Examples of refreshing a photoconductive layer in an image forming apparatus are described. In one example, a method comprises performing a first refreshing cycle comprising applying, at a first refresh unit, a first refresh voltage to the photoconductive layer and applying, at a second refresh unit, a second refresh voltage to the photoconductive layer. A second refreshing cycle is performed comprising applying, at the first refresh unit, a third refresh voltage to the photoconductive layer, the third refresh voltage being higher than the first refresh voltage and higher than the second refresh voltage. Each of the first and second refreshing cycles electrically bias the photoconductive layer to a refresh polarity opposite to a print polarity applied during a print routine of the image forming apparatus.

Provided is an image forming apparatus including an image bearer capable of bearing a toner image, where a latent image is formed on the image bearer, a developing unit configured to develop the latent image formed on the image bearer with a toner, and a cleaning unit including a blade-shaped elastic body, where the elastic body is brought into contact with a surface of the image bearer, wherein a friction coefficient Ft/Fn between the image bearer and the elastic body is 0.85 or greater but 1.1 or less, and self-excited vibration WRFt(LMH) of shear force of the elastic body in a LMH band is 1.5 gf or greater but 3.5 gf or less.

In an example of a method for reducing contamination, a purified imaging oil is formed by filtering an imaging oil through an imaging oil filter, and then filtering the imaging oil through a polar absorbent filter. A surface of an amorphous silicon photoconductor of a liquid electrophotographic printing apparatus is maintained by periodically applying the purified imaging oil to the amorphous silicon photoconductor.

An image forming apparatus includes: a lubricant supply section that supplies a lubricant of a lubricant rod extending along an axial direction of an image bearing member onto the image bearing member; and a hardware processor that controls displacement of a sheet conveyance member so as to displace a sheet along a width direction of the sheet. The hardware processor performs control of changing a position in the axial direction of the toner image formed on the image bearing member on the basis of a distribution status of a toner in the axial direction in a toner image formed on the image bearing member, and controls displacement of the sheet conveyance member after a tip end of the sheet in the conveyance direction enters the transfer section so that a sheet position in a width direction of an image transferred onto the sheet is correct in the transfer section.

An image forming apparatus comprising: an image bearing member, a developing member that forms a toner image with a toner including a metal soap having a polarity opposite to that of the toner, a supply member that supplies the toner to the developing member, and a control unit that executes a metal soap supply operation of supplying the metal soap from the developing member to the image bearing member when an operation other than the image forming operation is executed, wherein the metal soap supply operation includes a first mode and a second mode, and a potential difference between the supply member and the developing member, which causes an electrostatic force in the direction from the supply member to the developing member to act on the metal soap, is smaller in the metal soap supply operation in the second mode than in the first mode.

Provided is a lubricant levelling blade (104) including an elastic member (1042) configured to contact a surface of an image bearer (3) to apply a lubricant to the surface of the image bearer. A contact surface (104c) of the elastic member with the image bearer is a polyurethane elastomer. A Martens hardness HM of the contact surface of the elastic member with the image bearer is 1.5 N/mm.sup.2 or higher but 30.0 N/mm.sup.2 or lower.

An image forming apparatus includes: an image carrier to which a lubricant is applied; a developing device that develops an electrostatic latent image carried on the image carrier with toner, and includes a casing accommodating a toner-containing developer and a developing sleeve supplying the image carrier with the toner contained in the developer accommodated in the casing; and a hardware processor that detects information indicating a state of lubricant adhesion to the developing sleeve, and performs, based on a result of the detection by the hardware processor, a lubricant removing operation as an operation for removing the lubricant adhering to the developing sleeve.

An image bearing member unit and a developing unit are respectively configured to be attachable to and detachable from an apparatus main body of an image forming apparatus, the image bearing member unit has a first memory that stores information related to a toner amount during a toner supply in accordance with a drive amount of the image bearing member, the developing unit has a second memory that stores information related to a toner amount during the toner supply in accordance with a use amount of the developing unit, and a control device controls, during the toner supply, the toner supply with a toner amount based on the information stored in the first memory and the information stored in the second memory.

An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier carrying a toner image, a developing device, and a cleaning blade. The developing device carries out developing process feeding toner to the image carrier during image forming. The cleaning blade comes into contact with the image carrier and removes waste toner remained on the image carrier. In order to restrain turning-up of the cleaning blade, turning-up restraining process is carried out to feed the toner from the developing device to the image carrier during non-image forming, every time a given cumulative printing number of image forming operation is finished. In the turning-up restraining process, larger toner is fed to the image carrier as a given small size printing number in the cumulative printing number becomes larger.

An image formation apparatus having a lubricant application apparatus applying lubricant to an image carrier in an image former, in which the lubricant application apparatus includes: a lubricant stick; an application member disposed on an upstream side in an advancing direction of the image carrier surface with respect to a cleaning apparatus pressing lubricant supplied to the image carrier to form a film, supplying lubricant scraped off from the lubricant stick to the image carrier, and removing residual toner adhering to the image carrier; and a recovery member in contact with the application member, and recovering toner adhering to the application member, and the image formation apparatus includes a hardware processor controlling a lubricant amount on the image carrier by changing each of removability of residual toner on the image carrier by the application member, and recoverability of residual toner on the application member by the recovery member.