Image forming apparatus and cleaning device for transfer material conveyor belt

A cleaning device for cleaning a desired surface, comprising:

• a webbing pressed against the desired surface and movable relative to the desired surface;
• a rotatable presser member in a form of a roller having ridges on an outer periphery thereof, said presser member pressing said webbing against the desired surface with said outer periphery, wherein said ridges comprising a plurality of projections each extending in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the desired surface and said webbing move relative to each other, said projections including edge portions at ends of projections contacting said webbing, and wherein at least two of said plurality of projections are arranged in said direction in a cleaning range, wherein said cleaning range is an area over which said projections press said webbing against the desired surface;
• and
• a conveying mechanism for conveying said webbing.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium to which a toner image is to be transferred from an image carrier, to an image transfer position facing a surface of said image carrier;
• and
• a cleaning device for cleaning a surface of said conveyor belt;
• said cleaning device comprising:
• a webbing pressed against said surface of said conveyor belt and movable relative to said surface;
• and
• a presser member for pressing said webbing against said surface of said conveyor belt with a contact surface of said presser member, wherein said presser member comprises a plurality of projections each extending in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the desired surface and said webbing move relative to each other, said projections including edge portions at ends of projections contacting said webbing, and wherein at least two of said plurality of projections are arranged in said direction in a cleaning range, wherein said cleaning range is an area over which said projections press said webbing against the desired surface.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium to which a toner image is to be transferred from an image carrier, to an image transfer position facing a surface of said image carrier;
• and
• a cleaning device for cleaning a surface of said conveyor belt;
• said cleaning device comprising:
• a webbing pressed against said surface of said conveyor belt and movable relative to said surface;
• a rotatable presser member in a form of a roller having ridges on an outer periphery thereof, said presser member pressing said webbing against said surface of said conveyor belt with said outer periphery, wherein said ridges comprise a plurality of projections each extending in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the desired surface and said webbing move relative to each other, said projections including edge portions at ends of projections contacting said webbing, and wherein at least two of said plurality of projections are arranged in said direction in a cleaning range, wherein said cleaning range is an area over which said projections press said webbing against the desired surface;
• and
• a conveying mechanism for conveying said webbing.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium to which a toner image is to be transferred from an image carrier, to an image transfer position facing a surface of said image carrier;
• a cleaning device for cleaning a surface of said conveyor belt by pressing a webbing against said surface and based on relative movement of said surface and said webbing;
• and
• control means for controlling a cleaning operation of said cleaning device in accordance with an operating condition of said image forming apparatus, wherein said control means controls said cleaning device such that an initial stage of operation of said apparatus following power-up, said cleaning device cleans said surface of said conveyor belt a greater number of times than at a time of usual cleaning to occur during image formation.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium to which a toner image is to be transferred from an image carrier, to an image transfer position facing a surface of said image carrier;
• a cleaning device for cleaning a surface of said conveyor belt by pressing a webbing against said surface and based on relative movement of said surface and said webbing;
• and
• control means for controlling a cleaning operation of said cleaning device in accordance with an operating condition of said image forming apparatus wherein said control means causes, at a time of recovery from an error, said webbing to contact said surface with a greater force than at a time of usual cleaning to occur during image formation.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium to which a toner image is to be transferred from an image carrier, to an image transfer position facing a surface of said image carrier;
• a cleaning device for cleaning a surface of said conveyor belt by pressing a webbing against said surface and based on relative movement of said surface and said webbing;
• sensing means for sensing a degree of contamination of said surface;
• and
• control means for controlling said cleaning device on the basis of the degree of contamination sensed by said sensing means, wherein said control means causes said sensing means to sense the degree of contamination at an initial stage of operation of said apparatus following power-up, and causes said surface if said conveyor belt and said webbing to move relative to each other until an output of said sensing means indicates a degree of contamination below a preselected degree.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium to which a toner image is to be transferred from an image carrier, to an image transfer position facing a surface of said image carrier;
• a cleaning device for cleaning a surface of said conveyor belt by pressing a webbing against said surface and based on relative movement of said surface and said webbing;
• sensing means for sensing a degree of contamination of said surface;
• and
• control means for controlling said cleaning device on the basis of the degree of contamination sensed by said sensing means wherein said control means causes said sensing means to sense the degree of contamination during image formation, and interrupts, when the degree of contamination is above a preselected degree, the image formation, causes said cleaning device to clean said surface of said conveyor belt, and again causes said sensing means to sense the degree of contamination during cleaning, and resumes the image formation when the degree of contamination decreases below said preselected degree.