JP2011065191A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensive image forming apparatus with high durability capable of obtaining a high quality color image by highly accurate correction of color registration and density control by correctly detecting reference images for respective colors by simply preventing soiling by such as toner of an optical detection means. <P>SOLUTION: An optical sensor 200 for detecting a registration mark on an intermediate transfer belt of an image forming apparatus is mounted on a stay 201 and retained with a prescribed spacing to the belt. The stay 201 is equipped with a moving sensor cover 202 having a detection hole in between the sensor detection section and the belt and the cover 202 is moved by a link 205 linked with the opening/closing action of a unit exchange door 206 of an apparatus body for attaching/detaching the intermediate belt unit. When the exchange door is opened, the cover 202 covers the sensor detection section and when the exchange door is closed, the detection hole in the cover 202 is positioned at the detection section. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a color image forming apparatus using a belt body such as an intermediate transfer belt, and more particularly to improvement of a reference image detection means used for color misregistration control.

  Recently, the miniaturization of the entire apparatus has been regarded as important, and as one of the miniaturization techniques, each color toner image on the image carrier is temporarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt, and then, a plurality of colors on the intermediate transfer belt are transferred. There is known a color image forming apparatus that employs a system in which toner images are collectively transferred onto a recording material.

  The intermediate transfer belt 30 is suspended from a plurality of rotatable suspension rollers, for example, a driving roller 100, a tension roller 105 and a secondary transfer counter roller 108 installed on a belt frame 110 as shown in FIG. The transfer belt unit 31 is configured. The intermediate transfer belt 30 presses the shaft 105 a of the tension roller 105 with a compression spring 123 attached to the belt frame 110, and tension is applied by the tension roller 105. The intermediate transfer belt 30 is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow by the driving roller 100. The intermediate transfer belt unit 31 is detachable in the direction of arrow a by a unit replacement door (not shown) of the image forming apparatus main body.

  A plurality of image carriers on which toner images are formed between the tension roller 105 and the driving roller 100 along the intermediate transfer belt 30, for example, yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), black ( Bk) four photosensitive drums 26 (only the first and fourth color photosensitive drums 26Y and 26Bk are shown) are installed, and the toner images of the respective colors on the photosensitive drum 26 are primarily transferred to the belt 30 inside the belt 30. A plurality of transfer rollers 102 (only the transfer rollers 102Y and 102Bk for the first color and the fourth color are shown) are disposed to face the photosensitive drum 26. The four-color toner images transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 30 while being superimposed are secondarily transferred onto the recording material collectively by the secondary transfer roller 27 facing the secondary transfer opposing roller 108 with the belt 30 interposed therebetween.

  The transfer residual toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 30 after the secondary transfer is scraped off by the blade 120 attached to the cleaning container 124, and the scraped toner is conveyed to a waste toner box (not shown) by the auger 121. The In order to ensure the contact pressure of the blade 120 against the intermediate transfer belt 30, a backup roller is installed on the opposite surface across the belt 30, and in this example, the tension roller 105 also serves as the backup roller.

  Such a four-drum full-color image forming apparatus is provided with a color registration correction unit described in Patent Document 1 and the like, and by forming a toner image on the photosensitive drum 26 and transferring the toner image to the intermediate transfer belt 30, A registration mark (toner mark) made of each color toner is formed on the belt 30 as a reference image for color registration detection, and as shown in FIG. 12, an optical device installed downstream of the black image forming portion of the final color of the belt 30. Color registration correction, such as detecting a registration mark by the sensor 200 and correcting the image writing position on the photosensitive drum 26, is performed.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the optical sensor 200 is a combination of an LED 200 b that emits light and a phototransistor 200 c that receives reflected light from the intermediate transfer belt 30. Usually, since the registration marks are formed in two rows along the belt moving direction at both ends in the width direction of the intermediate transfer belt 30, the optical sensors 200 are installed at two places at both ends in the width direction of the intermediate transfer belt 30, By fixing to the stay 201, the belt 30 is held above the belt 30 with a predetermined gap. A transparent cover glass 200 a is attached to the lower surface of the optical sensor 200.

