An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a charging member, an exposing device, a developing device, a transfer member, and a rubbing member. The image bearing member includes a plurality of recess portions on a surface thereof The rubbing member is configured to come into contact with the image bearing member to form a rubbing nip portion between the rubbing member and the image bearing member. The recess portions each have an opening portion whose maximum length in the rotational direction is 20 m to 120 m. When a linear speed of the image bearing member in the rubbing nip portion is S1 and a linear speed of the rubbing member in the same direction as the linear speed of the image bearing member in the rubbing nip portion is S2, a relationship of a linear speed ratio of S2/S1<1.0 is satisfied.

An example method of performing a null cycle in a liquid electrographic printer is described. The method involves collecting, at a photo imaging plate cleaning station, imaging oil deposited on a photo imaging plate during a print cycle. During a null cycle, the photo imaging plate cleaning station is controlled to apply the collected imaging oil to the photo imaging plate.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes: an image carrier that carries and conveys a toner image; a charging member arranged in contact with or close to the image carrier; a charging power supply that charges the image carrier; an exposurer that forms a latent image on the charged image carrier; a developing member arranged close to the image carrier; a developing power supply that develops the latent image and forms a toner image on the image carrier; a transfer member that transfers the toner image to a medium; and a hardware processor that controls the image forming apparatus, wherein the hardware processor obtains a potential of an exposure part and a non-exposure part, on the image carrier after the toner image has been transferred to the medium, determines a charging bias based on a difference between the obtained potentials, and determines a developing bias based on the determined charging bias.

A solid lubricant application device includes: a rotating body; a solid lubricant applied to the rotating body; a resilient urging member that causes the solid lubricant to abut toward a circumferential surface of the rotating body; and a guide mechanism that guides movement of the solid lubricant. When a straight line parallel to a direction in which the solid lubricant abuts against the rotating body is referred to as a first straight line, and a straight line parallel to a direction in which the resilient urging member and the solid lubricant are connected is referred to as a second straight line, the guide mechanism guides the movement of the solid lubricant such that an intersecting angle, which is a smaller one of angles formed by the first straight line and the second straight line, decreases as the solid lubricant is applied to the rotating body and accordingly changed in shape.

A drive transmission device, which is included in an image forming apparatus, includes an output body, an input body, and an intermediate body. The output body has a drive output portion. The input body has a drive input portion. The intermediate body is supported by a support side body that is one of the output body and the input body. The intermediate body includes a relay portion to receive a driving force applied by the drive output portion and to transmit the driving force to the drive input portion, and a retaining portion to prevent the intermediate body from falling from the support side body. A distance from a center of rotation of the intermediate body to a leading end of the retaining portion is greater than or equal to a distance from the center of rotation of the intermediate body to a leading end of the relay portion.

An image forming apparatus includes a control unit that causes a supply operation to form a predetermined toner image and supplies toner of the predetermined toner image to a contact portion between a cleaning member and a photosensitive member at a non-image forming time. During at least a period in which toner of the predetermined toner image on the photosensitive member passes through a transfer unit during the supply operation, the control unit causes application of a pass-through voltage having the same polarity as a normal charge polarity of the toner and an absolute value that is less than an electric potential of a portion that is exposed by an exposure device of the photosensitive member, or having a reverse polarity that is reverse to the normal charge polarity of the toner to be applied from the transfer power supply to the transfer member.

An image forming apparatus includes: an image bearing member on which an electrostatic latent image is formable; and a developing device including a developer carrying member, a container, and a supply roller, wherein when the developing device including the developer carrying member, to which a lubricant different from the developer is applied, is used for the first time, a first initial operation of transferring the lubricant from the developer carrying member to the image bearing member together with the developer is performed, and wherein the image forming apparatus further includes: a storage unit configured to store a suspension state when suspension is detected before the initial operation completes; and a controller configured to execute a second initial operation as an operation of resuming the suspended first initial operation on the basis of the stored suspension state.

An image forming apparatus includes a photoreceptor that includes a conductive substrate, a photosensitive layer, and an inorganic surface layer arranged in that order, the inorganic surface layer containing a group 13 element and oxygen; a charging unit; an electrostatic image-forming unit; a developing unit; a transfer unit; a cleaning unit that performs cleaning by causing the cleaning blade to contact the surface of the photoreceptor; and a supply unit that supplies a fatty acid metal salt to a position where the cleaning blade in the cleaning unit contacts the photoreceptor. When the fatty acid metal salt is supplied, a portion of the surface of the photoreceptor downstream of the supply unit and upstream of the cleaning unit in a rotating direction of the photoreceptor is covered with a metal derived from the fatty acid metal salt at a coverage of about 40% or more.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes a latent image bearer to rotate and bear a latent image, a charging device to charge the a latent image bearer, a developing device to develop the latent image with developer including toner and use a developing voltage including an AC component, and a lubricant applicator to apply lubricant onto a surface of the latent image bearer. An amount of the lubricant applied by the lubricant applicator onto the latent image bearer per centimeter in an axial direction of the latent image bearer is equal to or greater than 0.845 mg for a running distance of 1.0 kilometer of the latent image bearer, and a difference between a largest value and a smallest value of the developing voltage is in a range of 200 V to 400 V.

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a toner image forming portion, a transfer member, a cleaning member, and a controller configured to carry out a process for notifying information on a lifetime of the image bearing member on the basis of information on contact pressure of the cleaning member to the image bearing member.