Patent ID: 7978993

Claim:
An image forming apparatus that forms a plurality of patch patterns on an image carrier, measures densities of the patch patterns formed on the image carrier, and updates an image forming condition for the patch patterns stored in a storing unit based on a result of measuring the density of the patch patterns, the image forming apparatus comprising: a first calculating unit that calculates an allocation time required for forming the patch patterns; a second calculating unit that calculates a maximum patch-pattern length of the patch patterns that can be formed within the allocation time based on a number of patch patterns that can be formed within the allocation time; and a first setting unit that calculates a difference between a first environmental temperature around the image forming apparatus and a second environmental temperature at which the image forming condition stored in the storing unit is set, compares the difference with a predetermined threshold, and newly sets an image forming condition for the patch patterns based on a result of comparing the difference and the threshold, wherein when the difference is smaller than the threshold, the first setting unit newly sets a region near a last updated image forming condition that is stored in the storing unit as an image forming condition for the patch patterns to be formed in the maximum patch-pattern length, and when the difference is larger than the threshold, the first setting unit newly sets an entire region of the image forming condition that can be set by the image forming apparatus as an image forming condition for the patch patterns to be formed in the maximum patch-pattern length.