JP2006208996A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which is implemented with a countermeasure for image flow, is shortened in the time required for the countermeasure for the prevention of the image flow, and does not shorten the lifetime of a photoreceptor drum, and to suppress the cost required for the countermeasure for the image flow during the operation of the apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus implemented with the countermeasure for the prevention of the image flow is equipped with the conventional means for removing the water content on the surface of the photoreceptor by warming a photoreceptor drum 5 by a drum heater 5a, and is arranged, in addition thereto, in such a manner that a toner image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 5 and the water content can be removed by brushing the surface of the photoreceptor drum 5 with a fur brush 24 having the adhered toner. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a fax machine that performs image formation by an electrophotographic method, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus including a photosensitive drum that can prevent image flow.

  In the image forming apparatus, ozone is generated by discharge when charging the surface of the photoreceptor with a charger. Since this ozone reacts with the components present in the air, nitrates, sulfates and the like are generated, and these products adhere to the surface of the photosensitive drum. And since these products have hygroscopicity, it is easy to take in the water which exists in the air especially in the environment of high temperature and high humidity. For this reason, the resistance of the surface of the photosensitive member is lowered, and a lateral flow of potential occurs at the edge portion of the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive member. As a result, image flow occurs. The image flow here refers to a phenomenon in which an image formed by the image forming apparatus flows as if it is blurred or rubbed.

  In order to improve the durability and free maintenance of the image carrier, an image carrier having an amorphous silicon photoconductor is used. However, amorphous silicon has a higher hygroscopicity than the organic photoconductor, and the above-mentioned. Such an image flow is particularly likely to occur in an image forming apparatus using amorphous silicon.

  In order to prevent such image flow, it is necessary to remove moisture that reduces the surface resistance of the image carrier. For this reason, a drum heater is placed on the inner surface of the image carrier and heated to evaporate moisture taken in by nitrates and sulfates, or moisture taken in by the photosensitive drum itself. In general, a means for suppressing a decrease in surface resistance and preventing an image from flowing is used.

  Also, without using a drum heater, a development operation is performed on the image carrier separately from the normal printing mode to perform a solid image forming operation in which a large amount of abrasive toner is attached, and the toner is used to clean the surface of the image carrier. An image forming apparatus provided with a refreshing mode by rubbing and polishing has been proposed (see Patent Document 1). Further, as an improved version of Patent Document 1, an image forming apparatus that controls the amount of toner consumed during solid image formation described above according to the environmental conditions of temperature and humidity has been proposed (see Patent Document 2).

  However, the heating of the drum by the drum heater has a problem that it takes time to evaporate the moisture adsorbed on the surface of the photosensitive drum, particularly when the ambient environment becomes high humidity. In addition, due to the recent shortening of the stabilization time of the fixing device due to energy saving measures, there is a demand for evaporating the moisture adsorbed on the surface of the photosensitive drum by heating the drum, but the power capacity is originally small. The drum heater has a problem that it is difficult to evaporate the moisture adsorbed on the surface of the photosensitive drum in a short time.

On the other hand, since a high-speed machine that is required to perform image processing at high speed is required to have a long drum life, it is not possible to use means for actively polishing the surface of the photoreceptor with a rubbing polishing roller. There are problems and new means are required.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-3014 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-34762

  Therefore, in view of the above problems, the present invention removes moisture adsorbed on the surface of the photosensitive drum in a short time in an image forming apparatus provided with a heater for heating the photosensitive member, and actively slides the surface of the photosensitive member. It is another object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that can reduce unnecessary cost during operation of the apparatus without being polished by a rubbing polishing roller.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image forming unit for transferring an image formed by developing toner on an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoconductor to a transfer material, and an image formed on the photoconductor. In an image forming apparatus, comprising: a cleaning unit comprising a fur brush and a blade for removing residual toner; and a heater disposed in or around the photoconductor, in order to remove moisture on the surface of the photoconductor, A first moisture removing step of heating the photosensitive member by a heater; and a first toner image forming on the photosensitive member and driving of the fur brush by the developing means when an image is not formed in the image forming unit. 2, and a toner image formation pattern in the second moisture removal step is at least circumferentially with respect to one circumference of the outer periphery of the photoreceptor. It is characterized by being formed at a concentration of stages.

