this cleaning device, the photosensitive drum 104 is mounted in the direction of arrow A indicated by a one-dot chain line, whereby the cleaning blade 101 is brought into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 104 along the axial direction thereof. The seal member is compressed and deformed so that the surface 103 b of the seal member 103 comes into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 104. Thereby, the residual toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 104 is removed by the cleaning blade 101, and the removed residual toner is prevented from leaking from the side end portion of the cleaning blade 101.

  However, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the photosensitive drum 104 is mounted at a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus, the seal member 103 formed of an elastic material is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow B (from the cleaning blade 101). In some cases, a gap may be formed between the side surface 103a of the seal member 103 and the side end portion 101a of the cleaning blade 101. When such a gap is formed, toner leakage occurs between the side surface 103a and both end portions of the side end portion 101a, and the toner scatters to the periphery and adheres to the photosensitive drum or transfer material, thereby causing toner contamination. Sometimes. In particular, if the scattered toner adheres to the exposure device, it may block the laser beam during exposure and cause exposure failure. Further, the photosensitive drum may adhere to the charger and become difficult to be uniformly charged.

In particular, in recent years, in order to reduce the size of the image forming apparatus, a vertical type image forming apparatus in which a developing device, a photosensitive drum, a cleaning device, and the like are arranged in the vertical direction from the bottom to the top in this order has been developed. Has been. In this vertical image forming apparatus, if toner leakage occurs in the cleaning device, there is a very high possibility that the toner will adhere to the photosensitive drum, and problems such as image defects are likely to occur.
JP 2002-91254 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device capable of preventing leakage of toner from a side end portion of a cleaning blade, and an image forming apparatus including the same.

  In order to solve the above problems, a cleaning device of the present invention is in contact with the surface of an electrostatic latent image carrier along the axial direction, and removes residual toner remaining on the surface of the electrostatic latent image carrier. A cleaning blade, a housing that houses the cleaning blade and collects residual toner removed by the cleaning blade, and is fixed to the housing, and at least a part of the side surface is in contact with the side end of the cleaning blade, At least a portion of which is in contact with the surface of the electrostatic latent image carrier, and the seal member is in contact with a side end portion of the cleaning blade, and is harder than the soft elastic material. The soft elastic material and the hard elastic material are arranged in this order from the side end portion side of the cleaning blade. Characterized in that it is.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that a low friction layer is formed on the surface of the sealing member, and the low friction layer is in contact with the surface of the electrostatic latent image carrier. Furthermore, the thickness of the soft elastic material in the present invention is preferably smaller than the thickness of the hard elastic material.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes an electrostatic latent image carrier on which a toner image is formed, and residual toner remaining on the surface of the electrostatic latent image carrier after the toner image is transferred to a transfer material. The cleaning device for removal is provided.

  In the cleaning device of the present invention, the seal member is composed of a soft elastic material and a hard elastic material, and the cleaning blade, the soft elastic material, and the hard elastic material are arranged in this order. Thus, when the electrostatic latent image carrier is mounted at a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus, the seal member is not deformed in the direction away from the cleaning blade, but is deformed in the direction of being in close contact with the side edge of the cleaning blade. .

  That is, since the soft elastic material is more easily deformed than the hard elastic material, when the sealing member is compressed by the electrostatic latent image carrier, the soft elastic material contracts first and the hard elastic material falls to the soft elastic material side. It deforms as follows. As a result, the seal member is deformed in a direction in which the seal member is in close contact with the side edge of the cleaning blade (in the direction of approach), so that a gap is not formed between the side surface of the seal member and the side edge of the cleaning blade. Can be prevented. As a result, since the toner does not scatter to the periphery, it is possible to prevent the toner from being stained on the electrostatic latent image carrier or the transfer material, as well as exposure failure or charging failure in the electrostatic latent image carrier. Can be prevented.

  Further, when the low friction layer is formed on the surface of the seal member, when the electrostatic latent image carrier rotates while the seal member is in contact with the surface of the electrostatic latent image carrier, It is possible to reduce the frictional resistance. As a result, power consumption can be reduced, and the wear amount of the surface of the electrostatic latent image carrier and the surface of the seal member can be reduced to extend the life of these members, thereby reducing costs. Can do. In addition, when the frictional resistance is large, speed fluctuations may occur in the rotation of the electrostatic latent image carrier and jitter may occur on the image. In the present invention, such a phenomenon can also be prevented.

