Image forming apparatus

摘要

According to an embodiment, there is provided an image forming apparatus that forms a color image using a plurality of discolorable coloring materials and a plurality of non-discolorable coloring materials. In a case where insufficiency of at least one coloring material from among the plurality of discolorable coloring materials and the plurality of non-discolorable coloring materials is detected, the image forming apparatus performs color image formation using the plurality of discolorable coloring materials and the plurality of non-discolorable coloring material in combination.

主权项

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
an image forming unit configured to selectively perform a first image forming mode in which a color image is formed by using discolorable coloring materials of a plurality of colors, a second image forming mode in which a color image is formed by using non-discolorable coloring materials of a plurality of colors, and a third image forming mode in which a color image is formed by using at least one of the discolorable coloring materials and at least one of the non-discolorable coloring materials in combination; a detection unit configured to detect whether or not residual amounts of the discolorable coloring materials and the non-discolorable coloring materials are insufficient; a control unit configured to:
switch from the first image forming mode to the third image forming mode, and control color image formation of the third image forming mode by the image forming unit in a case where the detection unit detects insufficiency of a residual amount of the discolorable coloring material of less than a predetermined number of colors from among the discolorable coloring materials in the middle of the color image formation of the first image forming mode,switch from the first image forming mode to the second image forming mode and control color image formation of the second image forming mode by the image forming unit in a case where the detection unit detects insufficiency of residual amounts of the discolorable coloring materials of the predetermined number of colors or more than the predetermined number of colors from among the discolorable coloring materials in the middle of the color image formation of the first image forming mode,switch from the second image forming mode to the third image forming mode and control image formation of the third image forming mode by the image forming unit in a case where the detection unit detects insufficiency of a residual amount of the non-discolorable coloring material of less than a predetermined number of colors from among the non-discolorable coloring material in the middle of the color image formation of the second image forming mode, andswitch from the second image forming mode to the first image forming mode and control color image formation of the first image forming mode by the image forming unit in a case where the detection unit detects insufficiency of residual amounts of the non-discolorable coloring materials of the predetermined number of colors or more than the predetermined number of colors from among the non-discolorable coloring materials in the middle of the color image formation of the second image forming mode.