Apparatus for detecting amount of toner deposit and controlling density of image, method of forming misalignment correction pattern, and apparatus for detecting and correcting misalignment of image

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• an intermediate transfer body on which images formed on a plurality of image carriers are superposed and transferred;
• a pattern forming unit that forms a misalignment correction pattern including a plurality of patches in which a reference color pattern at a reference position and a correction target color pattern formed in a correction target color are superposed on the intermediate transfer body;
• a sensor that optically reads the misalignment correction pattern formed, the sensor including a first sensing unit configured to read a regular reflection component and a second sensing unit configured to read a diffuse reflection component, wherein the first sensing unit and the second sensing unit are arranged with a light source there-in-between;
• a detecting unit that detects and identifies the diffuse and regular reflection components optically read by the sensor;
• a calculating unit that calculates an amount of misalignment of the correction target color with respect to the reference position based on a result of detection by the detecting unit;
• a correcting unit that corrects the misalignment of the correction target color based on the amount of misalignment calculated;
• and
• an image forming unit that forms a color image at a corrected position.

A method of correcting misalignment, comprising:

• forming a plurality of correction target color patterns in a correction target color on an intermediate transfer body, on which images formed on a plurality of image carriers are superposed and transferred, along the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer body;
• forming a plurality of reference color patterns at a reference position on the correction target color patterns and on the intermediate transfer body;
• detecting an amount of light reflected from the reference color patterns and the correction target color patterns using a sensor, the sensor detecting and identifying diffuse and regular reflection components using a first sensing unit to read a regular reflection component and a second sensing unit to read a diffuse reflection component, the first sensing unit and the second sensing unit being arranged with a light source there-in-between;
• calculating an amount of misalignment of the correction target color with respect to the reference position based on a result of the detecting;
• and
• correcting the misalignment of the correction target color based on the amount of misalignment calculated.

A computer readable recording medium that stores a computer program for correcting a misalignment, the computer program making a computer to execute:

• forming a plurality of correction target color patterns in a correction target color on an intermediate transfer body, on which images formed on a plurality of image carriers are superposed and transferred, along the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer body;
• forming a plurality of reference color patterns at a reference position on the correction target color patterns and on the intermediate transfer body;
• detecting an amount of light reflected from the reference color patterns and the correction target color patterns using a sensor, the sensor detecting and identifying diffuse and regular reflection components using a first sensing unit to read a regular reflection component and a second sensing unit to read a diffuse reflection component, the first sensing unit and the second sensing unit being arranged with a light source there-in-between;
• calculating an amount of misalignment of the correction target color with respect to the reference position based on a result of the detecting;
• and
• correcting the misalignment of the correction target color based on the amount of misalignment calculated.