JP2005221981A - Cleaning apparatus, charging apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning apparatus provided with constitution for preventing deterioration in a charged state due to adhesion of a foreign matter resulting in prevention of deterioration in image quality without bringing about cost increase. <P>SOLUTION: The cleaning apparatus is provided with a cleaning member 9 which can abut on a member 3 to be cleaned. The cleaning member 9 has at least its part abutting on the member 3 to be cleaned constituted from melamine resin foamed body. Variance in hardness of the melamine resin foamed body is set to be equal to or below 5 degrees within the range of 5 to 25 degrees of Asker F hardness and the foamed body is used for the member 3 to be cleaned in a heated and compressed state from an original shape. Furthermore, a pressing member 10 is installed abutted on the cleaning member 9. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning device, a charging device, and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a cleaning mechanism for a charging device such as a charging device or a transfer device.

  In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, or a printing machine, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to image information is formed on a latent image carrier such as a photoconductor uniformly charged by a charging device, The electrostatic latent image is subjected to a visible image processing with a developer such as toner, and the visible image is transferred to a recording medium such as a sheet and fixed to obtain a copy output.

  As a configuration of the charging device used for the latent image carrier, there is a non-contact type configuration using corona discharge, or a contact type configuration using a roller in contact with or close to the latent image carrier (for example, Patent Document 1).

  In non-contact charging devices, corona products such as ozone and nitrogen oxides are generated along with corona discharge, which causes environmental degradation and discharge generation of nitrate compounds (ammonium nitrate) based on nitrogen oxides. There are problems such as deterioration of charging characteristics due to adhesion of objects.

In place of the non-contact type charging device, in the contact type charging device using a charging roller having a surface close to the latent image carrier in contact with or having a minute gap, the latent image carrier is in contact with or slightly in contact with the latent image carrier. A charging roller is used in which an elastic body whose resistance is adjusted with a gap is provided on the peripheral surface of the core metal, and a charging bias is applied to the charging roller.
As the charging bias, a DC voltage and an AC voltage having a peak-to-peak voltage that is twice or more the discharge start voltage of the DC voltage are applied in a superimposed manner. It converges to the value of the applied DC voltage, and as a result, uniform charging on the surface of the latent image carrier is possible.

  However, in such a contact type charging device, when a minute gap is set between the surface of the latent image carrier and the charging roller, the surface of the latent image carrier is charged by the pulse discharge generated in the minute gap. Therefore, it is known that the surface of the latent image carrier is always etched (for example, Patent Document 2).

If the surface of the latent image carrier is scraped off due to the etching phenomenon caused by the charging roller, a film reduction phenomenon occurs in which the film thickness of the photosensitive layer on the surface of the latent image carrier is reduced. It is conceivable that this will cause a decrease.
In order to reduce the film reduction phenomenon of the latent image carrier, (1) DC charging (a method of applying a DC voltage only to the charging roller in contact (for example, Patent Document 2)), and (2) latent image carrier There is application of a lubricant to the surface (for example, Patent Document 3).

In the method described in (1), the surface of the latent image carrier is charged only with a direct current voltage. Therefore, the amount of inflow current to the latent image carrier is very small because no alternating voltage is applied. In other words, the pulse discharge to the latent image carrier is reduced, and as a result, the etching action on the surface of the latent image carrier is reduced and the film thickness reduction phenomenon of the latent image carrier is suppressed. .
In the method described in (2), a solid lubricant coating device provided only for the charging device is used independently of the latent image carrier cleaning device or independently. By applying a lubricant such as zinc stearate, a lubricating layer can be formed on the surface to enhance the wear resistance and protect.

On the other hand, the charging roller is contaminated as another cause of deterioration in image quality due to deterioration in charging characteristics of the latent image carrier when the charging roller is used.
The charging roller is arranged to face the surface of the latent image carrier that has undergone the cleaning process, but toner or paper powder that remains after the cleaning process is likely to adhere to the surface of the latent image carrier. Is provided. For this reason, if the fouling is partially generated on the charging roller, the surface resistance value changes, and as a result, the latent image carrier cannot be uniformly charged. Therefore, conventionally, a cleaning blade, a pad-shaped cleaning member, and a brush are provided on the charging roller (for example, Patent Document 4, Patent Document 5, Patent Document 6), or a cleaning roller having a cleaning blade is provided. (For example, patent document 7) is proposed.

