Apparatus for and method of forming image under controlled image forming condition

An image forming method in which an electrostatic latent image is formed on a surface of an image carrier, a predetermined developing bias is applied to a developer which houses toner, said toner accordingly moves toward said image carrier, said electrostatic latent image is visualized with said toner, and a toner image is consequently formed, wherein

• toner state information which expresses a state of said toner housed within said developer is updated in accordance with an operating state of said apparatus;
• and
• when said toner state information satisfies a predetermined control start condition, a toner image is formed as a patch image, an image forming condition which influences an image density is optimized based on a toner density of said patch image, and an image density is consequently controlled.

An image forming method in which a process cartridge for image formation can be freely attached to and detached from a main body of an apparatus, a toner image is formed as a patch image using said process cartridge which is attached to said main body, a density of said patch image is detected, and a condition controlling process which is for controlling of an image forming condition is executed based on a result of the detection, wherein

• when said process cartridge attached to said main body is removed from said main body and thereafter again attached to said main body, whether thus attached process cartridge is the same as the process cartridge removed earlier is determined, and said condition controlling process is executed when it is determined that the two are not the same, but said condition controlling process is not executed when it is determined that the two are the same.

An image forming method in which a process cartridge for image formation can be freely attached to and detached from a main body of an apparatus, a toner image is formed as a patch image using said process cartridge which is attached to said main body, a density of said patch image is detected, and a condition controlling process which is for controlling of an image forming condition is executed based on a result of the detection, wherein

• when said process cartridge is attached to said main body, a judgment is made regarding whether thus attached process cartridge is the same as a process cartridge which used to be attached to said main body before execution of said condition controlling process which took place prior to the attachment, and when it is determined that the two are not the same, said condition controlling process is executed, but when it is determined that the two are the same, said condition controlling process is not executed.

A control method for an image forming apparatus in which a plurality of developers can each be freely attached to and detached from a main body of an apparatus, wherein

• toner images are formed as patch images using said developers which are attached to said main body, and a condition controlling process, which is for controlling of an image forming condition for formation of toner images using said developers, is executed based on a detection result on densities of said patch images;
• and
• on each one of said developers which are attached to said main body, whether it is necessary to execute said condition controlling process on each developer is determined based on information indicative of a state of use of each developer, and when it is determined that it is necessary to execute said condition controlling process on at least one developer, said condition controlling process is executed on the developer which has just been determined to require said condition controlling process, but said condition controlling process is executed on the other developers.

A control method for an image forming apparatus in which a plurality of developers can each be freely attached to and detached from a main body of an apparatus, wherein

• toner images are formed as patch images using said developers which are attached to said main body, and a condition controlling process, which is for controlling of an image forming condition for formation of toner images using said developers, is executed based on a detection result on densities of said patch images;
• and
• when at least one developer was removed from said main body and a new developer has been attached to said main body, said condition controlling process is executed on the attached developer but not on the other developers which have been remaining attached to said main body since before the attachment.

An image forming method in which an electrostatic latent image is formed on a surface of an image carrier, a predetermined developing bias is applied to a developer which houses toner, said toner accordingly moves toward said image carrier, said electrostatic latent image is visualized with said toner, and a toner image is consequently formed, wherein

• a density target value is changed in accordance with an operating state of an apparatus, a toner density of a toner image formed as a patch image is detected, and an image forming condition which influences an image density is optimized based on a result of the detection and said density target value, whereby an image density is controlled.