Patent ID: 7292816

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image bearing member configured to bear an electrostatic latent image on a surface thereof; a developing mechanism configured to develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the image bearing member into a toner image with toner; a transfer mechanism configured to transfer the toner image from the image bearing member to an image receiver; and a cleaning mechanism, comprising: a cleaning blade configured to scrape a residual toner on the surface of the image bearing member after the toner image has been transferred to the image receiver, the cleaning blade disposed in contact with the image bearing member and having a JIS-A hardness greater than or equal to 70, a repulsion elasticity lesser than or equal to 30% and a modulus of flexural rigidity at a point that is 5 mm away from a fulcrum of the cleaning blade is equal to or greater than 400 mN; and a friction reducing member configured to reduce a coefficient of friction on the surface of the image bearing member.