  According to the present invention, in the image forming apparatus configured as described above, the toner image formation pattern in the second moisture removal step is at least from the initial position where the toner image is formed in the circumferential direction of the photoconductor. The position corresponding to the length of the outer circumference of the fur brush is formed so as to be the first stage where the toner density is the highest, and the toner density after the second stage is lighter than the density of the previous stage. It is characterized by being formed.

  According to the present invention, in the image forming apparatus having the above-described configuration, a humidity detection unit and a control unit that sets a toner amount used for forming the toner image based on a detection result by the humidity detection unit are provided. It is a feature.

  According to the present invention, in the image forming apparatus configured as described above, the photoconductor is amorphous silicon.

  According to the first configuration of the present invention, the toner image is formed on the photoconductor when the image forming process is not performed, so that the toner absorbs the moisture on the photoconductor surface. Moisture is removed. Further, since toner is supplied to the fur brush from the toner image formed on the above-described photoconductor, even when the surface of the photoconductor drum is brushed uniformly by the fur brush, the toner adhered to the fur brush Absorbs moisture and exerts moisture removal effect. For this reason, since the amount of water that needs to be evaporated by heating the photosensitive drum by the drum heater is reduced, the heating time by the drum heater can be shortened. Further, since the fur brush is used, the surface of the photoreceptor is not rubbed and polished, and the life of the photoreceptor drum can be maintained long.

  Furthermore, according to the first configuration of the present invention, the amount of toner necessary for forming a toner image in the entire circumferential direction of the photoreceptor and the amount of toner supplied from the formed toner image to the fur brush are required. However, the amount of toner supplied to the fur brush only needs to adhere to the brush with an appropriate amount. For this reason, the toner pattern forming toner pattern does not have a uniform high density throughout the circumferential direction of the photosensitive drum, and a part of the toner density is reduced, so that it is possible to prevent unnecessary image consumption while suppressing unnecessary toner consumption. It becomes possible.

  According to the second configuration of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus having the first configuration, the toner supply amount when the toner is supplied from the toner image formed on the photoconductor to the fur brush is set to the fur brush. On the other hand, since the amount can be sufficient, the efficiency of removing moisture can be improved when the surface of the photosensitive drum is brushed uniformly by the fur brush.

  According to the third configuration of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus having the first or second configuration, the toner amount is used in accordance with the amount of water on the surface of the photoconductor that varies depending on the humidity around the photoconductor. Therefore, it is possible to take measures to prevent image flow while further eliminating waste of toner consumption.

  According to the fourth configuration of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus having any one of the first to third configurations, the image forming apparatus includes the amorphous silicon photoconductor that easily absorbs moisture in the air. Countermeasures are possible.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied. Here, a digital multi-function peripheral is shown as an example. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing the periphery of the photosensitive drum 5 in the image forming apparatus 1 in an enlarged manner. In the image forming unit 3 in the multifunction machine main body 2, the charging unit 4, the exposure unit 7, the developing unit 8, the transfer roller 13, the fur brush 24, and the cleaning along the rotation direction (arrow A direction) of the photosensitive drum 5. A blade 25 and a static eliminating device 10 are provided.

  The photosensitive drum 5 is formed, for example, by laminating a photosensitive layer made of a-Si on an aluminum drum, and the charging unit 4 charges the surface. Then, an electrostatic latent image in which charging is attenuated is formed on the surface that has received the laser beam from the exposure unit 7 based on the document image data read by the image reading unit 6. The charging unit 4 charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 by discharging (for example, corona discharge). For example, the charging unit 4 is discharged by applying a high voltage using a thin wire or the like as an electrode. .

