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, 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 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 electrostatic collecting device including a collecting unit facing a surface of an object to be cleaned, electrostatically collecting objects to be collected existing on the surface of the object to be cleaned, and having a rotating body and a brush provided on a surface of the rotating body; a charging unit having an insulating member rubbing against the collecting unit and charging the collecting unit by the insulating member; and a charge removing unit contacting a surface of the charging unit, electrically grounded to remove charge from the surface of the charging unit, and having a conductive brush, charge removing needle, or conductive sheet contacting the charging unit.

A cleaning device includes a first rotating member including a first adsorption portion configured to electrostatically adsorb an object to be collected from a surface to be cleaned, a second rotating member including a second adsorption portion configured to electrostatically adsorb the object to be collected from the first adsorption portion, a removable unit for removing the object to be collected adsorbed to the second adsorption portion, a housing container for housing the object to be collected, and a sealing member disposed between an end of the second adsorption portion in a longitudinal direction along a rotational axis of the second rotating member and the housing container. The cleaning device includes a regulating member for regulating a position of an end surface of the first adsorption portion to be inside of a contact region between the sealing member and the second adsorption portion in the longitudinal direction.

An electrostatic collecting device includes a rotatable collecting body including a collecting member for forming a collecting portion in contact with an object-to-be-cleaned and formed of an insulator, wherein the rotatable collecting body rubs the object-to-be-cleaned in the collecting portion with the collecting member by rotation thereof, and collects, in the collecting member, a substance-to-be-collected from the object-to-be-cleaned moved relative to the collecting portion; a removing member for removing the substance-to-be-collected from the collecting member; and a charge-removing member provided opposed to the object-to-be-cleaned on a side downstream of the collecting portion with respect to a movement direction of the object-to-be-cleaned relative to the collecting portion. The charge-removing member constitutes at least a part of at least one of the rotatable collecting body and the removing member. The charge-removing member is electrically connected to an electric conductor which is in non-contact with the object-to-be-cleaned.

A sheet characteristic detection device includes: a detector that is disposed on a sheet ejection path through which a sheet is ejected and that detects an electrical resistance value of the sheet; and a charge neutralizer that is disposed on a downstream side of the detector on the sheet ejection path and that neutralizes electric charge on the sheet.

An image forming apparatus includes a toner image bearer, a transfer device, a cleaner, a bias power source, and circuitry. The toner image bearer bears a toner image. The transfer device performs a transfer process. The cleaner contacts the toner image bearer to remove transfer residual toner that is subject to the transfer process and remove untransferred toner that is not subject to the transfer process. The bias power source applies one of a first bias and a second bias different from the first bias to the cleaner. The circuitry controls the bias power source to output the first bias to the cleaner in response to a start of an image forming operation to remove the untransferred toner from the toner image bearer and control the bias power source to switch an output from the first bias to the second bias.