A development system includes a housing configured for accommodating a developer material which includes toner particles. At least one magnetic roller is positioned within the housing to attract the developer material to a surface of the magnetic roller(s). A continuous developer belt is positioned to attract the toner particles from the at least one magnetic roller to a surface of the developer belt. The developer belt is carried on a plurality of developer rollers. One of the developer rollers is positioned adjacent to an image transfer member, such as a belt or drum, with a photoconductive surface. Some of the toner particles are transferred to a latent image formed on the image transfer member to generate a toner image layer, which is applied to a sheet of print medium.

An image forming apparatus, includes: plural image forming units each including an image holding member and configured to form an image that is to be transferred to a recording medium on the image holding member using a dry toner, the number of the plural image forming units being at least five; and plural developing devices each of which is provided in each of the plural image forming units and supplied with the dry toner and a dry carrier, each of the plural developing devices including a dry toner adhering unit that has a length equal to or longer than a length of a long side of an A3 size and to which the dry toner adheres, the dry toner adhering unit being configured to cause the dry toner adhering to the dry toner adhering unit to adhere to the image holding member.

An imaging system includes a belt roller extending in an axial direction, an endless belt to rotate about the belt roller, a steering roller located inside the endless belt and extending in the axial direction, a steering roller actuator located at an end portion of the belt roller in the axial direction to contact the endless belt, and a support. The steering roller actuator is displaceable in the axial direction in response to a shifting of the endless belt so as to tilt the steering roller with respect to the axial direction. The support supports the endless belt in a gap formed between the belt roller and the steering roller actuator when the steering roller actuator is displaced in the axial direction.

An image forming apparatus includes a CPU configured to change a parameter value used to control a developer bearing amount and form a plurality of patches for different parameter values changed, and a color sensor configured to measure the plurality of patches thereby acquiring color information thereof. The CPU detects, from values of color information of the plurality of patches, a value of the color information at which a change greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value occurs, and the CPU sets a parameter used in forming an image based on the detected value of color information.

A preheating device includes two first inverting members disposed at different positions while obliquely intersecting a feeding direction of a continuous recording medium on which an unfixed image is formed, the first inverting members inverting the recording medium by passing a back surface of the recording medium, on which the unfixed image is not formed, therealong before a fixing operation, and at least one heating rotating body disposed at a position further on an outside than a side edge portion of the recording medium in the feeding direction to preheat the recording medium before the fixing operation by passing a portion of the back surface of the recording medium present between the two first inverting members so that the portion of the back surface is wound around the heating rotating body.

An image forming apparatus includes image bearers, motors, a reference position detector, and processing circuitry. The circuitry senses a density of a toner image on each bearer; forms an image pattern and senses, based on a detection result of the detector and a sensing result of the density, density unevenness in a rotation cycle and a phase of the density unevenness with respect to a rotational position reference of each bearer; calculates a target phase based on the phase sensed; calculates a relative phase difference based on a rotational position and the target phase of each bearer; selects, as a reference image bearer, an image bearer having a minimum phase correction value, based on a calculation result of the difference; and controls the rotational position of each of the other image bearers with respect to the reference image bearer to the phase correction value, with the motors being driven.

If a timing of outputting magnification correction data for first image data to form first electrostatic latent image for an (n+1)th print medium overlaps a timing of outputting magnification correction data for second image data to form an electrostatic latent image for an nth print medium having a size smaller than the (n+1)th print medium in a conveyance direction of the print medium, a CPU outputs the magnification correction data for the second image data to form the second electrostatic latent image for the nth print medium before the magnification correction data for the first image data to form the first electrostatic latent image for the (n+1)th print medium is output and outputs the magnification correction data for the (n+1)th print medium after a magnification correction process performed by a second data processing unit based on the magnification correction data for the nth print medium is completed.

An image forming apparatus that includes an image bearing member which can bear a toner image, a transfer member used to transfer a toner image onto a recording material from the image bearing member, and a reading device which reads density information of images on recording material disposed on a platen. The image forming apparatus forms a first chart on a first recording material and a second chart on a second recording material by sequentially transferring a plurality of test images while applying a plurality of test voltages to the transfer member. The two charts are read by the reading device and the transfer voltage is adjusted based on the reading result.

Prediction accuracy of a color misregistration amount in an image formation executed in an image forming apparatus is improved. The image forming apparatus comprises an optical box storing an optical system for irradiating a laser beam from a laser source to a photosensitive drum, a scanner temperature sensor provided near the optical box, and an environmental temperature sensor for detecting a surrounding temperature of the image forming apparatus, and a control section. When image formation is executed, the control section obtains a temperature Tscn detected by the scanner temperature sensor and a temperature Tenv detected by the environmental temperature sensor and calculates a prediction value of a position misregistration amount to the photoreceptor of the laser beam using difference between Tscn and Tenv and Tscn.

In an image forming apparatus including a plurality of image forming stations, on the basis of a density of a toner image formed in an upstream image forming station, an operation of a pre-exposure device in a downstream image forming station is controlled.