  Further, when the thickness of the soft elastic material is smaller than the thickness of the hard elastic material, the hard elastic material is more likely to fall down on the soft elastic material side when compressing the seal member with the electrostatic latent image carrier. Adhesion between the side surface and the side edge of the cleaning blade is further improved, and toner leakage can be more reliably prevented.

  Since the image forming apparatus of the present invention includes the cleaning device as described above, the occurrence of toner leakage can be prevented, and a high-quality image can be formed at low cost. In particular, even a vertical image forming apparatus in which image defects are likely to occur due to toner leakage can form a high-quality image.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, as long as there is no specific description, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the components described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, but are merely illustrative examples. Only.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an image forming apparatus provided with the cleaning device of the present invention. The image forming apparatus is a copying machine 10 including a reader unit 12 (image reading device) and a printing unit 13 (printing unit).

  The copying machine 10 includes a copying machine main body 11 constituting the entire framework, and a reader unit 12 that reads image surfaces (image information) G of the documents D1 and D2 is disposed on the upper side of the copying machine main body 11, A printing unit 13 for forming a toner image on a transfer material P such as paper according to image information read by the reader unit 12 is disposed at the lower part.

  The reader unit 12 includes a transparent document table 14 on which the document D1 is placed with its image surface G facing down, and an openable / closable document pressing plate 15 that closely contacts the image surface G of the document D1 with the upper surface of the document table 14. A scanning unit (reading unit) 18 having a light source 16 and a first reflection mirror 17 that irradiates light onto the image surface G of the document D1 on the document table 14 from below, and reflected light from the first reflection mirror 17. Further, second and third reflecting mirrors 20 and 21 to be reflected, a lens array 22 that forms an image of light from the third reflecting mirror 21, and a CCD 23 to which the light from the lens array 22 is incident are provided. .

  The scanning unit 18 described above is configured to scan the image plane G of the document D1 by the light source 16 while moving rightward from the home position HP shown in FIG. 1, and to return to the home position HP after the scanning is completed. Yes. The above is a configuration for performing so-called fixed reading, in which the document D1 is fixed and the scanning unit 18 is moved to read the image plane G.

  In addition, the reader unit 12 further includes a document feeding mechanism 24 for performing so-called flow reading, in which the document D2 is moved, the scanning unit 18 is fixed, and the document surface G is read. The document feeding mechanism 24 conveys the document D2 on the sheet feeding table 25 to the left toward the scanning unit 18 disposed at the home position HP, and a sheet feeding table 25 that supports the leading end of the document D2 from below. A paper feed roller pair 26 and a paper discharge roller pair 27 for carrying the document D2 read by the scanning unit 18 leftward from the scanning unit 18 are provided. The document feeding mechanism 24 is configured such that when the document D2 is read, the above-described paper feed roller pair 26 and paper discharge roller pair 27 rotate to convey the document D2 leftward.

  The printing unit 13 includes a cylindrical electrophotographic photosensitive member (hereinafter referred to as a “photosensitive drum”) 30 serving as an electrostatic latent image carrier, which is disposed substantially at the center in the vertical direction on the left side in FIG. . The photoconductive drum 30 is supported by the copying machine main body 11 so as to be rotatable in the direction of the arrow (clockwise in the figure), and a primary charger (charging means) 31 is provided around the photosensitive drum 30 in almost the order along the rotation direction. An exposure unit (exposure unit) 32, a development unit (development unit) 33, a transfer charger (transfer unit) 34, and a cleaning device 35 are disposed.

  Further, along the conveyance path 36 (illustrated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 1) of the transfer material P such as paper to be image-formed, from the upstream side to the downstream side (from the lower side to the upper side in FIG. 1) A paper cassette 37, a paper feed roller 38, a transport roller pair 40, a registration roller pair 41, a transport guide 42, a fixing device (fixing means) 43, a paper discharge roller pair 44, and a paper discharge tray 45 are disposed.

