Patent ID: 8275274

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming controller configured to control an operation of the image forming apparatus; a plurality of input and output lines, electrically connected to a plurality of detectors and a plurality of drivers, the plurality of detectors configured to detect various conditions within the apparatus and the plurality of drivers configured to drive a plurality of actuators; and an identification controller connected to the image forming controller by a single data line configured to transfer a data signal from and to a selected at least one of the plurality of input and output lines, identification signal line transferring an identification signal, and period signal line configured to transfer a period signal, the period signal configured to specify an input and output determination period during which the data signal is transferred from and to the selected at least one of the plurality of input and output lines and an identification validity period during which the identification signal is valid, wherein the identification controller is configured to determine whether to output a drive signal to at least one of the plurality of drivers and whether to read a detection signal from at least one of the plurality of detectors, identify the selected at least one of the plurality of input and output lines using the identification signal, and specify the data to be transferred to the data line in the data validity period of the period signal as the data of the identified input and output lines, and wherein the identification controller comprises a drive pulse generating section that generates a drive pulse of the identified input and output lines.