CLEANING DEVICE AND ITS CLEANING BRUSH DRIVING METHOD

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a device capable of preventing the clogging of a cleaning brush and maintaining stable cleaning ability for a long time by grasping time when the cleaning brush is reversely rotated and preventing the cleaning brush from being reversely rotated more than necessary. SOLUTION: The time when the cleaning brush is reversely rotated is grasped so as to prevent the cleaning brush from being reversely rotated more than necessary. The use amount of the cleaning brush 2 is measured by a control means related to printing amount after exchanging the cleaning device to the new one. In this device, the reversely rotating operation of the brush 2 is restrained in a period when the printing amount does not attain the previously set printing amount after exchanging the brush 2. Thus, the brush part of the new brush 2 whose rigidity is high and where the brush part is napped is prevented from being tilted in a reverse direction and the toner scattering to the outside of the cleaning device caused by the excessive abutting between the new brush and flicker members 3 and 4 is prevented.