JP4821432B2 - Cleaning device, image forming device, and lubricant application device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning device such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile using an electrophotographic system, an image forming apparatus, and a lubricant coating apparatus.

  In recent years, electrophotographic image forming apparatuses have been required to improve image quality such as high resolution and photographic reproducibility, and toner particle size reduction has been performed as one of the effective means to meet the demand.

  However, when the particle size of the toner is reduced, the adsorbing force on the image carrier due to van der Waals force becomes stronger, and the amount of so-called transfer residual toner remaining on the image carrier after transfer increases. The transfer residual toner cannot be sufficiently removed by a subsequent cleaning blade or the like, and there is a problem that a small amount of toner passes through the lower portion of the cleaning blade and remains on the image carrier. There is a problem in that the image is transferred to the image or firmly adhered onto the image carrier, and image defect (also referred to as image omission) occurs only in that portion.

  Therefore, a technique has been proposed in which a substance that lowers the coefficient of friction of the image carrier is supplied onto the image carrier in order to facilitate cleaning of the transfer residual toner. For example, there is a technique in which a lubricant made of zinc stearate or the like is applied to the surface of an image carrier with a brush (see Patent Document 1). By applying the lubricant onto the image carrier, the adhesion force and frictional force of the toner to the image carrier are reduced, and the toner can be sufficiently removed with a cleaning blade or the like.

  As a method of supplying a lubricant to an image carrier, a solid lubricant obtained by solidifying zinc stearate or the like is pressed against a rotatable brush, and the lubricant scraped with the brush is applied to the image carrier. Is generally used.

  However, when the lubricant scraped off with the brush is applied to the image carrier, the transfer residual toner on the image carrier gradually adheres to the surface of the brush bristles, and the required amount of the solid lubricant is scraped off. Thus, a stable amount of solid lubricant cannot be supplied onto the image carrier. For this reason, the adhesion force and frictional force of the transfer residual toner on the image carrier are increased, resulting in poor cleaning. If unclean toner remains on the image carrier, the unclean toner is transferred onto the next image, resulting in black streak-like image noise, or light left on the image carrier in the image exposure process. In other words, a portion where the latent image is not formed may be blocked by the toner. Further, since the releasability of the toner from the image carrier is lowered, a transfer failure occurs in the transfer process, and as a result, there is a problem that the line image or the character image is omitted.

  In order to remove the transfer residual toner adhering to the brush, it has been proposed to arrange a transfer residual toner removing member called flicker on the brush hair (see Patent Documents 2 and 3).

Moreover, as a method of pressing the solid lubricant against the brush, there are a method of pressing a member containing the solid lubricant against the brush by its own weight and a method of pressing the solid lubricant against the brush with a spring.
JP-A-8-137354 JP 2003-263085 A JP 2003-43885 A

  However, in the method in which a member containing a solid lubricant is pressed against the brush by its own weight, the solid lubricant needs to be arranged above the brush, which places restrictions on the arrangement of the cleaning device and allows the members around the image carrier to be freely set. The image forming apparatus cannot be arranged in a small size, and the entire image forming apparatus cannot be made compact. In addition, the method of pressing the solid lubricant against the brush with a spring reduces the restrictions on arrangement and allows a compact configuration. However, if the solid lubricant is scraped over a long period of use, the amount of compression of the spring decreases and the pressure is reduced. Due to the pressure drop, there is a problem that the lubricant cannot be supplied stably for a long time.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device and an image forming apparatus capable of stably supplying a lubricant to an image carrier over a long period of time in a method of pressing a solid lubricant with a spring having a compact structure. is there.

Lubricant applicator according one aspect of the invention, coating a solid lubricant which solidified lubricant, a Jun lubricant by sliding contact with the brush bristles while rotating the surface of the image bearing member to the surface of the image bearing member a lubricant applying brush, lubricant presses the solid type lubricant application brush, blanking and pressing means allowed to adhere to or lubricants to Rashike, solid type lubricating the bristles or lubricants application brush in an elastically deformed state Means for contacting the agent . The lubricant application brush includes at least a shaft and brush bristles radially attached to the shaft. The means for contacting the solid lubricant with the brush hair of the lubricant application brush elastically deformed is a contact member that contacts the brush hair over the width direction of the lubricant application brush. It is located upstream of the contact start point with the agent in the rotational direction of the lubricant application brush, and is arranged so as to enter the direction in which the brush hairs are implanted. At the contact start point with the solid lubricant, it is provided so that the belly of the bristles of the rotating lubricant application brush hits the contact start point.
A cleaning device according to an aspect of the present invention includes the lubricant applying device described above and a cleaning unit that removes the developer remaining on the surface of the image carrier.
Preferably, the contact member is a part of a casing that holds the lubricant application brush.
An image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes the cleaning device described above.

