Patent ID: 7395005

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image carrier to carry a toner image formed based on image data, a cleaning blade to remove residual toner on the image carrier by being in contact with the image carrier at a first contacting point, a first roller which is in contact with the image carrier on an upstream side of the first contacting point in a rotational direction of the image carrier, the first roller having a property which does not cause magnetic force with the toner, and a toner storage portion structured to store the residual toner removed by the cleaning blade and to rub the image carrier with the stored residual toner, wherein the toner storage portion is located on an upstream side of the first contacting point in the rotational direction of the image carrier and the image carrier and the first roller form a part of a wall of the toner storage portion, and wherein a space area is maintained on the image carrier so that the stored residual toner in the toner storage portion does not rub the image carrier, between the first contacting point and a second contacting point, the second contacting point being a contacting point between the image carrier and an upper surface of the stored residual toner in the toner storage portion.