Patent ID: 9696663
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: G03G

Claim:
1. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a developer bearing member that bears developer to which externally added particles have been added; an image bearing member that is in contact with the developer bearing member and on which an electrostatic latent image formed on a surface of the image bearing member is developed; an intermediate transfer member to which a developer image developed on the surface of the image bearing member is transferred; and a cleaning member that is in contact with the image bearing member and cleans the surface of the image bearing member, wherein the developer bearing member and the image bearing member are configured to be separable in a non-image-formation period in which the development of the electrostatic latent image is not performed, wherein a cleaning operation, in which the developer borne by the intermediate transfer member is transferred to the image bearing member and removed from the surface of the image bearing member with the cleaning member, is executable in the non-image-formation period, wherein the image bearing member is in contact with the developer bearing member and the intermediate transfer member at least within a period in which the cleaning operation is executed within the non-image-formation period, wherein a first mode, in which the developer bearing member and the image bearing member are not brought into contact with each other, and a second mode, in which the developer bearing member and the image bearing member are brought into contact with each other, are selectively executable in a period in which the cleaning operation is executed, and wherein the second mode is executed at least within the non-image-formation period immediately after an image formation period in which the development of the electrostatic latent image is performed.