Patent ID: 7477854

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a cartridge loading portion removably loaded with a first cartridge containing therein a consumable but carrying no memory storing information on the consumable, or with a second cartridge containing therein the consumable and carrying a memory storing information on the consumable; a controller; and a first memory for storing the information on the consumable contained in the first cartridge, wherein the controller includes: a determination portion for determining whether a cartridge loaded in the cartridge loading portion is the first cartridge or the second cartridge; a first consumption calculating/storing portion operating when the first cartridge is loaded in the cartridge loading portion, calculating a consumption of the consumable in the first cartridge and storing the calculation result in the first memory; a life-end storing portion for detecting the life end of the first cartridge based on the consumable consumption of the first cartridge calculated by the first consumption calculating/storing portion, and for storing the life-end information on the first cartridge in the first memory; and a second consumption calculating/storing portion for calculating a consumption of the consumable in the second cartridge and storing the calculation result in the memory installed in the second cartridge.