JP5008996B2 - Liquid developer removing apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid developer removing apparatus for removing a liquid developer attached to the surface of a developing roller used for image formation, and an image forming apparatus using the same.

A wet image forming apparatus forms a predetermined image on a sheet using a liquid developer in which toner particles are dispersed in a carrier liquid.
In the developing device of such an image forming apparatus, the liquid developer attached to the surface of the developing roller is supplied onto the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum.

After the liquid developer is supplied onto the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum, the liquid developer remaining on the surface of the developing roller is removed by a removing device.
As shown in FIG. 7, the removing device includes a cleaning member 92 made of an elastic member such as rubber, and the tip of the cleaning member 92 is disposed in contact with the surface of the developing roller 91. The liquid developer 93 left on the surface of the developing roller 91 is scraped off by the tip of the cleaning member 92, and the liquid developer 93 thus scraped is collected on the cleaning member 92. Conventionally, a scraper 95 has been employed to scrape off the liquid developer 93 accumulated on the cleaning member 92 (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-296780 A

  However, as described above, the cleaning member 92 is electrically insulating, such as rubber, and the toner particles in the liquid developer 93 are as small as several μm in particle size, and the electrically insulating cleaning member 92 is caused by van der Waals force. It adheres to the surface and tends to accumulate. When the scraper 95 is brought into sliding contact with the surface of the cleaning member 92 in order to remove the liquid developer 93 adhered to the surface of the cleaning member 92, the load from the cleaning member 92 on the developing roller 91 fluctuates, and the developing roller There is a possibility of affecting the rotation of 91 and degrading the image formed by the image forming apparatus.

Further, when the scraper 95 is not brought into contact with the surface of the cleaning member 92, the liquid developer 93 is left on the surface of the cleaning member 92. In one development operation, the liquid developer 93 supplied from the developing roller 91 to the photosensitive drum is a part of the liquid developer 93 on the surface of the developing roller 91, and the liquid developer not supplied to the photosensitive drum. If the toner 93 remains on the developing roller 91 indefinitely, only the carrier liquid flows out from the liquid developer 93 and the toner particle concentration in the liquid developer 93 increases, so that the viscosity of the liquid developer 93 is increased and the liquid developer 93 is removed. It becomes difficult. Further, even when such liquid developer 93 is removed, recovered, and reused, the toner particles in the liquid developer 93 may be agglomerated, resulting in a decrease in development performance. Therefore, it is necessary to immediately remove the remaining liquid developer 93. Further, in order to collect and reuse the removed liquid developer 93, the liquid developer 93 remaining on the surface of the developing roller 91 is efficiently removed. It is desired to recover.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a removing device that can efficiently recover the liquid developer removed from the surface of the developing roller.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a cleaning member for removing the liquid developer on the surface of the developing roller used for image formation, and the tip of the cleaning member is disposed in contact with the surface of the developing roller. A liquid developer removing device that is in contact with or close to the tip end side of the cleaning member and has a plate-like shape in which the distance from the cleaning member increases as the distance from the developing roller increases. A guide member made of a conductive material on the back side of the surface facing the cleaning member, the developing roller, and the cleaning member are kept in a non-contact state, and the leading end of the guide member extends from the surface of the developing roller. The liquid accumulated on at least the surface of the developing roller and the guide member by moving toward the back surface of the liquid And a movable member for removing an image agent.

  According to the liquid developer removing device of the present invention, the liquid developer scraped off from the surface of the developing roller by the cleaning member and collected in the vicinity of the front end portion of the cleaning member is transferred onto the back surface of the guide member by the front end portion of the movable member. It is guided. Since the back side of the surface of the guide member facing the cleaning member is made of a conductive material, the portion of the guide member made of the conductive material is compared with the case where the guide member is electrically insulating. Thus, the charged toner particles in the liquid developer are difficult to adhere. Therefore, more liquid developer moves on the guide member without adhering to the guide member, and the liquid developer thus moved can be efficiently recovered.

  In a specific configuration, the entire guide member is made of a conductive material. However, as the guide member, an electrically insulating plate member (for example, a resin sheet) covered with a conductive member can be used. It is. In this case, an electrically insulating portion may be exposed from the conductive member in a portion (for example, an edge portion) that does not serve as a liquid developer passage.