  The exposure unit 7 irradiates the photosensitive drum 5 with a light beam (for example, a laser beam) based on the image data, and forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5. The developing unit 8 includes a developing sleeve 8a disposed opposite to the photosensitive drum 5, and a developer accommodated in the developing unit 8 is attached to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 5 by the developing sleeve 8a to form a toner image. It is something to be made. The toner is supplied to the developing unit 8 from the toner container 9.

  As is well known, an electrostatic latent image is recorded by the exposure unit 7 on the photosensitive drum 5 uniformly charged by the charging unit 4 after static elimination by the static eliminator 10, and the electrostatic latent image is developed by reversal development. At 8, the toner image is visualized, and the toner image is transferred onto the transfer paper by the transfer roller 13. Untransferred toner that has not been transferred by the transfer roller 13 is removed from the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 by the fur brush 24 and the cleaning blade 25 in the cleaning unit 18 as residual toner. It is conveyed to a waste bottle (not shown) by the toner recovery device.

  The sheet on which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the photosensitive drum 5 and conveyed to a fixing unit 14 having a fixing roller pair 14a to fix the toner image. The sheet that has passed through the fixing unit 14 is sent to a sheet conveyance path 15 branched in a plurality of directions, and is routed by path switching mechanisms 21, 22, and 23 having a plurality of path switching guides provided at branch points of the sheet conveyance path 15. The transport direction is sorted, and the sheet is discharged to the sheet discharge section of the first discharge tray 17a, the second discharge tray 17b, or the third discharge tray 17c as it is (or after being sent to the sheet transfer path 16 and copied on both sides). .

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment. Portions common to FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. 3, the image forming apparatus 1 includes an image reading unit 6, an image forming unit 3 having a photosensitive drum 5 and a developing unit 8, a drum heater 5a, a cleaning unit 18 having a fur brush 24 and a cleaning blade 25, and a control unit 31. The main motor 32, the operation unit 33, the storage unit 34, and the temperature / humidity detection means 27 are provided.

  Although not shown, the image reading unit 6 forms an image by condensing the reflected light from the original, a scanning optical system equipped with a scanner lamp for illuminating the original during copying and a mirror for changing the optical path of the reflected light from the original. It is composed of a condenser lens and a CCD that converts the imaged image light into an electrical signal.

  The control unit 31 controls the operation of each part of the image forming apparatus 1 such as the image reading unit 6 and the image forming unit 3 based on a signal from the operation unit 33, and the temperature of the drum heater 5 a inserted in the photosensitive drum 5. Also controls. Further, in accordance with a signal from the temperature / humidity detecting means 27, the toner amount of the toner image formed to remove the moisture on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 is also controlled.

  The main motor 32 drives the photosensitive drum 5, the transfer roller 13 (see FIG. 1), and the fixing unit 14 (see FIG. 1) in accordance with a control signal from the control unit 31. The operation unit 33 includes operation keys for the user to set device functions, printing conditions, and the like, and a display unit (none of which is shown) that displays the setting conditions, the state of the device, and the like. The storage unit 34 stores a control program for each part of the image forming apparatus used by the control unit 31.

  Next, a water removal process on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 (hereinafter referred to as a first water removal process) performed using the drum heater 5a will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, a drum heater 5a is inserted on the inner surface of the photosensitive drum 5 in order to warm the photosensitive member. When the power supply of the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on, the power supply of the drum heater 5a is also turned on. The temperature of the photosensitive drum 5 is raised to a target temperature while the temperature is detected by a temperature detection means such as a thermistor (not shown) built in the photosensitive drum 5 and is raised to the target temperature. And controlled to maintain its temperature.

  Then, when the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 is warmed by the drum heater 5a, moisture attached to the photosensitive drum 5 starts to evaporate. As a result, moisture on the surface of the photosensitive drum is removed, and image flow can be prevented. In the present embodiment, the drum heater 5a is also turned on in conjunction with the power-on of the image forming apparatus 1. However, the drum heater 5a is turned on / off depending on the power of the image forming apparatus 1. The drum heater 5a may be turned on and off as necessary.