  The photosensitive drum 30 is configured by providing a photosensitive layer such as OPC (organic optical semiconductor) or amorphous silicon on the outer peripheral surface of a conductive drum base such as aluminum. The photosensitive drum 30 is rotationally driven at a predetermined process speed (circumferential speed) in the direction of the arrow by a driving means (not shown).

  The primary charger 31 is configured to uniformly charge the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 to a predetermined polarity and potential when a charging bias is applied by a charging bias application power source (not shown).

  The exposure device 32 forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30. Image information of the document D1 (or D2) read by the reader unit 12 is appropriately converted into A / D conversion, density correction, shading correction, and the like by an image processing unit (not shown) provided in the print unit 13. After the processing, the image signal is input to the laser oscillator. The laser oscillator exposes the charged surface of the photosensitive drum 30 through a polygon mirror or the like with laser light that is ON / OFF controlled based on the image signal, and removes the charge on the exposed portion, thereby electrostatic latent image. Is supposed to form.

  The developing device 33 includes a developing container 46 that stores the developer and a developing roller that conveys the developer carried on the surface to the developing position facing the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 by rotating in the arrow direction (counterclockwise). 47. A developing bias is applied to the developing roller 47 by a developing bias applying power source (not shown), whereby the toner in the developer adheres to the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30, and the electrostatic latent image is The toner image is developed.

  The transfer charger 34 is formed by a roller-like member disposed so as to face the surface of the photosensitive drum 30. The transfer charger 34 is applied with a transfer bias having a polarity opposite to that of the toner image on the photosensitive drum 30 by a transfer bias applying power source (not shown), whereby the toner on the photosensitive drum 30 is applied to the surface of the transfer material P. The image is transferred. Here, the transfer material P to which the toner image is transferred is stored in the paper feed cassette 37, fed by the paper feed roller 38, transported by the transport roller pair 40, and once by the registration roller pair 41. Thereafter, the toner image is sent from the registration roller pair 41 so as to coincide with the toner image on the photosensitive drum 30. On the downstream side of the transfer charger 34, a conveyance guide 42 that guides the transfer material P after the toner image transfer to the fixing device 43 is provided.

  The fixing device 43 includes a fixing roller 51 that is heated by a heater 50 disposed inside, and a pressure roller 52 that presses the transfer material P against the fixing roller 51. An unfixed toner image is formed on the surface of the fixing device 43. The transfer material P carried and conveyed is heated and pressurized to fix the toner image on the surface of the transfer material P. The paper discharge roller pair 44 discharges the transfer material P after fixing the toner image onto the paper discharge tray 45 as a finished product.

  In the copying machine 10 configured as described above, when forming an image, first, the photosensitive drum 30 is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow by the driving unit, and the surface thereof is set to a predetermined polarity and potential by the primary charger 31. Uniformly charged. On the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 after charging, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image information is generated by irradiation of a laser beam from the exposure device 32 that operates according to the image information of the document D1 (or D2) read by the reader unit 12. It is formed. The electrostatic latent image is developed as a toner image with toner attached thereto by the developing device 33. The toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 in this manner is applied to the transfer charging device 34 by applying a transfer bias to the transfer material P conveyed at a predetermined timing by the registration roller pair 41 and the like. Transferred to the surface.

  After transfer of the toner image, the transfer material P is conveyed along the conveyance guide 42 to the fixing device 43, where the toner image is fixed on the surface by being heated and pressurized. After the toner image is fixed, the transfer material P is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 45 by the paper discharge roller pair 44 in a so-called face-down posture with the image surface (the surface on which the toner image is fixed) facing downward. Thus, image formation (printing) by the copying machine 10 is completed.

  Incidentally, residual toner remaining without being transferred to the transfer material P is present on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 after the toner image is transferred. This residual toner is removed by the cleaning device 35 and used for the next image formation. Is done.

  FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the arrangement state of the cleaning device 35 and the photosensitive drum 30. 3 is a plan view showing a main part of the cleaning device 35, and FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged perspective view thereof.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the cleaning device 35 is in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 along the axial direction thereof, and removes residual toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30. A housing 53 that houses the cleaning blade 48 and collects residual toner removed by the cleaning blade 48, and is fixed to the housing 53. A part of the side surface 54a abuts on the side end 48a of the cleaning blade 48, A seal member 54 having a part of the surface in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 and a transport spiral 61 for transporting the residual toner collected in the housing 53 are provided. Residual toner temporarily stored in the housing 53 is transported in the axial direction of the photosensitive drum 30 by the transport spiral 61, and further recovered in a waste toner recovery bottle (not shown) via a waste toner transport path (not shown). The The waste toner collection bottle is replaced with a new one before it becomes full at an appropriate timing, for example, by detecting the amount of waste toner collected.

