JP2005258168A - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem with a cleaning device for recovering toner remaining on the surface of a photoreceptor after a transfer process that in order to prevent a side seal, etc., from being displaced or peeled by the rotating force of a photoreceptor drum, additional members, etc. are used, which makes the apparatus complex and expensive. <P>SOLUTION: In the cleaning device, the side seal (second seal) is attached to a housing in such a manner that the side seal is extended to the position where the face of the side seal does not face a photoreceptor drum, and a section overlapping an upstream seal (first seal) extending in the direction of the circumference of the photoreceptor drum almost coincides with the face of the housing, to which face the upstream seal is attached. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus applied to an image forming apparatus that forms an image by an electrophotographic method such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or the like.

  An image forming apparatus that forms an image by an electrophotographic method includes, for example, a photosensitive drum, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum, which is developed with toner to form a toner image. The toner image is transferred onto the paper. On the surface of the photosensitive drum after the toner image is transferred to the sheet, the toner is not completely transferred to the sheet, and a residual toner that is not normally transferred to the sheet remains. This residual toner is unnecessary in the next image forming cycle. If the residual toner is left as it is, the residual toner appears in the next image as an extra stain, which causes deterioration in image quality.

  Therefore, conventionally, a cleaning device has been employed for collecting toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum after the transfer process. The cleaning device is disposed so as to face the surface of the photosensitive drum after the transfer process, and scrapes off and collects the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum by a fur brush, a blade, or the like.

  If the toner leaks from the gap between this cleaning device and the photosensitive drum, not only the paper onto which the toner image is transferred, but also the internal contamination of the machine and the leaked toner will flow out of the machine. There were problems such as adverse effects on the equipment and soiling inside and outside the equipment. For this reason, the gap between the end surface of the housing forming the cleaning space and the photosensitive drum and the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum is generally sealed with a plurality of seal members. This seal extends, for example, in the axial direction of the photosensitive drum and a side seal (flock seal) as a first seal that is attached to the housing end face facing both axial ends of the photosensitive drum with a double-sided adhesive tape or the like. There is an upstream side seal (generally a urethane sheet seal is used) as a second seal that contacts the surface of the photosensitive drum on the upstream side when viewed in the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum.

  Of these seals, the side seal (flocked seal) in particular is strongly pressed against the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum and receives the rotational force of the photosensitive drum on the surface. For this reason, the entire side seal receives a force that shifts from the upstream side to the downstream side in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum, and the portion to which the double-sided adhesive tape or the like is attached is shifted or peeled off from the upstream side in the rotation direction. There was a case. Further, the upstream side seal also has a problem that it receives the same force when the pressing force to the photosensitive drum is strong at the overlapping portion with the side seal. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state in which a side seal 207 including a flock seal 212 is affixed to 210 on the end surface of the conventional cleaning device 200 on the housing 203 side. FIG. 2A shows a state where the cleaning device 200 is still new. When the photosensitive drum 100 comes into pressure contact with the flock seal 212 and rotates in the direction A, the side seal 207 is pulled in the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum 100 and shifted upward as shown in FIG. (Upstream end) turns over and peels off.

As a conventional countermeasure against peeling of a seal for coping with such a problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228667 discloses a separate member for pressing the seal end on the upstream side. In this way, the addition of another member or the like for holding the seal complicates the apparatus, increasing the work procedure in its production, and making the apparatus itself expensive.
JP 2003-167488 A (page 5, FIG. 2)

  Such side seal misalignment or peeling forms a gap between the housing end face of the cleaning device and the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum, and toner in the cleaning space is ejected from the gap, which may adversely affect print quality. In some cases, the inside of the device was contaminated due to internal contamination of the device. In addition, when this is dealt with using another member or the like, the cleaning device is complicated and expensive. Therefore, it is desired to solve the above problems with a simple configuration. The present invention has been made based on such a background, and provides a cleaning device that prevents the occurrence of side seal misalignment or peeling at low cost without adding parts, thereby preventing the collected toner from leaking. Objective.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is a cleaning device for collecting toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor after the transfer process, and a housing having an opening facing the surface of the photoreceptor. A first seal (hereinafter referred to as a “side seal”) including a flocking seal that is affixed to be in contact with the photoreceptor in the vicinity of both ends in the rotational axis direction of the photoreceptor at the opening of the housing; A second seal (hereinafter referred to as “upstream seal”) pasted on the upstream end surface of the end surface parallel to the rotation axis of the photoconductor as viewed in the rotation direction of the photoconductor; Affixed to the side seal, the surface of the upstream seal attached to the housing end surface is substantially the same as the surface of the side seal facing the photoconductor surface. It is characterized in that it comprises a sticking part that extends to the surface of the upstream side as viewed in the rotational direction of the photosensitive member of the adjacent housing surface.