  According to the present invention, since the contact member is provided so as to come into contact with the solid lubricant in a state where the brush bristles of the lubricant application brush are elastically deformed, in the method of pressing the solid lubricant against the brush with a spring, Even when the lubricant is consumed and the pressing force against the lubricant application brush is reduced, the change in the scraping amount of the lubricant application brush is reduced. This is considered to be because the contact area is larger when the brush bristles are in contact with the solid lubricant in an elastically deformed state compared to the contact area when the tip of the bristles is in contact with the solid lubricant. . A cleaning device that makes it possible to supply a stable lubricant to the image carrier by reducing the change in the amount of lubricant scraped by the lubricant application brush, and to clean the transfer residual toner on the image carrier satisfactorily. Can be provided. Further, by using this cleaning device, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of forming a high-quality image over a long period of time.

  One embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention is shown in FIG. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 has at least a photosensitive member 1 and an intermediate transfer member 2, and a toner image formed on the photosensitive member 1 is transferred to the intermediate transfer member 2. A body cleaning device 4, a charging charger 5, exposure means (not shown) for irradiating writing light (image exposure) 6, an intermediate transfer body cleaning member 7, a primary transfer roller 8, and a secondary transfer roller 9 are provided. In FIG. 1, the tandem method is adopted as the full-color image forming apparatus, but the invention is not limited to this, and for example, a four-cycle method may be adopted. The image forming apparatus may be a monochrome image forming apparatus. Further, although an intermediate transfer belt having a belt shape is used as the intermediate transfer body 2, a drum shape may be used.

  FIG. 2 is an enlarged configuration diagram of an imaging unit unit 20 including the photosensitive member 1, the developing unit 3, the photosensitive member cleaning device 4, the charging charger 5, and the exposure unit 6.

  The operation of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

  An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive member 1 by irradiating the photosensitive member 1 uniformly charged by the charging charger 5 by an exposure means (not shown) that irradiates writing light 6 modulated by image data. Then, toner is supplied from the developing unit 3 to the photoreceptor 1 on which the electrostatic latent image is formed, and a toner image is formed on the photoreceptor 1 and developed. The formed toner image is electrostatically transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 2 by the voltage applied to the roller at the primary transfer roller portion. Since van der Waals force acts between the photoconductor 1 and the toner, toner that cannot be transferred electrostatically, so-called transfer residual toner remains on the photoconductor 1. The transfer residual toner is scraped off and collected by the cleaning blade 10 in the photoconductor cleaning device 4. The toner images formed by the imaging units 20 (Y), 20 (M), 20 (C), and 20 (Bk) of the respective colors are sequentially transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 2 to finally form a full color image. The formed full-color image is transferred onto the recording paper by the secondary transfer roller 9, and then the toner transferred onto the recording paper at the fixing unit is heated and pressurized to be fixed and discharged. The toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 2 is scraped and collected by a cleaning blade in the intermediate transfer member cleaning unit 7.

  Next, a method for applying the lubricant to the photoreceptor will be described with reference to FIG.

  The photoreceptor cleaning device 4 includes a rotatable application brush 11 that is a lubricant application brush and a solid lubricant 12, and the solid lubricant 12 is pressed and held on the application brush 11 by a pressing spring 13.

  As the application brush 11, what applied the base fabric which planted the brush hair around the shaft, for example can be used. Moreover, although the bristle in which each bristle radially extends from the base fabric can be used as the bristle, the tip of the bristle may be a loop. The material used for the brush bristles is not particularly limited as long as it becomes fibrous, but resins such as acrylic, nylon, polypropylene, polycarbonate, and polyester can be used and may contain a conductive material.

