Patent ID: 7873298

Claim:
A cleaning device to remove residual toner particles on an image bearing member, comprising: a polarity control unit to control a charge polarity of residual toner particles; a cleaning member, a surface of which is movable, to electrostatically remove the residual toner particles, provided on a downstream side from the polarity control unit relative to a surface moving direction of the image bearing member; a toner collecting unit to collect the residual toner particles on the cleaning member; and a neutralizing member to neutralize the image bearing member, provided on a downstream side from the polarity control unit and an upstream side from the cleaning member relative to the surface moving direction of the image bearing member, wherein the polarity control unit includes a conductive elastic blade, the conductive elastic blade contacts the image bearing member against the direction of rotation of the image bearing member, and the neutralizing member is provided within a space formed by the conductive elastic blade between the conductive elastic blade and the cleaning member.