JP2011191437A - Toner conveying mechanism and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner conveying mechanism that reduces space for a toner crushing member and effectively crushing a toner mass by three-dimensionally moving the toner crushing member. <P>SOLUTION: A stirring member 60 is provided in a toner conveying path 51Y. The stirring member 60 includes a plurality of horizontal flaps 62, and vertical flaps 63, each of which is formed with an angle on one side of each of the horizontal flaps 62. The horizontal flaps 62 and the vertical flaps 63 are three-dimensionally moved by the spiral blade 57 of an auger 55, to crush the toner mass. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner transport mechanism and an image forming apparatus including the toner transport mechanism.

  In the image forming apparatus as described above, toner is supplied from a toner storage unit such as a toner cartridge to a developing device via a conveyance path. Further, in an image forming apparatus using a process cartridge, waste toner generated in the process cartridge is supplied to a waste toner collecting unit via a conveyance path.

  In recent years, with the miniaturization of an image forming apparatus, the diameter of a toner transport path has also been reduced, and toner has become difficult to flow. When the toner flow is hindered, a lump of toner is generated in the conveyance path, and the conveyance function may be impaired. In view of this, an image forming apparatus has been proposed that has a function of preventing the generation of a toner lump and breaking the generated lump.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, an upper end portion of a toner breaking member is hung on a part of a conveying coil via a shaft member, and the lower portion of the toner breaking member is positioned so as to be in contact with a stagnation portion of the toner. There has been proposed an image forming apparatus in which a toner breaker member is moved by being rotated, and the toner breaker member is slidably brought into contact with and separated from the conveyance path to break up a mass of toner accumulated on the conveyance path.

  In Patent Document 2, one end of a toner removing member made of an elastic metal wire is looped around the outer periphery of a spiral member that conveys toner in the axial direction, and the other end of the toner removing member is used as a support member. A supported image forming apparatus has been proposed.

JP-A-11-149237 JP 2006-301604 A

  The present invention provides a toner transport mechanism and an image forming apparatus capable of reducing a space for a toner breaker member and moving a toner breaker member three-dimensionally to effectively break a toner lump. The purpose is to do.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a conveying member including a rotating shaft and a toner feeding portion that feeds toner in an axial direction of the rotating shaft by rotating the rotating shaft, and an agitating unit that agitates the toner. The stirring means is made of a flexible film, and receives a force in the radial direction of the rotating shaft from the toner feeding section to bend the stirring means in the radial direction, and the toner feeding section. It is provided with an axial direction receiving part which receives the force which goes to the direction of an axis of the above-mentioned rotating shaft, and bends the stirring means in the axial direction.

  The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the stirring means includes a base portion extending in the axial direction, a radial direction receiving portion extending from the base portion toward the conveying member, and one radial edge of the radial direction receiving portion. And an axial receiving portion protruding in the plate thickness direction of the portion.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the axial receiving portion is provided close to the base portion, a distal end portion of the radial receiving portion is located below the rotating shaft, and the axial receiving portion is It is located above the rotating shaft.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the toner feeding portion has a spiral shape, and the radial receiving portion becomes narrower toward the tip, and the tip of the radial receiving portion is between the spirals of the toner feeding portion. It is characterized by being located.

  The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that an opening angle of the spiral in a side view of the toner feeding portion is larger than an angle formed between side edges of the radial receiving portion.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of the radial direction receiving portions are provided at intervals along the axial direction, and the interval between the radial direction receiving portions is different from the helical interval of the toner feeding portion. It is characterized by.

  The invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that the axial receiving portion is formed by being bent with respect to the radial receiving portion.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the invention according to claim 2, wherein the stirring means includes a radial stirring means and an axial stirring means, and the radial stirring means includes a base portion extending in the axial direction, A radial receiving portion extending from the base toward the conveying member, and the axial stirring means extends to the housing along a direction orthogonal to the axial direction, and a shaft extending from the base toward the conveying member And a direction receiving portion.

