Patent ID: 8744281

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a first image forming unit for forming an image on a medium, the first image forming unit including a component for forming the image on the medium and a first image forming unit storage section for storing life information, use amount information, and use purpose information of the component, the first image forming unit being detachably replaceable; a read-write section for reading and writing information in the first image forming unit storage section; a life management section for managing life of the first image forming unit; and an image forming apparatus storage section for storing the life information and the use amount information read from the first image forming unit storage section by the read-write section, wherein after the first image forming unit is replaced by a second image forming unit different from the first image forming unit, the life management section causes the read-write section to read the use amount information of the first image forming unit from the image forming apparatus storage section, calculates a usable amount according to the use amount information read from the image forming apparatus storage section, and causes the read-write section to write the usable amount to a second image forming unit storage section of the second image forming unit.