Patent ID: 8036585

Claim:
A lubricant supplying unit, comprising: a rotary lubricant supplying member to contact a surface of an image carrier to rotate with the image carrier; a lubricant; a lubricant holder to hold the lubricant; and a pressing member to press the lubricant toward the rotary lubricant supplying member either directly or via an intermediate transfer member, the rotary lubricant supplying member rotating to scrape the lubricant to supply the scraped lubricant to the image carrier, wherein the lubricant holder comprises an opening facing the rotary lubricant supplying member and a recessed portion defined by side faces facing each other and a bottom face having an arc-shaped recess to accommodate the lubricant therewithin, and wherein the side faces of the recessed portion of the lubricant holder support at least the entire side face of the lubricant in the cross-section of the lubricant and the lubricant holder in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the rotary lubricant supplying member.