Image forming apparatus

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes an image carrying member, an image forming mechanism, an optical sensor, and a controller. The image forming mechanism performs an image forming operation for forming a reference toner image on the image carrying member under a specific setting associated with the image forming mechanism. The optical sensor is arranged in a vicinity to the image carrying member. The controller performs an optical toner test for checking, by using the optical sensor, optical characteristics of the reference toner image formed on the image carrying member and to adjust the specific setting based on a result of the optical toner test.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, and a facsimile that adjusts and controls conditions for forming a toner image at a predetermined timing. Background technique [0002] Until now, adjustment and control of image creation conditions have been performed based on the existence or non-existence of predetermined conditions, such as whether it is immediately after the power is turned on, or whether the number of printed sheets has reached a predetermined number. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-284556, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-236402, Japanese Patent No. 2004-354623, and Japanese Patent No. 3500008 disclose image forming apparatuses using these techniques. In the adjustment control of such image making conditions, for example, at first, the light emitted by the optical sensor light emitting device (such as LED) is reflected on the surface of the photoreceptor as the latent image ca...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

This will result in prolongation of the implementation time of the adjustment control of the image production conditions.

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