Patent ID: 7524013

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a liquid droplet discharge head which has a plurality of first nozzles that discharge liquid droplets onto a recording medium to perform an image recording, and has a plurality of second nozzles which are a distinct set of nozzles from the plurality of first nozzles and are not used for the image recording, the plurality of second nozzles discharging liquid droplets for discharge determination under previously established prescribed discharge conditions during the image recording by the plurality of first nozzles; a discharge determination device which determines a liquid droplet discharge status of the plurality of second nozzles during the image recording by the plurality of first nozzles; and a restoration control device which controls a timing during the image recording by the plurality of first nozzles, at which a restoring process is carried out with respect to the plurality of first nozzles according to a determination result obtained by the discharge determination device.