  The cleaning blade 48 is formed of a long plate-like member having moderate elasticity such as polyurethane rubber or silicone rubber, and is fixed to the housing 53 via a holder 62. The holder 62 has a plurality of insertion openings 64, and bolts (not shown) or the like are inserted through these insertion openings 64 and fixed to the housing 53. The cleaning device 35 includes an under seal member 63 disposed below the cleaning blade 48 and having a surface abutting against the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 in addition to the seal member 54 abutting against the side end portion 48 a of the cleaning blade 48. It is arranged. The under seal member 63 is disposed in the gap between the housing 53 and the photosensitive drum 30 below the cleaning blade 48 (upstream in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 30), and residual toner does not leak from the gap. It is for doing so. The under seal member 63 is formed of an elastic material, and the surface that comes into contact with the photosensitive drum 30 is covered with a low friction layer 75.

  5A is a conceptual diagram illustrating a state before the photosensitive drum 30 is mounted on the cleaning device 35, and FIG. 5B is a conceptual diagram illustrating a state after the photosensitive drum 30 is mounted. is there. As shown in FIG. 5A, the seal member 54 includes a soft elastic material 72 that contacts the side end 48 a of the cleaning blade 48 and a hard elastic material 71 that is harder than the soft elastic material 72. . The soft elastic material 72 and the hard elastic material 71 are arranged in this order from the side end portion 48 a side of the cleaning blade 48. Further, the surface of the seal member 54 is covered with a low friction layer 73.

  In this cleaning device 35, the photosensitive drum 30 is mounted in the direction of arrow A indicated by the alternate long and short dash line so that the cleaning blade 48 is brought into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 along the axial direction thereof. Then, the seal member 54 is compressed and deformed, and the surface of the seal member 54, that is, the surface of the low friction layer 73 is brought into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 (FIG. 5B).

  At this time, the seal member 54 is not deformed in the direction away from the cleaning blade 48, but is deformed in a direction in which the seal member 54 is in close contact with the side end portion 48a of the cleaning blade 48 (in the direction of arrow C indicated by a one-dot chain line). That is, since the soft elastic material 72 is more easily deformed than the hard elastic material 71, when the seal member 54 is compressed by the photosensitive drum 30, the soft elastic material 72 contracts first and the hard elastic material 71 becomes the soft elastic material. It deforms so that it falls to the 72 side. Due to the restoring force based on such deformation, the side end portion 48a of the cleaning blade 48 is pressed by the side surface 54a of the seal member 54, and high adhesion is obtained. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a toner from leaking by preventing a gap from being formed between the side surface 54a of the seal member 54 and the side end portion 48a of the cleaning blade 48.

  Further, since the low friction layer 73 is formed on the surface of the seal member 54, when the photoconductive drum 30 rotates with the seal member 54 in contact with the surface of the photoconductive drum 30, the space between these members is reduced. It is possible to reduce the frictional resistance.

  The hard elastic material 71 and the soft elastic material 72 are not particularly limited as long as they have elasticity, and various foamed resins can be used. Specifically, for example, foamed polyurethane (polyurethane foam) or the like can be used. It can be illustrated.

The soft elastic material 72 may be any material that is softer than the hard elastic material 71. For example, when polyurethane foam is used as the hard elastic material 71 and the soft elastic material 72, when the density of the soft elastic material 72 is about 0.03 to 0.06 g / cm ³ , the density of the hard elastic material 71 is 0.00. It is good that it is about 2 to 0.5 g / cm ³ . A member such as a polyurethane foam used for the seal member 54 has higher flexibility because it contains more air in the member as the density is lower, and deformation is greater when pressure is applied. Specifically, as the soft elastic material 72, for example, a soft urethane foam “SM-55” (density 0.057 g / cm ³ ) manufactured by INOAC can be exemplified, and as the hard elastic material 71, for example, manufactured by INOAC “Polon L-32” (density 0.32 g / cm ³ ) and the like.

