JP2005306568A - Image formation device and chute - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image formation device capable of easily maintaining a brush to clean a surface of a carrier belt and a chute used for this image formation device. <P>SOLUTION: The chute 56 is arranged in a sheet carrier passage between the carrier belts 54, 55 to carry a sheet. The chute 56 holds the cleaning brushes 83, 84 to make contact with the surfaces of the carrier belts 54, 55. The cleaning brush 83 rotates in one direction by its frictional force when the carrier belt 54 rotates, and the cleaning brush 84 rotates in one direction by its frictional force when the carrier belt 55 rotates. Tops of bristles of the cleaning brushes 83, 84 are directed in a direction opposite to the direction to rotate in cleaning. It is possible to arrange the coat of the bristles by reversely rotating the cleaning brushes at specified timing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a multifunction machine of these, and a chute used for the image forming apparatus.

In an image forming apparatus, a recording sheet is conveyed while being sucked and held on the surface of a perforated endless belt from a transfer unit that transfers a toner image onto a recording sheet such as copy paper to a fixing unit that fixes the toner image to the recording sheet. In some cases, a sheet conveying apparatus is used.
In order to remove dirt such as toner adhering to the surface of the endless belt in the sheet conveying device, a method of attaching a brush to be brought into contact with the surface of the endless belt to the sheet conveying device has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1). ).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-130771 (5th page, FIGS. 4 to 5)

  However, since the brush to be brought into contact with the endless belt surface is provided inside the suction device of the sheet conveying device, the brush cannot be easily removed or attached during maintenance. In particular, when a plurality of sheet conveying apparatuses are provided in the image forming apparatus, since a brush is provided for each sheet conveying apparatus, it takes time and effort.

  The present invention has been made to solve the technical problems as described above, and an object of the present invention is to use an image forming apparatus capable of easily maintaining a brush for cleaning the belt surface and the image forming apparatus. Is to provide a shoot.

  For this purpose, the image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied has a recording material conveyance between a transfer portion that transfers a toner image to a recording material and a fixing portion that fixes the toner image transferred to the recording material by the transfer portion. A conveyance device that is provided in the path and conveys the recording material with a belt, a chute that is provided in the recording material conveyance path adjacent to the conveyance device, guides the recording material, and is attached to the chute and is conveyed outside the recording material conveyance path. Cleaning means for cleaning the belt surface in contact with the belt surface of the apparatus.

  The cleaning means may include a brush that rotates by frictional force with the belt surface of the transport device. The cleaning means includes a brush that cleans the belt surface of the conveying device while rotating in one direction, and the brush tip is directed in a direction opposite to the direction in which the brush rotates during cleaning. Can be a feature. With this configuration, the followability with the belt is stabilized, and the backside contamination of the recording material can be reliably prevented. Further, in order to arrange the bristles of the brush, it is preferable that the brush rotates at a predetermined timing in a direction opposite to the direction in which the brush rotates.

  From another point of view, the image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied includes a first transport device that transports a recording material by a belt, and a second transport that transports a recording material from the first transport device by a belt. The apparatus, the chute for guiding the recording material between the first conveying device and the second conveying device, and the lower surface of the chute are in contact with the belt surface of the first conveying device to clean the belt surface. First cleaning means, and second cleaning means positioned on the lower surface of the chute and contacting the belt surface of the second conveying device to clean the belt surface.

  Further, from another viewpoint, the chute used in the image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied is provided in a recording material conveyance path adjacent to a conveyance device that conveys the recording material by a belt. A chute body for guiding, and a brush attached to the chute body and contacting the surface of the belt of the conveyance device outside the recording material conveyance path and rotating by the frictional force to clean the belt.

  According to the present invention, maintenance such as replacement of a brush for cleaning the belt surface can be easily performed.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is a so-called tandem type image forming apparatus, for example, a plurality of image forming units 10 (10Y, 10M, 10C, 10K) in which toner images of respective color components are formed by electrophotography. An intermediate transfer belt (toner image carrier) 15 for sequentially transferring (primary transfer) and holding each color component toner image formed by each image forming unit 10, and an overlap transferred on the intermediate transfer belt 15 A secondary transfer device 20 that batch-transfers (secondary transfer) images to a sheet P as a transfer material, and a fixing device 30 that fixes the secondary-transferred image on the sheet P are provided. Moreover, it has the control part 40 which controls operation | movement of each apparatus (each part).