  Further, in this embodiment, the drum heater 5a is inserted into the inner surface of the photosensitive drum 5 as means for heating the photosensitive drum 5, but various modifications are possible without departing from the object of the present invention. is there. For example, it is possible to heat the photosensitive drum 5 with a heat source outside the photosensitive drum 5.

  As described above, under environmental conditions with a high amount of moisture in the atmosphere, the moisture removal may not be sufficient by only the first moisture removal process using the drum heater 5a. In the present situation, heating by the drum heater 5a is not possible. Since the time is required to be shortened, the drum heater 5a cannot sufficiently remove moisture, and image flow may occur. Therefore, in the present invention, in addition to the first moisture removal step, the second moisture removal step can be performed. This will be mainly described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

  First, when the image forming apparatus 1 is powered on, the photosensitive drum 5 is driven. When the temperature of the fixing unit 14 reaches the control level and an image forming operation is possible, an electrostatic latent image having a preset exposure pattern is formed on the photosensitive drum 5, and the electrostatic latent image is converted into a developing unit. A process of forming a toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 is performed by making the surface 8 visible. By forming a toner image, the toner absorbs moisture adhering to the surface of the photosensitive drum 5.

  Further, after the power of the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on, when the temperature of the fixing unit 14 reaches the control level and the image forming operation becomes possible, the fur brush 24 also starts to rotate and for a while after the toner image is formed. Continue to rotate. At this time, the photosensitive drum 5 is also rotating. For this reason, toner is supplied to the fur brush 24 from the toner image formed on the surface of the photoconductive drum 5 and adhered to the fur brush 24 even when the surface of the photoconductive drum 5 is brushed uniformly by the fur brush. The toner absorbs moisture and exhibits a moisture removal effect.

  The toner image formation pattern formed in the second moisture removal step is, for example, a pattern as shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, it is assumed that a toner image is formed from the left end toward the right, and the length from one end of the arrow in FIG. 4 to the other end corresponds to one circumference of the outer circumference of the photosensitive drum 5. To do. That is, in the toner formation pattern shown in FIG. 4, the toner density is set to be high (corresponding to density 1 in FIG. 4) in the initial stage of toner image formation, and thereafter, the toner density is made lighter than in the previous stage (FIG. 4). Density 2) Pattern.

  In the configuration of the present invention, the toner image is not only used for adhering to the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 to remove moisture, but also for supplying toner to the fur brush 24 from the formed toner image. used. Therefore, as a toner amount necessary for forming a toner image, in addition to an amount for forming a predetermined toner image on the entire periphery of the photosensitive drum 5, toner that can be used for the fur brush 24 to exhibit a moisture removing effect is used. 24 is an amount that can be supplied. Therefore, as a toner image formation pattern, the entire periphery of the photosensitive drum 5 is not uniformly formed with a high density, but the initial density is made dark as shown in FIG. 4, and the density is lower than the initial density in the next stage. It has a two-stage pattern. By providing a density difference in the toner image formation pattern in this way, it is possible to suppress unnecessary toner consumption.

  As a toner image formation pattern, the toner density is increased in the initial stage on the left side of FIG. 4 so that the toner can be sufficiently supplied to the fur brush 24, and thereafter the toner consumption is suppressed. A pattern as shown in FIG. 4 in which the toner density is gradually reduced is preferable. This is because if the density at the initial stage is low, the toner supply efficiency from the toner image to the fur brush 24 may be reduced.

  Further, since it is necessary to sufficiently supply toner from the toner image to the fur brush 24, the length of the initial stage where the toner density is the darkest on the left side of FIG. A pattern in which at least a length corresponding to one circumference of the fur brush 24 is secured from the left end toward the right is more preferable. Further, FIG. 4 shows a pattern in which the toner density is reduced in two stages, but a pattern in which the toner image formation pattern has three or more stages may be used as long as it does not deviate from the object of the present invention.