  The coating brush 11 rotates with the photosensitive member 1 (rotates in the so-called with direction) and rotates at a peripheral speed slower than the photosensitive member 1 (about 0.7 times the peripheral speed of the photosensitive member 1). The solid lubricant 12 is obtained by melting and molding metal soap powder, and here, zinc stearate is used. The solid lubricant 12 is scraped off by the rotation of the application brush 11 and is conveyed to the photoreceptor 1 as it is and rubbed. Since zinc stearate has a high spreadability, a surface layer having a high releasability and a low friction coefficient is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 1 by rubbing.

  The flicker 14 is used as the contact member according to the present invention. The flicker 14 contacts over the width direction of the application brush 11, is located upstream of the contact start point of the brush hair and the solid lubricant 12 in the rotation direction of the application brush 11, and enters the direction in which the brush hair is implanted. It is arranged to do. By this flicker 14, the bristles are tilted and brought into contact with the solid lubricant 12 in an elastically deformed state.

  The application brush 11 is not set to positively collect the transfer residual toner, but is collected to some extent by the application brush 11. When the transfer residual toner adheres to the application brush 11, the scraping property of the solid lubricant 12 is lowered, and further, the application brush 11 is solidified with the toner and becomes a roll shape. A function of removing the attached transfer residual toner may be provided, or the transfer residual toner attached to the brush bristles may be removed using another member.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the behavior of the brush when the flicker 14 is in contact with the application brush 11 and the state where the brush bristles 110 are in contact with the solid lubricant 12. FIG. 3A shows a state where the flicker 14 is used to remove the toner adhering to the bristles 110 as a conventional example, and shows a state where the tips of the bristles are in contact with the solid lubricant 12. . FIG. 3 (b) uses the flicker 14 according to the present invention as a contact member, and the brush hair is tilted and elastically deformed, and the abdomen portion, not the tip of the brush hair 110, is in contact with the solid lubricant 12. Indicates the state. In FIG. 3 (a), the hair of the coating brush 14 after having passed through the flicker 14 is in a state where it has fallen once, but since there is a restoring force, when the solid lubricant 12 is scraped off, it is almost restored to its original state. The tip portion comes into contact with the solid lubricant 12 with the hair standing. On the other hand, in FIG. 3 (b), after passing through the flicker 14, the brush hair contacts the solid lubricant 12 while it does not recover to the original state. 12 is rubbed.

  3 (c) and 3 (d) are enlarged views of the contact state between the bristles 110 and the solid lubricant 12 in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b). In the state of the conventional bristle in FIG. 3 (c), since the tip part of the bristle is in contact with the solid lubricant 12, the bristle has a strong force to polish the solid lubricant 12 and scrape off the lubricant. . On the other hand, in the state of the bristle according to the present invention shown in FIG. 3 (d), since the belly part of the bristle is in contact with the solid lubricant 12, the brush bristle grinds the solid lubricant 12 and removes the lubricant. The scraping power is weak. As described above, even when the solid lubricant 12 is pressed against the application brush 11 with a spring by contacting the solid lubricant with the brush bristles inclined according to the present invention, the solid lubricant 12 can be applied over a long period of time. , Can scrape a stable amount. The reason for this is not clear, but the variation in the amount of scraping by the brush bristles is smaller when applied to the belly of the bristles with respect to fluctuations in the spring pressure associated with the consumption of the solid lubricant 12, so A certain amount of coating can be stably supplied over a long period of time.

  FIG. 4A shows an enlarged schematic diagram of the setting state of the flicker 14 as a contact member. Here, the application brush 11 as a lubricant application brush is composed of a base cloth 111 in which the bristles 110 are planted and a shaft 112 around which the base cloth 111 is wound, and a contact start point between the solid lubricant 12 and the bristles is P1, L1 is a line connecting P1 and the center of the shaft, P2 is a contact end point between the flicker 14 as a contact member and the brush bristles 110, L2 is a line connecting P2 and the center of the shaft, and an internal angle formed by L1 and L2 When the angle is θ (°), in order to be in the states of FIGS. 3B and 3D, the respective parameters may be set so that the brush hair hits the belly at the point P1.