  According to this configuration, when a seal member that contacts the photosensitive member and receives the rotational force of the photosensitive member, such as a side seal, is attached without adding a pressing member or the like for the toner leakage prevention seal. Is applied to the surface that does not face the surface of the photoconductor, that is, to a surface that is at an angle to the direction of peeling of the seal. By making the attachment surface different, it is possible to completely prevent the seal from being displaced or peeled off, and the rotational force of the photosensitive member applied to the upstream seal in the circumferential direction is only brought into contact with the target sheet leading end. No peeling or misalignment. Also, even if side seal partial curl occurs, the location where side seal partial curl occurs, that is, the end of the side seal is a surface that does not face the photoconductive drum. Will adhere and will not contaminate the photosensitive drum and affect the image.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the side seal is reduced at the contact portion of the photosensitive drum by recessing the upstream sheet attaching surface. This eliminates the need for toner leakage countermeasures. In addition, the contact surface of the upstream seal on the photosensitive drum is reduced at the side seal portion by recessing the surface of the side seal on the housing upstream seal to substantially the same surface as the housing.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the contact pressure with the photosensitive drum can be reduced by changing the thickness of the side seal at a portion other than necessary. It is easy to eliminate peeling and prevent toner leakage.

  Further, the invention according to claim 4 is the cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein protrusions are provided on the other side where the side seal is extended, and the side seal is hooked and stuck to prevent peeling or misalignment. The countermeasure becomes stronger, and it becomes possible to reduce the pasting area on the extension side.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning device for collecting toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor after the transfer process, and a housing having an end face that defines an opening facing the surface of the photoconductor. In order to close the gap between the end face and the surface of the photoconductor, the side seal including the flocking affixed to the end face and the side seal are attached to the surface not facing the photoconductor drum surface, and are pasted and overlapped. When the upstream seal in the circumferential direction of the photoconductor drum to be attached is disposed, the side seal is made substantially the same as the surface of the housing to which the upstream seal is attached to the surface facing the photoconductor surface of the side seal, and the side seal does not face the photoconductor surface of the housing By extending and pasting to another surface and giving an angle to the pasting surface, the side seal is peeled off by the rotational force of the photosensitive drum, and the surface is different from the direction of displacement. Can be pasted surface of Idoshiru, deviation of the affixed the side seal, it is possible to prevent peeling. At this time, the portion of the upstream seal that presses against the surface of the photosensitive drum that overlaps with the side seal is also only the downstream surface of the upstream seal that contacts the photosensitive drum, and the upstream seal can be prevented from being displaced or peeled off.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device of the first aspect, the housing of the portion where the side seal and the upstream seal overlap is recessed to contact the photosensitive drum other than the overlapping portion of the side seal. By thickening the part to be sealed, it becomes easy to improve the sealing performance, and the countermeasure for toner leakage has become stronger.

  According to the invention of claim 3, in the cleaning device of claim 1, by changing the distribution of the thickness of the side seal, it becomes possible to adjust the necessary contact surface with the surface of the photosensitive drum, thereby preventing toner leakage. It became easy to prevent.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device of the first aspect, the protrusion for hooking the side seal is provided on the housing, and the side seal is hooked on the projection, thereby reducing the sticking surface of the extension side seal. It has become possible.

  Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, 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 unless otherwise specified, and are merely illustrative examples. Only.

  (Image Forming Apparatus) FIG. 1 shows an example of an image forming apparatus to which the cleaning apparatus according to the present invention is applied. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is a copying machine including a reader unit (image reading device) and a printing unit (printing unit), and FIG.

  First, the overall configuration of the copying machine 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

  A copying machine 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a copying machine main body 11 constituting an overall framework, and a reader unit 12 that reads image surfaces (image information) G of documents D1 and D2 is provided above the copying machine main body 11. In addition, a print unit 13 that forms a toner image on a transfer material P such as paper in accordance with image information read by the reader unit 12 is disposed in the lower part.

  The former 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 that closely contacts the image surface G of the document D1 with the upper surface of the document table 14. From the pressing plate 15, a scanning unit (reading unit) 18 having a light source 16 and a first reflecting mirror 17 that irradiates light onto the image surface G of the document D 1 on the document table 14 from below, and the first reflecting mirror 17. Second and third reflection mirrors 20 and 21 that further reflect the reflected light, a lens unit 22 that forms an image of light from the third reflection mirror 21, a CCD 23 on which the light from the lens unit 22 is incident, It has. The above-described scanning unit 18 is configured to scan the image plane G of the document D1 with the light source 16 while moving to the right from the home position HP shown in FIG. 1, and 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 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 pair of paper feed rollers 26 and a pair of paper discharge rollers 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.

