Image formation apparatus and method of adjusting developer discard amount for the same

摘要

An image formation apparatus includes an exposure unit to form an electrostatic latent image with image dots on a rotatable image carrier by exposing the image carrier to irradiation light, a development unit to form a developer image by attaching a developer to the electrostatic latent image, a voltage supply unit to supply the development unit with a development voltage, a cleaning unit to clean up the developer left on the image carrier after the development, and a developer discard amount controller to control an amount of the developer to be forcibly attached to the image carrier based on a total rotation number of the image carrier if the number of image dots printed during a prescribed number of rotations of the image carrier is smaller than a reference value, and to forcibly attach the controlled amount of the developer to the image carrier to discard the developer.

主权项

1. An image formation apparatus comprising:
a rotatable image carrier configured to carry an electrostatic latent image; an exposure unit configured to form the electrostatic latent image with a certain number of image dots by exposing the image carrier to irradiation light; a development unit configured to form a developer image by attaching a developer to the electrostatic latent image with a development voltage; a voltage supply unit configured to supply the development unit with the development voltage; an image formation unit configured to transfer the developer image onto a recording medium; a cleaning unit configured to cleanup the developer left on the image carrier after the transfer of the developer image; and a developer discard amount controller configured to control an amount of the developer to be forcibly attached to the image carrier from the development unit on the basis of a total number of rotations of the image carrier if the number of image dots printed during a prescribed number of rotations of the image carrier is smaller than a reference value, and to forcibly attach a controlled amount of the developer to the image carrier to discard the developer.