Japanese Patent No. 2655603

  However, registration mark detection by the conventional optical sensor 200 has the following problems.

  (1) Since a toner image 40 is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 30 during normal image formation, a small amount of toner scatters from the toner image 40, adheres to the cover glass 200a of the sensor 200, and is output from the sensor. It may induce fluctuation (decrease).

  (2) As the above solution, an attempt has been made to set the registration mark formation position and detection position on the intermediate transfer belt 30 outside the normal image formation width. Has become a factor in the increase in size and cost.

  (3) The intermediate transfer belt unit 31 is configured to be replaceable by the user. Therefore, in a state where the unit 31 is removed from the apparatus main body, the user may carelessly touch and stain the glass 200a of the detection unit of the sensor 200.

  The above problems are caused when a reference image (density patch) for density control is formed on the intermediate transfer belt, the density of the reference image is detected, and the image density is controlled by toner replenishment control to the developing device or the like. It occurs in the same way. Furthermore, the same occurs when color reference control and density control are performed by directly forming these reference images on a conveyance belt, which is a recording material carrier.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to easily prevent the contamination of the optical detection means by toner and the like, accurately detect the reference image of each color, and obtain a high-quality color image by high-precision color registration correction and density control. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus with high durability and low cost.

The above object is achieved by the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. In summary, the present invention relates to an image carrier that carries a toner image, a transfer medium to which the toner image on the image carrier is transferred, and a detection toner image that is transferred from the image carrier to the transfer medium. And an image forming apparatus that controls image forming conditions based on the detection result.
An image forming apparatus including a member provided between a detection unit of the detection unit and the transfer medium and provided with a detection hole.

  According to the present invention, the image forming apparatus main body includes a unit including the transfer medium, and the unit is detachable from the image forming apparatus main body through a space formed when an opening / closing door provided in the image forming apparatus main body is opened. The member moves in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of the door. The member moves to a position that covers the detection unit when the opening and closing door is opened, and moves to a position that exposes the detection unit when the opening and closing door is closed. The member includes a cleaning unit that cleans toner adhering to the detection unit. The member includes a storage unit that stores the toner collected by the cleaning unit. A plurality of image carriers are provided to support a plurality of color toner images, and a plurality of color toner images are sequentially transferred from the image carriers to the transfer medium. A plurality of color detection toner images are transferred from the image carriers to the transfer medium so as not to overlap each other. The detection toner image is a color misregistration control toner image. The detection toner image is a density control toner image. The toner image on the transfer medium is transferred to a recording material.

The present invention also provides an image carrier that carries a toner image, a recording material carrier that carries and transports a recording material to transfer the toner image on the image carrier to a recording material, and the recording material that is recorded from the image carrier. In an image forming apparatus that has a detection unit that detects a detection toner image transferred to a material carrier and controls image forming conditions based on the detection result.
An image forming apparatus having a member provided between a detection unit of the detection unit and the recording material carrier and having a detection hole.

  According to the present invention, the image forming apparatus main body includes a unit including the recording material carrier, and the unit is detachable from the image forming apparatus main body through a space formed when an opening / closing door provided in the image forming apparatus main body is opened. And the member moves in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of the door. The member moves to a position that covers the detection unit when the opening and closing door is opened, and moves to a position that exposes the detection unit when the opening and closing door is closed. The member includes a cleaning unit that cleans toner adhering to the detection unit. The member includes a storage unit that stores the toner collected by the cleaning unit. A plurality of the image carriers are provided for carrying toner images of a plurality of colors, and the toner images of a plurality of colors are sequentially transferred from the image carriers to the recording material carried on the recording material carrier. . A plurality of color detection toner images are transferred from the image carriers to the recording material carrier so as not to overlap each other. The detection toner image is a color misregistration control toner image. The detection toner image is a density control toner image.