  The invention according to claim 9 is the invention according to claim 8, wherein a plurality of the radial direction receiving portions and the axial direction receiving portions are provided at intervals along the axial direction, and the axial direction receiving portions are provided. Further, it is arranged at a position shifted in the axial direction with respect to the radial receiving portion.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the ninth aspect, the toner feeding portion has a spiral shape, and an interval between the radial receiving portions is different from a helical interval of the toner feeding portion. To do.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming portion for forming a toner image, a transfer portion for transferring the toner image formed by the image forming portion to a recording sheet, and fixing the toner image transferred to the recording sheet. An image forming apparatus including a fixing unit to be operated, wherein the image forming unit includes the toner conveyance mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

  According to the first aspect of the invention, the lump of toner can be effectively broken and the agitating member can be reduced in size.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 2, a stirring means can be comprised by one member.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the toner lump below the rotation shaft can be broken at the tip of the radial receiving portion, and the toner above the rotation shaft stirred by the axial receiving portion can be broken.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the moving range of the distal end portion of the radial receiving portion between the spirals of the toner feeding portion is large.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the moving range of the distal end portion of the radial receiving portion in the spiral groove of the toner feeding portion is large.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the operations of the radial direction receiving portions are not synchronized, and the toner is agitated between the radial direction receiving portions.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 7, an axial direction receiving part can be easily manufactured from one raw material.

  According to the eighth aspect of the invention, the lump of toner can be effectively broken and the agitating member can be reduced in size.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the toner can be uniformly broken in the axial direction of the conveying member.

  According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, the operations of the radial receiving portions are not synchronized, and the toner is agitated between the radial receiving portions.

  According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus capable of effectively breaking up a lump of toner and suppressing an increase in space due to the stirring member.

1 is a perspective view showing a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the printer of embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a cover of the printer according to the embodiment of the invention is opened. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which opened the cover of the printer of embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a developing device of the printer according to the embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a toner cartridge storage portion of the printer according to the embodiment of the invention. It is the VII-VII sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is an enlarged view of the part shown by the arrow VII of FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a toner conveyance path of the printer according to the embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating a toner conveyance path of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the stirring member of the printer of embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a toner conveyance path of the printer according to the embodiment of the invention. It is a side view showing an auger or the like of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the toner conveyance path | route of the printer of other embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the radial direction stirring member of the printer of other embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the axial direction stirring member of the printer of other embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(1) Basic Configuration and Operation of Printer First, the basic configuration and operation of a printer (image forming apparatus) according to an embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 shows the external appearance of a printer 1 according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows the internal configuration of the printer 1. In these drawings, reference numeral 10 denotes an apparatus main body having a housing 11. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the apparatus main body 11 has an area extending from the upper part to the front part (the F direction is the front side in FIGS. 1 to 4), and the opening covers the front cover 12 and the upper cover 13. Is opened and closed by. The front cover 12 is formed in an inverted L-shaped cross-section that covers the front portion of the apparatus main body 11 and the upper front side. As shown in FIG. 2, the lower end extends in the left-right direction (the front and back direction in FIG. 2). It is hinged to the apparatus main body 10 via the hinge shaft 12A and is opened and closed so as to tilt forward and backward. The upper cover 13 is hinged to the apparatus main body 10 via a hinge shaft 13A whose lower end is parallel to the hinge shaft 12A, and is opened and closed by rotating in the vertical direction.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a sheet storage unit 14 that stores a large number of sheets P in a stacked manner is provided at the bottom of the apparatus main body 10. The paper P to be printed rises from the paper storage unit 14 along the paper conveyance path 20 formed on the front side in the apparatus main body 10 and is discharged to a paper discharge tray 15 formed on the upper portion of the upper cover 13.

  The printer 1 is a tandem type full-color printer, and as shown in FIG. 2, in the apparatus main body 10, it is rotatable and stretched in the direction of arrow A tilted forwardly and downwardly (lower left in FIG. 2). A transfer belt 31 that rotates in parallel, four-color image forming units 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K arranged in parallel below the transfer belt 31, a secondary transfer unit 23, a fixing unit 24, and the like are incorporated. The image forming units 4 </ b> Y, 4 </ b> M, 4 </ b> C, 4 </ b> K are arranged in parallel with the inclination direction of the transfer belt 31.

  The four image forming units 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K form toner images of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (B), respectively, and have the same basic configuration. , A photosensitive unit 40 having a photosensitive drum 41 as a main component, and a developing device 5 are provided. The photosensitive unit 40 is detachably set with respect to the apparatus main body 10 from above, and the developing device 5 is fixed to the apparatus main body 10 side. The toner transport mechanism provided in the photoconductor unit 40 is a feature of this embodiment, and will be described in detail later.

  Below the image forming units 4Y, 4M, 4C, 4K, an image exposure device 6 common to the image forming units 4Y, 4M, 4C, 4K is disposed. The image exposure apparatus 6 includes four semiconductor lasers (not shown) that emit laser beams modulated in accordance with image data of each color of Y, M, C, and K.

