Patent ID: 9594337
Date: 2017-03-14
CPC Classifications: G03G

Claim:
1. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit configured to form toner images of respective colors on an image carrier; a detection unit configured to irradiate a surface of the image carrier or the toner images formed on the image carrier with light, and to receive reflection light; and a control unit configured to control to detect a relative misregistration amount of the toner images of the respective colors formed on the image carrier by determining, using a threshold, a received light amount of the detection unit when the detection unit detects a first detection pattern as a toner image formed on the image carrier, and to detect densities of the toner images of the respective colors formed on the image carrier by detecting, by the detection unit, a second detection pattern as a toner image formed on the image carrier, wherein the first detection pattern includes a black portion and a color portion, the control unit is further configured to form, in a case the misregistration amount and the densities are to be successively detected, both the first detection pattern and the second detection pattern on the image carrier, and after forming both the first detection pattern and the second detection pattern, to set a light-emitting amount of the detection unit or a sensitivity of the detection unit used for detecting both the first detection pattern and the second detection pattern so that a received light amount of diffuse reflection light from the black portion received by the detection unit is less than the threshold and a received light amount of diffuse reflection light from the color portion received by the detection unit exceeds the threshold, and to set the light-emitting amount of the detection unit or the sensitivity of the detection unit used for detecting both the first detection pattern and the second detection pattern so that the received light amount of the diffuse reflection light from the color portion is less than an upper limit value of the received light amount of the diffuse reflection light configured to be received by the detection unit, and the light-emitting amount of the detection unit, the threshold or the sensitivity of the detection unit is set based on a detection result of the first detection pattern.