Patent ID: 7106981

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a plurality of printing units, each including an image bearing member for rotation about an axis and a process member which cooperates with the image bearing member in an image forming process; a transfer member for moving in contact with the image bearing member of each of the plurality of printing units, an image on each of the image bearing members being transferred onto the transfer member or a recording medium that is transported on the transfer member; a switch unit for switching between a contact state where the image bearing members in the plurality of printing units are in contact with the transfer member and a separate state where all but one of the image bearing member(s) in the printing unit(s) are separated from the transfer member; a memory for storing life expectancies of the image bearing member and the process member with regard to the printing unit(s) other than said one of the image bearing members in the printing units; and a control section for controlling the switch unit based on a print job and the life expectancies stored in the memory.