  Here, the above-described fixed reading and flow reading are properly used, for example, a book D1 such as a book that is bound is placed on the document table 14 for fixed reading, while a cut sheet-like document D2 is The sheet is placed on the sheet feeding table 25 to perform the flow reading.

  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 (cleaning unit) 35 are provided. Further, along the transport path 36 (illustrated by a two-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. 6), A paper feed 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.

  Among these, 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).

  As the primary charger 31, a scorotron type corona charger is used in the present embodiment. 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 applying power source (not shown).

  The exposure device 32 includes a laser oscillator, a polygon mirror, and the like (all not shown), and 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 transferred onto 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.

  The cleaning device 35 has a cleaning blade 48 that is in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 in order to remove residual toner that is not transferred to the transfer material P and remains on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 during the transfer described above. The cleaning device 35 will be described in detail later.

  A conveyance guide 42 that guides the transfer material P after the toner image transfer to the fixing device 43 is disposed on the downstream side of the transfer charger 34 described above.

  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, and an unfixed toner image is formed on the surface. 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 is for discharging the transfer material P after the toner image fixing 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 has a predetermined polarity and potential by the primary charger 31. Are 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 the 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 way is applied by applying a transfer bias to the transfer charger 34 with respect to the transfer material P conveyed at a predetermined timing by the registration roller pair 41 and the like, thereby transferring the transfer material P. Transferred to the surface. After the toner image is transferred, the residual toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 is removed by the cleaning device 35 and used for the next image formation. On the other hand, the transfer material P after the toner transfer 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 discharge tray 45 by a discharge roller pair 44 in a so-called face-down posture with the image surface (surface on which the toner image is fixed) facing downward. Thus, image formation (printing) by the copying machine 10 is completed.

  (Cleaning device) In the copying machine 10 described above, if the sealing performance of the cleaning device 35 is insufficient, residual toner collected by the cleaning device 35 leaks from the cleaning device 35 and scatters in the copying machine main body 11. In addition, the scattered toner may contaminate peripheral devices and the transfer material P. In particular, if the scattered toner adheres to the exposure device 32, the laser beam at the time of exposure may be blocked, resulting in an exposure failure. Further, the photosensitive drum 30 may adhere to the primary charger 31 and become difficult to be uniformly charged.

  Therefore, in the present invention, toner leakage from the cleaning device 35 is prevented, and toner contamination, exposure failure, and charging failure are eliminated. In the following description, when the drum rotation direction is counterclockwise, components and the like appear on the front side of the drawing, making it easier to understand the description. 3 to 6 are configured such that the drum rotation direction is displayed in a counterclockwise rotation.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the positional relationship between the photosensitive drum 30 and the cleaning device 35. The photosensitive drum 30 is a cylindrical body that is long in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface, and a photosensitive layer is formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof. The photosensitive drum 30 rotates counterclockwise as indicated by an arrow X, and although not shown, charging, exposure, development, and transfer processing are sequentially performed. Then, the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 after the transfer process rotates to the cleaning device 35.

  The cleaning device 35 includes the housing 2. The housing 2 includes an end face that defines an opening facing the surface of the photosensitive drum 30. In the housing 2, a polishing brush (not shown) for polishing the surface of the photosensitive drum on the upstream side when viewed in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 30 is incorporated, and a scraping blade 48 is built in on the downstream side. The polishing brush rotates to scrape off the oxidized product formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 with the abrasive contained in the toner, thereby establishing an image forming cycle. The scraping blade 48 is in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 to scrape residual toner and drop it into the housing 2.

Residual toner collected by the polishing brush or scraping blade 48 must be accommodated in the housing 2, and it is necessary to reliably prevent the toner from leaking outside through the gap between the housing 2 and the photosensitive drum 30. is there. For this reason, side seals (flocked seals) 7 as shown by diagonal lines (45 degrees to the right) are attached to both end portions of the housing 2, that is, the front end surface and the rear end surface in the axial direction of the photosensitive drum 30, respectively. Has been. Further, an upstream seal (urethane sheet) 6 as a second seal is attached to the lower end of the opening end surface of the housing 2 (the end surface positioned on the upstream side in the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum 30). The side seals 7 and the upstream side seals 6 at both ends block the gap between the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 and the cleaning device 35, and the collected toner is prevented from leaking from the gap.
FIG. 3 is a part of a schematic perspective view of the cleaning device 35 of the present invention viewed from the photosensitive drum side. As shown in FIG. 3, the housing 2 has an opening 8 that faces the surface of the photosensitive drum 30. The opening 8 is defined by the side end surface 3 and the upstream end surface 9 of the housing 2. Side seals 7 are affixed in the vicinity of both end faces 3 of the housing, and an upstream seal 6 is affixed to the housing 2 so as to overlap the side seal 7 on the upstream side of the side seal 7 as a second seal. It has been.