JP-A-8-106203 (paragraphs “0002” to “0003”, column) JP 2003-66693 A (paragraphs “0010” and “0011” columns) JP 2003-91143 A (paragraph "0010" column) JP 2003-29430 A (paragraph “0012” column) JP 7-11425 A (paragraph "0023" column) JP 2002-108069 A (paragraph “0026” column) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-149012 (Claim 1)

  Although the method described in (1) can reduce the film thickness reduction of the latent image carrier, toner or paper powder adheres to the surface of the charging roller and is liable to be partially contaminated. Resistance may be non-uniform. If uniform charging with respect to the latent image carrier is impaired, the application of an alternating voltage is not performed, so that slight resistance fluctuations cause image smearing and image unevenness. In addition, in the direction mentioned in (2), the application of a solid lubricant stabilizes the cleaning characteristics of the latent image carrier in environmental fluctuations by lowering the friction coefficient with the lubricant, but the latent image bearing with reduced friction is used. It is easy for some of the toner and paper dust adhering to the surface of the image carrier to slip out of the cleaning position, and foreign substances such as toner and paper dust adhere to the charging roller and change its surface resistivity. This is as described for the pollution.

  Although it is possible to extend the life of the latent image carrier by suppressing the phenomenon of film reduction on the surface of the latent image carrier, in recent years, the latent image carrier and the charging device, developing device, and cleaning device for the latent image carrier are available. In order to improve maintainability, the number of components stored together in the process cartridge has been increased, and not the life of only a part of the accommodated apparatus is increased, but the entire accommodated apparatus has the same lifetime. This is important for reducing running costs.

On the other hand, in the configuration for enabling the charging roller to be prevented from fouling, a configuration for collecting the foreign matter removed from the charging device is required. In particular, when a blade is used, foreign matter cannot be held by the blade itself, so that it is necessary to control a collection unit separate from the blade, and a collection time setting. For this reason, the configuration of the charging device is complicated, which causes an increase in cost.
When a pad-like or sponge-like cleaning member is used as the cleaning member, it is necessary to hold the collected foreign matter inside. However, the holding of the foreign matter is maintained by simply bringing the cleaning member into contact with the charging roller. It is difficult. Therefore, in any case, when a cleaning structure for the charging roller is provided, a foreign matter collecting mechanism and a collecting mechanism are required in addition to the charging roller and the cleaning structure, and the cost increases due to the increase in size and complexity of the apparatus. Is inevitable. Such a problem is not limited to a charging device that simply uses a charging roller, but can also be applied to a charging device such as a transfer device that may use a contact relationship with a latent image carrier.

  In view of the problem of cleaning in the conventional charging device described above, an object of the present invention is to prevent deterioration of image quality by preventing deterioration of the charged state due to foreign matter adhesion without causing an increase in cost. And a charging device and an image forming apparatus.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a cleaning device provided with a cleaning member capable of abutting on a cleaning target member, wherein at least a portion of the cleaning member that abuts on the cleaning target member is made of a melamine resin foam, The melamine resin foam is characterized in that the Asker F hardness is set to 5 degrees or less within a range of 5 to 25 degrees and the hardness variation is set to 5 degrees or less, and is used in a state where the member to be cleaned is heated and compressed from the original shape. Yes.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to the first aspect, the melamine resin foam used for the cleaning member is molded into a roller shape, and the compression direction is a radial direction.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to the first or second aspect, the melamine resin foam used for the cleaning member is attached to a metal roller.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the cleaning member is provided so as to be able to contact with and separate from the member to be cleaned. .

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the cleaning member can be interlocked with the cleaning target member by utilizing a frictional force. It is said.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the cleaning member is provided with a pressure member that contacts the cleaning member.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to the sixth aspect, the pressure member is composed of a metal roller, and a forced contact relationship is set with respect to the cleaning member. .

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to the seventh aspect, the diameter ratio of the cleaning member to the pressure member is set to be twice or less, and the amount of compressive deformation of the cleaning member relative to the pressure member Is set to 1.5 mm or less and is in contact.

