JP2016151657A - Cleaning device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coating layer formed of a hard metal material at the tip of a cleaning blade formed of a metal material, and make it possible for the tip of the cleaning blade provided with the coating layer to be appropriately in contact with a surface of an image holding member so as to stably and appropriately remove a residue on the surface of the image holding member for a long period.SOLUTION: There is provided a cleaning device 20 that brings the tip of a tabular cleaning blade 25 formed of a metal material into pressure contact with a surface of a moving intermediate transfer belt 14 to remove a residue remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt with the cleaning blade, where at the tip of the cleaning blade in contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer belt, a coating layer 25a formed of a metal material harder than said metal material is formed, so as to polish a part of the coating layer in contact with the intermediate transfer belt.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning device that removes residues on the surface of an image holding member with a cleaning blade, and an image forming apparatus using such a cleaning device. In particular, a cleaning device in which the tip of a plate-like cleaning blade made of a metal material is brought into pressure contact with the surface of a moving image holding member, and residues on the surface of the image holding member are removed by the cleaning blade. In this case, when a coating layer made of a metal material harder than the metal material is provided at the tip of the cleaning blade made of metal material, the tip of the cleaning blade provided with the coating layer holds the image. It is characterized in that it can be appropriately brought into contact with the surface of the member so that the residue on the surface of the image holding member can be stably and appropriately removed over a long period of time.

  Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a composite machine thereof, after transferring a toner image from an image holding member that holds and moves the toner image on the surface, the surface of the image holding member A toner or the like remaining on the image is removed from the surface of the image holding member by a cleaning device. For example, after the toner image formed on the photosensitive member is transferred to an intermediate transfer belt or a recording sheet, the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive member is removed by a cleaning device or transferred to the intermediate transfer belt. After the transferred toner image is transferred to a recording sheet, a residue such as toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt is removed by a cleaning device.

  Here, as such a cleaning device, generally, the tip of the cleaning blade made of a rubber member such as urethane is attached to the surface of the image holding member after the toner image is transferred. Widely used are those which are pressed against the moving direction and removed such as toner remaining on the surface of the image holding member from the surface of the image holding member by this cleaning blade. .

  However, in the case of a cleaning blade made of a rubber member such as urethane, the wear resistance is low, and if the toner or the like remaining on the surface of the image holding member is removed, the tip portion that contacts the surface of the image holding member However, it is difficult to properly remove toner and other residues remaining on the surface of the image holding member over a long period of time.

  For this reason, conventionally, a cleaning blade made of a metal material is used instead of the cleaning blade made of the rubber member as described above.

  Furthermore, in Patent Document 1, a hard coating made of a hard substance is formed by plating or the like on the tip of a cleaning blade made of a metal material, thereby further improving the wear resistance of the tip that contacts the surface of the image holding member. Along with this, the contact state of the tip of the cleaning blade with the surface of the image holding member is stabilized.

  However, when a hard film made of a hard material is formed on the tip of the cleaning blade in this way, it is difficult to form the hard film uniformly along the surface of the image holding member by plating or the like. When a cleaning blade is attached to the cleaning device with a screw or the like and the tip of the cleaning blade is pressed against the surface of the image holding member, the cleaning is pressed against the surface of the image holding member due to a slight difference in hardness. A minute undulation occurs at the tip of the blade, making it difficult to properly remove toner and other residues on the surface of the image holding member. In particular, a toner having a small diameter and spheroid as in recent years was used. In such a case, there has been a problem that cleaning defects are more likely to occur.

JP-A-4-352186

  In the present invention, the tip of a plate-shaped cleaning blade made of a metal material is brought into pressure contact with the surface of the moving image holding member, and the residue on the surface of the image holding member is removed by the cleaning blade. An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems when a coating layer made of a hard metal material is provided at the tip of a cleaning blade made of a metal material in a cleaning device.

  That is, in the present invention, when a coating layer made of a hard metal material is provided at the tip of a cleaning blade made of a metal material, the tip of the cleaning blade provided with the coating layer holds the image. It is an object of the present invention to appropriately remove the residue on the surface of the image holding member stably over a long period of time by being appropriately brought into contact with the surface of the member.

