Patent ID: 7536122

Claim:
A toner supply device, comprising: a plurality of toner containers filled with toner; a toner feed device having the plurality of toner containers mounted therein and arranged to feed the toner discharged from the toner containers to a developing unit, wherein the toner supply device is controlled so as to supply the toner to the developing unit in accordance with an amount of toner consumed in the developing unit for printing; a remaining toner quantity detector arranged to detect an amount of toner left in a toner storing portion filled with the toner for each toner container; and a controller arranged to control an operation of the toner supply device, wherein the controller is arranged to select one of the toner containers to be used to supply the toner to the developing unit, in accordance with the amounts of toner left in the plurality of toner containers, detected by the remaining toner quantity detector, wherein the toner container selected is the one that has the least amount of toner remaining therein among the plurality of toner containers.