Patent ID: 7596331

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a rotatable image bearing member; a charging member for electrically charging said image bearing member in contact with said image bearing member; an exposure device for exposing said image bearing member electrically charged by said charging member to light, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image; developing means for collecting toner from said image bearing member and for developing the electrostatic latent image into a toner image on said image bearing member; a belt member; a transfer member for transferring the toner image toward said belt member at a transfer position; removing means for removing toner on said belt member; an auxiliary charging brush member for electrically charging toner remaining on said image bearing member after transferring the toner image, said auxiliary charging brush member contacting said image bearing member at a position downstream from the transfer position and upstream from said charging member with respect to a movement direction of said image bearing member, wherein a contact area is a portion of said image bearing member in contact with said auxiliary charging brush member before rotation of said image bearing member begins; and voltage control means for applying an identical polarity voltage, which is a voltage having a polarity identical to a normal charge polarity of the toner, to said transfer member for at least a period of time from when the contact area first reaches the transfer position to a time when the contact area passes through and departs from the transfer position.