  When the color image information is input from the personal computer or the like to the printer 1, four laser beams corresponding to each color are emitted from the semiconductor laser of the image exposure apparatus 6. These laser beams are deflected by a polygon mirror and then are rotated on the surface of the charged photosensitive drum 41 rotated by the image forming units 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K through lenses and mirrors (none shown). Scan. As a result, an electrostatic latent image of each color is formed on the surface of each photosensitive drum 41.

  The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 41 is developed with a developer containing toner of each color by the developing device 5, and the developed toner image (color image) is the outer peripheral surface of the rotating transfer belt 31. In contrast, primary transfer is performed by the primary transfer roller 32. The primary transfer operation of development from the photosensitive drum 41 to the transfer belt 31 is sequentially performed at a predetermined timing in each of the image forming units 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K, and passes through the black image forming unit 4K on the most downstream side. When this is done, a full-color toner image is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the transfer belt 31.

  The transfer belt 31 is provided on the upper cover 13 side as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, and by closing the upper cover 13, the image forming units 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K are provided in the image forming units 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K, respectively. Oppositely, the primary transfer roller 32 is disposed at a position where a nip is formed with the transfer belt 31 interposed between the primary transfer roller 32 and the photosensitive drum 41. The transfer belt 31 is wound around a driving roller 33, a tension roller 34, and a driven roller 35, and rotates in the direction of arrow A when the driving roller 33 rotates.

  Continuing with FIG. 2, the full-color toner image formed on the transfer belt 31 is extracted from the paper storage unit 14 by the paper supply unit 21 with respect to the paper P rising on the paper conveyance path 20 at an appropriate timing. The image is transferred at the next transfer unit 23. The paper feed unit 21 includes a paper feed roller 21 a and a paper separation roller 21 b, and the paper P is separated one by one by the paper feed unit 21 and temporarily conveyed from the paper storage unit 14 to the registration roller pair 22. Stopped. Then, the sheet P is sent to the secondary transfer unit 23 by the registration roller pair 22 that is rotationally driven at a predetermined timing. The secondary transfer unit 23 includes the drive roller 33 that stretches the transfer belt 31 and a secondary transfer roller 23a that forms a nip with the drive roller 33, and passes between the rollers 33 and 23a. As a result, the full-color toner image on the transfer belt 31 is transferred onto the paper P.

  The sheet P to which the full color toner image has been transferred passes through the fixing unit 24, and the color toner image is fixed to the sheet P by the fixing unit 24. The fixing unit 24 includes a heating roller 24a and a nip between the heating roller 24a and the nip. A pressure roller 24b to be formed is provided, and the sheet P passes between the rollers 24a and 24b, whereby the full-color toner image is fixed to the sheet P by pressure and heating. The paper P that has passed through the fixing unit 24 is discharged to the paper discharge tray 15 by the paper discharge roller pair 25. The paper transport path 20 is configured by a path from the paper feed unit 21 to the paper discharge roller pair 25 through the registration roller pair 22, the secondary transfer unit 23, and the fixing unit 44.

  A paper reversing mechanism 26 that reverses the front and back of the paper P is provided on the front side of the paper transport path 20. As shown in FIG. 4, the paper reversing mechanism 26 is provided on the front cover 12 side. Further, as shown in the figure, the secondary transfer roller 23a, the fixing unit 24, and the paper discharge roller pair 25 of the secondary transfer unit 23 forming the paper transport path 20 are supported on the front cover 12 side, and the front part Tilt integrally with the cover 12.

(2) Configuration of Toner Transport Mechanism Next, the toner transport mechanism of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 5, each developer 5 stores toner cartridges (not shown) filled with yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (B) toners, respectively. The cartridge storage units 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K are connected to each other. A toner discharge port is provided on the lower surface of the toner cartridge, and the toner discharge port is a toner conveyance path 51Y, 51M, 51C, 51K extending in the lateral direction provided on the lower surface of the toner cartridge housing portion 50Y, 50M, 50C, 50K. Connected. The toner transport path 51Y is provided with a stirring mechanism that stirs the toner to break up the lump. Hereinafter, the stirring mechanism will be described.

