Patent ID: 8275275

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a latent image carrier, rotated to bear an electrostatic latent image on a surface thereof; a charger to evenly charge the surface of the latent image carrier; a writing device to irradiate a charged surface of the latent image carrier with a light beam according to image data to form an electrostatic latent image on the charged surface of the latent image carrier; a writing device control unit to control the writing device; a developing device to develop the electrostatic latent image with a developer to form a toner image on the charged surface of the latent image carrier; a transfer device to transfer the toner image formed on the charged surface of the latent image carrier onto a transferred member; and a pre-transfer irradiating device to irradiate the charged surface of the latent image carrier during a period after development and before transfer, wherein the writing device control unit controls the writing device to irradiate the charged surface of the latent image carrier based on an image signal B, causing an uneven electric potential on the charged surface of the latent image carrier to remain after the toner image is transferred onto the transferred member, and wherein the writing device control unit, after irradiating the charged surface of the latent image carrier based on the image signal B, controls the writing device to irradiate the charged surface of the latent image carrier based on the uneven electric potential caused by the irradiation based on the image signal B and an image signal A which is output a single rotation of the latent image carrier after the image signal B in a sub-scanning direction.