Maintenance of image forming apparatus

摘要

In an image forming apparatus, a maintenance period of each of a number of replaceable parts is indicated by storing a predetermined number of maximum times of use of the part in a memory; detecting each use of the part; counting the number of such uses and storing the counted number of times of use in a memory; comparing the counted number of times of use with the predetermined number of maximum times of use; and outputting an indication of the maintenance period in dependence upon the result of the comparison. In this way, a user can be kept accurately informed of the need to replace or clean the replaceable parts.