  The invention described in claim 9 is characterized in that the cleaning device according to one of claims 1 to 8 is used for a charging device.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the charging device according to the ninth aspect is used in an image forming apparatus.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the tenth aspect, as the charging device, a latent image carrier and a charging device disposed opposite to the latent image carrier or a transfer device are used. Yes.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the eleventh aspect, a charging roller or a transfer roller is used for the charging device or the transfer device, and the cleaning member is provided in contact with the roller. It is characterized by that.

  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to one of the ninth to twelfth aspects, at least one of the latent image carrier and a charging device or a transfer device provided to face the latent image carrier. It is characterized in that it has a process cartridge that is stored together.

According to the first, ninth, and thirteenth aspects of the present invention, it is possible to uniformly contact the cleaning target member with a simple configuration using only the melamine resin foam, thereby preventing the foreign matter from remaining on the cleaning target member. In the inventions according to the ninth to eleventh aspects of the present invention, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from remaining on the member having the charging function to the charged side and eliminate the defective charging. It is possible to prevent the image quality from being deteriorated.
In particular, the hardness of the melamine resin foam used as the cleaning member is set, and it is possible to ensure uniform contact with the member to be cleaned by being compressed from the original shape. In other words, the foam-molded member has a variation in the expansion ratio, and pinholes of about φ1 to 3 are generated, as is often seen with home sponges, and the foam in this state was used as a cleaning member. In this case, the contact area with the member to be cleaned is reduced. Therefore, in the present invention, it is possible to solve the above-mentioned problems by specifying the hardness and usage pattern of the melamine resin foam in order to prevent a partially non-uniform contact area.

  According to the second and third aspects of the invention, the melamine resin foam used as the cleaning member has a roller shape following the metal roller and is compressed in the radial direction. It is possible to prevent deviation from occurring in the compressive deformation in the cross section, particularly in the axial direction. In other words, even when the compression direction is set in the axial direction, uniform contact with the cleaning target member that comes into contact is difficult. However, in the present invention, such a change in the contact state can be eliminated, and foreign matter from the cleaning target member can be eliminated. Removal can be performed efficiently.

  According to the fourth aspect of the invention, since the cleaning member is provided so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the member to be cleaned, reliable uniform contact is possible at the time of removing foreign matter, and furthermore, long-term contact is maintained. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent wear on the surface of the cleaning target member and deformation of the cleaning member, thereby improving durability of the cleaning target member and the cleaning member.

  According to the invention described in claim 5, since the cleaning member can be interlocked using the frictional force generated between the member to be cleaned, a transmission mechanism including a gear necessary for the interlock is required. do not do. For this reason, the cost required for the cleaning mechanism can be reduced.

  According to the sixth and seventh aspects of the present invention, since the pressure member is provided on the cleaning member that contacts the member to be cleaned, the contact state when the melamine resin foam is used as the cleaning member can be made uniform. It becomes possible. In particular, in the invention described in claim 7, since the pressure member is forcibly brought into contact with the cleaning member, the contact pressure of the cleaning member with respect to the member to be cleaned can be defined, so that the cleaning member for collecting foreign matter is required. It is possible to easily set a uniform contact state. Particularly, the pinhole in the foam generated when the melamine resin foam is used as the cleaning member is easily crushed, so that the foreign matter is reliably collected from the member to be cleaned.

  According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, since the diameter ratio of the cleaning member to the pressure member is set to be twice or less and the compression amount is set to 1.5 mm or less, the pressure member bites too much into the cleaning member. Therefore, the rotation of the cleaning member is prevented from being hindered by the load caused by excessive biting, and it is possible to prevent the cleaning function of the cleaning target member from being deteriorated by the cleaning member.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an image forming apparatus to which a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. The image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a drum-shaped photoconductor (hereinafter referred to as a latent image carrier). 2) (referred to as photosensitive drum).
Around the photosensitive drum 2, there are a charging device 3, a writing device (only the optical path is shown) 4, a developing device 5 for performing image forming processing along the rotation direction (arrow direction in the figure) of the drum 2. , A transfer device 6 and a cleaning device 7 are respectively arranged.