  As described above, various materials and shapes (thickness, length), flocking density, and the like can be used as brush hairs. For this reason, the necessary θ depends on the rotation speed of the coating brush and the solid lubricant. It varies slightly depending on pressure and brush material.

  Accordingly, the θ range for obtaining the state of FIGS. 3B and 3D regardless of the conditions of the application brush 11 was obtained based on the schematic diagram of FIG. In FIG. 4B, P1, P2, L1, L2, and θ are the same as those in FIG. 4A, and D is the outer diameter of the application brush.

  In FIG. 4 (B), the tip of the flicker 14 as a contact member has entered the shaft center direction K from the outer shape of the application brush 11 as the lubricant application brush. The bristles 110 rotate and come into contact with the flicker 14 at the contact point P3, and when the rotation angle is advanced, the contact end point P2 is reached. At this time, it is assumed that the brush bristles 110 are bent from P2 as shown in FIG. 4B, and the root portion from P2 to the base fabric of the bristles 110 is rotated in a straight state. On the other hand, it is assumed that the portion from P2 to the tip of the bristle 110 passes through the flicker 14 while contacting the contact end point P2. When the rotation of the application brush 11 advances and the tip of the brush hair 110 leaves the contact end point P <b> 2 with the flicker 14, the brush hair 110 rises in the normal direction due to the rigidity of the brush hair 110. It is assumed that this rise will happen instantly. Here, when the position of the contact end point P2 of the brush bristle tip is set so that θ is smaller than 360 × K / (π × (D−2K)), the root before the tip of the brush bristle 110 rises. The portion passes over L1, and as a result, the belly of the raised bristles 110 comes into contact with the solid lubricant 12 at the contact point P1. Thereby, the belly of the bristle 110 can be made to contact the solid lubricant 12 reliably.

Therefore, the range of θ is
0 ≦ θ <360 × K / (π × (D−2K))
It is preferable to satisfy the relationship. Here, K represents the amount of penetration of the tip of the contact member from the outer shape of the lubricant application brush toward the center of the shaft, D is the outer diameter of the application brush, the length of the brush hair is L, the shaft diameter Is Ds, and the thickness of the base fabric is Dk, D = Ds + 2Dk + 2L.

  The assumption set regarding the behavior of the bristle 110 when the bristle 110 in FIG. 4B contacts the flicker 14 is for obtaining the smallest θ. When the bristles 110 are gently bent without being bent at P2 and come into contact with the flicker 14, the belly of the bristles 110 can be brought into contact with P1 even with a larger θ, but θ is at least such By satisfying the relational expression 0 ≦ θ <360 × K / (π × (D−2K)), no matter what brush hair is used, as shown in FIG. Since the belly is in contact with the solid lubricant 12, the scraping amount of the solid lubricant 12 by the brush bristles 110 is stable over a long period of time and can be supplied to the photoconductor, so that black streak-like image noise, line images, and character images It eliminates the problem of voids and can provide high-quality images.

  The shape of the contact member is such that the contact end point P2 is closer to the shaft center than the point P3 at which the brush bristles 110 start to contact the flicker 14 as the contact member, that is, FIG. As shown in (B), it is preferable that the bristles 110 be bent gradually as the bristles 110 progress from P3 to P2. That is, in FIG. 4B, when the line connecting the contact point P3 and the contact end point P2 between the contact member and the bristle 110 is S1, and the line connecting P3 and the center of the shaft 112 is S2, It can be said that the angle α (°) formed by S1 and S2 is preferably 0 <α <90. By making the portion of the contact member that contacts the bristles 110 into such a shape, the rotational torque of the application brush 11 as the lubricant application brush can be reduced, and the bristles 110 do not come out and can be removed for a long time. There is an effect that it can be used.

  The flicker 14 used as the contact member in the present embodiment has a plate-like shape with its tip bent into an L shape as shown in FIG. 4 and is set so that its bent surface is pressed against the bristles 110. However, as shown in FIG. 5, a part of the casing of the cleaning unit that holds the lubricant application brush may be convex and pressed against the brush bristles 110. By doing so, the number of parts can be reduced, which is economical.

