Patent ID: 8073346

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium by using coloring materials of a plurality of colors based on image information; a first detecting unit that detects, when a first given number of first housing units are used for the apparatus, whether or not the first given number of the first housing units are installed to the apparatus; a second detecting unit that detects, when a second given number of second housing units and a third given number of the first housing units are used for the apparatus, whether or not the second given number of the second housing units and the third given number of the first housing units are installed to the apparatus; and a control unit that controls the image forming unit to form the image when the first detecting unit detects an installation of the first housing units or the second detecting unit detects an installation of the first housing units and the second housing units, wherein the first housing units house the coloring materials, the second housing units respectively house the coloring materials, each of the second housing units includes a storing module storing information on the stored coloring material, each of the first housing units and each of the second housing units respectively include an optical path forming portion that forms an optical path to transmit light from one end to the other end of a predetermined arrangement when the first housing units and the second housing units are installed to the apparatus in the predetermined arrangement, the first detecting unit detects whether or not the light is transmitted from the one end to the other end through the optical path, and the control unit controls the image forming unit based on a detection of a transmission of the light by the first detecting unit.