Patent ID: 8842301

Claim:
A supply control device comprising: an image-forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium; a deciding unit that decides an order of a plurality of containers that supply recording media to the image-forming unit; a determining unit that determines for each of the plurality of containers whether each of the plurality of containers include recording media available for forming an image, in the order decided by the deciding unit; a supply unit that retrieves recording media from a current container among the plurality of containers determined by the determining unit to include recording media available for forming the image, supplies the recording media from the current container to the image-forming unit, determines a container change condition that indicates the current container does not include recording media available for forming the image, terminates providing the recording media from the current container to the image-forming unit, and supplies the recording media to the image-forming unit from a subsequent container among the plurality of containers determined by the determining unit to include recording media available for forming the image, the subsequent container being subsequent in the order decided by the deciding unit to the current container in the order decided by the deciding unit; and a mode-specifying unit that specifies whether to use a mode in which containers are arranged in a predetermined order, as a mode for deciding an order of containers, or to use a mode in which containers are selected on the basis of times at which the containers have been determined to be available for forming an image, wherein if the mode is specified by the mode-specifying unit to use the mode in which containers are arranged in the predetermined order, the deciding unit decides an order of containers so that the containers are arranged in the predetermined order, and if the mode is specified by the mode-specifying unit to use the mode in which containers are selected on the basis of times at which the containers have been determined to be available for forming an image, the deciding unit decides an order of containers on the basis of times at which the containers have been determined to be available for forming an image.