  In the present embodiment, each of the image forming units 10 (10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K) includes a charger 12 around the photosensitive drum 11 that rotates in the direction of arrow A, and a charger 12 that charges the photosensitive drum 11. A laser exposure unit 13 (an exposure beam is indicated by a symbol Bm in the drawing) in which an electrostatic latent image is written on the photosensitive drum 11 and each color component toner is accommodated to generate an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 11. The developing device 14 that visualizes the toner image, the primary transfer roll 16 that transfers the color component toner images formed on the photosensitive drum 11 to the intermediate transfer belt 15, and the residual toner on the photosensitive drum 11 are removed. Electrophotographic devices such as a drum cleaner 17 are sequentially disposed. These image forming units 10 are arranged in the order of yellow (Y color), magenta (M color), cyan (C color), and black (K color) from the upstream side of the intermediate transfer belt 15.

The intermediate transfer belt 15 that is an intermediate transfer member is made of a resin such as polyimide or polyamide containing an appropriate amount of a conductive agent such as carbon black, and has a volume resistivity of 10 ⁶ to 10 ¹⁴ Ω · cm. The thickness of the endless belt is, for example, about 0.1 mm. The intermediate transfer belt 15 is configured to be circulated and driven (rotated) at a predetermined speed in the direction B shown in the drawing by various rolls. As these various rolls, there are provided a drive roll 31 that is driven by a motor (not shown) to rotate the intermediate transfer belt 15 and a function of giving a constant tension to the intermediate transfer belt 15 and preventing meandering of the intermediate transfer belt 15. The tension roll 32, a tension roll 35 that functions as a correction roll that applies a constant tension to the intermediate transfer belt 15 and prevents the intermediate transfer belt 15 from meandering, and a backup roll 28 provided in a secondary transfer portion. And have.

  In the IBT module 18 provided facing each photoconductor drum 11, a voltage having a polarity opposite to the charging polarity of the toner is applied to each primary transfer roll 16 provided inside the intermediate transfer belt 15 extending substantially linearly. It has come to be. As a result, the toner images on the respective photosensitive drums 11 are sequentially electrostatically attracted to the intermediate transfer belt 15, and a superimposed toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 15.

  The secondary transfer device 20 includes a secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 disposed on the toner image carrying surface side of the intermediate transfer belt 15. The backup roll 28 as an opposite roll is a tube of EPDM and NBR blend rubber with carbon dispersed on the surface, and the inside is made of EPDM rubber, the surface resistivity is 7 to 10 logΩ / □, and the roll diameter is 28 mm. The hardness is set to 70 degrees (Asker C), for example. The backup roll 28 is disposed on the back surface side of the intermediate transfer belt 15 to form a counter electrode of the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21, and a metal power supply roll 29 for stably applying a secondary transfer bias is disposed in contact therewith. Has been.

On the other hand, the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 is stretched by a drive roll (transfer roll) 22 made of metal, for example SUS, and a driven roll 23 made of, for example, a rubber roll, and has a volume resistivity of 10 ⁶ to 10 ¹⁰ Ω · It is a semiconductive endless annular belt of cm, and a material having a 100% elongation modulus of 3.8 MPa is used. The secondary transfer transport belt 21 is transported at a predetermined speed by the drive roll 22, and a predetermined tension is applied by the drive roll 22 and the driven roll 23.

  The drive roll 22 is disposed in pressure contact with the backup roll 28 with the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 and the intermediate transfer belt 15 interposed therebetween, and performs secondary transfer on the paper P conveyed on the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21. It functions as a secondary transfer roll. In addition, the contact state of the secondary transfer member can be changed by changing the pressure state between the backup roll 28 and the drive roll 22, and alignment adjustment and image parallelism adjustment can be performed. The diameter of the driven roll 23 is small enough not to be wound around the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 even when thin paper coated paper or the like is conveyed. Further, the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 is provided with conductive fur brushes 24 and 25 for removing dirt adhering to the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 in the vicinity of the upstream side of the secondary transfer portion in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 15. Arranged in contact. Collection rollers 26 and 27 are arranged adjacent to the fur brushes 24 and 25.

