Patent ID: 7853167

Claim:
An image forming system, comprising: a plurality of containers, arranged in a sequential order within the image forming system, the containers including at least four different colors of consumable material used to print an image on a medium; a cover which covers the plurality of containers; a printing engine configured to print the image on the medium using the consumable material; and an operation panel, mounted to the image forming system, including a display, the display configured to display information of the consumable material within the containers such that there is a display portion corresponding to each of the containers and an arrangement of the display portions corresponds to said sequential order of the plurality of containers, when viewed from a side of the operation panel, the display portions each having an indication of color of the consumable material in a corresponding one of the plurality of containers such that a sequence of colors of the consumable material of the plurality of containers is the same as a sequence of the display portions corresponding to the containers, wherein the indications of color indicate at least four different colors of consumable material, and the display portions corresponding to each of the containers are adjacent to no more than two others of the plurality of indicators, wherein when the consumable material in one of the plurality of containers becomes a near empty state, the corresponding display portion indicates a near empty state for the color of that consumable material, wherein the image forming system is structured such that when the cover is at an open position, the containers within the image forming system and the display portions corresponding to each of the containers are simultaneously viewable, and wherein when the consumable material in one of the plurality of containers becomes an empty state, the corresponding display portion indicates that there is no substance of a particular color for use in the image forming system.