Apparatus and method for cleaning residual toner from drums in image forming apparatus
AssigneesKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsTakeshi Watanabe, Masashi Takahashi, Minoru Yoshida
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for cleaning a plurality of drums in an image forming apparatus includes applying a first bias to each of a plurality of disturbing members, each disturbing member associated with a corresponding drum of a plurality of drums. While performing an image forming operation wherein at least one of the plurality of drums is not use, the bias is changed of a disturbing member corresponding to at least one of the plurality of drums not used in performing the image forming operation from the first bias to a second bias different from the first bias.
Claims25
A method for cleaning a plurality of drums in an image forming apparatus, comprising:
- applying a first bias to each of a plurality of disturbing members, each disturbing member associated with a corresponding drum of a plurality of drums;
- performing an image forming operation wherein at least one of the plurality of drums is not used;
- and
- changing the bias of a disturbing member corresponding to at least one of the plurality of drums not used in performing the image forming operation from the first bias to a second bias different from the first bias.
An image forming apparatus, comprising:
- a plurality of drums used for forming an image on an image receiving medium during an image forming operation;
- a plurality of disturbing members, each disturbing member associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of drums;
- a control unit configured to apply a first bias to each of the plurality of disturbing members and, when performing an image forming operation wherein at least one of the plurality of drums is not used, configured to change the bias of a disturbing member corresponding to at least one of the plurality of drums not used in performing the image forming operation from the first bias to a second bias different from the first bias.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.