  Further, on the downstream side of the backup roll 28, a belt cleaner 41 that removes residual toner and paper dust on the intermediate transfer belt 15 after the secondary transfer and cleans the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 15 is provided so as to be contactable and separable. ing. On the other hand, on the upstream side of the yellow image forming unit 10Y, a reference sensor (home position sensor) 43 that generates a reference signal serving as a reference for taking an image forming timing in each image forming unit 10 is disposed. The reference sensor 43 recognizes a predetermined mark provided on the back side of the intermediate transfer belt 15 to generate a reference signal, and each image forming unit 10 receives the instruction from the control unit 40 based on the recognition of the reference signal. It is configured to start image formation. Further, an image density sensor 42 for adjusting image quality is disposed on the downstream side of the black image forming unit 10K.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, as a paper transport system, a paper tray 50 that stores the paper P, a pickup roll 51 that picks up and transports the paper P accumulated in the paper tray 50 at a predetermined timing, and a pickup roll 51. , A transport roll 52 that transports the paper P fed out by the transport roller 52, a transport chute 53 that feeds the paper P transported by the transport roll 52 to the secondary transfer position by the secondary transfer device 20, and the paper P after the secondary transfer Are provided with conveying belts 54 and 55 for conveying the paper P to the fixing device 30, and a chute 56 for guiding the paper P between the conveying belts 54 and 55.

  Next, a basic image forming process of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. Image data output from an image reading device (IIT) (not shown), a personal computer (PC) (not shown), or the like is input to the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. In the image forming apparatus, after predetermined image processing is performed by an image processing apparatus (IPS) (not shown), an image forming operation is performed by the image forming unit 10 or the like. In the image processing apparatus (IPS), the input reflectance data is subjected to image processing such as shading correction, position shift correction, brightness / color space conversion, gamma correction, frame deletion, color editing, and movement editing. . The image data subjected to the image processing is converted into color material gradation data of four colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K), and is output to the laser exposure unit 13. .

  The laser exposure unit 13 irradiates each photosensitive drum 11 of the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K with, for example, an exposure beam Bm emitted from a semiconductor laser according to the input color material gradation data. Yes. In the photosensitive drum 11 of the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K, the surface is charged by the charger 12, and then the surface is scanned and exposed by the laser exposure unit 13 to form an electrostatic latent image. The formed electrostatic latent image is developed as a toner image of each color of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) in each of the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K. Is done.

  The toner images formed on the photosensitive drums 11 of the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K are transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 15 at a primary transfer portion where the photosensitive drums 11 and the intermediate transfer belt 15 come into contact with each other. Transcribed. More specifically, in the primary transfer portion, the primary transfer roll 16 applies a voltage having a polarity opposite to the charged polarity of the toner to the base material of the intermediate transfer belt 15, and the unfixed toner image is transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 15. Are sequentially superposed on each other to perform primary transfer. The unfixed toner image primarily transferred in this way is conveyed to the secondary transfer device 20 as the intermediate transfer belt 15 rotates.

  On the other hand, in the paper transport system, the pickup roll 51 rotates in synchronization with the image formation timing, and the paper P of a predetermined size is supplied from the paper tray 50. The paper P supplied by the pickup roll 51 is transported by the transport roll 52, and reaches the secondary transfer device 20 through the transport chute 53. Before reaching the secondary transfer device 20, the conveyance chute 53 rises in conjunction with the ascending operation (advance operation) of the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 to form a conveyance path to the secondary transfer device 20. Yes. The sheet P is temporarily stopped, and the registration roll (not shown) rotates in accordance with the movement timing of the intermediate transfer belt 15 carrying the toner image as described above, whereby the position of the sheet P and the position of the toner image are detected. And alignment.

