Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Ryosuke Mano

Takahiko Kimura

Masanobu Deguchi

Kazuya Koyama

Hiroshi Kubota

Koichi Mihara

Hisashi Kunihiro

Masatoshi Kaneshige

A toner cartridge includes a toner reservoir for storing toner and a toner conveyor portion. The toner conveyor portion includes a toner discharge port for discharging toner stored in the toner reservoir to the outside and a toner conveying member for conveying toner to the toner discharge port. The toner conveyor portion includes an airtight cover that encloses the upper part of the toner conveying member located over the toner discharge port, a communication opening arranged near the toner discharge port to connect between the toner conveyor portion and the toner reservoir and a pressure relieve valve that opens and closes the communication opening in accordance with the pressure of the toner in the space enclosed by the airtight cover.

Toner cartridge and image forming apparatus using the same

A developing device of the present invention has a toner supply opening in a first carrying path and in the upstream of the developer carrying direction of a first carrying screw which is further from a developing roller; and a moquette member having feathers on its surface, and being provided, along the developer carrying direction, on the first carrying path. With this arrangement, it is possible to realize a compact developing device having a simple arrangement in which the supplied toner is speedily mixed with the preexisted developer, and the stable toner which is uniformly dispersed and charged can be speedily supplied for development.

Developing device and image forming apparatus including same

A toner supply device includes: a toner supply assembly having a toner bottle for holding toner; and a toner supply assembly mounting mechanism having the toner bottle mounted, for feeding toner supplied from the toner bottle to a developing unit. In this toner supply device, toner supplied from the toner supply assembly is fed to the developing unit after it being agitated. The toner supply assembly mounting mechanism includes: guide rails for guiding the toner supply assembly when it is mounted; and a stopper for positioning and holding the toner supply assembly. The toner supply assembly has an abutment surface which is guided by the guide rails and positioned and held by the stopper.

Toner supply device and developing unit using the same for use in an image forming apparatus for performing image formation with toner

A toner supply device includes: toner supply assembly for holding toner; and a toner supply assembly mounting mechanism having a housing for reserving toner supplied from the toner supply assembly and rotary parts for agitating the toner reserved in the housing. In this toner supply device, toner supplied from the toner supply assembly is fed to a developing unit after it being agitated. The toner supply device includes a multiple number of toner supply assemblies for storing toners of one color, wherein the housing is configured so as to reserve the toners supplied from the multiple toner supply assemblies in a single space, and the rotary parts mix and agitate the toners from the multiple toner supply assemblies.

Toner supply device and developing unit using the same

A toner supply device for supplying toner to a developing unit includes: a toner cartridge; and a toner feed device having a casing for reserving toner and a toner agitator shaft for agitating and conveying the toner. The toner feed device includes a toner input port for allowing entrance of toner into the casing and a toner feed port for feeding toner to the developing unit, the toner input port and toner feed port being arranged on the outer side of the developing roller with respect to the direction of the developing roller's axis of the developing unit, and the toner agitator shaft conveys and supplies the toner from the toner input port along the direction of the developing roller's axis to the toner feed port.

Toner supply device providing toner agitation and developing unit using the same

A toner supply device for supplying toner to a developing unit, includes: a toner cartridge for storing toner; and a toner feed device disposed adjacent to the toner cartridge and composed of a casing for reserving the toner supplied from the toner cartridge and first and second toner agitator shafts for agitating and conveying the toner inside the casing, and is constructed such that the toner feed device agitates the toner supplied from the toner cartridge first, then feeds the agitated toner to the developing unit.

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Kashiba, Japan

Ryosuke Mano