JPH09251264A - Cleaner and process cartridge equipped therewith and image forming device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize a cleaner container by removing, from toner remaining on image carrier after a transfer process, the toner with reversed polarity by means of a brush roller, and permitting the passage of the toner with the original polarity. SOLUTION: In the cleaner container 121, a conductive recovery roller 112 is set in contact with a conductive fur brush roller 111. By the application of a voltage of -400V to the recovery roller 112 from a power source 112a, residual transfer toner 100 having positive polarity, recovered to the fur brush roller 111, is further recovered by being electrostatically attracted to the recovery roller 112. The residual transfer toner 100 recovered on the recovery roller 112 is then forcibly scrapped off by a rubber blade 113 which is in contact with the recovery roller 112, and stored into the cleaner container 121 as toner 103 to be disposed of. On the other hand, toner 102 (most of it is negative) which has passed the roller 111 without being recovered is recovered by a developing unit 4 as it is, and supplied for development again.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning device for removing a toner remaining on an image carrier after transferring a toner image formed on the image carrier by applying an electrophotographic method.
The present invention also relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, or a facsimile machine to which the cleaning device is applied.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer, generally, an electrostatic latent image is formed on a photosensitive drum by a charging process for uniformly and uniformly charging an image carrier, for example, an electrophotographic photosensitive drum. A latent image forming step of writing, a developing step of developing the electrostatic latent image with toner, a transfer step of transferring the toner image obtained by the development to a transfer material, a fixing step of fixing the transferred toner image to the transfer material, and In order to prepare for the next image formation, an image is formed by a series of cleaning steps for cleaning transfer residual toner and the like adhering to the photosensitive drum. The transfer residual toner generated in the photosensitive drum cleaning step is
Conventionally, all are collected in the toner container of the cleaning device.

In recent years, along with the demand for reducing the running cost of image forming apparatuses from the market, the extension of the life of each part of the apparatus has been studied and put into practical use. As an example thereof, there is a so-called toner replenishing type image forming apparatus in which a developing device is used for a long period of time by repeatedly replenishing the developing device with consumed toner. FIG.
FIG. 0 shows an example of this conventional toner replenishment type image forming apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 10, the image forming apparatus has a rotary drum type electrophotographic photosensitive member as an image bearing member, that is, a photosensitive drum 1. The photosensitive drum 1 is rotated in the clockwise direction (arrow A direction), and a bias is applied to the charging roller 2 by the power supply 2a, so that the photosensitive drum 1 is uniformly charged. The photosensitive drum 1 is irradiated with the laser beam 3 from the exposing means, and image information is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 as an electrostatic latent image.

With the rotation of the photosensitive drum 1, the latent image reaches a developing portion facing the developing device 4 and is developed with the toner carried on the developing sleeve 4b of the developing device 4. When the developer is used, a bias is applied to the developing sleeve 4b by the power source 4a. A doctor blade 6 is elastically contacted with the developing sleeve 4 in order to make the layer thickness of the toner on the developing sleeve 4 used for development uniform. The blade 6 is made of urethane rubber or the like, and its base end is attached to the container 4c of the developing device 4. When the toner 5 in the developing container 4c is consumed by the development and becomes less than a predetermined amount, the user opens the upper replenishing port in the container 4c and replenishes the toner from 7 for replenishing new toner.

The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 by the development of the latent image is conveyed to a transfer portion facing the transfer roller 8 as the photosensitive drum 1 rotates, and is fed from a paper feeding portion (not shown) at a predetermined timing. And is transferred onto the transfer material 9 supplied to the transfer portion. The transfer material 9 that has passed through the transfer portion is separated from the photosensitive drum and conveyed to a fixing device (not shown).
The toner image on the transfer material is fixed.

On the other hand, the untransferred toner 100 remaining on the photosensitive drum 1 after the transfer process (including other adhered substances such as paper powder in addition to the toner 100) is scraped off by a cleaning blade 110 constituting a cleaning means. It is cleaned by rubbing with and is stored as the collected toner 101 in a container in the cleaner container 120.

