Patent ID: 7979021

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming part adapted to form an image on recording materials; a post-processing device adapted to staple recording materials on which images are formed by said image forming part, wherein said post-processing device is capable of exchanging staples; a post-processing device control part adapted to control an operation of said post-processing device; and a controller adapted to control an image forming operation of said image forming part, wherein said controller transmits a staple instruction to said post-processing device control part to execute a staple operation by said post-processing device, wherein, when said controller transmits the staple instruction to said post-processing control part and the staples of said post-processing device have been exchanged, said post-processing device control part controls said post-processing device to execute an idle striking operation which exposes tips of the staples to be used for the recording materials for which the staple operation is instructed by the staple instruction and on which images are formed without using new recording material for the idle striking operation, wherein said post-processing device control part transmits the information about time including a time to execute the idle striking operation to said controller, and wherein said controller controls the image forming operation in accordance with the information about time, including the time to execute the idle striking operation.