In a belt cleaning device, a pivot member supports a first rotation shaft of a cleaning roller in a rotatable manner, and is supported by a second rotation shaft of a collection roller. An elastic member keeps the cleaning roller contact with an endless belt at a position. A first seal portion, fixed to the pivot member, is in contact with the collection roller. A housing has a first space storing the cleaning roller and the collection roller, and a second space storing waste toner rubbed off from the collection roller by a blade. The housing supports the second rotation shaft. The second seal portion is fixed to one of an inner surface of the housing and the pivot member, and is in contact with the other. The blade, the first seal portion, and the second seal portion partition the housing into the first space and the second space.

An optical scanning device (12) includes cleaning holders (511, 512), light transmitting members (52), a linear member (54), a winding motor (55), and stoppers (56a, 56b). The two cleaning holders (511, 512) are coupled to the linear member (54). The linear member 54 is driven to circulate by the winding motor (55), whereby the two cleaning holders (511, 512) move and each cleaning member slides on a corresponding one of the light transmitting members (52). When the cleaning holders (511, 512) come into contact with the respective stoppers (56a, 56b), the stoppers (56a, 56b) restrict movement of the respective cleaning holders (511, 512) in one of directions of extension of the light transmitting members (52). A contact determining section (913) determines, based on a current value of the winding motor (55), that the cleaning holder (511, 512) has come into contact with the stopper (56a, 56b).

An image forming apparatus that forms an image on a transfer material in an image forming mode, includes: a photoreceptor rotatable in a predetermined rotation direction; a developer that forms a toner image on the photoreceptor using a two-component developing agent including toner and a carrier; a transferor that transfers the toner image on the photoreceptor onto the transfer material; a carrier collector that applies an electric field corresponding to a collecting bias to a carrier adhering to the photoreceptor to collect the carrier; a carrier detector that detects a carrier remaining on the photoreceptor after collecting the carrier by the carrier collector; and a hardware processor that sets the collecting bias in the image forming mode on the basis of the amount of carriers detected by the carrier detector when a carrier adhesion detecting mode for forcibly causing a carrier to adhere to the photoreceptor is executed.

An electrifier cleaning mechanism includes a cleaning member which makes contact with part of a long discharge member, a ball screw arranged in parallel with a longitudinal direction of the discharge member and rotatably supported, a drive source which rotates the ball screw in both of forward and reverse directions, a holding member which holds the cleaning member and has a screw hole in which a screw part of the ball screw is screwed, and rotation of which in a circumferential direction of the ball screw is regulated, and a pressing member which presses the holding member from a first end side of the discharge member toward a second end side thereof in the longitudinal direction.

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, an intermediate transfer belt, first, second, and third power sources, and a control unit. During print job execution, the control unit controls the third power source such that a discharge current supplied to the intermediate transfer belt is constant current controlled based on first and second power source current supply detection results. When changing from a first to a second discharge current, the control unit controls the third power source such that, after a first image forming region passes through a primary transfer portion, an intermediate transfer belt trailing edge to which the first discharge current is supplied initially passes through the primary transfer portion and such that, before a second image forming region passes through the primary transfer portion, an intermediate transfer belt leading edge to which the second discharge current is supplied initially passes through the primary transfer portion.

An embodiment provides an image forming apparatus that has a first operation mode and a second operation mode. The first operation mode forms an image on a sheet with toner. The second operation mode decolorizes the toner on the sheet on which the image is formed with a decolorable toner having a decoloring function. In the first operation mode, when the sheet passes through a transfer unit, a transfer bias having the same polarity as that of a charge of the toner is applied to the transfer member and a toner image formed on a surface of the transfer member is transferred to the sheet. In the second operation mode, when the sheet passes through the transfer unit, a cleaning bias having a reverse polarity to that of the transfer bias is applied to the transfer member.

An image forming apparatus includes a belt, a first process unit, a second process unit, and a controller configured to form a toner image based on a first pattern on a first photoconductive body of the first process unit. In addition, the controller is configured to transfer the toner image onto the belt, form an electrostatic latent image based on a second pattern on a second photoconductive body of the second process unit such that the electrostatic latent image formed on the second photoconductive body positionally coincides with the toner image transferred onto the belt in a contact position where the second photoconductive body contacts the belt, and convey the electrostatic latent image formed on the second photoconductive body to the contact position without developing the electrostatic latent image with toner.

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a charger that charges the surface of the image bearing member to positive polarity, a light exposure device that exposes the charged surface of the image bearing member to light to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the image bearing member, a development device that develops the electrostatic latent image into a toner image, a transfer device that transfers the toner image from the image bearing member to a transfer target, a cleaning member that collects toner attached to the surface of the image bearing member by contacting the surface of the image bearing member, and a controller that controls voltage to be applied to the cleaning member. The controller causes a first voltage with negative polarity to be applied to the cleaning member in a printing mode.

An image forming method in which a surface layer of an electrophotographic photosensitive member contains a compound having a specific structure in an amount of 0.1% to 10% by mass based on the total mass of the surface layer, and in a charged region of the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member charged in a charging step, a non-image forming region in which an electrostatic latent image is not formed is not irradiated with destaticizing light or is irradiated with reduced destaticizing light.

An image forming apparatus includes a carrier collection device including a rotatable collection roller disposed facing an image carrying member, a magnet non-rotatably disposed inside the sleeve, and a conductor member disposed facing the collection roller. The collection device being configured to collect carrier on the image carrying member. The apparatus includes a first bias application unit configured to apply a first bias obtained by superimposing a direct-current voltage and an alternating-current voltage, to the collection roller, and a second bias application unit configured to apply a second bias including a direct-current voltage, to the conductor member. During image forming operation, an alternating-current electric field is formed between the collection roller to which the first bias is applied and the conductor member to which the second bias is applied.