Image forming apparatus capable of detecting a residual amount of cut paper

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes a paper stacking section for stacking a plurality of paper sheets cut to a given size. In the image forming apparatus, a paper supplying section supplies the paper sheets one by one, an image forming section forms an image which corresponds to received image information on the paper sheet supplied from the paper supplying section, a discharging paper stacking section stacks a paper sheet discharged out of the apparatus after the image is formed on the paper sheet by the image forming section, and a marking section is provided separate from the image forming section and adapted to continuously apply an "absence of paper" warning mark to the paper sheet remaining in the paper stacking section during a given period of time from a time at which a residual amount of paper sheets on the paper stacking section is lowered below a given level during the supply of paper sheets by the paper supplying section to a given time preceding a time at which the residual amount of paper sheets is all used up to cause the image forming opeation to be stopped. By so doing, the user of the apparatus is informed of a reduced residual amount of paper sheets over the given period of time.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.