In a desirable specific configuration, a bias DC voltage having the same polarity as the charged toner particles in the liquid developer is applied to a portion of the guide member that is formed of the conductive material.
According to such a configuration, the electrostatic force acts on the toner particles in the liquid developer in the direction away from the guide member, so that the toner particles in the liquid developer are lifted from the guide member, and are spread over a wide area. The toner particles in the liquid developer can easily move without adhering to the guide member. When the entire guide member is made of a conductive material, a bias DC voltage having the same polarity as the toner particles in the liquid developer is applied to the entire guide member.
Further, by applying an AC voltage superimposed on the bias DC voltage, the magnitude of the electrostatic force acting on the toner particles in the liquid developer varies, and the toner particles in the liquid developer vibrate accordingly. The toner particles in the liquid developer can be more reliably prevented from adhering to the guide member.

  When the distal end portion of the movable member in the liquid developer removing apparatus is configured to first contact the liquid developer on the developing roller, the distal end portion of the movable member first contacts the liquid developer. The position of contact with the liquid developer is farther from the tip of the cleaning member than the position where the thickness of the liquid developer is maximum, and the thickness of the liquid developer at the contact position is a predetermined value. It is desirable that:

  As a result, the tip of the movable member is not pushed into the liquid developer, and the liquid developer to be removed from the surface of the developing roller is pushed back to the upstream side in the developing roller rotation direction by the tip of the movable member. There is no.

  In addition, according to the configuration in which the back surface of the guide member is provided with a fluorine-based coating, the liquid developer moving on the back surface of the guide member is improved. Further, according to the configuration in which the piezoelectric element is connected to the guide member, the fluidity of the liquid developer can be improved and the adhesion to the guide member can be prevented by mechanically vibrating the guide member.

Further, the distal end portion of the guide member is in contact with or close to the distal end portion side of the cleaning member, and the distal end portion of the movable member maintains a non-contact state with the distal end portion of the guide member. It is desirable for the guide member to pass over the tip portion.
According to this configuration, the step formed by the guide member protruding from the tip of the cleaning member deforming along the shape of the tip of the cleaning member is not formed, and the liquid developer does not accumulate in the step. Further, since the distal end portion of the movable member does not contact the distal end portion of the guide member, the distal end portion of the guide member is not peeled off from the cleaning member due to the movement of the distal end portion of the movable member.

  The present invention as an image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum, a developing roller provided close to the photosensitive drum, and a portion of the liquid developer on the surface of the developing roller after being supplied to the surface of the photosensitive drum. An image forming apparatus including a removing device for removing the liquid developer remaining on the surface of the developing roller, and further using the liquid developer removing device according to any one of the above as the removing device. Yes.

  According to the removing device of the present invention, the liquid developer removed from the surface of the developing roller can be efficiently collected without affecting the rotation of the developing roller.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the present invention can be understood. The following embodiment is an example embodying the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a front view for explaining an overall schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an outline for explaining an image forming unit and a liquid developer recycling apparatus. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a removal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a part of the removal device of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is the above-described removal in another state. Sectional drawing which expands and shows a part of apparatus, FIG. 6 is sectional drawing which shows the said removal apparatus in another state.

  A color printer 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an example of an image forming apparatus. The color printer 1 includes a tandem-type image forming unit 2 inside, and prints an image formed by the image forming unit 2 on a paper P supplied from a paper feed cassette 11. , And conveyed to the paper discharge port 10.

  The image forming unit 2 includes image forming units 2b, 2c, 2m, and 2y corresponding to the respective colors of black (Bk), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), and each image forming unit 2b. 2c, 2m, and 2y have photosensitive drums 21, 22, 23, and 24, respectively. The image forming unit 2 further includes photosensitive drums 21, 22 by primary transfer rollers 25, 26, 27, 28 provided in the vicinity of the photosensitive drums 21, 22, 23, 24 and driving rollers 29 a, 29 b. , 23, 24 and an intermediate transfer belt 29 conveyed between the primary transfer rollers 25, 26, 27, 28.

