Patent ID: 7756462

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image carrier that carries an electrostatic latent image; a developing unit that develops the electrostatic latent image on the image carrier into a toner image; a transfer unit that transfers the toner image carried on the image carrier onto a transfer medium; a cleaning unit that cleans residual toner, having not been transferred by the transfer unit, from the image carrier, the cleaning unit including a cleaning roller member provided in contact with the image carrier and supplied with a predetermined bias voltage, having a surface layer of a conductive fiber cloth provided on an elastic layer, and a conductive roller member provided in contact with the cleaning roller member and supplied with a predetermined bias voltage; and a controller that controls at least one of operations of the developing unit, the transfer unit and the cleaning unit, the controller causing the surface layer of the cleaning roller member to hold toner of a predetermined amount.