  According to the present invention, a movable partition wall having a detection hole between the detection unit and the belt is provided in the optical detection unit that detects the reference image for image control formed on the intermediate transfer belt or the recording material conveyance belt. Since it is installed, it is possible to easily prevent the detection unit from being contaminated by toner, etc., and to accurately detect the reference image of each color and obtain a high-quality color image by highly accurate color registration correction and density control. It becomes possible. In addition, by making the partition wall moveable in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of the unit replacement door of the device body that attaches and detaches the belt unit that is detachable to and from the image forming apparatus body, the dirt prevention means consisting of the partition wall is highly durable and low Cost can be configured. Furthermore, by providing a cleaning means such as a scraper that abuts against the detection unit with respect to the partition wall, the toner adhering to the detection unit can be automatically cleaned by opening and closing the unit replacement door.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing that an intermediate transfer belt unit of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body through a unit replacement door. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating installation of an optical sensor with respect to the intermediate transfer belt in FIG. 2. It is sectional drawing which shows the state at the time of the unit exchange door closing of the sensor cover provided in the optical sensor of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state at the time of the unit replacement door opening of a sensor cover. It is a top view which shows the movable mechanism of a sensor cover. It is a perspective view which shows the place where the scraper which cleans the toner adhering of a sensor detection part is installed in the sensor cover. It is sectional drawing which shows the cleaning operation | movement by the scraper of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the continuation of the cleaning operation by a scraper. It is sectional drawing which shows the other Example of the image forming apparatus of this invention. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing an intermediate transfer belt unit portion of a conventional image forming apparatus. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view illustrating installation of an optical sensor with respect to the intermediate transfer belt of FIG. 11. It is sectional drawing which shows the installation part of the optical sensor of FIG.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to the drawings.

Example 1
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. This apparatus is configured as a four-drum full-color image forming apparatus using an intermediate transfer belt as an intermediate transfer member (transfer medium).

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus has a detachable cassette 20 on which a plurality of recording materials (recording sheets such as paper) P are stacked and stored. The recording material P in the cassette 20 After being fed by the feeding roller 21, the sheet is separated one by one by the retard roller pair 22, and then conveyed to the registration roller pair 24 through the conveying roller 23 and the like. The registration roller pair 24 stops rotating when the recording material P is conveyed, and the skew of the recording material P is corrected by the recording material P being abutted against the nip of the registration roller pair 24.

  In the case of the 4-drum full color system, four process cartridges PY, PM, PC, and PBk of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are arranged in parallel along the intermediate transfer belt 30 as illustrated.

  The intermediate transfer belt 30 is configured as an intermediate transfer belt unit 31 by being suspended from a plurality of rotatable suspension rollers, in this example, a driving roller 100, a tension roller 105, and a secondary transfer counter roller 108. The tension is applied by the rotation, and the drive roller 100 is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the intermediate transfer belt unit 31 can be attached and detached in the direction of arrow a by a unit replacement door 206 of the image forming apparatus main body.

  Optical scanning systems 28 (28Y, 28M, 28C, 28Bk) are provided for the above process cartridges, respectively. Each cartridge includes a photosensitive drum 26 (26Y, 26M, 26C, 26Bk) of an image carrier, a primary charger 50, a developer 51, a drum cleaner 53, and the like. A toner image for each color corresponding to image information (image signal) is formed on the photosensitive drum 26 of each process cartridge by charging by the primary charger 50, exposure by the optical scanning system 28, and development by the developing device 51. Then, the toner images of the respective colors are primarily transferred while being superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 30 by the primary transfer roller 52 facing the photosensitive drum 26.

  The recording material P whose skew has been corrected by the registration roller pair 24 is sent to the secondary transfer portion of the belt 30 in timing with the image on the intermediate transfer belt 30 and is in contact with the belt 30 with the recording material P interposed therebetween. The four-color toner images on the belt 30 are secondarily transferred onto the recording material P by the secondary transfer roller 27. The recording material P is then fixed by the fixing unit 25, and then discharged and stacked on the upper surface of the main body of the image forming apparatus by the lower discharge roller pair 29a and the upper discharge roller pair 29b.

