Patent ID: 7433626

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a rotatable image bearing member for bearing a toner image; toner image forming means for forming the toner image on said image bearing member; a transfer member for transferring the toner image formed on said image bearing member onto a transfer material; a power source for applying a voltage; and a cleaning member for electrostatically collecting toner remaining on said image bearing member after the toner image is transferred onto the transfer material, by being supplied from said power source with a voltage which has an absolute value smaller than an absolute value of an electrical discharge start voltage and which has a preset polarity, wherein said image forming apparatus is capable of discharging toner from said cleaning member by applying, from said power source to said cleaning member, a voltage which has an absolute value equal to or larger than the absolute value of the electrical discharge start voltage and which has an identical polarity to the preset polarity.