Patent ID: 7844191

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image carrier configured to carry a latent image on a surface thereof; an optical writing unit configured to optically write the latent image on the surface of the image carrier; a developing unit configured to develop with toner the latent image into a toner image including an output image and a forcible toner consumption image; a moving member including either a first moving member configured to receive the toner image from the image carrier and hold the toner image on a surface thereof or a second moving member configured to carry a recording medium on a surface thereof to receive the toner image from the image carrier on the surface thereof; a transfer unit configured to transfer the toner image to the moving member while forming a given electrical field in a transfer nip formed between the image carrier and the moving member, the given electrical field comprising a first electrical field for providing an electrostatic force from the image carrier to the moving member with respect to the toner charged with a given polarity, negative or positive, when the output image based on the image data is transferred from the surface of the image carrier onto either the first moving member or the recording medium carried by the second moving member and a second electrical field between the image carrier and the moving member for providing an electrostatic force from the image carrier to the moving member with respect to the toner charged with a polarity opposite to the given polarity when the forced toner consumption image is transferred from the surface of the image carrier onto either the first moving member or the recording medium carried by the second moving member; a remover configured to remove residual toner remaining on the surface of the image carrier after the toner image is transferred by the transfer unit, the remover removing the toner from the surface of the moving member after the moving member passes the transfer unit; a toner recycling unit configured to convey the residual toner to the developing unit for recycling; and a controller configured to form the forcible toner consumption image on the image carrier at a given timing.