  In the secondary transfer device 20, the drive roll 22 is connected to the backup roll 28 in a state where the semiconductive secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 and the intermediate transfer belt 15 are sandwiched between them in accordance with the timing of the secondary transfer onto the paper P. Pressed. At this time, the sheet P transported at the same timing is sandwiched between the intermediate transfer belt 15 and the secondary transfer transport belt 21. At this time, when a voltage (normal transfer bias) having the same polarity as the toner charging polarity is applied to the power supply roll 29, a transfer electric field is formed on the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 as a counter electrode, and the drive roll 22 and backup The unfixed toner image carried on the intermediate transfer belt 15 is electrostatically transferred onto the paper P at the secondary transfer position pressed by the roll 28.

  Thereafter, the sheet P on which the toner image has been electrostatically transferred is conveyed as it is while being peeled off from the intermediate transfer belt 15 by the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21, and is provided downstream of the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 in the sheet conveyance direction. It is conveyed at a constant speed to the conveyor belt 54. The paper P transported to the end of the transport belt 54 is transferred to the transport belt 55 via the chute 56. The conveyance belt 55 changes the speed according to the optimum conveyance speed in the fixing device 30 and conveys the paper P to the fixing device 30. The unfixed toner image on the paper P is fixed on the paper P by being subjected to a fixing process by heat and pressure by the fixing device 30, and the paper P on which the fixed image is formed is discharged by a discharge roll (not shown). Is discharged outside. On the other hand, after the transfer onto the paper P is completed, the residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 15 is conveyed to the cleaning unit as the intermediate transfer belt 15 rotates, and is removed from the intermediate transfer belt 15 by the belt cleaner 41. Removed.

Next, the conveyance belts 54 and 55 and the chute 56 in the present embodiment will be described.
2 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the structures of the conveyor belts 54 and 55 and the chute 56, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the positional relationship of the chute 56 with respect to the conveyor belt 54. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the chute 56 as viewed from the upstream side in the paper conveyance direction on the IN side (back side, rear side), and FIG. 5 shows the chute 56 turned upside down on the OUT side (front side, front side). It is the perspective view seen from.

The conveyor belts 54 and 55 are endless belts having through holes formed at predetermined intervals over the entire circumference, and the paper is transferred so that the toner image secondarily transferred by the secondary transfer device 20 shown in FIG. P is being conveyed. As shown in FIG. 2, the transport belt 54 includes a frame 61, a drive motor (not shown), a drive roll 62 and a driven roll 63 that are held on the top of the frame 61 and apply a predetermined tension to the transport belt 54, and a frame 61. A sheet conveying device (vacuum transport belt device) 60 is configured together with a vacuum fan 64 for sucking downward and holding the sheet P conveyed on the upper surface of the conveying belt 54.
Similarly, the conveyance belt 55 is held at a frame 71, a drive motor (not shown), a driving roll 72 and a driven roll 73 that are held on the upper portion of the frame 71 and apply a predetermined tension to the conveyance belt 55, and a lower portion of the frame 71. The sheet conveying device 70 is configured together with a vacuum fan 74 for sucking and holding the sheet P conveyed on the upper surface of the conveying belt 55 downward. In the present embodiment, the drive rolls 62 and 72 are arranged on the side close to the chute 56, but other arrangements may be used.
Here, the conveyor belt 54 rotates at a constant speed, while the conveyor belt 55 is configured to have a variable rotation speed, and the conveyor belts 54 and 55 are arranged at a predetermined distance from each other. The reason for this configuration is as follows. That is, in the case where the paper P is of various types having different paper thicknesses, when fixing the toner image on the thick paper, it is necessary to slow down the fixing speed of the fixing device 30 (see FIG. 1). Reduce rotation. Since the secondary transfer is performed at a constant speed, the rotation of the conveyor belt 54 is kept constant. Thus, in order to have a difference in rotational speed between the conveyor belts 54 and 55, the chute 56 is disposed between the conveyor belts 54 and 55 while being separated from each other.

