Patent ID: 8708468

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a recording head to eject droplets of liquids; a plurality of head tanks to supply the liquids to the recording head; a plurality of replaceable main tanks to store the liquids to be supplied to the recording head; a plurality of liquid feed pumps to feed the liquids from the plurality of main tanks to the plurality of head tanks and in reverse from the plurality of head tanks to the plurality of main tanks; a first driving source to drive the plurality of liquid feed pumps; and a drive switching assembly to selectively transmit a driving force of the first driving source to the plurality of liquid feed pumps, the drive switching assembly including a second driving source, a cam rotated by the second driving source, a slider member movable in a thrust direction with rotation of the cam, and a switching gear to receive the driving force of the first driving source and movable with the slider member between positions to engage driving gears of the plurality of liquid feed pumps and a position to disengage from the driving gears of the plurality of liquid feed pumps, wherein, with movement of the switching gear, the driving force of the first driving source is selectively transmitted to the plurality of liquid feed pumps.