An image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a cleaning brush positioned upstream of a blade nip in the direction of movement of the surface of a photoconductive drum. To prevent toner from accumulating at the blade nip, the surface of the photoconductive drum is moved in the direction opposite to the regular direction for image formation, conveying toner accumulated in a wedge-shaped space upstream of the blade nip 2n to a position where the cleaning brush removes it. With this configuration, the image forming apparatus can stably clear spherical toner particles left on the drum over a long period of time.