Patent ID: 7139511
Filing Date: 2006-11-21
Classification: G03G

Abstract:
1. An image forming apparatus comprising: a plurality of image carriers; a color image forming unit that sequentially transfers toner images formed on each of the image camers onto a recording medium that is carried on a transfer belt to form a color image; an optical detecting unit that transfers a reference pattern for density detection formed on each of the image carriers for each color onto the transfer belt, and detects the reference pattern transferred; and an image density control unit that controls image density based on a result of the detection by the optical detecting unit, wherein the optical detecting unit detects both regular reflection light and diffuse reflection light from a detection target simultaneously, and the image density control unit (1) determines a range of calculated ratios between a regular reflection light and a diffuse reflection light, (2) selects a minimum value from the determined range of calculated ratios, and (3) controls the image density based on a value obtained by subtracting a result of multiplying the diffuse reflection output by the minimum value selected from the determined range of calculated ratios from the regular reflection output of the reference pattern for each color detected by the optical detecting unit.