  When configured as described above, the time required to remove moisture on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 is shortened. Specifically, for example, it is as follows. At the same time as the power source of the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on, the power source of the drum heater 5a is also turned on, and the first moisture removing process is started. It takes 2 to 3 minutes for the photoreceptor to be heated to a predetermined temperature after the power is turned on. After the temperature rise, the temperature is maintained at a predetermined temperature, and moisture removal on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 is continued.

  On the other hand, the second moisture removing step is performed as follows, for example. When 30 seconds have passed since the power of the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on, a process of forming a toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 and driving of the fur brush 24 are started. The fur brush 24 continues to rotate for 4 minutes 30 seconds from the start of driving, and continues to remove moisture on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5. Then, when 5 minutes have elapsed since the power was turned on, the moisture on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 is removed, and the image flow can be prevented.

  Conventionally, moisture removal was performed only by the drum heater 5a. If the humidity in the atmosphere is high, it may take about 10 minutes to eliminate the image flow. . Note that amorphous silicon has higher hygroscopicity than other photoconductors, and the amount of water on the surface of the photoconductor drum 5 is such that when the photoconductor is formed of amorphous silicon, the photoconductor is formed of other materials. More than the case. For this reason, when the photosensitive drum 5 is made of amorphous silicon, the effect of shortening the time by performing the second moisture removing step is increased.

  However, the above-described embodiment of the time required for water removal is merely an example, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. In particular, in the present embodiment, in the second moisture removal process, the process of forming a toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 and the timing at which the driving of the fur brush 24 is started after the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on. The process is performed after waiting for the temperature of the fixing unit 14 to reach the control level. However, the process of forming the toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 even before the temperature of the fixing unit 14 reaches the control level. It is possible to start driving the fur brush 24. This is because the temperature of the fixing unit 14 is not relevant because the toner image is not transferred to the transfer material in the second moisture removing step.

  In the present embodiment, the configuration is shown in which the second moisture removal process is started when the image forming apparatus 1 main body is turned on and image formation becomes possible. However, the second moisture removal process is an image. For example, when the image flow occurs during the use of the image forming apparatus 1, the timing on the image forming apparatus 1 can be appropriately implemented. It is also possible to provide a switch for performing the second moisture removing step in the operation unit 33.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, temperature / humidity detection means 27 is provided to detect environmental conditions around the photosensitive drum 5. The amount of moisture on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 is affected by the humidity around the photosensitive drum 5, and the moisture amount on the photosensitive drum 5 increases as the humidity increases. For this reason, the amount of toner required to form a toner image in the second moisture removal step varies depending on the humidity around the photosensitive drum 5.

  Therefore, the toner used when removing the moisture on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 by controlling the amount of toner used in the second moisture removal step based on the absolute humidity obtained by the temperature / humidity detecting means 27. It is possible to prevent toner scattering and unnecessary toner consumption due to an appropriate amount of toner and an excessive supply amount of toner. In addition, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of image flow as a result of insufficient water removal on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 due to insufficient toner supply amount.

  Next, control means for controlling the toner amount using the temperature / humidity detection means 27 will be described. The toner usage amount setting pattern in the present embodiment is configured by four patterns as shown in Table 1, for example. The density in Table 1 is shown in gray scale (%) where 0 is a white solid image and 100 is a black solid image. Further, here, as shown in FIG. 4, a toner image formation pattern is shown in the case of a pattern having two levels of density.

  Note that the gray scale change rate with respect to absolute humidity differs between density 1 and density 2. This is because density 1 is originally a high density, so the amount of change due to absolute humidity may be small, but density 2 is originally a low density. This is because the change due to absolute humidity needs to be greatly changed.

A procedure for controlling the used toner amount based on the setting of the used toner amount shown in Table 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The main body of the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on (step S1), and the absolute humidity is detected by the temperature / humidity detecting means 27 (step S2). At this time, it is confirmed whether or not the absolute humidity is 25 g / m ³ (step S3). When the absolute humidity is less than 25 g / m ³ , the toner usage amount setting pattern 1 is selected (step S4). On the other hand, when the absolute humidity is 25 g / m ³ or more, it is confirmed whether or not the absolute humidity is less than 30 g / m ³ (step S5).