In the above description, the cleaning means such as the photosensitive drum 1, the transfer roller 2, the developing device 5, the cleaning blade 110 and the cleaner container 120 are integrally supported by the supporting means as shown in FIG. It is assembled as a cartridge. Then, this cartridge can be detachably installed in the main body of the apparatus.

[0009]

However, in the above-mentioned toner replenishment type image forming apparatus, since the toner is replenished to the apparatus, the amount of toner 101 collected in the cleaner container 120 correspondingly increases, and as a result, The cleaner container becomes larger.

It is preferable to downsize the cleaner container 120 in order to downsize the entire apparatus.
It is necessary to frequently perform maintenance such as replacement of the cleaner container and discard the collected toner. As a method that can reduce the size of the cleaner container 120 and improve the toner utilization efficiency, there is a method of mechanically conveying the collected toner to the developing container 4c for use, but the structure becomes complicated.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems, cleaning is performed to remove toner remaining on an image carrier after transferring toner on an image carrier carrying a toner image to another member. In the device, after the transfer process, of the residual toner on the image carrier, in order to remove the toner that has changed to a polarity opposite to the polarity of the original toner used for development, it is the same as the original toner. Conductive brush roller to which a bias voltage of polarity is applied, and contact the brush roller,
A bias having a polarity opposite to that of the brush roller is applied, and a roller-shaped electrode that electrostatically attracts the toner attached to the conductive brush and a scraping unit that scrapes off the toner attached to the roller-shaped electrode are provided. However, of the toner remaining on the image bearing member after the transfer process, the toner having the polarity opposite to the polarity of the original toner is removed by the brush roller, and the passage of the toner having the original polarity is allowed. To do.

Further, the present invention which solves the above problems is a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus to which the above cleaning device is applied.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an essential part of an image forming section showing an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

The image forming apparatus has a rotary drum type electrophotographic photosensitive member as an image bearing member, that is, a photosensitive drum 1. The photosensitive drum 1 is rotated clockwise (direction of arrow A), and a charging roller is driven by a power source 2a. By applying a bias to the photosensitive drum 1, the photosensitive drum 1 is uniformly charged. To charge the photosensitive drum 1, the charging roller 2 is brought into contact with or close to the photosensitive drum 1, and the charging roller 2 has an oscillating voltage of Vpp of 2 kV.
This is performed by applying a voltage in which a DC voltage of 720V is superimposed, and the charging potential (dark portion potential) is set to -700V. The photosensitive drum 1 is irradiated with the laser beam 3 from the exposing means, and the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 has image information with a bright portion potential of −.
An electrostatic latent image of 150V is formed.

As the photosensitive drum 1 rotates, the latent image is conveyed to the developing section facing the developing device 4. Then, the toner is carried by the toner carried on the developing sleeve 4b of the developing device 4. At this time, -50 is applied to the developing sleeve 4b by the power source 4a.
A bias of 0V is applied. The developing sleeve 4 has a uniform layer thickness of toner of 2 mg / cm ² on the developing sleeve 4 used for developing, and a charge amount of −7 μC /
To achieve g, the doctor blade 6 is in elastic contact. The blade 6 is made of urethane rubber or the like, and its base end is attached to the container 4c of the developing device 4. When the amount of the toner 5 in the developing container 4c becomes equal to or less than a predetermined amount due to the development, the upper replenishing port 7 is opened in the developing container 4c, and the toner T is newly replenished by the user from here.

As the toner 5 of such a developing device, either magnetic toner or non-magnetic toner can be used, and in terms of manufacturing method, both polymerized toner and pulverized toner can be used.

Next, the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 by developing the latent image is conveyed to a transfer portion facing the transfer roller 8 as the photosensitive drum 1 rotates, and is fed from a paper feeding portion (not shown) to a predetermined position. It is transferred onto the transfer material 9 supplied to the transfer portion at a timing. Transfer material 9 that passed through the transfer section
Is separated from the photosensitive drum and conveyed to a fixing device (not shown) to fix the toner image on the transfer material. On the other hand, the transfer residual toner 100 remaining on the photosensitive drum 1
Are rubbed and cleaned by the conductive fur brush roller 111 described below.

The cleaning device according to the present invention comprises a conductive fur brush 111, a conductive recovery roller 112, a rubber blade 113 and a cleaner container 121 accommodating them.
It is comprised including. Hereinafter, this cleaning device will be described in detail.

