IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus or an image forming method in which the density and gradation of a formed image can be controlled by forming a toner patch for sensing image density on an image carrier while using small-diameter spherical toner whose shape satisfies specified conditions so that an image of excellent image quality can be formed, and in which occurrence of image defects in a formed image due to poor cleaning can be reliably prevented.

SOLUTION: The toner is manufactured by a polymerization method and has a volume average particle diameter in the range of 3-6 μm and a sphericity in the range of 0.94-0.98. A toner patch for sensing image density is formed in a non-image-forming region on a surface of an image carrier and an image forming operation to an image forming region is controlled so that it is performed after the non-image-forming region in which the toner patch has been formed is passed ≥2 times through a cleaning means by rotation of the image carrier.

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