  Further, for the solid lubricant 12, for example, metal salts of fatty acids such as stearic acid, oleic acid and palmitic acid can be used. Specific examples of the metal stearate include magnesium stearate, aluminum stearate, barium stearate, lithium stearate, sodium stearate and the like in addition to zinc stearate used in the present embodiment. Specific examples of the metal oleate include zinc oleate, magnesium oleate, aluminum oleate, barium oleate, lithium oleate, sodium oleate and the like. Specific examples of the palmitate metal salt include zinc palmitate, magnesium palmitate, aluminum palmitate, barium palmitate, lithium palmitate, sodium palmitate and the like.

  The hardness of the solid lubricant is not particularly limited, but a pencil hardness of H-2B is preferably used. If it is harder than H, it is necessary to increase the spring pressure in order to apply a certain amount of solid lubricant, which increases the rotational torque of the application brush and increases the size of the motor. On the other hand, if it is softer than 2B, the amount of scraping by the application brush increases, and the solid lubricant disappears immediately, and the replacement frequency of the solid lubricant increases.

(Examples 1-10, Comparative Examples 1-8)
A color MFP having the structure shown in FIG. 1 uses an image forming apparatus (manufactured by Konica Minolta Business Technologies) having a speed of 35 sheets / minute (A4Y), and the cleaning apparatus 4 having the structure shown in FIG. 2 is used. . As the solid lubricant 12, zinc stearate was used. The solid lubricant 12 has a bar shape as shown in FIG. The coating brush 11 has an outer diameter of 12 mm, a shaft outer diameter of 6 mm, a material made of conductive nylon fibers (Young's modulus 1000 to 1700 N / mm ² ), and a fiber having a thickness of 6 denier is planted on a base cloth having a thickness of 0.5 mm. It is a structure in which a hair transplanted at a density of 100,000 / inch ² is wound. The length of the brush hair is 2.5 mm. The penetration depth of the φ30 photoreceptor into the coating brush was 0.5 mm, a polyurethane rubber blade with a thickness of 2 mm was used as the cleaning blade, and the contact force was 23 N / m. The peripheral speed of the coating brush 11 was 0.7 times the peripheral speed of the photoconductor, and the rotation direction was the width direction (direction around the photoconductor). As the flicker 14, a SUS plate having a plate thickness of 1 mm and L-bent as shown in FIG. 2 was used. The amount of penetration of the tip of the flicker into the application brush 11 (the distance that the tip of the flicker 14 entered the center of the outer circumference of the application brush 11) was set to 0.5 to 2.5 mm. Further, the set angle θ of the flicker 14 was set to 5 ° to 50 °. The set angle θ at this time is an angle measured by the method shown in FIG. 4A after setting the solid lubricant 12 on the application brush 11 and rotating the application brush 11 50 times. The initial spring pressure applied to the solid lubricant 12 was set by changing Y as shown in FIG. Moreover, HB, B, and 2B were used for the hardness of the solid lubricant. Within the above condition range, the conditions of Examples 1 to 10 and Comparative Examples 1 to 8 were set as shown in Table 1. In Examples 1 to 5, the pressing force applied to the solid lubricant was changed. For comparison, Comparative Examples 1 to 4 are cases where there is no flicker and Comparative Examples 5 to 8 are cases where the set angle is larger than θmax. In Examples 9 and 10, the hardness of the solid lubricant was changed.

(Evaluation methods)
A polymerization toner having an average particle diameter of 6.5 μm is used as a toner, and a blue line image having an adhesion amount of 10 g / m ² is printed on an A4 vertical sheet in a single sheet intermittent mode (intermittent paper sheet mode for each sheet). 000 sheets were printed. Thereafter, the consumption amount of the solid lubricant was measured, and the printing durability was further continued. The 10,000th, 30,000th, and 50,000th images were observed, and the presence or absence of black streaks on the image was examined. . A black streak image that did not occur was marked with ◯, a black line image that did not cause a problem was marked with Δ, and a black streak image that caused a problem was marked with ×.
(Evaluation results)
The evaluation results are shown in Table 1. FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the initial spring pressure values of Examples 1 to 8 and Comparative Examples 1 to 8 and the consumption amount of the 10,000th solid lubricant. Furthermore, the relationship between the initial spring pressure of Examples 2, 9, and 10, the hardness of the solid lubricant, and the consumption of the 10,000th sheet is shown in FIG.