The conductive fur brush roller 111 is provided in the cleaner container 121 so that one side is in contact with or close to the photosensitive drum 1, and rotates in the forward direction or the counter direction with a peripheral speed difference from the photosensitive drum 1. To do. The fur brush roller 111 has conductive fibers having a thickness of 6 d (denier) and a resistance of 2.4 × 10 ⁵ Ω and a density of 100 k filaments / inch ² , and has an outer diameter of 12 rollers.
It is formed in mm.

As shown in FIG. 2, the resistance value of the conductive fur brush roller 111 is such that the fur brush roller 111 is rotated at a speed of 100 rpm with respect to the metal roller 13 having an outer diameter of 20 mm which is rotated at 90 rpm. The contact is made at a distance of 1 mm, and a DC voltage of 50 V is applied from the power source 111b to the fur brush roller 111 for measurement.

Transfer residual toner 100 on the photosensitive drum 1
Is positively charged by the voltage applied to the transfer roller 8, but some of the toner has a negative polarity which is the original polarity of the toner. Transfer from the power source 111a to the conductive fur brush roller 111. Negative voltage -7 with a polarity opposite to that of the residual toner 100
By applying 00 V, the toner of the transfer residual toner 100 that is positively charged by the transfer roller 8 is electrostatically attracted to the fur brush roller 111 and adhered to the brush to be collected.

In the cleaner container 121, a conductive recovery roller 112 is installed in contact with the conductive fur brush roller 111. From the power source 112a to the collecting roller 112, -400V (-1100 to earth)
By applying the voltage V), the positive transfer residual toner 100 collected by the fur brush roller 111 is electrostatically adsorbed and collected by the collection roller 112. The transfer residual toner 100 collected on the collecting roller 112 is
Further, it is forcibly scraped off by a rubber blade 113, which is a scraping member that is in contact with the collecting roller 112, and is stored in the cleaner container 121 as the toner 103 to be discarded.

On the other hand, the toner 102 (most of which has a negative polarity) that has passed through the roller 111 without being collected from the photosensitive drum 1 by the fur brush roller 111 is due to the peripheral speed difference between the fur brush roller 111 and the photosensitive drum 1. Scattered on one. Uncollected toner 102 scattered
Have an average particle diameter of 10 μm or less and are distributed on the photosensitive drum 1 at a density of 0.1 mg / cm ² or less. According to the experiment, the spot diameter of the laser beam 3 for realizing 600 dpi is 75 to 90 μm, and if the distribution density of the uncollected toner 102 on the photosensitive drum 1 is 0.1 mg / cm ² or less, the uncollected toner is It has been confirmed that there is no deterioration in image quality due to blocking of the laser light 3 by 102.

As a result, even if the next image formation is performed with the uncollected toner 102 on the photosensitive drum 1 left as it is, no problem occurs. In the next image formation, the photosensitive drum 1 is charged by the charging roller 2 and the laser light 3 is applied.
To form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 1, and the developing device 4 develops the next new electrostatic latent image. At this time, the uncollected toner 102 (negative polarity) exists on the dark portion potential portion on the photosensitive drum 1, but is collected again by the developing device 4 by the dark portion potential and the developing bias and is reused for the subsequent development.

In the above structure, the cleaning means such as the photosensitive drum 1, the charging roller 2, the developing device 5, the conductive fur brush 111, etc. are integrally constructed by a support as shown in FIG. 1 and assembled as a process cartridge. It is detachable from the main body of the device. According to the present embodiment, the process cartridge can achieve the above object by combining at least the photosensitive drum 1 and the cleaning means.

