Determination of remaining life of photoconductor

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:

a charger to apply a plurality of charging voltages to a photoconductor, the plurality of charging voltages having different magnitudes and respectively corresponding to a plurality of area sections;

a developing device to supply a developer to the photoconductor;

a sensor to sense a background defect formed by the supplied developer and corresponding to the area section, the background defect formed on one of the photoconductor or an intermediate transfer medium; and

a controller to provide information for a remaining lifetime of the photoconductor or a replacement time based on the corresponding area section wherein the background defect is formed.

2. The image forming apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of charging voltages of different magnitudes are in an equally increasing relationship from a reference charging voltage set for a normal printing operation.

3. The image forming apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of charging voltages are applied to the photoconductor based on a certain time interval or based on a rotation of the photoconductor by a predetermined angle.

4. The image forming apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the developing device is further to supply the developer to the photoconductor that does not perform an exposure process.

5. The image forming apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is further to sense the background defect in the area sections between reference lines formed near a front end and a rear end.

6. The image forming apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a memory,

wherein the controller is further to store a value of a charging voltage in an area section where a background defect occurs, a reference charging voltage value set for a normal printing operation, usage amount information of the photoconductor, and usage period information in the memory for every predetermined period and estimate the remaining lifetime of the photoconductor according to a trend analysis based on information stored in the memory.

7. The image forming apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a communication interface device,

wherein the controller is further to transmit a value of a charging voltage in an area section where a background defect occurs, a reference charging voltage value set for a normal printing operation, usage amount information of the photoconductor, and usage period information to a printing service management server for every predetermined period through the communication interface device and receive the remaining lifetime of the photoconductor, from the printing service management server, estimated according to a trend analysis based on the transmitted information through the communication interface device.

8. The image forming apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a memory,

wherein the controller is further to store a value of a charging voltage in an area section where a background defect occurs, a reference charging voltage value set for a normal printing operation, usage amount information of the photoconductor, and usage period information in the memory for every predetermined period and estimate the remaining lifetime of the photoconductor according to a trend analysis based on information stored in the memory.

9. A method of determining a remaining lifetime of a photoconductor, the method comprising:

applying a plurality of charging voltages to a photoconductor, the plurality of charging voltages having different magnitudes and respectively corresponding to a plurality of area sections;

supplying a developer to the photoconductor;

sensing a background defect formed by the supplied developer and corresponding to the area section, the background defect formed on one of the photoconductor or an intermediate transfer medium; and

providing information for a remaining lifetime of the photoconductor or a replacement time based on the area section wherein the background defect is formed.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of charging voltages of different magnitudes are in an equally increasing relationship from a reference charging voltage set for a normal printing operation.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of charging voltages are applied to the photoconductor based on a certain time interval or based on a rotation of the photoconductor by a predetermined angle.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the supplying of the developer comprises supplying the developer to the photoconductor that does not perform an exposure process.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the sensing comprises sensing the background defect between reference lines formed near a front end and a rear end.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the determining of the remaining lifetime of the photoconductor further comprises:

storing a value of a charging voltage in an area section where a background defect occurs, a reference charging voltage value set for a normal printing operation, usage amount information of the photoconductor, and usage period information for every predetermined period; and

estimating the remaining lifetime of the photoconductor according to a trend analysis based on the stored information.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the determining of the remaining lifetime of the photoconductor further comprises:

transmitting a value of a charging voltage in an area section where a background defect occurs, a reference charging voltage value set for a normal printing operation, usage amount information of the photoconductor, and usage period information to a printing service management server for every predetermined period; and

receiving the remaining lifetime of the photoconductor, from the printing service management server, estimated according to a trend analysis based on the transmitted information.

16. An image forming apparatus comprising:

a charger to apply a plurality of charging voltages to a photoconductor, the plurality of charging voltages having different magnitudes and respectively corresponding to a plurality of area sections between a front end and a rear end of a test pattern;

a developing device to supply a developer to the photoconductor;

a sensor to sense a background defect formed by the supplied developer and corresponding to the area section; and

a controller to provide information for a remaining lifetime of the photoconductor or a replacement time based on the corresponding area section wherein the background defect is formed.

17. The image forming apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of charging voltages of different magnitudes are in an equally increasing relationship from a reference charging voltage set for a normal printing operation.

18. The image forming apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of charging voltages are applied to the photoconductor based on a certain time interval or based on a rotation of the photoconductor by a predetermined angle.

19. The image forming apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the developing device is further to supply the developer to the photoconductor that does not perform an exposure process.

20. The image forming apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the sensor is further to sense the background defect formed on one of the photoconductor or an intermediate transfer medium.