Patent ID: 8023838

Claim:
A method for controlling an electrophotographic printer or copier that has at least one developer station for developing a latent charge image on a photoconductor with toner, comprising the steps of: detecting a toner discharge from the developer station during print operation and starting a developer regeneration process when the detected toner discharge fulfills a predetermined first regeneration criterion; generating a charge image on the photoconductor, developing the charge image by the developer station, and removing the developed image by a cleaning device without being transfer-printed onto a recording medium; introducing new toner into the developer station; and wherein the printer or copier comprises a plurality of developer stations whose toner discharge is respectively detected and in which for the case that the developer regeneration process is started for one developer station, it is checked whether the detected toner discharge of the remaining developer stations fulfills a second regeneration criterion, and a developer regeneration process is likewise started for developer stations in which the second regeneration criterion is fulfilled.