  A predetermined electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of each of the photoconductive drums 21, 22, 23, and 24. As described later, the surface of each photoconductive drum 21, 22, 23, and 24 is charged (this embodiment). In the form, toner particles of each color charged to a positive polarity adhere to a portion (exposed portion) where the potential of the electrostatic latent image is lowered. The toner particles developed on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 21, 22, 23, 24 are transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 29, and then from the paper cassette 11 between the pair of rollers 30 a, 30 b of the transfer unit 30. The image is further transferred to the supplied paper P and fixed on the paper P between the pair of rollers 40a, 40b of the fixing unit 40.

  The apparatus and method for supplying the toner particles to the photosensitive drum surfaces 21, 22, 23, and 24 of the image forming units 2b, 2c, 2m, and 2y are the same. Therefore, an apparatus and method for supplying the toner particles to the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 of the image forming unit 2b corresponding to black (Bk) will be described below.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus for supplying the toner particles to the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 is a supply tank 3 in which a liquid developer 8 in which the charged toner particles are dispersed in an uncharged carrier liquid is stored. And the pumping roller 4 partially immersed in the liquid developer 8 in the supply tank 3 and the surface of the pumping roller 4 exposed from the liquid level of the liquid developer 8 in the supply tank 3. A supply roller 5 and a developing roller 6 that is in contact with the surface of the supply roller 5 and is disposed close to the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 are provided.

The liquid developer 8 adheres to the surface of the pumping roller 4 in the supply tank 3, is conveyed toward the supply roller 5 side by the rotation of the pumping roller 4, and is supplied to the groove structure provided on the surface of the supply roller 5. .
The supply roller 5 rotates in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the drawing roller 4, and the liquid developer 8 supplied to the groove structure of the supply roller 5 is conveyed toward the developing roller 6 by the rotation of the supply roller 5. Is done.
The supply roller 5 comes into contact with a doctor blade 51 disposed in contact with the supply roller 5 before supplying the liquid developer 8 to the development roller 6. As a result, the liquid developer 8 having the groove structure of the supply roller 5 is restricted to a predetermined amount.

  The liquid developer 8 moved from the groove structure of the supply roller 5 to the surface of the developing roller 6 is conveyed to the photosensitive drum 21 side by the rotation of the developing roller 6. Then, the toner particles in the liquid developer 8 adhere from the surface of the developing roller 6 to the portion where the potential of the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 is lowered.

  At this time, the toner particles supplied from the surface of the developing roller 6 to the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 are part of the toner particles in the liquid developer 8 adhering to the surface of the developing roller 6, and many liquids The developer 8 is left on the surface of the developing roller 6.

  The liquid developer 8 left on the surface of the developing roller 6 is removed from the surface of the developing roller 6 by a removing device 7 installed in the vicinity of the developing roller 6. Then, a new liquid developer 8 is supplied from the supply roller 5 to the surface of the developing roller 6 after the liquid developer 8 is removed.

As shown in FIG. 3, the removing device 7 includes a cleaning blade 71 (an example of a cleaning member) made of a rubber plate, and a tip 71 a of the cleaning blade 71 is in contact with the surface of the developing roller 6. The end of the cleaning blade 71 extending in the direction away from the developing roller 6 is fixed to the main body side of the color printer by a fixing plate 72.
As the developing roller 6 rotates, the liquid developer 8 remaining on the surface of the developing roller 6 approaches the upper surface 71 b of the cleaning blade 71. The liquid developer 8 remaining on the surface of the developing roller 6 is scraped off by the tip 71a of the cleaning blade 71, and the liquid developer 8 scraped off on the surface of the developing roller 6 near the tip 71a of the cleaning blade 71. As a result, a liquid developer reservoir 8a is formed.

In the removing device 7, a guide member 73 made of a thin plate made of a conductive material such as stainless steel is disposed above the cleaning blade 71. As shown in FIG. 2, such a conductive guide member 73 is connected to a bias DC voltage power source 77 and has a positive bias voltage having the same polarity as the toner particles of the liquid developer 8 (in this embodiment, +400 V). ) Is applied.
As shown in FIG. 4, the distal end portion 73 b of the guide member 73 is in contact with the upper surface 71 b on the distal end portion 71 a side of the cleaning blade 71 that is away from the surface of the developing roller 6. The thin guide member 73 has a certain degree of flexibility, and can move according to the movement of the cleaning blade 71 while the tip portion is in contact with the cleaning blade 71. The tip 73b of the guide member 73 does not have to be fixed so as to always contact the upper surface 71b of the cleaning blade 71, and there may be a slight gap between the upper surface 71b of the cleaning blade 71.