As shown in FIG. 4, the chute 56 positioned between the sheet conveying devices 60 and 70 is a plate having a guide surface on the upper surface for guiding the paper P from the sheet conveying device 60 to the sheet conveying device 70. A chute main body 81 made of a member, cleaning brushes 83 and 84 positioned on the lower surface of the chute main body 81 and rotatably held via a bearing 82 by IN / OUT of the chute main body 81, and OUT of the chute main body 81 And an earth plate 85 (see FIG. 5) provided so as to be in contact with one end portions of the cleaning brushes 83 and 84, and the chute body 81 projecting upward at IN / OUT, respectively. Fixing portions 86 and 87 used for attaching to the main body are provided. Further, a bent portion 88 bent downward is formed at the upstream end of the chute body 81 so as to cope with the case where the leading edge of the paper P is curled. It is attached so as to be positioned slightly below the transport path.
The cleaning brush 83 is provided at the upstream end of the chute body 81, the cleaning brush 84 is provided at the downstream end of the chute body 81, and the cleaning brushes 83 and 84 are separated from each other.

Next, the cleaning brushes 83 and 84 provided on the chute 56 will be described. First, driving of the cleaning brushes 83 and 84 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, the chute 56 does not include a drive source for rotating the cleaning brushes 83 and 84. That is, the cleaning brushes 83 and 84 are rotated by the frictional force with the surfaces of the conveyor belts 54 and 55. Hereinafter, the cleaning brush 83 and the conveyance belt 54 will be described, but the cleaning brush 84 and the conveyance belt 55 can be considered in the same manner.
As shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning brush 83 is disposed so as to contact the surface of the transport belt 54. When the transport belt 54 is rotated by the drive roll 62 and transports the paper P in the direction of arrow C, the cleaning brush 83 is transported. The cleaning brush 83 rotates in the direction of arrow D due to the frictional force with the surface of the belt 54, so that dirt such as toner adhering to the surface of the conveying belt 54 can be removed. In this way, the surface of the conveyor belt 54 can be cleaned by driving the cleaning brushes 83 and 84 without providing a separate drive system for rotating the cleaning brush 83. For this reason, it can contribute to low cost and space saving.

In addition, the hair brushing direction of the cleaning brushes 83 and 84 with respect to the conveyor belts 54 and 55 is defined. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the hair tip of the cleaning brush 83 is directed in the direction opposite to the direction D in which the cleaning brush 83 rotates during cleaning. By configuring the cleaning brushes 83 and 84 in the opposite direction in this way, the followability with the belt is stabilized and the cleaning effect becomes more reliable, so that the back surface of the paper P can be reliably prevented from being stained.
Here, since the flocking direction of the cleaning brushes 83 and 84 is opposite to the rotation direction, if the cleaning is continued, the bristles of the brush will eventually be disturbed. Therefore, after the completion of an arbitrary job, the conveying belts 54 and 55 are rotated in the reverse direction (the direction opposite to the arrow C in FIG. 3) at a predetermined timing, and the cleaning brushes 83 and 84 are generated by the frictional force. Is rotated in the opposite direction (the direction opposite to the arrow D in FIG. 3), it is possible to arrange the fur and maintain the cleaning performance stably.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the hair tips of the cleaning brushes 83 and 84 are positioned with respect to the conveyor belts 54 and 55 so as to bite into the conveyor belts 54 and 55 by a predetermined amount δ. Thereby, even if the cleaning brushes 83 and 84 have a sag, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the cleaning performance. As δ, when the outer diameter of the cleaning brushes 83 and 84 is, for example, 14 mm and a 6.2 denier brush is used, about 0.7 to 1.5 mm can be employed.
Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the fixing portions 86 and 87 of the chute 56 are provided with positioning holes 86b and 87b in addition to the mounting holes 86a and 87a. In addition, the IN fixing portion 86 is provided with a notch-shaped positioning hole 86b formed long in the IN / OUT direction, and the OUT fixing portion 87 has a long hole shape formed long in the paper transport direction. Positioning hole 87b is provided. A half boss (not shown) is provided on the image forming apparatus main body side to which the chute 56 is attached, and the position of the chute 56 can be adjusted with respect to the conveyor belts 54 and 55 by the half boss and the positioning holes 86b and 87b.

  The materials of the cleaning brushes 83 and 84 are acrylic and carbon and have conductivity. The cleaning brushes 83 and 84 are electrically connected to the metal chute body 81 through the ground plate 85. Therefore, charging of the conveyor belts 54 and 55 and the cleaning brushes 83 and 84 can be prevented, and image quality defects can be suppressed.