As described above, in this embodiment, the transfer residual toner 10 remaining on the photosensitive drum 1 is removed by cleaning the photosensitive drum 1 with the conductive fur brush roller 111a.
0 is sorted into the toner to be collected and the toner 102 to be reused. Then, the toner collected by the fur brush roller 111a is stored as the toner 103 to be discarded in the cleaner container 121 via the conductive collection roller 112, and the one toner 102 to be reused is directly collected by the developing device 4. So that it can be developed again. Therefore, the amount of toner collected can be minimized,
The cleaner container 121 has been downsized. In addition, it is not necessary to replace the cleaner container by making it into a cartridge, and it is not necessary to frequently discard the collected toner. Therefore, in this embodiment, the structure of the image forming apparatus is not complicated and the toner usage efficiency can be significantly improved.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, by changing the flocking density, the resistance value of the conductive fur brush roller 114, and the voltage applied by the power source 114a, it is possible to adjust the recovery amount of the transfer residual toner by the fur brush roller 114, and reuse the recovered toner. The toner separation ratio is adjusted. In FIG. 3, the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. 1 denote the same members.

FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the applied voltage and the toner recovery rate at this time by changing the flocking density of the fur brush, which is a premise for setting the adjustment amount. As shown in FIG.
The flocking density of the conductive fur brush roller 114 is 50 to 3
It was found that the collection rate of transfer residual toner by the fur brush roller can be changed in the range of 20 to 50% at an applied voltage of -700V by changing to 00 k filament / inch ² .

Although FIG. 4 shows an example in which the amount of collected hair is changed by changing the flocking density, in the next FIG. 5, the resistance value of the fur brush is changed and the relationship between the applied voltage and the toner collection rate at this time. Indicates. As shown in FIG. 5, the resistance value of the conductive fur brush roller 114 is 2.4 × 10 ^{5 to} 8.0 ×.
By changing to 10 ⁸ Ω, the recovery rate of the transfer residual toner by the fur brush roller is 30 at the applied voltage of −700V.
It was found that the change can be made in the range of up to 90%. Although not shown in the figure, it was found that the toner recovery rate depends on the applied voltage when the resistance value of the fur brush roller is 10 ⁵ Ω.

In the present embodiment, by utilizing the above characteristics, the pattern of the formed image of the apparatus main body to which the present invention is applied, the probability of jam of the transfer material, and the transfer residual toner amount due to the change of the transfer efficiency due to the environmental change are used. Then, the flocking density and the resistance value of the conductive fur brush roller 114 are specified in advance, the DC voltage applied under this brush condition is set to an appropriate value, and the separation ratio of the collected toner and the reused toner is controlled. Therefore, the amount of toner to be collected can be set to an arbitrary value in advance at the time of manufacturing the main body of the apparatus, so that when the cleaner container 121 is downsized, the capacity can be optimally designed.

Embodiment 3 FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the power supply 115a applies a voltage obtained by superposing an oscillating voltage such as a sine wave or a rectangular wave to a DC voltage to the conductive fur brush roller 115, thereby controlling the separation ratio of the collected toner and the reused toner. I will disclose that.

FIG. 7 shows the relationship between the toner recovery rate and the change in the oscillating voltage due to the sine wave as the superimposed voltage applied to the fur brush roller. In addition, in FIG.
The relationship between the change in frequency of the vibration voltage applied to the fur brush roller as the superimposed voltage and the toner recovery rate is shown.

As shown in FIG. 7, the DC voltage of the superimposed voltage applied to the conductive fur brush roller 115 is -700.
V and the frequency of the oscillating voltage are fixed at 880 Hz, and as the oscillating voltage is increased, the toner recovery rate of the fur brush roller 115 increases. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the DC voltage of the superimposed voltage to be applied is fixed at −700 V and the frequency of the vibration voltage is fixed at 880 Hz. As the frequency of the vibration voltage is increased, the toner recovery rate of the fur brush roller 115 is increased. To do.

In this embodiment, by utilizing the above characteristics, the conductive fur brush roller 1 is used as in the second embodiment.
By setting the vibration voltage of the superimposed voltage applied to 15 or the frequency of the vibration voltage, or both, to an appropriate value,
The separation ratio of the collected toner and the reused toner can be adjusted. Therefore, as in the above-described embodiment, the cleaner container 1
It becomes possible to design the capacity optimally when the size of 21 is reduced.

Embodiment 4 FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.
In this embodiment, in order to improve the collection efficiency when the reused toner 102 from the photosensitive drum 1 is collected by the developing device 4 in the embodiment of FIG. 1, a pre-exposure is provided on the upstream side of the charging roller 2. The light source 14 was installed.