  In FIG. 9, reference numeral 52 denotes a housing that forms a path of the toner transport path 51Y. A substantially rectangular attachment portion 53 having a flat upper surface is formed on the upper surface of one end portion of the housing 52, and a rectangular toner supply port 54 is formed at the center of the attachment portion 53. The housing 52 is attached to the toner discharge port of the toner cartridge storage portion 50Y by an attachment portion 53.

  An auger (conveying member) 55 is disposed on the housing 52 such that both ends thereof are rotatably supported by both ends of the housing 52. The auger 55 has spiral blades (toner feed portions) 57 formed on the outer periphery of the rotating shaft 56 and shafts 58a and 58b formed at both ends. The auger 55 rotates in the housing 52 when the rotation of a rotation drive mechanism (not shown) is transmitted to the shaft 58b, and conveys the toner supplied from the toner supply port 54 in the direction of arrow X in the figure.

  An attachment portion 59 having a hook 59a is formed on the lower surface of the end portion on the arrow X direction side of the housing 52, and the toner discharge port 59b (shown only in FIG. 10) is formed in the attachment portion 59. The housing 52 is attached to the developing device 5 by inserting the attaching portion 59 into the end portion of the developing device 5 and hooking the hook 59a at a predetermined position. In this state, the toner discharge port 59 b overlaps with a toner supply port (not shown) provided in the developing device 5, and the toner supplied to the toner supply port is elongated in the length of the developing device 5 by a toner transport mechanism built in the developing device 5. Supplied throughout the direction. Then, the lump of the toner is broken by the stirring means 60 provided in the housing 52 and is supplied to the developing device 5 in the form of individual powders. Hereinafter, the stirring means 60 will be described.

  In the figure, reference numeral 60 denotes stirring means, and the stirring means 60 is attached to the attachment portion 53 of the housing 52 along one side of the toner supply port 54. The stirring means 60 is integrally formed from a flexible synthetic resin film and includes a rectangular base 61 as shown in FIG. On one side of the base portion 61, a plurality of (three in this embodiment) lateral flaps (radial receiving portions) 62 that are inclined downward are formed at intervals from each other in the X direction. The lateral flap 62 is formed in a substantially triangular shape that becomes narrower toward the tip side, and a stirring portion (tip portion) 62a whose width is narrowed by one step is formed at the tip portion. Further, a vertical flap (axial receiving portion) 63 that forms a predetermined angle (for example, 90 °) with respect to the lateral flap 62 is formed on the base 61 side of the stirring portion 62a. An inclined portion 63 a that becomes narrower toward the distal end side is formed at the distal end portion of the vertical flap 63 opposite to the base portion 61. The angle formed by the vertical flap 63 and the horizontal flap 62 is arbitrary, and the vertical flap 63 is not limited to a flat shape, and may be, for example, a twisted shape.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 12, the stirring portion 62 a of the lateral flap 62 is positioned below the rotating shaft 56, and the inclined portion 63 a of the vertical flap 63 is positioned above the rotating shaft 56. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the stirring portion 62 a of the lateral flap 62 is located between the spiral blades 57 of the auger 55, and the angle formed between the side edges is smaller than the opening angle of the spiral blades 57. . Further, the interval between the lateral flaps 62 is different from the interval between the grooves of the spiral blade 57.

  The toner transport path 51Y is configured to have the stirring means 60 as described above. In this embodiment, the other toner transport paths 51M, 50C, and 50K have the same configuration as the toner transport path 51Y such as a housing and an auger except that the stirring means 60 is not provided. Further, the toner transport paths 51M, 50C, and 50K are connected to the vertical toner transport paths 65M, 65C, and 65K that connect the developing device 5 to them (see FIG. 5). Note that the agitation means 60 as described above may be provided in the toner conveyance paths 51M, 50C, and 50K. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 66 denotes a lid that opens and closes the toner cartridge storage portions 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K.

(3) Operation of Toner Transport Mechanism Next, the operation of the toner transport mechanism having the above configuration will be described with respect to the toner transport path 51Y. When the printer 1 starts printing, the auger 55 starts to rotate, and the toner in the housing 52 is conveyed in the arrow X direction. FIG. 12 shows a state in which the horizontal flap 62 and the vertical flap 63 of the stirring means 60 are accommodated in the groove of the spiral blade 57 of the auger 55. When the spiral blade 57 rotates from this state, the spiral blade 57 pushes down the lateral flap 62 of the stirring means 60 and pushes the longitudinal flap 63 in the direction of the arrow X to bend the lateral flap 62 and the longitudinal flap 63. Return to the state shown.

