Patent ID: 7813690

Claim:
A cleaning device for removing a toner attached to an image carrier of an electrophotographic-type image forming apparatus, the cleaning device comprising: a cleaning blade that is in contact with a surface of the image carrier to remove the toner; a housing that stores the toner removed by the cleaning blade; and a block member that causes the toner to temporarily remain in a vicinity of a distal end of the cleaning blade, the block member being formed of a sheet-shaped elastic member, one side of the block member being fixed to the housing, wherein the block member defines a plurality of holes that are arranged along a longitudinal direction, and the holes are positioned in a widthwise direction of the block member so that the holes in an end portion in the longitudinal direction are nearer than the one side fixed to the housing than the holes in a center portion, and the end portion of the block member, in the longitudinal direction, exerting a repulsive force that is substantially smaller than a repulsive force exerted by the center portion of the block member.