The surface of the photosensitive drum 1 which is negatively charged by the conductive fur brush roller 111 is attached to the pre-exposure light source 1.
By removing the static electricity with the uniform light from the photosensitive drum 4, the electrostatic attraction force of the toner 102 to be reused existing on the photosensitive drum 1 can be sufficiently removed.
The collection efficiency of 2 is improved.

According to this embodiment, even if the amount of toner to be reused increases, these toners can be reliably collected by the developing device 4, and high-quality images can be stably obtained.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the cleaning device is a process cartridge in which the photoconductor 1, the charging device 2, and the developing device 4, and in particular, the light source 14 in the fourth embodiment, are integrated to form a process cartridge. As a modification, the developing device may be removed. Further, the cleaning device may be configured such that the charging device 2 and the developing device 4 are integrated and the photoconductor is removed.

Further, the charger is not limited to the roller electrode, and may be a conventional corona charger. As for the developing device, toner supply is illustrated in each of the embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the life of the developing device may be terminated when the toner enclosed in the developing device is consumed.

[0040]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention described above is effective for a device which continues to be used with the cleaning device installed in the main body for a long period of time, such as output of 5000 pages to 20000 pages. Therefore, in the above-mentioned cartridge which is integrated with the developing device, the life of which ends when the pre-enclosed toner is consumed, it is effective that the developing device has a toner storage capacity of 10,000 pages or more. Is.

Further, since the present invention is effective in a structure in which the cleaning side cartridge is used for a long period of time, the present invention is effective even in a structure in which only the developing device is replaced when the enclosed toner is consumed. Is.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a process cartridge of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a method for measuring the resistance value of a conductive fur brush roller installed in the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of another process cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a relationship between an applied voltage and a toner recovery rate at different flocking densities of a conductive fur brush roller installed in the apparatus of FIG.

5 is a graph showing a relationship between an applied voltage and a toner recovery rate at different resistance values of a conductive fur brush roller installed in the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of the process cartridge according to the present invention.

7 is a graph showing the relationship between the vibration voltage of the superimposed voltage applied to the conductive fur brush roller installed in the apparatus of FIG. 3 and the toner recovery rate.

8 is a graph showing the relationship between the frequency of the oscillating voltage of the superimposed voltage applied to the conductive fur brush roller installed in the apparatus of FIG. 3 and the toner recovery rate.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of still another process cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a process cartridge of a conventional image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 Photosensitive drum 2 Charging roller 4 Developing device 7 Toner supply port 8 Transfer roller 14 Pre-exposure device 100 Transfer residual toner 101, 103 Waste toner 102 Uncollected toner 111, 114, 115 Conductive fur brush roller 112 Conductive Recovery roller 113 rubber blade 121 cleaner container