  From the result of FIG. 8, by changing the setting of the tip position of the flicker as the contact member to be smaller than the maximum setting angle θmax as shown in Table 1, the change in the consumption amount of the solid lubricant with respect to the change in the spring pressure is achieved. I understand that there are few. This indicates that even when the solid lubricant is consumed with the printing durability and the spring pressure is changed, the amount of the solid lubricant applied to the photoreceptor is little changed and stable application can be performed for a long time. From this, it is considered that the occurrence of black streaks in image evaluation after printing is suppressed.

  Further, from the result of FIG. 9, since the consumption changes with the change of the pencil hardness of the solid lubricant, it is possible to control the amount of lubricant applied to the photoreceptor by changing the hardness of the solid lubricant. I understand that I can do it. Thus, the amount of lubricant applied can be appropriately set in accordance with the surface characteristics of the photoreceptor, and the occurrence of image noise can be suppressed over a long period of time.

  From the above results, in this embodiment, even in the method of pressing the solid lubricant with the spring and applying the lubricant with the application brush, there is little change in consumption with respect to the change in the pressing force, and long-term and stable. It can be seen that a certain amount of lubricant can be applied to the photoreceptor.

  In the above description, the means for applying the lubricant to the photosensitive member is provided in the cleaning device for removing the residual toner on the photosensitive member. However, the means for applying the lubricant (lubricant applying device) Alternatively, it may be provided separately from the cleaning device.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can provide a high-quality image without image defects over a long period of time.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus that implements the present invention. It is a schematic block diagram of an imaging unit part. It is the schematic diagram which showed the brush action at the time of flicker contact, and the mode that the solid lubricant is scraped off. It is the schematic diagram which expanded the setting state of the flicker as a contact member. It is the schematic diagram which used a part of casing of the cleaning unit as a contact member. It is a figure which shows the shape of a solid lubricant. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which is pressing the solid lubricant with the spring. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the initial spring pressing force and the consumption of the solid lubricant after printing durability. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the hardness of a solid lubricant, and consumption.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photoconductor 2 Intermediate transfer body 3 Developing part 4 Photoconductor cleaning device 5 Charger charger 6 Exposure means 7 Intermediate transfer body cleaning part 8 Primary transfer roller 9 Secondary transfer roller 20 Imaging unit part 20 (Y), 20 (M) , 20 (C), 20 (Bk) Imaging unit 11 Application brush 12 Solid lubricant 13 Press spring 14 Flicker 110 Brush hair 111 Base fabric 112 Shaft P1 Contact start point of solid lubricant and brush hair P2 Contact member and brush End point of contact with bristles P3 Point at which the bristles rotate to start contact with the abutting member L Length of bristle L1 Line connecting P1 and center of shaft L2 Line connecting P2 and center of shaft K The amount of penetration that the tip of the contact member penetrated from the lubricant brush outline (brush tip outline) toward the shaft center. Line shift diameter Dk group thickness S1 P3 fabric and connecting the lines S2 P3 and the shaft center connecting the P2

Claims (4)

A solid lubricant obtained by solidifying the lubricant;
A lubricant application brush for applying the lubricant to the surface of the image carrier by sliding the brush hair while rotating the surface of the image carrier;
A pressing unit that presses the solid lubricant against the lubricant application brush and adheres the lubricant to the brush bristles ;
Means for contacting the solid lubricant in a state where the bristles of the lubricant application brush are elastically deformed ,
The lubricant application brush is composed of at least a shaft and brush hairs radially attached to the shaft,
The means for contacting the solid lubricant in a state in which the brush bristles of the lubricant application brush are elastically deformed is an abutting member that abuts the brush bristles over the width direction of the lubricant application brush, Located on the upstream side of the rotation direction of the lubricant application brush from the contact start point of the brush bristles and the solid lubricant, and disposed so as to enter the direction in which the brush bristles are planted,
A lubricant application device provided at a point of starting contact with the solid lubricant such that a belly of a rotating bristles of the lubricant application brush hits the contact start point . The lubricant application device according to claim 1;
And a cleaning unit that removes the developer remaining on the surface of the image carrier . The cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein the contact member is a part of a casing that holds the lubricant application brush . An image forming apparatus comprising the cleaning device according to claim 2 .

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