  As shown in FIG. 3, an optical sensor 200 is installed on the downstream side of the final color black image forming portion of the intermediate transfer belt 30, and each color which is a reference image for color registration detection formed on the intermediate transfer belt 30. The registration mark (toner mark) 40 is detected by the toner, and color registration correction such as correcting the image writing position on the photosensitive drum 26 is performed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the optical sensor 200 is a combination of an LED 200 b that emits light and a phototransistor 200 c that receives reflected light from the intermediate transfer belt 30. Cover glass 200a is attached. The optical sensors 200 are installed at two locations on both ends in the width direction of the intermediate transfer belt 30 so as to correspond to two rows of registration marks formed along the belt moving direction at both ends in the width direction of the intermediate transfer belt 30. By fixing to 201, the belt 30 is held above the belt 30 with a predetermined gap.

  According to the present invention, a sensor cover 202 (protective (blocking) member) as a movable member is engaged with the lower surface of the stay 201 so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the stay 201, and the sensor cover 202 is an intermediate transfer belt unit. It moves in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the replacement door 206. That is, the sensor cover has a first position that blocks between the detection unit of the optical sensor and the intermediate transfer belt, and a second position for receiving reflected light from the patch on the intermediate transfer belt through the detection hole of the sensor cover. It is configured to be movable to a position (a detection hole is positioned directly below the detection unit). The replacement door 206 is not only opened and closed when the intermediate transfer belt unit is replaced, but is also used to remove jammed paper outside the apparatus.

  A moving mechanism of the sensor cover 202 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the sensor cover 202 is provided with a hook 202 a penetrating the elongated hole 201 b of the stay 201. One end of the tension spring 203 is hooked on the hook 202 a, and the other of the tension spring 203 is provided. The sensor cover 202 is urged in the direction of arrow A by hooking the end on the hook 201a on the stay 201 side. There is a rotating shaft 202d at the corner of the sensor cover 202, and the rotating shaft 202d and the long hole 205a of the link 205 are fitted. The link 205 is rotatable about the central axis 300, and the protrusion 206 a of the replacement door 206 and the receiving portion 205 b of the link 205 abut with the intermediate transfer belt unit replacement door 206 closed.

  As a result, the link 205 is rotated and the sensor cover 202 is moved to the position of the two-dot chain line. The position of the two-dot chain line is the position shown in FIG. 4, and the opening 202 c that is a detection hole provided in the sensor cover 200 is located at the detection portion of the optical sensor 200, and the optical sensor 200 detects the registration mark. Is possible.

  On the other hand, when the intermediate transfer belt unit replacement door 206 is opened, the state shown in FIG. 5 is obtained, and the portion immediately below the detection portion of the optical sensor 200 is completely covered with the sensor cover 202. Touching 200 can be prevented. Further, since the opening 202c of the sensor cover 202 has a minimum opening area within a range where registration marks can be detected, there is an effect of reducing the absolute amount of toner adhering to the cover glass 200a.

  According to the present invention, the sensor cover 202 is provided with a cleaning mechanism. The cleaning mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the sensor cover 202 is provided with an attached toner removing scraper 203 in the vicinity of the opening 202c, and a toner receiving portion 202b is formed on the lower side thereof. The scraper 203 is made of an elastic material such as a PET film, and is in contact with the cover glass 200a of the optical sensor 200 at a predetermined angle and pressure as shown in FIGS. Is in a state.

  8 shows a state in which the intermediate transfer belt unit replacement door 206 is closed, and FIG. 9 shows a state in which the replacement door 206 is open. The scraper 203 is in contact with one end of the cover glass 200a when the replacement door 206 is closed, and slides to the other end of the cover glass 200a by the movement of the sensor cover 202 when the replacement door 206 is opened. Then, the toner t adhering to the glass 200a is scraped off. The toner scraped off is collected in the toner receiving portion 202 b below the scraper 203.

  As described above, cleaning is completed when the intermediate transfer belt unit replacement door 206 is opened and closed. In this cleaning, a decrease in the output of the optical sensor 200 is detected, a cleaning request message is issued to the user, and the user opens or closes the replacement door 206 or automatically opens and closes using other power (solenoid, motor). You may let them.

