Image forming apparatus method for manufacturing the same and method for maintaining the same

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• image forming means for forming an image on a recording medium;
• communication means for communicating data between said image forming means and an external device;
• and
• storage means including a first storage area which previously stores data relating to parts necessary for constructing said image forming means and read out and supplied to the external device via said communication means when the parts are assembled and a second storage area for storing data input from the external device via said communication means after the parts are assembled and relating to the parts assembled to construct said image forming means.

A manufacturing system for manufacturing an image forming apparatus which includes image forming means for forming an image on a recording medium, and storage means provided in the image forming means, for storing data relating to parts constructing the image forming means, comprising:

• input means for inputting data relating to a part assembled to construct the image forming means;
• communication means connected to the storage means, for communicating data with respect to the storage means;
• determining means for comparing data relating to a part to be assembled and input from said input means with data relating to the part read out from the storage means via said communication means to determine whether the part to be assembled is proper or not;
• and
• output means for outputting data relating to the part which is determined to be proper by said determining means to the storage means via said communication means.

A maintenance method for an image forming apparatus which includes image forming means for forming an image on a recording medium, communication means for communicating data between the image forming means and an external device, and storage means provided in the image forming means, having a first memory area where ID data identifying the parts constructing the image forming means is stored in advance, and a second memory area where data associated with a maintenance record of a part subjected to a maintenance process is stored, comprising the steps of:

• connecting the storage means and the external device to each other by use of the communication means;
• reading out data that is associated with the maintenance record of the part stored in the second memory area and that corresponds to the ID data stored in the first memory area, and supplying the data to the external device;
• carrying out maintenance work on the part which corresponds to the ID data reading out from the first memory area in said readout step;
• and
• storing data of the part subjected to the maintenance process in said carrying out step, as the maintenance record, into the second memory area, such that the data corresponds to the part whose ID data is stored in the first memory area.