JP2008145813A - Developer agitating/carrying member, developer agitating/carrying apparatus, developing device, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a developer agitating/carrying member in which the agitating capacity and carrying capacity of developers are improved. <P>SOLUTION: A first agitating/carrying member 21a is provided with a rotatable support shaft 31, a first blade part 32 having flexibility and including notches 35 formed in a direction oblique to the rotation axis direction of the support shaft 31 and a second blade part 37 having prescribed strength. The first blade part 32 and the second blade part 37 are formed spirally to the rotation axis direction of the support shaft 31. Where, the end part 39 of the first blade part 32 in the rotation axis direction is inclined in the same direction as the notches 35. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a developer agitating / conveying member, a developer agitating / conveying device, a developing device, and an image forming apparatus. The present invention relates to an apparatus and an image forming apparatus.

  The image forming apparatus includes a developing device that supplies a developer to a photoconductor on which an electrostatic latent image is formed by a charging unit and an exposure unit. In order to appropriately supply the developer for visualizing the electrostatic latent image to the photoconductor, the developer is sufficiently agitated and charged in the developing device, and the developer is made uniform. It is necessary to appropriately supply the developer to the developing roller to be supplied.

Here, when supplying a developer to a supply roller which is a constituent member of a developing device, a technique of conveying by a stirring paddle having radial blades in the radial direction is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-40768 (Patent Document 1). Has been. According to Patent Document 1, the conveying capability in the axial direction is improved by attaching a plurality of radial blade portions divided in the rotational axis direction of the support shaft while shifting each by a predetermined angle. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-40788 (Patent Document 2) discloses a technique in which a plurality of stirring fins that are flexible and extend in the radial direction from the support shaft are provided on the support shaft. According to Patent Document 2, a plurality of stirring fins that are flexible and extend in the radial direction from the support shaft are attached at different angles with respect to the rotation axis of the support shaft, and the toner spilling from the stirring fins is received by each other. , Improving the conveying ability.
JP 2002-40768 (paragraph numbers 0016 to 0018, FIG. 5) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-40788 (paragraph numbers 0059 to 0062, FIG. 5 and the like)

  According to Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the conveyance capacity in the longitudinal direction can be improved by the stirring paddle and the stirring fin. However, since the developer is not greatly stirred, the developer may be aggregated. In particular, when the above-described technology is applied to a developing device, there is a possibility that uncharged developer increases due to insufficient stirring, and that the old and new toners are not uniformized, resulting in deterioration in image quality such as background fogging and poor image density. . Further, according to Patent Document 2, since it is not a mechanism that positively conveys toner in the longitudinal direction, there is a high possibility that the conveyance capability will be insufficient particularly when used in a high-speed machine.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a developer stirring / conveying member having improved developer stirring ability and conveying ability.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a developer agitating / conveying device capable of improving the developer conveying ability and the agitating ability.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a developing device having excellent developing performance.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of forming an image with higher image quality.

  The developer agitating and conveying member according to the present invention includes a pivotable support shaft, a first blade portion having a flexibility and including a notch provided in an oblique direction with respect to the rotation axis direction of the support shaft. And a second blade portion having a predetermined strength. The first blade portion and the second blade portion are provided in a spiral shape with respect to the rotation axis direction of the support shaft. Here, the end of the first blade portion in the rotation axis direction is inclined in the same direction as the cutout.

  Preferably, the end portion overlaps with the second blade portion.

  More preferably, the end portion has a shape along the second blade portion.

  More preferably, a plurality of first blade portions and a plurality of second blade portions are provided in the rotation axis direction.

  In another aspect of the present invention, a developer stirring and conveying device includes a developer containing portion that contains a developer and any one of the developer stirring and conveying members described above, and the developer contained in the developer containing portion. The developer is agitated and conveyed by the developer agitating and conveying member.

  In still another aspect of the present invention, the developing device is provided in the image forming apparatus and supplies the developer to the photoconductor on which the electrostatic latent image is formed. The developing device includes any one of the developer stirring and conveying devices described above and a developing roller that supplies the developer to the photosensitive member. Here, the developer stirring and conveying device supplies the developer to the developing roller.