  In the cleaning device according to the present invention, in order to solve the above-described problems, the tip of the plate-like cleaning blade made of a metal material is brought into pressure contact with the surface of the moving image holding member, and the image holding member In the cleaning device for removing the residue on the surface by the cleaning blade, a coating layer made of a hard metal material is formed on the tip of the cleaning blade that contacts the surface of the image holding member, and the image holding member The portion of the coating layer that comes into contact with the substrate was polished.

  Here, when polishing the coating layer formed on the tip of the cleaning blade that contacts the surface of the image holding member as described above, the coating is performed with the tip of the cleaning blade being in pressure contact with the surface of the image holding member. The surface of the layer is polished so as to be along the surface of the image holding member. When the coating layer is polished so that the surface of the coating layer is along the surface of the image holding member with the tip of the cleaning blade being in pressure contact with the surface of the image holding member, the cleaning blade is The coating layer is polished under the same conditions as in the case of being pressed against the surface of the image holding member in the set state.

  Further, as the metal material constituting the coating layer, it is preferable to use a metal material having higher hardness than the metal material constituting the cooling blade and having a small difference in thermal expansion coefficient from the metal material constituting the cooling blade. This improves the wear resistance of the cooling blade and suppresses variations in the thermal deformation of the cooling blade when the usage environment of the cleaning device changes, so that the cleaning blade is removed from the surface of the image holding member. Thus, the tip end portion of the battery is maintained in a state of being properly contacted.

Here, in the case where the toner on the surface of the image holding member contains toner added with an external additive, the coating layer is made of a metal material having a hardness higher than that of the external additive. It is preferable to do. By doing so, the coating layer at the tip of the cleaning blade is prevented from being scraped by contact with the external additive. Further, since the Vickers hardness of silica SiO ₂ that is generally known as the hardest of the external additives added to the toner is 800, the coating layer is a metal material having a Vickers hardness of 800 or more. Is preferred. On the other hand, if the hardness of the coating layer becomes too high, it becomes difficult to polish the coating layer. Therefore, it is preferable to use a metal material having a Vickers hardness of 3000 or less.

  Further, when the residue containing the toner added with the external additive as described above is removed from the surface of the image holding member by the cleaning blade, the external additive is clogged at the tip of the cleaning blade. In order to prevent the image holding member from being damaged by the external additive and to properly remove the toner from the surface of the image holding member by the cleaning blade, the coating layer was polished as described above. The ten-point average roughness Rz on the surface is preferably made larger than the average particle diameter of the external additive, while the maximum height Ry is made smaller than the average particle diameter of the toner.

  Here, as the image holding member, there is a photoreceptor on which a toner image is formed and an intermediate transfer belt on which the toner image is transferred from the photoreceptor, and a cleaning blade made of a metal material is used. From the viewpoint of preventing the surface of the image holding member from being worn when removing the residue, it is effective when an intermediate transfer belt is used as the image holding member.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the cleaning device as described above is used as a cleaning device that removes the residue on the surface of the image holding member with a cleaning blade.

  In the cleaning device according to the present invention, when the residue on the surface of the image holding member is removed by the cleaning blade made of a metal material, the metal of the cleaning blade is attached to the tip of the cleaning blade that contacts the surface of the image holding member. A coating layer made of a metal material harder than the material is formed, and the portion of the coating layer that comes into contact with the image holding member is polished so that the tip of the cleaning blade is in pressure contact with the surface of the image holding member Thus, the surface of the coating layer can be set along the surface of the image holding member.

  As a result, in the cleaning device according to the present invention, the tip of the cleaning blade provided with the coating layer is appropriately brought into contact with the surface of the image holding member, and the residue on the surface of the image holding member is stabilized over a long period of time. Can be removed appropriately.

FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an image forming apparatus that uses a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention to remove residues remaining on the surface of an intermediate transfer belt. FIG. 5 is a partial schematic explanatory view showing a state in which the residue remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt is removed by the cleaning device according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional explanatory view showing a state in which a coating layer is provided at the tip of the cleaning blade in the cleaning device according to the embodiment. In the cleaning device according to the above-described embodiment, a partial cross-sectional view showing a state in which the coating layer provided at the tip of the cleaning blade is polished so as to follow the surface of the intermediate transfer belt, and is pressed against the surface of the intermediate transfer belt FIG.

