Patent ID: 7668479

Claim:
An image forming apparatus which forms a toner image on a sheet, comprising: (a) a plurality of exposure sections each which imagewise exposes based on image data; (b) a plurality of photoreceptors each for forming an electrostatic latent image by the imagewise exposure of the exposure section; (c) an intermediate transfer member, onto which respective color toner images formed on the plurality of photoreceptors are transferred; (d) a primary transfer section which executes a first transfer by superimposing respective color toner images formed on the plurality of photoreceptors onto the intermediate transfer member; (e) a secondary transfer section including a transfer roller in contact with the intermediate transfer member, which concurrently transfers a plurality of toner images superimposed and formed on the intermediate transfer member onto a sheet conveyed from a sheet feed tray, the secondary transfer section and a high voltage power source which applies voltage to the transfer roller; (f) a sheet feed tray including a sheet sensor which detects sheet exhaustion; and (g) a controller which judges whether there is residual toner, which is a toner image formed onto the intermediate transfer member but not transferred onto the sheet when the sheet sensor detects the sheet exhaustion, and executes a cleaning mode in which the transfer roller is cleaned when there is the residual toner.