  In addition, the guide member 73 disposed away from the developing roller 6 in this way does not touch the developing roller 6 and disturb the electrical state of the developing roller 6. Further, since the tip end portion 73b of the guide member 73 does not protrude from the tip end portion 71a of the cleaning blade 71, the tip end portion 73b of the guide member 73 is not deformed along the shape of the tip end portion 71a of the cleaning blade 71. A step due to such deformation is not formed on the guide member 73.

As indicated by the arrow X, the distance between the guide member 73 and the cleaning blade 71 increases as the distance from the surface of the developing roller 6 increases.
As will be described later, the movement path in the arrow X direction of the liquid developer 8 scraped from the surface of the developing roller 6 by the cleaning blade 71 onto the guide surface 73a which is the back surface of the guide member 73 facing the cleaning blade 71. Is formed.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, a sweep roller 75 (an example of a movable member) having an elliptical vertical cross section is disposed above the guide member 73. The center of the cross section of the sweep roller 75 is penetrated by a rotating shaft 75a.

The rotation direction of the sweep roller 75 indicated by the arrow Y is opposite to the rotation direction of the developing roller 6 indicated by the arrow Z, and both ends 75b and 75b in the major axis direction of the sweep roller 75 are half cycles of the rotation of the sweep roller 75. Every time, it approaches the tip 71a of the cleaning blade 71.
The sweep roller 75 is disposed so that the tip end portion 75 b does not contact the surface of the developing roller 6 and the cleaning blade 71. The tip end portion 75 b of the sweep roller 75 moves from the surface of the developing roller 6 toward the upper surface 71 b of the cleaning blade 71 by the rotation of the sweep roller 75.

Therefore, the cleaning blade 71 is not pressed against the tip 75b of the sweep roller 75, and the load from the cleaning blade 71 on the developing roller 6 does not fluctuate. Further, the tip end portion 75 b of the sweep roller 75 moves without contacting the tip end portion of the guide member 73. Therefore, the tip end portion 73 b of the guide member 73 is not peeled off from the upper surface 71 b of the cleaning blade 71 by the tip end portion 75 b of the sweep roller 75.
The tip 75b of the sweep roller 75 moves along the guide surface 73a, which is the back surface of the guide member 73 facing the cleaning blade 71, in the state of being close to the guide surface 73a.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the tip 75 b of the sweep roller 75 guides the liquid developer reservoir 8 a on the surface of the developing roller 6 by pressing it onto the guide surface 73 a of the guide member 73. At this time, the position where the tip 75b of the sweep roller 75 first contacts the liquid developer reservoir 8a is closer to the rotation direction of the developing roller 6 than the position where the thickness of the liquid developer reservoir 8a is maximum (W3). The upstream side (position away from the tip 71a of the cleaning blade 71) is desirable. At this time, the tip 75b of the sweep roller 75 is close to the surface of the developing roller 6, and the thickness of the liquid developer reservoir 8a at this position is It is desirable that the value is not more than a predetermined value.
The distance W2 between the tip 75b of the sweep roller 75 and the surface of the developing roller 6 when the tip 75b of the sweep roller 75 is closest to the surface of the developing roller 6 is the thickness of the remaining eight layers of liquid developer. It is desirable to set it to be larger than the dimension W1 and smaller than the maximum height dimension W3 at which the liquid developer reservoir 8a is formed.

By adopting such a configuration, the tip 75b of the sweep roller 75 is not pushed into the liquid developer reservoir 8a unlike the other sweep roller 75 'shown in FIG. The liquid developer 8 is not pressed against the surface of the developing roller 6 as indicated by arrow K by the tip end portion 75'b, or is pushed back away from the tip end portion 71a of the cleaning blade 71 as indicated by arrow J. Almost all the liquid developer 8 in the liquid developer reservoir 8 a can be smoothly moved to the guide surface 73 a of the guide member 73.
The range in which the liquid developer pool 8a is formed and the maximum thickness in which the liquid developer pool 8a is formed are the thickness of the liquid developer 8 layer on the surface of the developing roller 6, the rotational speed of the developing roller 6, and the sweep. This is determined by the rotation period of the roller 75 and the like.