  Next, a cleaning device and an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The cleaning device and the image forming apparatus according to the present invention are not limited to those shown in the following embodiments, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications within a range that does not change the gist thereof.

  Here, in the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the four photosensitive members (image holding members) 10 on which the toner images are formed are associated with the four containing the developer. A developing device 13 is provided, and in each developing device 13, the color of the toner in each developer is changed to use black, yellow, magenta, and cyan toners.

  Here, in this image forming apparatus, the respective photoconductors 10 are rotated, and the surface of each photoconductor 10 is charged by the charging device 11, respectively. Each of the latent image forming devices 12 performs exposure according to the image forming information to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of each photoconductor 10.

  Then, with respect to each photoconductor 10 on which the electrostatic latent image is formed in this way, toner of a predetermined color is supplied from the corresponding developing device 13 to the electrostatic latent image portion of each photoconductor 10 for development. Thus, a toner image of each color is formed on the surface of each photoconductor 10.

  Next, an intermediate transfer belt (image holding member) 14 in the form of an endless belt that is rotated around the plurality of rotating rollers 14a and is rotated around the toner images of the respective colors formed on the respective photoreceptors 10 as described above. The surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 is transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 15 in order by the primary transfer rollers 15 provided to face the photoreceptors 10 to form a full-color toner image on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14. .

  Further, the first cleaning device 16 removes residues such as toner remaining on the surface of each photoconductor 10 without being transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 14 from the surface of each photoconductor 10. I have to.

  Then, the full-color toner image formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 as described above is guided to a position facing the secondary transfer roller 17 by the intermediate transfer belt 14, and the recording sheet S is appropriately placed. The toner image formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 is transferred to the recording sheet S by the secondary transfer roller 17 while being guided between the intermediate transfer belt 14 and the secondary transfer roller 17 at timing. Yes.

  Here, as the intermediate transfer belt 14, a belt made of a resin such as polyimide (PI) or polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) is generally used.

  Further, the intermediate transfer belt 14 is made of an elastic material made of rubber such as acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer rubber (NBR) or chloroprene rubber (CR) on the base layer made of the resin such as PI or PPS. A belt composed of an elastic belt having a layer formed thereon can also be used. Here, as the thickness of each layer in the elastic belt, in consideration of good transportability of the belt and workability at the time of belt replacement, the thickness of the base layer is about 50 to 100 μm, and the uneven recording sheet In order to improve transferability to S, it is desirable that the thickness of the elastic layer is about 100 to 500 μm. Further, for the purpose of reducing tackiness, the surface of the elastic layer is harder than the elastic layer. It is desirable to provide a high surface layer. For example, an oxidation treatment layer of about 5 to 20 μm can be provided, or a coating layer such as a fluororesin of about 30 to 50 μm can be provided.

  When the toner image formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 as described above is transferred to the recording sheet S, the toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 without being transferred to the recording sheet S, etc. Is removed from the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 by the second cleaning device 20, while the recording sheet S to which the toner image has been transferred is guided to the fixing device 18 and transferred by the fixing device 18. The toner image is fixed on the recording sheet S.

  Here, in the second cleaning device 20 that removes the residue such as the toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 without being transferred to the recording sheet S as described above, FIG. 1 and FIG. As shown, a cleaning brush 22 that rotates while being in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 14 is provided in the housing 21 at a position facing the first opposing roller 14 c via the intermediate transfer belt 14, and the intermediate transfer belt 22 is provided with the cleaning brush 22. Residue such as toner remaining on the surface of the belt 14 is removed to some extent, and the residue adhering to the cleaning brush 22 is removed from the cleaning brush 22 by the flicker 23 and collected in the housing 21. .

