Patent ID: 6697092
Filing Date: 2004-02-24
Classification: G03G,H04N

Abstract:
A color image forming apparatus for forming a composite color image by superposing a plurality of images of different colors on a recording medium, said color image forming apparatus comprising:a deflector for deflecting a laser beam; a writing unit for writing a latent image on a photoconductive element with the laser beam deflected by said deflector; a plurality of developing units each for developing the latent image assigned to a particular color to thereby form a corresponding toner image; conveying means for conveying the recording medium; a drive unit for causing said writing means to shift an optical axis of the laser beam; computing means for determining an amount of positional shift of each of the images of different colors; a first correcting unit configured to correct, based on the positional shift determined by said computing means, a timing at which said writing unit starts writing each image of a particular color; and a second correcting unit configured to cause, based on the positional shift determined by said computing means, said drive unit to physically shift at least a portion of the writing unit to shift an optical axis of the laser beam in a subscanning direction relative to the photoconductive element where the laser beam is incident.