  In this embodiment, the intermediate transfer belt unit replacement door 206 is interlocked, but may be interlocked with a logical sum with another replacement unit, for example, a cartridge replacement door (not shown). Moreover, although the elastic scraper was used as the cleaning means, cleaning means such as a brush may be used.

  Further, the movement timing and the cleaning timing by the moving mechanism for moving the sensor cover and the cleaning mechanism of the sensor detection unit may be controlled by the CPU as the control means. Note that the movement timing and the cleaning timing can be controlled more reliably when the mechanical configuration is as described in the above embodiment than when the CPU controls the movement timing and the cleaning timing.

Example 2
FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. This apparatus is configured as a four-drum full-color image forming apparatus that directly transfers a toner image of each color onto a recording material carried on a recording material carrier.

  This image forming apparatus is greatly different from the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 of the first embodiment in that it has a conveyance belt 60 that is a recording material carrier instead of the intermediate transfer belt, but other basic configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment. Same as 1. 10, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 denote the same members.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the conveyance belt 60 is configured as a conveyance belt unit 104 suspended from a driving roller 100, a tension roller 105, and a suction counter roller 102 installed on a belt frame (not shown). The conveyor belt 60 is rotationally driven by the driving roller 100 in the direction of the arrow. The conveyor belt unit 104 can be attached and detached in the direction of arrow a by a conveyor belt unit replacement door 206 of the image forming apparatus main body.

  Process cartridges PY, PM, PC, and PBk are juxtaposed between the tension roller 105 and the driving roller 100 of the conveyance belt 60, and a primary charger is provided for the photosensitive drum 26 (26Y, 26M, 26C, and 26Bk) of each cartridge. A toner image for each color corresponding to image information (image signal) is formed by the charging process by 50, the exposure by the optical scanning system 28 (28Y, 28M, 28C, 28Bk), and the developing process by the developing device 51.

  On the other hand, the recording material P is transported from the cassette 20 by the feeding roller 21 and the like, and after correcting the skew by the registration roller pair 24, the recording material P is supplied to the suction portion of the transport belt 60 in time with the image on the photosensitive drum 26. The An adsorption roller 64 is installed in the adsorption unit, and the recording material P is electrostatically adsorbed on the conveyance belt 60 by an adsorption bias applied to the adsorption roller 64 using the adsorption counter roller 105 as a counter electrode.

  The toner images of the respective colors on the respective photosensitive drums 26 are superimposed and transferred by the transfer roller 52 onto the recording material P carried and transported on the transport belt 60. The recording material P is then fixed by the fixing device 25 and then discharged and stacked on the upper surface of the main body of the image forming apparatus.

  Also in this embodiment, the optical sensor 200 is installed on the downstream side of the black image forming portion of the final color of the transport belt 60, and a reference image (registration mark, (Density patch) is detected and image control (color registration correction, density control) is performed.

  As in the first embodiment, the sensor cover 202 is movably locked to the lower surface of the stay holding the optical sensor 200, and the sensor cover 202 can be moved in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the conveyor belt unit replacement door 206. The cover 202 covers the detection unit of the optical sensor 200 when the belt unit 104 is replaced. Therefore, toner contamination of the detection unit of the optical sensor 200 is prevented.

  Similarly to the first embodiment, a scraper for removing attached toner is provided near the opening of the sensor cover 202, and is brought into contact with the cover glass of the optical sensor 200 at a predetermined angle and pressure. Therefore, the movement of the sensor cover 202 by the opening / closing operation of the replacement door 206 allows the scraper to slide on the cover glass, scraping off the toner adhering to the cover glass, and cleaning the detection unit. The toner scraped off is collected in a toner receiving portion provided in the lower part of the scraper.

