Image forming apparatus and method of stopping cleaning its image carrier

摘要

An internal temperature (T1) in the vicinity of a secondary transfer position (38) and an outside air temperature (T2) are obtained by an internal temperature sensor (71) and an outside air temperature sensor (72), respectively. Based on the obtained internal temperature (T1) and outside air temperature (T2), temperature distribution is estimated in a region from an internal temperature sensing position (38) to a cleaning blade (37) on a rotational path of an intermediate transfer belt (31). At an end of an image forming job, when the region includes a safety position where the temperature is equal to a safety temperature (Ts) at which there is no possibility that remaining toner adheres to the intermediate transfer belt (31), the intermediate transfer belt (31) is stopped rotating when a rear end, with respect to a rotational direction (A) of the intermediate transfer belt (31), of an area of the intermediate transfer belt (31) on which the toner remains reaches the safety position. When the region does not include the safety position, the intermediate transfer belt (31) is stopped rotating after the cleaning blade (37) has removed the remaining toner. This maintains a favorable image quality by preventing the remaining toner from adhering to an image carrier such as the intermediate transfer belt whilst extending the life of the image carrier and reducing power consumption.