Image forming apparatus that selectively recycles developer

摘要

An image forming apparatus that includes an image bearer, a developing device to develop a latent image, a transfer device to transfer a developed image from the image bearer, a developer collecting device to collect developer remaining on the image bearer, and a waste-developer container to contain developer to be disposed. The apparatus also includes a switching determiner to perform a determination of a preferred transfer amount of developer in a target period, an estimation of an accumulative consumption of developer in the target period, a determination of whether to dispose or reuse collected developer, and a determination of whether to perform switching between disposal and reuse of the collected developer based on comparison between the preferred transfer amount and the estimated accumulative consumption of developer. The apparatus also includes a switching controller to cause the developer collecting device to perform the switching between disposal and reuse.

主权项

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
an image bearer to bear a latent image; a developing device to develop the latent image with developer; a transfer device to transfer a developed image from the image bearer onto a recording medium; a developer collecting device to collect developer remaining on the image bearer; a waste-developer container to contain developer to be disposed, a switching determiner to perform:
determination of a preferred transfer amount of developer in a target period;estimation of an accumulative consumption of developer in the target period;determination of whether to dispose or reuse collected developer collected by the developer collecting device from the image bearer; anddetermination of whether to perform switching between disposal and reuse of the collected developer based on comparison between the preferred transfer amount and the estimated accumulative consumption of developer; a switching controller to cause the developer collecting device to perform the switching between disposal and reuse according to determination made by the switching determiner; an accumulative waste amount estimator to estimate an accumulative waste amount meaning an amount of developer disposed in the waste-developer container in the target period; and a transfer amount estimator to estimate an accumulative transfer amount in the target period, wherein the switching determiner estimates the accumulative consumption of developer based on the accumulative waste amount and the accumulative transfer amount.