Image forming apparatus featuring application of superimposed DC and AC voltages and DC voltage

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• an image bearing member;
• a flexible charging member for forming a nip portion with said image bearing member and for charging said image bearing member, said nip portion being provided with conductive particles;
• and
• developing means for developing an electrostatic image formed on said image bearing member with a developer, said developing means being capable of collecting a remaining developer on said image bearing member,
• wherein when a first area to be an image forming area of said image bearing member is present in said nip portion, a superimposed voltage resulting from a direct current voltage and an alternating voltage having a peak to peak voltage smaller than an alternating voltage applied when a charging potential of said image bearing member is converged is applied to said charging member, and
• wherein when a second area to be a non-image area of said image bearing member is present in said nip portion, a direct current voltage without an alternating voltage is applied to said charging member.