Konica Corporation

Konishiroku Photo Industry Co., Ltd.

Keisuke Yamaguchi

Masahiro Yoshino

Susumu Owada

Noboru Yamada

Eturo Ochiai

Yoshinaga Mitsuhashi

A toner container detachably mounted to a developing unit of a copying apparatus which contains fresh toner to be supplied to the developing unit and also stores used toner thereinto. A partition plate, slidably provided inside the toner container, partitions the container into a first section for containing the fresh toner and a second section for containing the used toner. The toner container is also provided with an outlet for the fresh toner to exit from the first section and an inlet for the used toner to enter into the second section. A transmission mechanism converts the rotation of a developer roller of the developing device into a slide motion of the partition plate, thereby the volume of the first section decreases and the volume of the second section increases in accordance with the operation of the developing roller.

Developer container for an image recording apparatus

A developer reservoir in which a flexible seal member is separably bonded to the circumferential surface of an opening in a bottom portion of a reservoir body containing a developer for sealing the same opening. A portion extended from the bonded flexible seal member is spot-bonded on a plurality of portions of the bottom portion of the reservoir body so that when a considerably large pulling out force is applied to the seal member the seal member is separated first from the spot-bonded portions of the bottom portion of the reservoir body and then from the circumferential surface of the opening of the reservoir body. A sliding cover is also included below the seal member so that the sliding cover can be drawn in a right angle direction to the separating direction of the seal member.

Developer reservoir

A toner container unit wherein an opening part of the toner container unit is sealed by a film-like sheet surrounding a sliding cover. When the sliding cover slides forwardly the film-like sheet is torn off from the opening part of the toner container unit. When the sliding cover slides backwards the film sheet seals again the opening part.

Toner container unit

A method of supplying a fine-particle powder from a container to an apparatus through an opening therein, comprises causing an engagement portion formed in part of the container to cooperate with an engagement portion formed in the apparatus adjacent to the opening such that the fine-particle powder can spontaneously be moved while the container is maintained stationary. The method may further comprise causing an engagement portion formed in part of the outer machine frame of an electrostatic recording apparatus to engage with an engagement portion formed in part of a container therein, such that the fine-particle powder can be supplied to a hopper through an opening formed in the apparatus adjacent to the engagement portion thereof. The container can thus be positively held and fixed by the engagement of the container with the body of the apparatus, and the scattering and floating toner particles can be completely prevented from leaking out of the outside or inside of the machine.

Growing community of inventors

Hachioji, Japan

Keisuke Yamaguchi