  In still another aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus includes the above-described developing device.

  According to the present invention, since the end portion in the rotation axis direction of the flexible first blade portion is inclined in the same direction as the notch, the elastic deformation amount in the rotation axis direction of the end portion of the first blade portion is reduced. Can be different. Then, due to the difference in the amount of elastic deformation, the developer stirring ability and the conveying ability at the end can be greatly improved. Therefore, the developer can be greatly stirred also at the end portion of the first blade portion, and the stay of the developer at the end portion can be prevented.

  In addition, since the developer agitation and transport apparatus including such a developer agitation and transport member can stir and transport the developer contained in the container greatly, the developer agglomeration hardly occurs.

  Further, the developing device having such a developer agitating / conveying device has an improved developing ability because the agitating ability and conveying ability of the developer are improved.

  Furthermore, an image forming apparatus provided with such a developing device has an excellent developing capability, and therefore can form an image with higher image quality.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 11 includes a document feeding device 12 that automatically conveys a document to a predetermined document reading position, an operation / display unit 13 that serves as an interface with the user in the image forming device 11, An image reading unit 14 that reads an image of a document conveyed by the document feeder 12 with a scanner at a predetermined reading position, and an image read from the document read by the image reading unit 14 is provided below the image reading unit 14. An image forming unit 15 to be formed and a plurality of paper storage units 16a, 16b, and 16c that are provided below the image forming unit 15 and store paper used for printing. The image forming unit 15 includes a developing device 17 that visualizes an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor (not shown) with a developer and forms a visible image on the photoreceptor.

Next, a specific configuration of the developing device 17 will be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing the developing device 17 included in the image forming unit 15. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the developing device 17 taken along line III-III in FIG. 2 and 3, the developing device 17 is in contact with the photosensitive member 19 and supplies a developer to the photosensitive member 19 to form a visible image, while stirring the developer. 3 includes a developer agitating and conveying device 18 that conveys the developer in the longitudinal direction indicated by arrows A ₁ and A ₂ in FIG.

The developer stirring and conveying device 18, the developer accommodating portion 22 for accommodating the developer, a conveying in the developer housing section 22, as the developer stirring and conveying member while stirring the developer in the direction of arrow A ₁ comprising a first agitating transporting members 21a, and a second stirring carrying member 21b for conveying in the direction of arrow a ₂ while stirring the developer.

  The developer accommodating portion 22 described above has a first developer accommodating portion 23a and a second developer accommodating portion 23b that are partitioned by a partition plate 24 located at the center thereof. The second developer accommodating portion 23 b is located between the first developer accommodating portion 23 a and the developing roller 20. The bottom portions 27a and 27b located below the first developer accommodating portion 23a and the second developer accommodating portion 23b have a semicircular cross section.

  The central portion of the first developer accommodating portion 23a and the second developer accommodating portion 23b is partitioned by the partition plate 24, but is not partitioned at the end portion in the longitudinal direction, and the developer accommodating portion 22 is not partitioned. An opening 26 is provided between the housings 25a and 25b and the partition plate 24. Through the opening 26, the developer can move between the first developer accommodating portion 23a and the second developer accommodating portion 23b.

The first stirring / conveying member 21a and the second stirring / conveying member 21b are attached to the first developer accommodating portion 23a and the second developer accommodating portion 23b, respectively, and are arranged so that the developing roller 20 and the rotation axis are along. Both ends of the first agitation transport member 21a and the second agitation transport member 21b are supported by the housing 25a or the housing 25b and are rotatable. Here, the 1st stirring conveyance member 21a and the 2nd stirring conveyance member 21b are attached so that a conveyance direction may mutually become a reverse direction. With this configuration, the developer is moved in the direction of the arrows A ₁ and A _{2 in} FIG. 3 in the developer accommodating portion 22 by the rotation of the first stirring and conveying member 21a and the second stirring and conveying member 21b. Can be circulated.