As shown in FIG. 5, the tip 75b of the sweep roller 75 further includes a liquid developer reservoir 8a that has moved to the surface of the developing roller 6, the tip 71a of the cleaning blade 71, and the tip 73b of the guide member 73. It moves in the direction away from the developing roller 6, that is, the direction of the arrow X.
Thus, by immediately removing the liquid developer reservoir 8a from the surface of the developing roller 6, the carrier liquid flows out from the liquid developer reservoir 8a, the toner particle concentration increases, and the liquid developer reservoir 8a increases. The liquid developer pool 8a can be removed from the surface of the developing roller 6 before becoming a gel of viscosity and difficult to remove.

As shown in FIG. 6, even after the liquid developer 8 is separated from the front end portion 75b of the sweep roller 75, the liquid developer 8 is pressed in the direction pressed by the front end portion 75b of the sweep roller 75 on the guide surface 73a of the guide member 73. It progresses in a direction away from the surface of the roller 6 without being left on the guide surface 73a of the guide member 73.
This is because there is no step to retain the liquid developer 8 on the guide surface 73a of the guide member 73, and a bias voltage having the same polarity as the toner particles in the liquid developer 8 is applied to the guide member 73. An electrostatic force acts on the toner particles in the liquid developer 8 in a direction away from the guide surface 73a of the guide member 73, and the toner particles in the liquid developer 8 float from the guide surface 73a of the guide member 73. It is further encouraged by becoming.
In addition, according to the tip portion 75b formed of the curved surface of the sweep roller 75, the adhesion of the liquid developer 8 to the tip portion 75b is suppressed as compared with the tip portion having a corner portion.

  Further, when an AC voltage superimposed on the bias DC voltage is applied to the guide member 73, the magnitude of the electrostatic force acting on the toner particles in the liquid developer 8 from the guide surface 73a of the guide member 73 varies, and the guide member 73 changes. Since the toner particles in the liquid developer 8 on the surface 73a vibrate, the fluidity of the liquid developer is amplified and the toner particles in the liquid developer 8 are more difficult to adhere to the guide surface 73a. Alternatively, a piezoelectric element may be connected to the guide member 73 and the guide member 73 itself may be mechanically vibrated so that the toner particles in the liquid developer 8 are less likely to adhere to the guide surface 73a.

In addition, by applying a fluorine-based coating to the guide surface 73a of the guide member 73, the liquid developer 8 moving on the guide surface 73a can be made to slide well, and the flow to the liquid developer 8 can be improved.
In this case, the fluorine-based coating film covering the guide surface 73a of the guide member 73 is electrically insulating, but since the film thickness is as thin as several μm, the effect of preventing the liquid developer 8 from adhering to the guide member 73 is achieved. Is not greatly disturbed. Further, even when the voltage as described above is not applied to the guide member 73, the liquid developer 8 is reliably prevented from adhering to the sheet as compared with the case where the liquid developer 8 is moved on the electrically insulating sheet. be able to.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 6, the end of the guide member 73 extending in the direction away from the developing roller 6 is a frame of the recovery tank 81 connected to the developer recycling apparatus for recovering and processing the liquid developer 8. In the recovery tank 81, a conveying screw 82 is installed.
The liquid developer 8 sent by the sweep roller 75 and traveling on the guide surface 73a of the guide member 73 is conveyed from the collection tank 81 toward the liquid developer recycling device 83 shown in FIG.

  In the liquid developer recycling device 83, the concentration of the liquid developer 8 is adjusted, and the liquid developer 8 is returned to the supply tank 3 after being made available for reuse.

  As described above, the liquid developer 8 removed by the cleaning blade 71 can be efficiently recovered without affecting the rotation of the developing roller 6, transported to the liquid developer recycling device 83, and reused. .

In the above embodiment, the guide member 73 is formed of a metal thin plate. However, the guide member 73 may apply a potential having the same polarity as that of the toner particles in the liquid developer 8 to the guide surface 73a. For example, a film in which conductive particles such as carbon are dispersed in a resin may be used.
Further, as the guide member 73, it is possible to use an electrically insulating plate member (for example, a resin sheet) covered with a conductive member. In this case, an electrically insulating portion may be exposed from the conductive member in a portion (for example, an edge portion) that does not become a passage for the liquid developer 8.

