| 摘要 |
<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small-sized and low-cost image forming apparatus wherein a process cartridge for a certain color which is not used to form an image is prevented from being uselessly consumed, in a tandem type image forming apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The tandem type image forming apparatus for forming the image by overlapping several toner images including a black toner image on the surface of a transfer material by several process cartridges provided with an image carrier and a developer carrier, respectively, is characterized in that, in the case of continuously using the image forming apparatus in order to form the image of only the black toner image, a pseudo process cartridge is loaded instead of at least one of the process cartridges used to form the toner images other than the black toner image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO |
