Patent ID: 8060003

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a paper feeding unit configured to feed a recording material; an image forming unit configured to form an image on an image bearing member; a primary transfer unit configured to transfer the image formed on the image bearing member onto an intermediate transfer member; a secondary transfer unit configured to transfer the image transferred onto the intermediate transfer member onto the recording material fed from the paper feeding unit; a size detecting unit configured to detect the size of the recording material; and a setting unit configured to set an interval at which a plurality of images are formed on the intermediate transfer member, wherein the timing to start feeding the recording material from the paper feeding unit is later than the timing to start forming the image with the image forming unit, and wherein the size detecting unit detects the size of the recording material while the plurality of images are formed on the intermediate transfer member at a first interval according to a predetermined recording material size, and after the size detecting unit detects the size of the recording material, if the size of the recording material detected by the size detecting unit is smaller than the predetermined recording material size, the setting unit sets the interval as a second interval that is smaller than the first interval, at which the plurality of images are formed, based on the detected size of the recording material.