  In the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, after the photosensitive drum 2 is rotated and uniformly charged by the charging device 3, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to image information is formed by the writing device 4. After the latent image is processed with the toner supplied from the developing device 5, the visible image is transferred via the transfer device 6 to the recording sheet S fed out from a feeding device (not shown). The visible image transferred onto the recording sheet S is fixed by the fixing device 8 to obtain a copy output.

  The image forming apparatus 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment corresponds to a photosensitive member, a charging device 3 and a transfer device 6 as members that are charged, that is, so-called charging devices. This corresponds to a cleaning target member for the cleaning 9 member used for removing foreign matters such as powder. The cleaning member 9 for the photosensitive drum 2 is provided in addition to the cleaning blade 7A provided in the cleaning device 7 provided originally.

The cleaning member 9 is a characteristic part of the present embodiment, and the details of the configuration are as follows.
The cleaning member 9 has a metal roller as a core, and at least the photosensitive drum 2 that is a member to be cleaned, the charging roller that constitutes the charging device 3, and the portion that contacts the transfer roller that constitutes the transfer device 6, respectively. Resin foam is used.
A cleaning member 9 shown in FIG. 1 has a foam layer formed on its surface by being attached to a peripheral surface of a metal roller, which is a core, with a melamine resin foam. A material having an F hardness of 5 to 25 degrees and a hardness variation of 5 degrees or less is used.
The above-mentioned hardness is a value when the cleaning member 9 is deformed by 1 mm using an Asker F hardness meter, and the compression rate and the layer thickness for maintaining this value are adjusted.

The reason why the hardness of the melamine resin foam used for the cleaning member is the above set value is as follows.
Usually, foam-molded members have variations in expansion ratio, and many pinholes of about φ1 to 3 are scattered on the surface. For this reason, other large pinholes also exist at the time of foam molding, and when such a foam molded product is defective, the yield as a product is deteriorated. In the case where there are a large number of such pinholes, if the foam molded product is brought into contact with the member to be cleaned as it is, the cleaning area deteriorates because the contact area becomes small. Uneven transfer occurs. Therefore, in this embodiment, the cleaning member 9 is heated and compressed in the radial direction from the original shape to maintain the hardness.
The reason for compressing in the radial direction is that, unlike the compression in the axial direction, the compressive deformation in the entire roll section, that is, in the circumferential direction and the axial direction is not biased. When compression is performed from one axial direction corresponding to the longitudinal direction, the compression rate tends to be high at the shaft end side and low at the central portion in the axial direction. As a result, the hardness in the axial cross section is uneven. As a result, contact unevenness occurs. Therefore, in this embodiment, by compressing in the radial direction, the above-described bias of compressive deformation is eliminated, the hardness of the set value is maintained, and uniform contact with the member to be cleaned is performed.

The cleaning member 9 used in this embodiment has the following configuration.
Using a melamine resin foam (made by BASF, trade name, Passocute) on the outer surface of the metal core with a diameter of 6 mm, the foam layer is formed by bonding, and molded to an outer diameter of 15 to 16 mm by rotational polishing. In FIG. 2, as shown by the arrow, it is heated and compressed in the radial direction to form an outer diameter of 10 to 11 mm. Thereafter, it is manufactured into a roll having an outer diameter of 10 mm by finish polishing.

  The cleaning member 9 is configured to be interlocked with the member to be cleaned by a frictional force. In the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, the charging roller constituting the charging device 3 is arranged at the upper portion of the outer peripheral surface. The relationship is such that a frictional force is generated by abutting by its own weight, and forcibly abutting the transfer roller constituting the photosensitive drum 2 or the transfer device 6 by using an elastic means (not shown). It is a relationship that causes frictional force. By linking the cleaning member 9 to the member to be cleaned by using a frictional force, it is possible to eliminate a transmission mechanism such as a gear required when setting the interlocking relationship.

  Further, the cleaning member 9 is provided so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the photosensitive drum 2, the charging device 3 and the transfer device 6 which are members to be cleaned, and can reliably make uniform contact when removing foreign matters. It is possible to prevent wear on the surface of the member to be cleaned and deformation of the cleaning member due to maintaining the contact for the period. Thereby, the durable life of the member to be cleaned and the cleaning member can be extended.