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Norihisa Hoshika 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (21)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning device for removing toner remaining on an image carrier after transferring the toner on the image carrier carrying a toner image to another member, the image carrier carrying the image after the transferring step. A conductive brush roller to which a bias voltage having the same polarity as that of the original toner is applied in order to remove the toner that has changed to a polarity opposite to the polarity of the original toner used for development among the residual toner on the body. , A roller-shaped electrode that comes into contact with the brush roller and is applied with a bias having a polarity opposite to that of the brush roller, and electrostatically adsorbs the toner adhered to the conductive brush, and the toner adhered to the roller-shaped electrode. Of the toner that remains on the image carrier after the transfer step,
The cleaning device is characterized in that the brush roller removes toner having a polarity opposite to that of the original toner, and allows passage of the toner having the original polarity. 2. The cleaning device according to claim 1 is disposed in the main body device so as to face the image carrier, and is integrally supported together with other image forming means used for image formation.
A process cartridge that is detachable from this main unit. 3. The process cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the image forming unit includes a cleaning device, an image carrier, a charging device, and a developing device. 4. The process cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the image forming unit includes a cleaning device, an image carrier, and a charging device. 5. A cleaning device for removing toner remaining on a photoconductor after the toner image is transferred onto the transfer material on the electrophotographic photoconductor, which remains on the photoconductor after the transfer step. Of the toner, a conductive brush that is rotated by applying a bias voltage having the same polarity as the original toner in order to remove the toner whose polarity has changed to the opposite polarity of the original toner used for development by the developing device. A roller, a roller-shaped electrode that is in contact with the brush roller, is applied with a bias having a polarity opposite to that of the brush roller, and electrostatically attracts toner adhering to the conductive brush; and It has a scraping means for scraping off the adhered toner by rubbing the electrodes, and of the toner remaining on the photoconductor after the transfer step, it has a polarity opposite to that of the original toner. Inverted toner removed by the brush roller, the passage of toner keeping the original polarity cleaning allows device. 6. The cleaning device according to claim 5 is arranged in the main body device so as to face the drum-shaped photoconductor, and is integrally supported with other image forming means used for image formation. A process cartridge that can be attached to and detached from. 7. The process cartridge according to claim 6, wherein the latent image forming means includes a cleaning device, a photoconductor, a charging device, and a developing device. 8. The process cartridge according to claim 6, wherein the latent image forming means includes a cleaning device, a photoconductor, and a charging device. 9. An image forming apparatus, comprising: transferring a toner on an image bearing member carrying a toner image to another member, and collecting the toner remaining on the image bearing member by a developing means for reuse. After the transfer process, of the residual toner on the image carrier, in order to remove the toner whose polarity has changed to the polarity opposite to the original toner used for development, a bias voltage of the same polarity as the original toner is applied. A conductive brush roller to be applied, and a roller-shaped electrode that is in contact with the brush roller and is applied with a bias having a reverse polarity to that of the brush roller to electrostatically adsorb the toner adhering to the conductive brush. A charging unit for forming a new toner image with a cleaning unit having a scraping unit for scraping off the toner adhering to the roller-shaped electrode and the toner passing through the cleaning unit. Of the toner remaining on the photoconductor after the transfer process, the toner having the polarity opposite to that of the original toner is removed by the cleaning means, and the original polarity is provided. An image forming apparatus that collects toner that retains its charge by developing means and reuses it. 10. The cleaning means is disposed in the main body device so as to face the image carrier, is integrally supported together with other image forming means used for image formation, and is removable from the main body device. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the image forming apparatus is configured in a process cartridge. 11. The image forming means used for the image formation further includes a charging means and a developing means.
0 image forming apparatus. 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the other image forming means used for the image formation includes a charging means. 13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the developing unit is used by replenishing toner. 14. An image forming apparatus, comprising: transferring a toner on a photoconductor on which a toner image is formed onto a transfer material, and collecting the toner remaining on the photoconductor by a developing device for reuse; Of the toner remaining on this photoreceptor after
In order to remove the toner whose polarity has changed to the polarity opposite to that of the original toner used for development, the conductive brush roller to which a bias voltage having the same polarity as the original toner is applied is brought into contact with the brush roller. , A bias having a polarity opposite to that of the brush roller is applied, and a roller-shaped electrode for electrostatically adsorbing the toner adhered to the conductive brush, and a scraping means for scraping off the toner adhered to the roller-shaped electrode are provided. With the cleaning device and the toner that has passed through the cleaning device,
It has a charging device for forming a new toner image, an optical system, and a developing device, and of the toner remaining on the photoconductor after the transfer process, it has a polarity opposite to that of the original toner. An image forming device that removes toner with a cleaning device, collects toner with its original polarity with a developing device, and reuses it. 15. The cleaning device is disposed in the main body device so as to face the photoconductor, and is integrally supported together with other image forming means used for image formation.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the image forming apparatus is detachably attached to the main body apparatus and is configured in a process cartridge. 16. The image forming apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the process cartridge includes a photoconductor, a charging device, and a developing device. 17. The image forming apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the process cartridge includes a photoconductor and a charger. 18. The brush roller is electrically conductive and has a voltage of 50V.
16. The image forming apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the DC voltage of 10 3 to 10 10 Ω is applied. 19. The image forming apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the brush roller rotates at a contact position with the photoconductor and at a peripheral speed different from the moving direction of the photoconductor in the same direction. 20. The image forming apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the brush roller has an oscillating voltage superimposed on a DC voltage. 21. The image forming apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the image forming means has an exposure optical system for uniformly exposing the photoconductor between the cleaning device and the charging device.