The present invention provides an image forming apparatus which, when switching operation from color image forming operation to monochromatic image forming operation, forms a monochromatic image on each of a prescribed number of sheets by stopping a part of the functions of yellow, magenta and cyan
The present invention provides an image forming apparatus which, when switching operation from color image forming operation to monochromatic image forming operation, forms a monochromatic image on each of a prescribed number of sheets by stopping a part of the functions of yellow, magenta and cyan image forming sections of the color image forming operation, and thereafter, forms a monochromatic image only with a black-only image forming section, thereby permitting extension of service life of the image forming sections, while improving the productivity.
대표청구항▼
What is claimed is: 1. An image forming apparatus, which has a plurality of image forming stations each comprising an image forming unit for forming an image, superimposes images of a plurality of colors formed in the plurality of image forming stations on a recording medium, said apparatus operabl
What is claimed is: 1. An image forming apparatus, which has a plurality of image forming stations each comprising an image forming unit for forming an image, superimposes images of a plurality of colors formed in the plurality of image forming stations on a recording medium, said apparatus operable in a first image forming mode for forming images of a plurality of colors by at least two image forming stations from among the plurality of image forming stations, and a second image forming mode for forming monochromatic images by a single image forming station from among the plurality of image forming stations, comprising: a controller which controls formation of the monochromatic images by partially stopping the driving of the image forming units in the image forming stations except for the single image forming station used in the second image forming mode in accordance with switching to the second image forming mode during image formation in the first image forming mode. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first image forming mode forms color images and the second image forming mode forms black images. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each image forming unit comprises at least an image holding member, a charge unit for charging said image holding member and a developing unit for developing images on said image holding member, and the partially stopping the driving of the image forming units in the image forming stations comprises stopping said developing unit, said charge unit or said image holding member. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the partially stopping is effected for a predetermined period, and a predetermined number of images can be formed during the predetermined period. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined number of images can be set arbitrarily. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each image forming unit comprises a photosensitive member. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the images of a plurality of colors formed in the plurality of image forming stations are superimposed on a recording medium via an intermediate transfer member. 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switching during image formation in the first image forming mode to the second image forming mode is based on the switching of original images from a plurality of colors to a single color. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said controller drives the image forming unit in the single image forming station used in the second image forming mode also while partially stopping the driving of each image forming unit in the image forming stations except for the single image forming station used in the second image forming mode. 10. An image forming apparatus, which has a plurality of image forming stations each comprising an image forming unit for forming an image, superimposes images of a plurality of colors formed by the plurality of image forming stations on a recording medium, said apparatus operable in a first image forming mode for forming images of a plurality of colors by at least two image forming stations from among the plurality of image forming stations, a second image forming mode for forming monochromatic images by a single image forming station from among the plurality of image forming stations, and a third image forming mode for driving the image forming unit in the single image forming station used in the second image forming mode, partially stopping the driving of the image forming units in the image forming stations except for the single image forming station used in the second image forming mode, and forming monochromatic images, comprising: a controller which forms monochromatic images in the third image forming mode up to a predetermined number of images and forms monochromatic images in the second image forming mode when the number of images exceeds the predetermined number in accordance with switching during forming images in the first image forming mode to the second image forming mode. 11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the first image forming mode forms color images and the second image forming mode forms black images. 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein each image forming unit comprises at least an image holding member, a charge unit for charging said image holding member and a developing unit for developing images on said image holding member, and the partially stopping the driving of the image forming units in said image forming stations comprises stopping said developing unit, said charge unit or said image holding member. 13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the predetermined number of images can be set arbitrarily. 14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein each image forming unit comprises a photosensitive member. 15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the images of a plurality of colors formed in the plurality of image forming stations are superimposed on a recording medium via an intermediate transfer member. 16. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the switching during image formation in the first image forming mode to the second image forming mode is based on the switching of original images from a plurality of colors to a single color. 17. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the life deterioration of the plurality of image forming stations in a case of forming images in the third image forming mode is less than the life deterioration of the plurality of image forming stations in a case of forming images in the first image forming mode. 18. An image forming apparatus, which has a plurality of image forming stations each comprising an image forming unit for forming images, superimposes images of a plurality of colors formed by the plurality of image forming stations on a recording medium, said apparatus operable in a first image forming mode for forming images of a plurality of colors by at least two image forming stations from among the plurality of image forming stations, and a second image forming mode for forming monochromatic images by a single image forming station from among the plurality of image forming stations, comprising: a controller which controls formation of monochromatic images by partially stopping the driving of the image forming units in the image forming stations except for the single image forming station used in the second image forming mode for an image forming period and thereafter, driving the image forming units stopped in accordance with switching during forming of images in the first image forming mode to the second image forming mode. 19. The image forming apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the first image forming mode forms color images and the second image forming mode forms black images. 20. The image forming apparatus according to claim 18, wherein each image forming unit comprises at least an image holding member, a charge unit for charging said image holding member and a developing unit for developing images on said image holding member, and the partially stopping the driving of the image forming units in the image forming stations comprises stopping said developing unit, said charge unit or said image holding member. 21. The image forming apparatus according to claim 18, wherein at least a monochromatic image is formed during an image forming period. 22. The image forming apparatus according to claim 18, wherein each image forming unit comprises a photosensitive member. 23. The image forming apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the images of a plurality of colors formed by the plurality of image forming stations are superimposed on a recording medium via an intermediate transfer member. 24. The image forming apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the switching during image formation in the first image forming mode to the second image forming mode is based on the switching of original images from a plurality of colors to a single color. 25. The image forming apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said controller drives the image forming unit in the single image forming station used in the second image forming mode while partially stopping the driving of the image forming units in the image forming stations except for the single image forming station used in the second image forming mode. 26. An image forming apparatus, which has a plurality of image forming stations each comprising an image forming unit for forming images, superimposes images of a plurality of colors formed by the plurality of image forming stations on a recording medium, said apparatus operable in a first image forming mode for forming images of a plurality of colors by at least two image forming stations from among the plurality of image forming stations, a second image forming mode for forming monochromatic images by a single image forming station from among the plurality of image forming stations, and a third image forming mode for driving the image forming unit in the single image forming station used in the second image forming mode, partially stopping the driving of the image forming units in the image forming stations except for the single image forming station used in the second image forming mode, and forming monochromatic images, comprising: a controller for forming monochromatic images in the third image forming mode up to a predetermined number of images in accordance with switching during image formation in the first image forming mode to the second image forming mode. 27. The image forming apparatus according to claim 26, wherein each image forming unit comprises at least an image holding member, a charge unit for charging said image holding member and a developing unit for developing images on said image holding member and the partially stopping the driving of the image forming units in the image forming stations comprises stopping said developing unit, said charge unit or said image holding member. 28. The image forming apparatus according to claim 26, wherein each image forming unit comprises a photosensitive member. 29. The image forming apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the images of a plurality of colors formed by the plurality of image forming stations are superimposed on a recording medium via an intermediate transfer member. 30. The image forming apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the switching from image formation in the first image forming mode to the second image forming mode is based on the switching of original images from a plurality of colors to a single color.
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