  Further, the developer can be supplied to the developing roller 20 side by overcoming the wall 28 positioned between the developing roller 20 and the second developer accommodating portion 23b by the rotation of the second stirring and conveying member 21b and the like. . By doing so, the developer container 22 can be circulated, sufficiently stirred, and supplied with the uniformized or charged developer to the developing roller 20, so that the uncharged developer or the non-uniformized developer can be supplied. The risk of toner being supplied to the developing roller 20 side is reduced.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing a part of the first stirring / conveying member 21 a provided in the developer stirring / conveying device 18. FIG. 5 is a view of the first stirring / conveying member viewed from the direction of the arrow V shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a view showing a part of the first blade portion 32 provided in the first stirring / conveying member 21a. Note that the second blade portion 37 is not shown in FIG. 5 from the viewpoint of easy understanding. With reference to FIGS. 2-6, the structure of the 1st stirring conveyance member 21a is demonstrated.

  The first stirring and conveying member 21 a includes a pivotable support shaft 31, and a first blade portion 32 and a second blade portion 37 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the support shaft 31. The support shaft 31 is composed of a round bar-shaped member. The 1st blade | wing part 32 is comprised from the flexible member and can be elastically deformed. Moreover, the 1st blade | wing part 32 is flat form before attaching to the spindle 31, as shown in FIG. The 2nd blade | wing part 37 is comprised from the material which has predetermined intensity | strength. The position in the rotation axis direction where the second blade portion 37 is provided is different from the first blade portion 32 except for the end 39 of the first blade portion 32. That is, in the rotation axis direction, the end portion 39 of the first blade portion 32 and the second blade portion 37 overlap.

  The 1st blade | wing part 32 can be attached to the outer peripheral surface of the spindle 31 so that attachment or detachment is possible. The support shaft 31 is provided with a plurality of engaging portions 33 in which a part of the outer peripheral surface thereof is flattened and the flat portions are used so that the angles are sequentially shifted in the longitudinal direction. The engaging portion 33 is provided with a protrusion toward the inner diameter side, and there is a gap between the engaging portion 33 and the flat portion. Further, the first blade portion 32 is provided with a plurality of engagement holes 34 corresponding to the engagement portions 33. The first blade portion 32 can be easily attached to the outer peripheral surface of the support shaft 31 by sandwiching the first blade portion 32 in the above-described gap and placing the engagement hole 34 in the protrusion of the engagement portion 33. With such a configuration, the first blade portion 32 can be easily removed or attached.

  The 1st blade | wing part 32 is attached to the outer peripheral surface spirally with respect to the longitudinal direction which is a rotating shaft direction of the spindle 31. As shown in FIG. The spiral shape is a state in which the support shaft 31 is attached so as to have a torsion angle from one end to the other end in the longitudinal direction. This means that the first blade portion 32 at the end is attached so that the angle is, for example, 90 degrees. Specifically, the first blade portion 32 is twisted and attached to the engagement hole 34 with respect to the plurality of engagement portions 33 provided on the support shaft 31. By comprising in this way, since it is not necessary to provide a helical angle at the time of manufacture of the 1st blade | wing part 32, the 1st blade | wing part 32 can be manufactured easily. In this case, since the 1st blade | wing part 32 has flexibility, when twisting and attaching, especially big effort is not required. Moreover, the helical angle of the 1st blade | wing part 32 can be changed easily by setting and setting the some engaging part 33 which shifted the angle to a predetermined angle.

  Such a first blade portion 32 can convey the developer in an oblique direction as the support shaft 31 rotates. In this case, since the first blade portion 32 has flexibility, the first blade portion 32 is elastically deformed and can be conveyed so as to splash the developer in an oblique direction. Therefore, the conveyance capability in the longitudinal direction can be greatly improved. Note that the helical angle is arbitrarily determined depending on the required developer transport capability and the like.

  Furthermore, since the developer attached to the inner wall surface of the first developer accommodating portion 23a described above can be scraped up or scraped off, the stirring ability can be greatly improved. In particular, since the bottom portion 27a of the first developer accommodating portion 23a has a semicircular arc shape, the first blade portion 32 can be agitated so as to follow the shape on the inner diameter side of the bottom portion 27a.

  By doing so, when the first stirring / conveying member 21a is attached to the first developer accommodating portion 23a, the first blade portion 32 bends on the bottom 27a side because the first blade portion 32 has flexibility. It becomes a state. Then, the developer attached to the inner wall surface of the bottom portion 27a of the first developer accommodating portion 23a can be scraped off by the bent first blade portion 32, and can be sufficiently stirred. In addition, since a sufficient space is secured on the upper side opposite to the bottom portion 27a, the developer can be greatly splashed upward.

  The first blade portion 32 is provided with a plurality of notches 35 oblique to the rotational axis direction on the side opposite to the side attached to the support shaft 31. Thereby, the first blade portion 32 can be divided into a plurality of small blade portions 36. Moreover, the elastic deformation amount of one corner 38a and the other corner 38b of the small blades 36 can be made different. Specifically, the amount of elastic deformation of the corner portion 38a where the acute angle is formed is larger than that of the corner portion 38b where the obtuse angle is formed. Therefore, each of the small blade portions 36 can also vary the amount of elastic deformation in the rotation axis direction, and can further improve the developer conveying ability and the stirring ability. In FIG. 6, the plurality of notches 35 provided in the oblique direction are provided at the same angle, but the angles of the respective notches 35 may be different.

  Here, the end portion 39 in the rotation axis direction of the first blade portion 32 is inclined in the same direction as the cutout 35. The end portion 39 has a shape along the second blade portion 37. That is, the angle of the corner portion 40 b of the end portion 39 is configured to follow the spiral angle of the second blade portion 37. In the first stirring / conveying member 21a, the portion where the second blade portion 37 is provided is inferior to the portion where the first blade portion 32 is provided, but the conveying capability is high. On the other hand, in the portion where the first blade portion 32 is provided, the conveying ability is inferior to the portion where the second blade portion 37 is provided, but the stirring ability is high. Then, the end portion 39 of the first blade portion 32, here, the first blade portion 32 and the second blade portion 37 overlap with each other. In this portion, the developer is retained due to the difference in the conveying ability. There is a risk. However, by inclining the end 39 in the same direction as the notch 35, the amount of elastic deformation of the corner 40a at the end 39 and the corner 40b on the notch 35 side close to the end 39 can be made different. Specifically, in the first blade portion 32, the amount of elastic deformation of the corner portion 40a on the notch 35 side that becomes an acute angle increases, and the amount of elastic deformation of the corner portion 40b on the end portion 39 side that becomes an obtuse angle decreases. . Due to the difference in the amount of elastic deformation, the conveyance capability at the end 39 of the first blade portion 32 can be enhanced. Therefore, the conveyance capability of the first stirring and conveying member 21a can be increased. Furthermore, since it is a shape along the 2nd blade | wing part 37, it can convey appropriately. In addition, the stirring ability can be increased as in the case of the oblique notch 35 described above.

  Here, the developer agitating / conveying device 18 is provided with a developer supply port 29 for supplying the developer into the developer accommodating portion 22 at a position indicated by a dotted line in FIG. In the developer agitating / conveying device 18 shown in FIG. 2, a portion where the developer supply port 29 is provided is also indicated by a dotted line. In this case, the second blade portion 37 provided in the first stirring / conveying member 21 a is arranged below the developer supply port 29. Here, the lower part also includes the vicinity of the lower part of the developer supply port 29, and does not have to be strictly below the developer supply port 29.

A case where the developer is supplied into the developer accommodating portion 22 from the outside through the developer supply port 29 will be described. First, when a new developer is supplied from the developer supply port 29, the newly supplied developer reaches the second blade portion 37 of the first stirring and conveying member 21a. Here, the developer newly supplied by the rotation of the first stirring and conveying member 21a is immediately and reliably conveyed in the direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG. The second developer container 23b does not flow. In this case, since the inclined in the same direction as the end portion 39 is notched 35 rather than being retained developing agent in this portion is conveyed in the direction indicated immediately by the arrow A _1. Then, the newly supplied developer is conveyed and circulated in the developer accommodating portion 22 while being largely agitated. Therefore, the newly supplied developer can be sufficiently stirred in the developer accommodating portion 22.

  In particular, when the developer accommodated in the developer accommodating portion 22 is a two-component developer composed of toner and carrier, since the specific gravity of the toner supplied from the outside is very light, The toner located in the part flows backward in the circulation direction and may flow in the direction of arrow C.

  As a result, the toner is not sufficiently stirred, and the uncharged toner reaches the developing roller 20, which causes deterioration in image quality such as background fogging and poor image density. However, such a problem can be solved by adopting the above-described configuration.

  As described above, by inclining the end portion 39 of the first blade portion 32 in the same direction as the notch 35, the developer can be greatly stirred also at the end portion 39 of the first blade portion 32, and the end portion It is possible to prevent the developer from staying at 39.

  In addition, the developer stirring and conveying device 18 including the first stirring and conveying member 21a described above can improve the developer conveying ability and also improve the stirring ability.

  Further, the developing device 17 having such a developer agitating / conveying device 18 has an excellent developing ability since the agitating ability and conveying ability of the developer are improved.

  Further, since the image forming apparatus 11 including such a developing device 17 has an excellent developing capability, an image with higher image quality can be formed.

  The second agitating / conveying member 21b provided in the developer agitating / conveying device 18 may have the same configuration as the first agitating / conveying member 21a, or the first blade over the entire longitudinal direction, that is, the rotational axis direction. The part 32 or the second blade part 37 may be provided.

  Moreover, in said embodiment, although the edge part 39 of the 1st blade | wing part 32 decided to overlap with the 2nd blade | wing part 37, it is good not only as this but a structure which does not overlap.

  In addition, you may decide to provide the through-hole penetrated in the thickness direction in the small blade part of a 1st blade part. FIG. 7 is a view showing a part of the first blade portion in this case, and corresponds to FIG. With reference to FIG. 7, the 1st blade | wing part 51 is provided with the engagement hole and the some notch 52 of the diagonal direction similarly to the 1st blade | wing part shown in above-mentioned FIG. Here, the small blade portion 53 formed by the plurality of cutouts 52 is provided with a substantially circular through hole 54 penetrating in the thickness direction of the first blade portion 51. By doing so, the developer can be convected through the plurality of through holes 54 when the developer is stirred and conveyed. Therefore, torque can be reduced while further increasing the stirring ability. Further, the through hole 54 may be provided in a portion other than the small blade portion 53 in the first blade portion.

  In addition, the through-hole penetrating in the thickness direction is not limited to the substantially circular shape shown in FIG. 7, but may be a through-hole having a shape as shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 8, the first blade portion 56 includes an engagement hole and a plurality of notches 57 as described above. Here, the small blade portion 58 is provided with a substantially parallelogram-shaped through hole 59 along the outer shape of the small blade portion 58. According to such a through hole 59, since the through hole 59 has a shape along the outer shape of the small blade portion 58, it is possible to reduce torque while further increasing the stirring ability.

  Further, the through holes and notches provided in the first blade portion may be combined as shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 9, the first blade portion 61 is provided with a notch 62 in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis direction. The end portion 66 is inclined obliquely with respect to the rotational axis direction, and the small blade portion 63 formed between the end portion 66 and the notches 62 and between the notches 62 has a substantially triangular shape. A through hole 64 is provided. In this case, the through hole 64 of the small blade portion 63 is configured such that the opening on the corner 65a side is larger than the opening on the corner 65b side. Also with this configuration, the amount of elastic deformation of the corner portion 65a and the corner portion 65b can be made different, and the torque can be reduced while further increasing the stirring ability.

  A plurality of first blade portions and second blade portions may be provided in the rotation axis direction. Specifically, for example, a plurality of first blade portions and second blade portions may be provided alternately in the rotation axis direction of the support shaft. By doing so, it is possible to carry out stirring and transport according to the developer and the developing device.

  Moreover, it is good also as a structure which inclines both the edge parts of the rotating shaft direction of a 1st blade | wing part in the same direction as a notch. By doing so, it is possible to improve the stirring ability and the conveying ability on the both end sides of the first blade part.