  In addition to the sweep roller, the movable member may be, for example, a member that approaches the developing roller in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the developing roller 6 and then moves toward the guide surface through the tip of the cleaning blade. . Also at this time, it is desirable that the portion where the movable member first contacts the developer reservoir is farther from the tip of the cleaning blade than the maximum thickness portion of the liquid developer reservoir.

  The present invention is applicable to printers, copiers, facsimiles, and the like.

1 is a front view for explaining an overall schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Schematic for demonstrating an image forming unit and a liquid developer recycling apparatus. Sectional drawing which shows the removal apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which expands and shows a part of removal apparatus. Sectional drawing which expands and shows a part of removal apparatus in another state. Sectional drawing which shows the removal apparatus in another state. Sectional drawing which shows the conventional removal apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Color printer 2 ... Image formation part 6 ... Developing roller 7 ... Removal apparatus 8 ... Liquid developer 8a ... Liquid developer reservoir 21 ... Photoconductor drum 71 ... Cleaning blade 71a ... Tip part 71b ... Upper surface 73 ... Guide member 73a ... Guide surface 73b ... tip 75 ... sweep roller 75b ... tip 81 ... collection tank

Claims (8)

In the liquid developer removing apparatus, which includes a cleaning member for removing the liquid developer on the surface of the developing roller used for image formation , and the tip of the cleaning member is disposed in contact with the surface of the developing roller .
Wherein the tip side contact of the cleaning member, or close, the a plate shape gap between the cleaning member is enlarged as the distance from the developing roller, a conductive back surface side of the surface opposed to at least the cleaning member A guide member made of a material ;
The holding developing roller, and said cleaning member and a non-contact state, by its tip portion moves toward the back of the guide member from the developing roller surface, accumulates on at least the surface of the developing roller and the guide member on the A movable member for removing the liquid developer ;
The Bei example, the guide to the conductive constituent portions of a material member, the liquid developer removing apparatus characterized by bias dc voltage of the toner particles having the same polarity is applied charged in the liquid developer . The liquid developer removing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein an AC voltage superimposed on the bias DC voltage is applied to a portion of the guide member made of the conductive material . In the liquid developer removing apparatus, which includes a cleaning member for removing the liquid developer on the surface of the developing roller used for image formation, and the tip of the cleaning member is disposed in contact with the surface of the developing roller.
The cleaning member has a plate-like shape that comes into contact with or closes to the tip end side of the cleaning member, and the distance from the cleaning member increases as the distance from the developing roller increases, and at least the back side of the surface facing the cleaning member is conductive. A guide member made of a material;
The developing roller and the cleaning member are kept in a non-contact state, and the front end portion of the developing roller moves from the developing roller surface to the back surface of the guide member, thereby accumulating at least the developing roller surface and the guide member. A movable member for removing the liquid developer;
A liquid developer removing device comprising: a piezoelectric element coupled to the guide member . The liquid developer removing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the entire guide member is made of the conductive material . Wherein a liquid developer removing apparatus constructed as the tip portion of the movable member is in contact with the first and the liquid developer on the developing roller, the first and the tip the liquid developer of the movable member contacting the contact position, the and away from said distal end of said cleaning member than the position where the thickness of the liquid developer is the largest, the thickness of the liquid developer in the said contact position is a predetermined value The liquid developer removing device according to claim 1, wherein: The liquid developer removing device according to claim 1 , wherein a fluorine-based coating is applied to the back surface of the guide member. The distal end portion of the guide member is in contact with or close to the distal end portion side of the cleaning member, and the distal end portion of the movable member is held in a non-contact state with the distal end portion of the guide member. The liquid developer removing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid developer removing apparatus passes over the tip portion of the guide member . A photosensitive drum;
A developing roller provided close to the photosensitive drum;
A removal device for removing the liquid developer remaining on the surface of the developing roller after a part of the liquid developer on the surface of the developing roller is supplied to the surface of the photosensitive drum. And
An image forming apparatus using the liquid developer removing device according to claim 1 as the removing device .

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