The inventor conducted an experiment relating to image quality using the cleaning member 9 based on the above configuration, and obtained the following results.
The environmental conditions used for the experiment are as follows: (1) High temperature / high humidity environment (temperature 32 ° C., humidity 54% RH) (2) Low temperature / low humidity environment (temperature 10 ° C., humidity 15% RH) (3) Standard Environment (temperature 23 ° C, humidity 50% RH)
In the environment (1) to (3), an image formation test of 40000 sheets is performed, and the applied bias in the charging device 3 is adjusted to a voltage value that stabilizes the charged state of the photosensitive drum 2 using AC bias + DC bias. Applied.

  As a result of this experiment, the image quality after the image formation of 40,000 sheets does not cause any charging unevenness or image unevenness due to transfer failure, and the charging that constitutes the photosensitive drum 2 and the charging device 3 that are members to be cleaned. No pinholes (for example, film reduction phenomenon on the photosensitive drum 2) or scratches on the transfer roller constituting the roller or transfer device 6 were observed.

  On the other hand, when the hardness variation of the melamine resin foam used for the cleaning member 9 is 10 degrees, uneven charging and image smearing occurred.

  The present inventor conducted an experiment for a configuration in which foreign matter can be removed by rubbing the cleaning target member using a brush in which nylon fibers are planted instead of the cleaning member 9 having the above configuration. It was confirmed that uneven charging and image smearing were clearly different.

  It was confirmed that the cleaning member 9 using the melamine resin foam in this example after the experiment was dyed with a toner color. This is a result of efficiently collecting toner that causes charging unevenness and image smearing. Actually, cleaning members using other configurations are in a state where foreign matters adhere to the filming surface. On the other hand, in the cleaning member 9 in this embodiment, filming does not occur and the toner is partially attached, and this also confirms that the toner is efficiently collected. did it.

According to the above embodiment, the cleaning function can be exhibited to the maximum by using the melamine resin foam after being heated and compressed. The reason for this is as follows.
In general, the hardness of the melamine resin foam and the straightness in the case of a roller have a great relationship. As the hardness increases, the amount of deformation as the foam decreases and the possibility of separation from the member to be cleaned increases. For this reason, it is necessary to increase the straightness of the roller so that it is difficult to separate the rollers. In addition, when the roller is used, if the hardness in the entire cross section varies greatly, the amount of biting between the roller and the member to be cleaned is controlled based on the hardness level, making it difficult to obtain a stable contact state.
When a foam is used, the presence of pinholes in the foam also causes uneven contact. Therefore, like the melamine resin foam of the cleaning member 9 in the present embodiment, the pinhole can be made inconspicuous by setting the hardness value by heating and compressing from the original shape at the time of foam molding, This makes it possible to make the contact state uniform and improve the cleaning function.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The feature of this embodiment is that a pressure member that abuts against the cleaning member that abuts against the member to be cleaned is provided.

  FIG. 3 shows a state in which the photosensitive drum 2, the charging device 3 and the cleaning device 7 used in the image forming process shown in FIG. 1 are collectively accommodated in the process cartridge PC. A pressure roller 10 made of a metal roller is placed in contact with a charging roller that constitutes one of the charging devices 3. In this embodiment, the configuration of the cleaning device 7 for the photosensitive drum 2 is different from the configuration shown in FIG. 1 in that the cleaning brush 7B is provided together with the cleaning blade 7A, not the cleaning member.

  The cleaning member 9 with which the pressure member 10 made of a metal roller abuts is less than twice the diameter ratio with respect to the pressure member 10 and the amount of compressive deformation by the pressure member 10 (indicated by symbol d in FIG. 3). The configuration such as the compression direction and the arrangement position is determined so that the relationship in which the amount is 1.5 mm or less can be maintained. The compression direction in this case is the radial direction as in the embodiment shown in FIG.