  The thickness of the soft elastic material 72 is preferably the same as or thinner than the thickness of the hard elastic material 71. The thickness ratio between the soft elastic material 72 and the hard elastic material 71 is preferably about 1: 1 to 3: 4. When the thickness ratio of the hard elastic material 71 to the soft elastic material 72 exceeds the above range, it may be difficult to perform an operation of bonding these members. On the other hand, if the soft elastic material 72 is thicker than the hard elastic material 71, the sealing performance may be reduced. As a specific example, an embodiment in which the thickness of the cleaning blade 48 is 2 mm, the thickness of the soft elastic material 72 is 3 mm, and the thickness of the hard elastic material 71 is 3.5 mm can be illustrated. As a method of providing a thickness difference in this way, a method of molding so as to cause a difference in thickness between the hard elastic material 71 and the soft elastic material 72, a method of raising the surface of the housing 53 to which the hard elastic material 71 is bonded, etc. Is mentioned.

  The material constituting the low friction layers 73 and 75 is not particularly limited as long as it has a small friction coefficient, and examples thereof include fluorine resins such as polytetrafluoroethylene and polychlorotrifluoroethylene.

  The seal member 54 can be manufactured as follows, for example. That is, the seal member 54 can be manufactured by attaching the low friction layer 73 to one adhesive surface of the double-sided tape and attaching the soft elastic material 72 and the hard elastic material 71 to the other adhesive surface.

  FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing a main part of a cleaning device according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, the sealing member 54 ′ in this cleaning device is formed such that the thickness of the soft elastic material 72 ′ is thinner than the thickness of the hard elastic material 71.

  Thus, when the thickness of the soft elastic material 72 ′ is made thinner than the thickness of the hard elastic material 71, the hard elastic material 71 becomes soft elastic material 72 ′ when the seal member 54 ′ is compressed by the photosensitive drum 30. Since it becomes easier to fall down on the side, the adhesion between the side surface 54a 'of the seal member 54' and the side end 48a of the cleaning blade 48 is further improved, and toner leakage can be prevented more reliably.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the image forming apparatus is a copying machine has been described. However, the cleaning apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to a copying machine but can be similarly applied to a printer, a facsimile, and the like.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus including a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating an arrangement state of a cleaning device and a photosensitive drum in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. It is a top view which shows the principal part of the cleaning apparatus in this invention. It is a partially expanded perspective view which shows the principal part of the cleaning apparatus in this invention. (a) is a conceptual diagram showing a state before the photosensitive drum is mounted on the cleaning device, and (b) is a conceptual diagram showing a state after the photosensitive drum is mounted. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the principal part of the cleaning apparatus concerning other embodiment of this invention. (a), (b) is a conceptual diagram which shows the principal part in the conventional cleaning apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

30 Photosensitive drum (electrostatic latent image carrier)
35 Cleaning device 48 Cleaning blade 53 Housing 71 Hard elastic material 72 Soft elastic material 73 Low friction layer

Claims (4)

A cleaning blade that is brought into contact with the surface of the electrostatic latent image carrier along its axial direction and removes residual toner remaining on the surface of the electrostatic latent image carrier;
A housing that houses the cleaning blade and collects residual toner removed by the cleaning blade;
A cleaning device, comprising: a seal member fixed to the housing, wherein at least a part of a side surface is in contact with a side end of the cleaning blade, and at least a part of a surface is in contact with the surface of the electrostatic latent image carrier; There,
The seal member is composed of a soft elastic material that comes into contact with a side end portion of the cleaning blade, and a hard elastic material harder than the soft elastic material,
The cleaning device, wherein the soft elastic material and the hard elastic material are arranged in this order from the side end portion side of the cleaning blade.   The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein a low friction layer is formed on a surface of the seal member, and the low friction layer contacts the surface of the electrostatic latent image carrier.   The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the soft elastic material is thinner than a thickness of the hard elastic material. The electrostatic latent image carrier having a toner image formed on a surface thereof, and the residual toner remaining on the surface of the electrostatic latent image carrier is removed after the toner image is transferred to a transfer material. An image forming apparatus comprising the cleaning device according to any one of the above.

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