Apparatus and method for cleaning a belt of an image forming apparatus

A device for transferring an image formed on an image carrier to a sheet, comprising:

• a transfer belt movable into contact with an outer periphery of said image carrier;
• a power source;
• charging means, connected to the power source, for charging said transfer belt so that an image on the image carrier is attracted to the sheet while the sheet is on the transfer belt at a position proximate to the charging means;
• attracting means, connected to the power source and different from the charging means, for attracting particles off of the transfer belt;
• feedback means for feeding back an electrical state of said transfer belt;
• and
• control means, connected to the power source and the feedback means, for controlling the attracting means by controlling an electrical signal applied from said power source to at least one of said charging means and attracting means using electrical feedback from the feedback means such that the particles on the transfer belt are electrically attracted off of the transfer belt to the attracting means due to a voltage applied to the attracting means.

A method for cleaning particles from a transfer belt of an image forming apparatus, comprising the steps of:

• applying a first voltage to a first portion of the transfer belt;
• applying a voltage having a same polarity as the first voltage to a cleaning member in contact with a third portion of the transfer belt and cleaning the particles off of said transfer belt by transferring the particles to the cleaning member due to the voltage applied thereto;
• feeding back an electrical state of a second portion of the transfer belt;
• controlling a cleaning action by the cleaning member by controlling at least one of the voltages applied the first portion and third portion of the electrical belt using the electrical state of the second portion of the belt.