Patent ID: 7826764

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming device that forms an image developed by a toner, and that transfers the image; an intermediate transfer member that is rotated while holding the toner image transferred from the image forming device; a secondary transferring device that secondary-transfers the toner image held by the intermediate transfer member, to a sheet; a first cleaning member that cleans the surface of the intermediate transfer member which has been passed through the secondary transferring device, in a state where the first cleaning member is in contact with a surface of the intermediate transfer member; a second cleaning member that cleans the surface of the intermediate transfer member downstream of the first cleaning member in a rotation direction, in a state where the second cleaning member is in contact with a surface of the intermediate transfer member; a contacting/separating device that displaces the first cleaning member to a state where the first cleaning member is in contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer member, and a state where the first cleaning member is separated from the surface of the intermediate transfer member; a release-agent applying device that applies a release agent in a state where the release-agent applying device is in contact with a surface of the intermediate transfer member, the surface of the intermediate transfer member being downstream in the rotation direction from a position that the second cleaning member is in contact with the intermediate transfer member, and the surface of the intermediate transfer member being upstream in the rotation direction from a member that is first in contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer member on the downstream in the rotation direction from a position that the second cleaning member is in contact with the intermediate transfer member; and a controlling unit which controls the contacting/separating device so that, at a predetermined timing, the first cleaning member is displaced to the state where the first cleaning member is separated from the surface of the intermediate transfer member.