  In addition, even if it does not depend on an above-described structure, for example, a spiral groove is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the support shaft 31, and the first blade portion 32 is inserted into the groove portion so as to protrude in the radial direction from the center. You may make it attach to the outer peripheral surface of the spindle 31 helically. Alternatively, the first blade portion 32 having a spiral angle may be manufactured in advance and attached to the outer peripheral surface of the support shaft 31.

  In the above embodiment, the developer agitating / conveying device is included in the developing device. However, the developer agitating / conveying device is not limited to this. For example, a device that temporarily stores toner, such as a toner cartridge. Also applies. In this case, when the toner is transported in the toner cartridge, the toner cartridge may be aggregated due to vibration due to transportation or the own weight of the toner. Therefore, the toner cartridge needs to be stirred to some extent. Therefore, by applying the developer agitating / conveying device having such a configuration to the toner cartridge, aggregation can be prevented and the conveying ability for supplying toner to the developing device can be improved.

  In the above embodiment, the developer agitating / conveying device includes two agitating / conveying members. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the developer agitating / conveying member may include one or three or more agitating / conveying members. Good.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described with reference to drawings, this invention is not limited to the thing of embodiment shown in figure. Various modifications and variations can be made to the illustrated embodiment within the same range or equivalent range as the present invention.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the developing device contained in an image formation part. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the developing device taken along line III-III in FIG. 2. It is a schematic perspective view which shows a part of 1st stirring conveyance member contained in a developer stirring conveyance apparatus. It is the figure which looked at the 1st stirring conveyance member from the direction of arrow V shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows a part of 1st blade | wing part contained in a 1st stirring conveyance member. It is a figure which shows other embodiment of the 1st blade | wing part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows other embodiment of the 1st blade | wing part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows other embodiment of the 1st blade | wing part shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Image forming apparatus, 12 Document feeder, 13 Operation / display part, 14 Image reading part, 15 Image forming part, 16a, 16b, 16c Paper storage part, 17 Developing apparatus, 18 Developer stirring conveyance apparatus, 19 Photoconductor, 20 developing roller, 21a first stirring / conveying member, 21b second stirring / conveying member, 22 developer accommodating portion, 23a first developer accommodating portion, 23b second developer accommodating portion, 24 partition plate, 25a, 25b housing, 26 Opening portion, 27a, 27b Bottom portion, 28 Wall portion, 29 Developer supply port, 31 Support shaft, 32, 51, 56, 61 First blade portion, 33 engagement portion, 34 engagement hole, 35, 52, 57, 62 Notch, 36, 53, 58, 63 Small blade part, 37 Second blade part, 38a, 38b, 40a, 40b, 65a, 65b Corner part, 39, 66 End part, 54, 5 , 64 through-holes.

Claims (7)

A pivotable pivot,
A first blade portion that has flexibility and includes a notch provided in an oblique direction with respect to the rotation axis direction of the support shaft;
A second blade portion having a predetermined strength,
The first blade portion and the second blade portion are provided in a spiral shape with respect to the rotation axis direction of the support shaft,
The developer stirring and conveying member, wherein an end portion of the first blade portion in the rotation axis direction is inclined in the same direction as the notch. The developer stirring and conveying member according to claim 1, wherein the end portion overlaps the second blade portion. The developer stirring and conveying member according to claim 1, wherein the end portion has a shape along the second blade portion. The developer stirring / conveying member according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the first blade portions and the second blade portions are provided in the rotation axis direction. A developer accommodating portion for accommodating the developer;
A developer stirring and conveying member according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The developer agitating and conveying device in which the developer accommodated in the developer accommodating portion is agitated and conveyed by the developer agitating and conveying member. A developing device that is provided in an image forming apparatus and supplies a developer to a photoconductor on which an electrostatic latent image is formed,
A developer agitating and conveying device according to claim 5;
A developing roller for supplying a developer to the photoreceptor,
The developer agitating / conveying device supplies a developer to the developing roller. An image forming apparatus comprising the developing device according to claim 6.

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