  The cleaning blade 25 held by the blade holder 24 is positioned downstream of the cleaning brush 22 in the moving direction of the intermediate transfer belt 14 and opposed to the second counter roller 14d via the intermediate transfer belt 14. The tip of the cleaning blade 25 is brought to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 by the urging force of the spring 24 a provided in the blade holder 24 so that the tip is directed in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the intermediate transfer belt 14. It is trying to press. Then, the cleaning blade 25 removes residual toner or the like remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 without being removed by the cleaning brush 22 from the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 and collects it in the housing 21. Residue such as toner collected in the housing 21 by the cleaning brush 22 and the cleaning blade 25 is transported from the housing 21 to a waste toner box (not shown) by the transport member 26.

  Here, in the second cleaning device 20 in this embodiment, a cleaning blade 25 made of a metal material is used, and the tip of the cleaning blade 25 contacting the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 is shown in FIG. As described above, the coating layer 25a made of a metal material harder than the metal material constituting the cleaning blade 25 is formed.

  In the second cleaning device 20 in this embodiment, the portion where the coating layer 25a provided on the cleaning blade 25 contacts the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 is polished. As shown in FIG. The polished surface 25b of the coated layer 25a was made to follow the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14.

  Here, examples of the metal material constituting the cleaning blade 25 include stainless steel and brass having high corrosion resistance. Particularly, stainless steel having high strength and low fatigue is preferably used, and the thickness thereof is an intermediate transfer belt. In order to ensure good followability with respect to 14, it is desirable to set to about 0.03 to 0.1 mm.

On the other hand, the coating layer 25a provided at the tip of the cleaning blade 25 is a metal material harder than the metal material constituting the cleaning blade 25, and is coated with an external additive such as silica SiO ₂ added to the toner. In order not to scrape, hard chromium, nickel or the like having a Vickers hardness higher than those of these external additives can be suitably used. Preferably, a Vickers hardness of 800 or more is used. On the other hand, when the portion of the coating layer 25a that contacts the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 is polished as described above, a coating having a Vickers hardness of 3000 or less is used so that the coating layer 25a can be polished appropriately. It is preferable to make it. Further, the thickness of the coating layer 25a is desirably 5 μm or more so that the coating layer 25a is not scraped off when the portion in contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 is polished as described above.

  In addition, when the coating layer 25a at the tip of the cleaning blade 25 that contacts the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 is polished as described above, the external additive added to the toner is clogged at the tip of the cleaning blade 25 and is intermediate. The coating layer polished as described above is used to prevent the surface of the transfer belt 14 from being damaged by the external additive and to properly remove the toner from the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 by the cleaning blade 25. The 10-point average roughness Rz on the polishing surface 25b of 25a is made larger than the average particle diameter of the external additive, while the maximum height Ry is made smaller than the average particle diameter of the toner. .

  In addition, when the intermediate transfer belt 14 that is driven to rotate across the rotation roller 14a meanders as described above, the meander of the intermediate transfer belt 14 is corrected by adjusting the inclination of the rotation roller 14a and the like. In this case, a certain amount of undulation occurs in the intermediate transfer belt 14, but in this embodiment, the cleaning blade 25 is held without being fixed to the blade holder 24 as described above, and the front end portion of the intermediate transfer belt 14 is fixed. Since the cleaning blade 25 is merely pressed against the surface, the movement of the cleaning blade 25 is not restricted, and follows the undulating shape of the intermediate transfer belt 14, so that the tip of the cleaning blade 25 is appropriately brought into contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14. Residue such as toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 is properly removed while maintaining the contact state. To become.

  In this embodiment, the second cleaning device 20 that removes residual toner such as toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 has been described. However, toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor 10 or the like is described. The first cleaning device 16 for removing the residual material from the surface of the photoconductor 10 can be configured in the same manner.

  Next, in a commercially available copying machine (manufactured by Konica Minolta: bizhub C8000), an experiment was performed by changing the type of the cleaning blade used in the second cleaning device for cleaning the intermediate transfer belt, and the conditions of the present invention were satisfied. It is clarified that the results of Examples are superior to those of Comparative Examples that do not satisfy the conditions of the present invention.

Here, in the copying machine, the average particle size of the toner used was 6.5 μm, and the average particle size of the external additive such as silica SiO ₂ contained in the toner was 0.2 μm.

