Developing apparatus
AssigneeToshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorYoshiaki Tanaka
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A developing apparatus comprises a toner supply auger provided slidably along a shaft in a development case for transferring toner supplied from a toner supply inlet along the shaft to a transfer mixer, an open-and-shut device for opening and closing a toner supply outlet and a toner supply inlet, and a pushing means for moving the toner supply auger in the loading and unloading direction of the toner supply cartridge, thereby changing a site of the toner supply auger facing the toner supply inlet to another site near the back end of the toner supply auger.
Claims7
A developing apparatus comprising:
- a developer case comprising a transfer mixer for mixing and stirring toner and carrier and transferring a toner-and-carrier mixture, a developing roller for supplying the toner transferred by the transfer mixer to an object to be developed, and a developer case having a toner supply inlet for introducing the toner;
- a toner supply cartridge detachably attached to the developer case and having a toner supply outlet for supplying toner, toner being supplied from the toner supply outlet to the developer case through the toner supply inlet;
- a toner supply auger slidably attached within the developer case along a shaft for transferring the toner supplied from the toner supply inlet along the shaft and sent to the transfer mixer;
- an open-and-shut device for opening and closing the toner supply outlet and the toner supply inlet in accordance with loading and unloading of the toner supply cartridge;
- and
- tension-applying device which moves the toner supply auger in an unloading direction of the toner supply cartridge when the toner supply cartridge is unloaded, thereby changing a site of the toner supply auger facing the toner supply inlet to another site of the toner supply auger close to its back end.
A developing apparatus comprising:
- a developer case comprising a transfer mixer for mixing and stirring toner and carrier and transferring a toner-and-carrier mixture, a developing roller for supplying the toner transferred by the transfer mixer to an object to be developed, and a developer case having a toner supply inlet for introducing the toner;
- a toner supply cartridge detachably attached to the developer case and having a toner supply outlet for supplying toner, toner being supplied from the toner supply outlet to the developer case through the toner supply inlet;
- a toner supply auger provided within the developer case for transferring toner supplied from the toner supply inlet along the shaft to the transfer mixer;
- and
- an open-and-shut device for opening and closing the toner supply outlet and the toner supply inlet in accordance with loading and unloading operation of the toner supply cartridge,
- wherein said open-and-shut device comprises a first shutter for opening and closing the toner supply outlet and a second shutter for opening and closing the toner supply inlet, and width of the toner supply outlet, communication hole, and toner supply inlet increase in this order in a cartridge loading and unloading direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.