  Since the pressure member 10 is in a relationship of causing the above-described compression deformation of the cleaning member 10 by being brought into pressure contact with the cleaning member 9, the friction force generated between the pressure member 10 and the cleaning member 9 is utilized. The cleaning member 9 can rotate in conjunction with the cleaning member 9, and the amount of compressive deformation of the cleaning member 9 is set to the above-described prescribed value, so that the amount of biting into the cleaning member 9 is not excessive. Accordingly, the cleaning member 9 is used by preventing the cleaning member 9 from rotating when the amount of biting becomes excessive and not preventing the cleaning member 9 from interlocking with the charging roller. In this case, the collection of the foreign matter adhering to the charging roller is not impaired.

  Since the present embodiment is configured as described above, the cleaning member 9 provided with the melamine resin foam comes into contact with the charging roller constituting the charging device 3, and the interlocking relationship is established by the friction force generated between the two. As a result, foreign matter adhering to the charging roller is collected in the melamine resin foam.

  In particular, the cleaning member 9 is pressed against the pressure member 10 in a state in which a predetermined amount of compressive deformation is obtained, so that foreign matter collected by the cleaning member 9 can be pushed into the cleaning member 9, and Also, since the cleaning member 9 itself has no pinholes, uniform contact with the charging roller is performed, and the collection efficiency can be increased.

  According to the present embodiment, since the pressing member 10 that is in pressure contact with the cleaning member 9 is composed of a metal roller, it is possible to eliminate uneven contact due to bending deformation in the axial direction, etc. As a result, it is possible to eliminate contact failure with the charging roller of the charging device 3 which is a member to be cleaned.

  As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, unlike the sponge, the pinhole is eliminated so that the poor contact with the member to be cleaned is eliminated by using the melamine resin foam. Improves the collection efficiency of foreign matter adhering to the member and does not cause the foreign matter that has been collected to rise to the surface again, so the charging state in the charging device equipped with the member to be cleaned, specifically, It is possible to reliably prevent deterioration in image quality by eliminating charging and transfer unevenness in the charging device and the transfer device. Similarly, in cleaning the photosensitive drum 2, the collection efficiency of the foreign matter adhering to the photosensitive drum 2 is improved, and the collected foreign matter does not adhere again. Deterioration of quality can be prevented.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus to which a charging device including a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is a partial perspective view for demonstrating the effect | action with respect to the cleaning member used for the cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating another Example of the cleaning apparatus shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Photosensitive drum 3 Charging apparatus 6 Transfer apparatus 7 Cleaning apparatus 9 Cleaning member 10 Pressure member

Claims (13)

A cleaning device including a cleaning member capable of contacting a member to be cleaned,
In the cleaning member, at least a portion in contact with the object to be cleaned is composed of a melamine resin foam, and the melamine resin foam has an Asker F hardness in a range of 5 to 25 degrees and a hardness variation of 5 degrees or less. The cleaning device is used in a state where the object to be cleaned is heated and compressed from its original shape. The cleaning device according to claim 1.
The melamine resin foam used for the cleaning member is molded into a roller shape, and the compression direction is a radial direction. The cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2,
A melamine resin foam used for the cleaning member is attached to a metal roller. The cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The cleaning apparatus, wherein the cleaning member is provided so as to be able to contact and separate from the member to be cleaned. The cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The cleaning device, wherein the cleaning member can be interlocked with the member to be cleaned by using a frictional force. The cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning member is provided with a pressure member in contact with the cleaning member. The cleaning device according to claim 6.
The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member is made of a metal roller and has a forced contact relationship with the cleaning member. The cleaning device according to claim 7.
The diameter ratio of the cleaning member to the pressurizing member is set to 2 times or less, and the amount of compressive deformation of the cleaning member to the pressurizing member is set to 1.5 mm or less and is in contact. Cleaning device to do.   A charging device using the cleaning device according to claim 1.   An image forming apparatus using the charging device according to claim 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10.
An image forming apparatus, wherein a latent image carrier and a charging device disposed opposite to the latent image carrier or a transfer device are used as the charging device. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11.
An image forming apparatus, wherein a charging roller or a transfer roller is used for the charging device or the transfer device, and the cleaning member is in contact with the roller. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a process cartridge in which the latent image carrier and at least one of a charging device and a transfer device provided to face the latent image carrier are collectively stored.

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