And as said cleaning blade, as shown in following Table 1, in Examples 1-4, Examples 7-11, and Comparative Examples 1-4 as a metal material which comprises a cleaning blade, a coefficient of thermal expansion is. 17.3 × 10 ⁻⁶ (1 / K) SUS304, in Example 5, SUS301 having a thermal expansion coefficient of 14.7 × 10 ⁻⁶ (1 / K), and in Example 6, the thermal expansion coefficient is SUS304. 17.5 × 10 ⁻⁶ (1 / K) brass was used, and the thickness was as shown in the table.

In Examples 1 to 11 and Comparative Examples 3 and 4, a coating layer was formed on the cleaning blade. On the other hand, in Comparative Examples 1 and 2, no coating layer was provided on the cleaning blade. And in Examples 1-6, Examples 8-11, and Comparative Examples 3 and 4 as a material of a coating layer, Vickers hardness is 1000 and a thermal expansion coefficient is 8.8 * 10 < ^-6 > (1 / K). In Example 7, nickel having a Vickers hardness of 850 and a thermal expansion coefficient of 12.8 × 10 ⁻⁶ (1 / K) was used in Example 7, and the thickness of the coating layer was shown in the same table.

  In Examples 1 to 11, after the coating layer is formed on the cleaning blade as described above, the portion of the coating layer that contacts the surface of the intermediate transfer belt is polished along the surface of the intermediate transfer belt. In Comparative Examples 3 and 4, the portion of the coating layer was not polished. In Examples 1 to 11 and Comparative Examples 3 and 4, the ten-point average roughness Rz and the maximum height Ry in the coating layer in contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer belt were measured, and the results are shown in the same table.

  In Examples 1 to 11, in polishing the portion of the coating layer that contacts the surface of the intermediate transfer belt, the same commercially available copying machine as the above experimental machine (Konica Minolta Co., Ltd .: bizhub C8000) was modified, In place of the intermediate transfer belt, a polishing roller on which abrasive particles made of 0.3 to 10 μm alumina particles are vapor-deposited is used, and the tip of the cleaning blade provided with a coating layer on the polishing roller is used as the intermediate transfer belt. Under pressure contact under the same conditions, in this state, the polishing roller was rotated to polish the coating layer formed on the cleaning blade.

  In Examples 1 to 11 and Comparative Examples 3 and 4 in which the coating layer is formed on the cleaning blade, when the cleaning device is set in the experimental machine and the tip of the cleaning blade is pressed against the intermediate transfer belt “Waviness” at the tip of the cleaning blade was examined, and the case where no undulation occurred was shown in the table, and the case where undulation occurred was shown in the same table.

  In Examples 1 to 11 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4, durability, cleaning properties, and belt damage in the intermediate transfer belt were evaluated.

  Here, regarding the durability, the image formation with a coverage of 25% was formed on the entire A4 horizontal surface, and the wear state of the tip of the cleaning blade after 20,000 sheets were printed was digital microscope (manufactured by Keyence). : VHX-500F) was observed and evaluated, and the results are shown in the same table. Here, the evaluation is A when no damage is observed at the tip of the cleaning blade, B when damage is present but hardly confirmed, C when damage is present but there is no quality problem, and damage is observed. The case where there is a problem in quality is indicated by D.

  As for the cleaning property, solid images of two colors are transferred to the intermediate transfer belt in a low temperature / low humidity environment with a temperature of 10 ° C. and a humidity of 15% and a high temperature / high humidity environment with a temperature of 30 ° C. and a humidity of 85%. Then, these are guided to the cleaning devices as they are without being subjected to secondary transfer, the surface of the intermediate transfer belt is cleaned by each cleaning blade, and the cleaning failure in the intermediate transfer belt after passing through the cleaning blade is examined. The results are shown in the same table. Here, the evaluation was A when no cleaning failure was observed at all, B when cleaning failure could be confirmed but minor, and C when cleaning failure was clearly confirmed but there was no quality problem. The case where the defect is severe and causes a problem in quality is indicated by D.

