| US 7,486,913 B2 | ||
| Apparatus and method for cleaning residual toner from drums in an image forming apparatus | ||
| Takeshi Watanabe, Kanagawa-ken (Japan); Masashi Takahashi, Kanagawa-ken (Japan); and Minoru Yoshida, Tokyo (Japan) | ||
| Assigned to Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo (Japan); and Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo (Japan) | ||
| Filed on Feb. 22, 2007, as Appl. No. 11/677,807. | ||
| Application 11/677807 is a division of application No. 11/091600, filed on Mar. 29, 2005, granted, now 7,349,652. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0140734 A1, Jun. 21, 2007 | ||
| This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer. | ||
| Int. Cl. G03G 15/30 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 399—149 | 18 Claims |
| 1. An image forming method, comprising:
providing a plurality of drums arranged serially one behind the other along a path of movement of an image forming medium;
providing a plurality of disturbing members, each disturbing member associated with a corresponding drum of the plurality
of drums;
applying a first bias to each of the disturbing members;
performing an image forming operation using at least one drum selected from the plurality of drums;
identifying at least one drum not involved in the image forming operation; and
changing the bias of at least one disturbing member associated with said identified drum from the first bias to a second bias
different from the first bias during the image forming operation,
wherein each of the plurality of disturbing members collects toner from a surface of the corresponding drum when set to the
first bias and ejects toner to the surface of the corresponding drum when set to the second bias.
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