As shown in FIG. 5, the lower side of the chute 56 is open, and no toner receiving space is provided. This is because dirt such as toner to be cleaned is extremely small, and it is considered unnecessary to provide a toner receiving space. For this reason, space saving can be aimed at.
Furthermore, since the two cleaning brushes 83 and 84 are provided on the chute 56, the two conveying belts 54 and 55 adjacent to the upstream side and the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction are cleaned by the single chute 56, respectively. Can do. That is, since it is not necessary to provide the cleaning brushes 83 and 84 for the sheet conveying devices 60 and 70, respectively, the maintenance brushes 83 and 84 can be accessed simply by removing the chute 56 for maintenance. Can do the work.

  Examples of use of the present invention include use in a developing device that forms an image with a developer and an image forming device such as a printer or a copying machine.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus to which the exemplary embodiment is applied. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating each structure of a conveyance belt and a chute | shoot. It is the schematic for demonstrating the positional relationship of the brush of the chute | shoot with respect to a conveyance belt. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the chute as viewed from the upstream side in the sheet conveyance direction on the IN side. It is the perspective view which looked at the state which turned the chute upside down from the OUT side.

Explanation of symbols

54, 55 ... conveying belt, 56 ... chute, 60, 70 ... sheet conveying device, 61, 71 ... frame, 62, 72 ... driving roll, 63, 73 ... driven roll, 64, 74 ... vacuum fan, 81 ... chute body , 82 ... bearing, 83, 84 ... cleaning brush, 85 ... earth plate, 86, 87 ... fixed part, 88 ... bent part

Claims (10)

A conveying device that is provided in a recording material conveyance path between a transfer unit that transfers the toner image to the recording material and a fixing unit that fixes the toner image transferred to the recording material by the transfer unit, and conveys the recording material by a belt;
A chute that is provided in the recording material conveyance path adjacent to the conveyance device and guides the recording material;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a cleaning unit that is attached to the chute and contacts the belt surface of the conveying device outside the recording material conveying path to clean the belt surface.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning unit includes a brush that rotates by a frictional force with a belt surface of the conveying device. The cleaning means includes a brush that cleans the belt surface of the transport device while rotating in one direction,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bristles of the brush are directed in a direction opposite to a direction in which the brush rotates during cleaning.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the brush rotates at a predetermined timing in a direction opposite to a direction in which the brush rotates when cleaning. A first conveying device for conveying the recording material by a belt;
A second conveying device for conveying the recording material from the first conveying device with a belt;
A chute for guiding a recording material between the first transport device and the second transport device;
A first cleaning means located on the lower surface of the chute and contacting the belt surface of the first conveying device to clean the belt surface;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a second cleaning unit that is located on a lower surface of the chute and contacts the belt surface of the second conveying device to clean the belt surface. The first cleaning means includes a first brush that rotates by a frictional force with a belt surface of the first transport device,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the second cleaning unit includes a second brush that rotates by a frictional force with a belt surface of the second conveying device. The first cleaning means includes a first brush for cleaning the belt surface of the transport device while rotating in one direction,
The second cleaning means includes a second brush for cleaning the belt surface of the transport device while rotating in one direction,
The bristles of the first brush face in a direction opposite to the direction in which the first brush rotates during cleaning,
6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the bristles of the second brush are directed in a direction opposite to a direction in which the second brush rotates during cleaning. The first brush rotates at a predetermined timing in a direction opposite to the direction in which the first brush rotates when cleaning.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the second brush rotates at a predetermined timing in a direction opposite to a direction in which the second brush rotates when cleaning. A chute body that is provided in a recording material conveyance path adjacent to a conveyance device that conveys the recording material by a belt and guides the recording material;
A chute that is attached to the chute body and includes a brush that contacts the surface of the belt of the conveyance device outside the recording material conveyance path and rotates by the frictional force to clean the belt.   The chute according to claim 9, wherein the bristles of the brush are directed in a direction opposite to a direction in which the brush rotates by the belt of the conveying device when the brush cleans the belt of the conveying device. .

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