Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Shindengen Electric Manufacturing Company Limited

Yamanashi Electronics Co., Ltd.

Masatoshi Maruta

Tetsuya Nakamura

Masaaki Ishikawa

Hiroshi Hashizume

Hirotaka Fukuyama

Koichiro Sato

Toshio Takagi

Michihisa Iguchi

Seiji Arai

Yasuo Fujii

Shuji Nishina

Seiichi Koizumi

Jiro Hukasawa

A developing apparatus including a hopper storing toner and carrier and a roller disposed in an opening of the hopper. A carrier stopper is provided on a front wall of the hopper proximate the opening having an arced surface concentrically opposing an upper portion of the roller. Thus, a blend layer volume is formed in a first space between the carrier stopper and the roller for storing a blended layer of carrier and toner such that the carrier stopper prevents carrier from scattering outside the blend layer volume and the conjunctional effect of rotating the roller and of the magnetic force of the rotary magnets in the roller blends the carrier and toner stored in the blended layer. A sub-hopper, proximate the blend layer volume, is also formed by a second space between the carrier stopper and a lateral bottom wall of the hopper for storing toner to be provided to the blended layer.

Developing apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Yamanashi, Japan

Masatoshi Maruta