  As for the belt breakage in the intermediate transfer belt, after forming an image with a coverage of 25% on the entire A4 horizontal surface, and after 20,000 sheets were printed, the damage state of the intermediate transfer belt was examined. Is shown in the table. Here, the evaluation is indicated by A when no scratches can be confirmed, and by B when there are scratches but no quality problems. In Examples 1 to 11 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4, there were no cases where the scratches were severe and would cause a quality problem.

  As a result, in Comparative Examples 1 and 2 in which the coating layer was not formed on the cleaning blade, the tip of the cleaning blade was abraded severely, and the durability was greatly reduced, resulting in a quality problem. Further, in Comparative Examples 3 and 4 in which the coating layer is formed only on the cleaning blade and the coating layer is not polished along the surface of the intermediate transfer belt, the tip of the cleaning blade is pressed against the intermediate transfer belt. When mounted in such a manner, a “swell” was generated at the tip of the cleaning blade, and the cleaning performance was greatly deteriorated, resulting in a quality problem.

  On the other hand, in the case of the example in which a coating layer was formed on the cleaning blade and this coating layer was polished along the surface of the intermediate transfer belt, no problem in quality occurred.

  However, in the case of Example 4 in which the thickness of the cleaning blade was 100 μm and the case of Example 9 in which the thickness of the coating layer was 150 μm, the followability with respect to the intermediate transfer belt was lowered and the cleaning property was lowered. Was. Further, in Example 11 in which the maximum height Ry of the coating layer was 9 μm, which was larger than the average particle diameter of the toner, a part of the toner slipped through the tip of the cleaning blade and the cleaning performance was deteriorated. . In the case of Example 10 in which the ten-point average roughness Rz of the coating layer is smaller than the average particle diameter of the external additive, the external additive is clogged at the position of the tip of the cleaning blade, and the intermediate transfer belt is damaged. Could occur. Moreover, in the thing of Example 8 whose thickness of the coating layer became 6 micrometers, the thickness of the coating layer after grinding | polishing a coating layer became thin, and durability fell, and Vickers was added to the metal material of a coating layer. Even in Example 7 using nickel having a hardness of 850, the coating layer was easily worn and the durability slightly decreased.

10: Photoconductor (image holding member)
11: Charging device 12: Latent image forming device 13: Developing device 14: Intermediate transfer belt (image holding member)
14a: rotation roller 14c: first counter roller 14d: second counter roller 15: primary transfer roller 16: first cleaning device 17: secondary transfer roller 18: fixing device 20: second cleaning device 21: housing 22: Cleaning brush 23: Flicker 24: Blade holder 24a: Spring 25: Cleaning blade 25a: Coating layer 25b: Polishing surface 26: Conveying member S: Recording sheet

Claims (8)

  In the cleaning apparatus in which the tip of a plate-like cleaning blade made of a metal material is brought into pressure contact with the surface of the moving image holding member, and the residue on the surface of the image holding member is removed by the cleaning blade. A cleaning apparatus comprising: a coating layer made of a hard metal material formed on a tip portion of the cleaning blade that contacts the surface of the lens; and a portion of the coating layer that contacts the image holding member is polished.   2. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the tip of the cleaning blade is brought into pressure contact with the surface of the image holding member when polishing the coating layer formed on the tip of the cleaning blade in contact with the surface of the image holding member. A cleaning device, wherein the surface of the coating layer is polished so as to be along the surface of the image holding member.   3. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a metal material having a small difference in thermal expansion rate from a metal material constituting the cooling blade is used as the metal material constituting the coating layer. Cleaning device.   The cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a toner obtained by adding an external additive to the residue on the surface of the image holding member, A cleaning apparatus comprising a metal material having a hardness higher than that of the external additive.   5. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a metal material having a Vickers hardness of 800 to 3000 is used for the coating layer.   The cleaning device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the ten-point average roughness Rz on the surface of the coating layer polished is larger than the average particle diameter of the external additive, and the maximum height Ry is A cleaning device having an average particle size smaller than that of the toner.   The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image holding member is an intermediate transfer belt to which a toner image is transferred from a photoreceptor.   An image forming apparatus including a cleaning device that removes residues on the surface of the image holding member with a cleaning blade, wherein the cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is used. Forming equipment.

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