At this time, if the absolute humidity is less than 30 g / m ³ , the toner usage amount setting pattern 2 is selected (step S6). On the other hand, when the absolute humidity is 30 g / m ³ or more, it is confirmed whether or not the absolute humidity is less than 35 g / m ³ (step S7). If the absolute humidity is less than 35 g / m ³ , the toner usage amount setting pattern 3 is selected (step S8). On the other hand, when the absolute humidity is 35 g / m ³ or more, the toner usage amount setting pattern 4 is selected (step S9). When one of pattern 1 to pattern 4 is selected as the toner usage pattern, a toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 5 (step S10).

  The toner image formation pattern may have a density difference of three or more stages as described above. In addition, the toner usage amount setting patterns are four in this embodiment, but can be two or more without departing from the object of the present invention. Further, the absolute humidity and the toner concentration corresponding to each pattern are not limited to the above embodiment.

  In the present invention, in an image forming apparatus provided with a countermeasure against image flow, moisture is not removed only by a drum heater as in the prior art, but a toner image is formed on a photosensitive drum when an image is not being formed. The moisture on the surface of the photoconductor is removed, and the water on the surface of the photoconductor is also removed by rotating a fur brush that has been supplied with toner from the toner image. For this reason, it is possible to remove moisture in a shorter time than when removing moisture on the surface of the photosensitive member only with a drum heater.

  In addition, the amount of toner necessary to form a toner image in the entire circumferential direction of the photoreceptor and the amount of toner supplied to the fur brush from the formed toner image are required. It suffices if an appropriate amount of toner can adhere to the brush. For this reason, the toner image formation pattern does not have a uniformly high density in the entire circumferential direction of the photosensitive drum, but a part of the toner density is reduced, so that it is possible to take measures against image flow while suppressing unnecessary toner consumption. It becomes. Further, since the surface of the photoconductor is not rubbed and polished, it is possible to meet the demand for long life of the photoconductor drum.

  In the present invention, since the amount of toner used when taking measures against image flow can be controlled by temperature and humidity, which are environmental conditions, the amount of toner used can be optimized, and unnecessary toner consumption can be avoided. Excellent in properties.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view around the photosensitive drum of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a toner image formation pattern used in this embodiment. These are flowcharts showing the control of the toner usage amount setting pattern used in the present embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 3 Image forming part 4 Charging unit 5 Photosensitive drum 5a Drum heater 7 Exposure unit 8 Developing unit 13 Transfer roller 18 Cleaning part 24 Fur brush 25 Cleaning blade 27 Temperature / humidity detection means 31 Control part

Claims (4)

An image forming unit that transfers an image formed by developing toner on the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive member to a transfer material;
Cleaning means comprising a fur brush and a blade for removing residual toner on the photoreceptor;
A heater disposed in or around the photoreceptor;
In an image forming apparatus comprising:
A first moisture removing step of heating the photoreceptor by the heater to remove moisture on the surface of the photoreceptor;
A second moisture removal step of forming a toner image on the photosensitive member by the developing unit and driving the fur brush when an image is not formed in the image forming unit;
Is possible and
The toner image forming pattern in the second moisture removing step is formed at a density of at least two levels in the circumferential direction with respect to one circumference of the outer periphery of the photoreceptor.   The toner image formation pattern in the second moisture removal step corresponds to the length of at least one circumference of the fur brush from the initial position where the toner image is formed in the circumferential direction of the photoreceptor. The toner density after the second stage is formed so that the toner density after the second stage is lower than the density at the previous stage. The image forming apparatus according to 1.   3. The image according to claim 1, further comprising: a humidity detection unit; and a control unit that sets a toner amount used for forming the toner image based on a detection result of the humidity detection unit. Forming equipment.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the photoconductor is amorphous silicon.

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