  In this embodiment, an example in which a patch is formed on the conveyance belt and this is detected by an optical sensor has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, even if the patch is formed on a recording material as a transfer medium carried on the conveyance belt and this is detected by an optical sensor, the same effect as in this embodiment can be obtained. In this case, since it is configured to detect the density of the toner image on the recording material on which the image is finally formed and the color misregistration state of each color toner image, it is more than the configuration that detects the patch on the conveyance belt. It is possible to reliably perform density control and color misregistration control.

  In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the detection unit of the optical sensor 200 is covered or exposed by the movement of the sensor cover 202 has been described, but is not limited thereto. For example, even if the sensor cover (detection hole) 202 is fixedly arranged and the optical sensor 200 (detection unit) itself is movable with respect to the detection hole of the sensor cover 202, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained. . In this case, the mechanism for moving the optical sensor 200 (detection unit) can be realized by the same configuration as the moving mechanism of the sensor cover 202 described in the above embodiment. In consideration of the patch detection accuracy by the optical sensor, the configuration in which the optical sensor 200 is fixed and the sensor cover is movable is more than the configuration in which the optical sensor 200 is movable and the sensor cover is fixed. More preferred.

26M to 26Bk Photosensitive drum 30 Intermediate transfer belt 31 Intermediate transfer belt unit 200 Optical sensor 200a Cover glass 201 Stay 202 Sensor cover 202c Detection hole 205 Link 206 Belt unit replacement door

Claims (19)

An image carrier that carries a toner image; a transfer medium on which the toner image on the image carrier is transferred; and a detection unit that detects a detection toner image transferred from the image carrier to the transfer medium. In the image forming apparatus that controls the image forming conditions based on the detection result,
An image forming apparatus comprising: a member provided between a detection unit of the detection unit and the transfer medium, and having a detection hole.   A unit including the transfer medium, the unit being detachable from the image forming apparatus main body through a space formed when an opening / closing door provided in the image forming apparatus main body is opened; The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus moves in conjunction with an opening / closing operation of the opening / closing door.   The image according to claim 2, wherein the member moves to a position that covers the detection unit when the door is opened, and moves to a position that exposes the detection unit when the door is closed. Forming equipment.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the member includes a cleaning unit that cleans toner adhering to the detection unit.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the member includes a storage unit that stores the toner collected by the cleaning unit.   2. A plurality of image carriers are provided for carrying a plurality of color toner images, respectively, and a plurality of color toner images are sequentially transferred from the image carriers to the transfer medium. The image forming apparatus according to any one of items 5 to 5.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the toner images for detection of a plurality of colors are transferred from the image carriers to the transfer medium so as not to overlap each other.   8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the toner image for detection is a toner image for color misregistration control.   8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the toner image for detection is a toner image for density control.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner image on the transfer medium is transferred to a recording material. An image carrier that carries a toner image, a recording material carrier that carries and transports a recording material to transfer the toner image on the image carrier to a recording material, and a transfer from the image carrier to the recording material carrier An image forming apparatus that detects a detected toner image and controls image forming conditions based on the detection result.
An image forming apparatus comprising a member provided between a detection unit of the detection unit and the recording material carrier and provided with a detection hole.   A unit including the recording material carrier, the unit being detachable from the image forming apparatus main body through a space formed when an opening / closing door provided in the image forming apparatus main body is opened; The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the image forming apparatus moves in conjunction with an opening / closing operation of the opening / closing door.   The image according to claim 12, wherein the member moves to a position that covers the detection unit when the door is opened, and moves to a position that exposes the detection unit when the door is closed. Forming equipment.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the member includes a cleaning unit that cleans toner adhering to the detection unit.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the member includes a storage unit that stores the toner collected by the cleaning unit.   A plurality of the image carriers are provided for carrying toner images of a plurality of colors, and the toner images of a plurality of colors are sequentially transferred from the image carriers to the recording material carried on the recording material carrier. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus.   17. The image forming apparatus according to claim 16, wherein toner images for detection of a plurality of colors are transferred from the image carriers to the recording material carrier so as not to overlap each other.   18. The image forming apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the toner image for detection is a toner image for color misregistration control.   18. The image forming apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the toner image for detection is a toner image for density control.

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