An image forming apparatus includes an image former, an informing unit, and a hardware processor. The image former prints an image on continuous paper by: forming an electrostatic latent image on an image holder based on image information of a job; developing the electrostatic latent image with toner, thereby forming a toner image on the image holder; and transferring the toner image onto the continuous paper. Based on the image information of the job, the hardware processor calculates a coverage of the image to be printed on the continuous paper. Based on the calculated coverage, the hardware processor determines a continuously printable distance on the continuous paper. The hardware processor causes the informing unit to inform a user of the continuously printable distance before the image former starts the printing.

A method is disclosed for producing a recycled developer from a waste developer generated by development of a water-developable flexographic printing original plate that has a photosensitive resin layer made from a photosensitive resin composition containing a water-dispersible resin. The method includes: leaving the waste developer to stand still in a tank so as to emerge and flocculate the photosensitive resin composition dispersed in the waste developer and thus form a solid-liquid mixed phase containing a resin flocculate beneath a liquid surface of the waste developer; and discharging the solid-liquid mixed phase containing the resin flocculate from an outlet formed on a side surface of the tank and obtaining, as a recycled developer, a liquid left in the tank, characterized in that a level of the waste developer in the tank at the time of starting the discharge is higher than the lowest position of an aperture of the outlet.

A developing device includes: a rotating member that passes a developer while rotating to an image holding body on which a latent image is formed; a housing in which a circulation path through which the developer to be supplied to the rotating member circulates and a branch path that is branched from the circulation path and through which a part of the developer is transported are formed; and a wall portion that forms the branch path at a part of the housing and in which an output port from which the developer is output to an outside and an exhaust port from which air in the branch path is output to the outside above the output port are formed.

A toner cartridge includes a toner supply pipe and a first shutter. The toner supply pipe has a toner supply opening. When the toner cartridge is mounted onto a main unit, the toner supply pipe moves through an insertion opening from an outside position at which the toner supply opening is located outside a developing frame to an inside position at which the toner supply opening is located inside the developing frame. The first shutter is provided at the toner supply pipe. The first shutter moves relative to the toner supply pipe between an open position at which the toner supply opening is opened and a closed position at which the toner supply opening is closed. The first shutter moves relative to the toner supply pipe from the closed position to the open position in a state where the toner supply pipe is located at the inside position.

Provided is a consumables discharge device that discharges toner via an image carrier and an intermediate transfer body including a patch forming unit that forms a patch in a patch printing region to be formed on the intermediate transfer body via the image carrier by using the toner discharged from a developer tank after adjusting a range of the patch printing region in one or both of a gap region existing between image forming regions adjacent to each other of the intermediate transfer body and both end regions adjacent to both ends of an image forming region in a width direction of the intermediate transfer body, based on one or both of a size and a direction of a recording medium to be printed as input information.

A developer circulated between first and second chambers in a function separation type development device including a developer discharge portion is prevented from being excessively discharged from the developer discharge portion. The developer discharge portion is disposed in the first chamber and is provided downstream of a region on a developer bearing member in the direction in which the developer in the first chamber is conveyed, the region corresponding to a maximum image region formable on an image bearing member.

An image forming apparatus includes: an image bearing member, a developing device, and a controller configured to execute an operation in a forced consumption mode. The controller includes a difference calculating portion, an integrating portion, and a flag. In a case where the flag is set when a predetermined time is elapsed after the integrated value exceeds the predetermined threshold, the image formation on the predetermined number of the recording materials is effected and then the controller executes the operation in the forced consumption mode, and in a case where the flag is reset when the predetermined time is elapsed after the integrated value exceeds the predetermined threshold, the image formation on the predetermined number of the recording materials is effected and then the controller continues an image forming operation without executing the operation in the forced consumption mode.

There is demand to reduce the amount of developing agent fed to a cleaning member. The amount of developing agent that is fed to the cleaning member is decided based on the amount of developing agent recovered by the cleaning member or the amount of use of a process cartridge.

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member to form a toner image on a recording material with a liquid developer containing a toner and a carrier liquid, wherein the carrier liquid contains a first substance, charged to an opposite polarity to a charge polarity of the toner, for imparting an electrical polarity to the toner, and a second substance, higher in volume resistivity than the first substance, a cleaning portion to collect the liquid developer remaining on the image bearing member after the toner image is transferred onto the recording material, a toner separating device to separate the collected liquid developer into the toner and the carrier liquid, and a carrier separating device to separate the carrier liquid into the carrier liquid containing the first substance and the carrier liquid containing the second substance by applying an electric field to the carrier liquid.

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a developing device, and a controller capable of executing an operation in a forced consumption mode in which toner is consumed without being transferred onto a recording material. The controller includes a difference calculating portion configured to calculate a difference between an image amount of a predetermined image forming number and a reference value. The reference value is set i) at a first reference value when information on an average image amount per predetermined image forming number or per predetermined driving time of the developing device is less than a value corresponding to a predetermined reference image amount, and is set ii) at a second reference value lower than the first reference value when the information on the average image amount is not less than a predetermined reference image amount.