  4A is a partially enlarged view of the cleaning device 35 of FIG. 3 viewed from the direction of arrow A (front), and FIG. 4B is a partially enlarged view of the cleaning device 35 viewed from the direction of arrow B (bottom surface). (A) and (b) of FIG. 5 show what removed the upstream side seal 6 from (a) and (b) of FIG. The detailed arrangement of the side seal 7 and the upstream seal 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. In FIG. 4A, the blade 48 formed in the housing 2, the side seal 7 disposed on both sides, and the upstream seal 6 form an opening 8 in a region facing the photoconductive drum 30, and the photoconductive body. The toner remaining on the drum 30 is scraped off by the blade 48 and collected in a waste toner collecting container by a toner conveying screw (not shown). As shown in FIG. 4B, the side seal 7 is extended and attached to a surface that forms an angle with the attachment surface of the upstream side seal 6 of the housing 2. The state in which the upstream side seal 6 is deleted will be described with reference to FIG. 5 so that the side seal 7 can be understood.

  In FIG. 5A, the surface where the upstream seal 6 is attached to the housing 2 is represented as 2a and the overlapping surface of the upstream seal of the side seal 7 is denoted as 7a. The upstream sealing surface 2a and the overlapping surface 7a of the upstream seal 6 of the side seal 7 are preferably substantially the same, but the overlapping surface 7a of the upstream sealing 6 of the side seal 7 is connected to the housing 2. It is possible to cope with problems such as seal peeling, which is an object of the present invention, by making the concave part from the affixing surface 2 a of the upstream seal 6.

  FIG. 5B shows the surface 2b having an angle with respect to the affixing surface 2a of the upstream seal 6 which is the surface facing the photosensitive drum 30 of the housing 2. The side seal 7 is shown in such a state that it is attached to the upstream seal 6 attachment surface 2a so as to extend to the surface 2b having an angle. By adhering the side seal 7 over both the photosensitive drum facing surface and the surface having an angle thereto, the side seal 7 receives a force that shifts from the upstream side to the downstream side in the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum, and the double-sided adhesive tape. If the part pasted by etc. is misaligned or peeled off, the pasting surface is extended to a surface with a different angle, so The peel strength increases, and it becomes possible to deal with the problem of misalignment and peeling.

  6 is protruded from the surface 2a having the angle of the housing 2 of FIG. 6 and is provided with a hole or a notch that fits into the protrusion 4 on the side seal 7 so as to cause the side seal 7 to slide or peel off. The action to prevent the force works against the force. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the area where the side seal 7 is attached to the surface 2a having the angle of the housing 2.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the upstream of the housing side end surface in the conventional cleaning apparatus, (a) The cleaning apparatus is a new state, (b) The figure after the photosensitive drum rotated by this cleaning apparatus is shown. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cleaning device of the present invention as viewed from the photosensitive drum side. (A) is the figure seen from the arrow A direction (front side) of FIG. 3, (b) shows the figure seen from the arrow B direction (bottom face) of FIG. (A) And (b) shows the state which deleted the upstream seal 6 from FIG. 4 (a) and (b). FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cleaning device and the photosensitive drum according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

2 Housing 3 Housing-side end face 4 Projection 6 Upstream seal (second seal)
7 Side seal (first seal)
30 Photosensitive drum 35 Cleaning device 48 Cleaning blade

Claims (4)

A cleaning device for collecting toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor after the transfer process, the housing having an opening facing the surface of the photoconductor;
A first seal including a flocking sheet affixed in contact with the photoconductor in the vicinity of both ends in the rotation axis direction of the photoconductor at the opening of the housing;
A cleaning device comprising: a second seal affixed to an upstream end face of the opening of the housing in the rotation direction of the photoreceptor among the end faces parallel to the rotation axis of the photoreceptor,
The second seal is attached to the first seal so that the second seal is attached to the housing end surface of the second seal, and the photosensitive surface opposite surface of the first seal is substantially the same. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the first seal includes a sticking portion extending to the side surface on the upstream side when viewed in the rotation direction of the photosensitive member of the housing adjacent to the end face to which the second seal is stuck. The surface of the housing is recessed by the thickness of the first seal when the surface facing the photoreceptor surface of the first seal is substantially the same as the housing surface on which the second seal is applied. The cleaning device according to claim 1.   The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the first seal is reduced at a portion overlapping the second seal.   A protrusion is provided on another surface not facing the surface of the photoconductor on which the second seal is attached, and a hole such as a notch that engages with the protrusion is provided in the second seal. The cleaning apparatus according to 1.

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