  When the above operation is viewed from the longitudinal direction of the lateral flap 62, the stirring portion 62a of the lateral flap 62 moves regularly so as to draw a clockwise circle. By this conveyance, the toner below the rotating shaft 56 is agitated, and when the toner is aggregated into a lump, the toner in the vicinity of the lateral flap 62 is destroyed. Further, on the upper side of the rotation shaft 56, when the toner is agitated by the movement of the horizontal flap 62 in the vertical direction and the movement of the vertical flap 63 in the axial direction, and the toner is aggregated into a lump, the toner collapses. Then, it falls to the lower side of the rotating shaft 56. Therefore, since the stirring means 60 is configured to move both in the vertical direction and in the axial direction, the stirring means 60 is simply provided in a predetermined space so as to be freely movable in any direction. A configuration in which the stirring means is left (for example, a spiral spring that is sufficiently smaller than the inner diameter of the space is hung in a cylindrical space in the vertical direction, and the spring is free according to the toner conveyed from above. Compared with a configuration capable of moving), it can be reliably moved in a plurality of directions such as the vertical direction and the axial direction. For this reason, it is possible to effectively prevent the generation of a lump of toner even when a small part is arranged in a relatively small space, as compared with a mode in which a dedicated space for the stirring means 60 is used. it can. That is, since the agitation means 60 can be attached without increasing the toner conveyance path 51Y, space saving can be achieved.

  In the above-described embodiment, the horizontal flap 62 and the vertical flap 63 perform a regular three-dimensional operation by the rotation of the spiral blade 57, so that the lump can be broken into individual powders regardless of the state of the toner. In particular, in the above embodiment, the stirring portion 62a of the lateral flap 62 is accommodated between the spiral blades 57 of the auger 55 (for example, a groove), and the angle between the side edges is smaller than the opening angle of the spiral blades 57. The movable range of the horizontal flap 62 and the vertical flap 63 is large, and the toner lump can be broken down more effectively.

  Further, since the interval between the horizontal flaps 62 is different from the interval between the grooves of the spiral blades 57, the movements of the horizontal flaps 62 and the vertical flaps 63 are not synchronized and are separated. For this reason, since the toner is stirred between the horizontal flap 62 and the vertical flap 63 adjacent to the horizontal flap 62 and the vertical flap 63, it is difficult to form a lump of toner. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, since the inclined portion 63a that becomes narrower toward the distal end side is formed at the distal end portion of the vertical flap 63, the moving range of the stirring portion 62a can be increased.

(4) Other Embodiments FIGS. 14 to 16 are diagrams showing another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is different from the above-described embodiment in that the stirring means is composed of the radial direction stirring means 70 and the axial direction stirring means 80. Therefore, in the following description, those configurations will be mainly described, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the radial stirring means 70 is attached to the attachment portion 53 of the housing 52 along one side of the toner supply port 54. The radial direction stirring means 70 is integrally formed from a flexible synthetic resin film, and includes a rectangular base 71 as shown in FIG. A plurality (three in this embodiment) of lateral flaps (radial receiving portions) 72 that are inclined downward are formed on one side of the base 71 at intervals from each other in the X direction. The lateral flap 72 is formed in a substantially triangular shape that becomes narrower toward the distal end side.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the axial stirrer 80 includes a rectangular frame 81. A beam member 82 is formed at the longitudinal center of the frame 81. A vertical flap 83 that is inclined downward in the X direction is formed on one side of the frame 81 and the beam member 82. Such an axial stirrer 80 is attached along the edge of the toner supply port 54 so as to overlap the radial stirrer 70.

  As in the above-described embodiment, the distal end portion of the horizontal flap 72 is positioned below the rotation shaft 56 and the vertical flap 83 is positioned above the rotation shaft 56. Further, the front end portion of the lateral flap 72 is accommodated in the groove of the spiral blade 57 of the auger 55, and the angle formed between the side edges is smaller than the opening angle of the spiral blade 57. Further, the interval between the lateral flaps 72 is different from the interval between the grooves of the spiral blades 57. In the embodiment as described above, the same operation and effect as the above embodiment are exhibited.

  The present invention is not limited to the transport mechanism that supplies toner to the developing device as described above, but can also be applied to a transport path that transports waste toner generated in the process cartridge to the waste toner collection unit. .

  The present invention can be used for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a multifunction machine of these.

51Y, 51M, 51C, 51K Toner conveying path 52 Housing 55 Auger (conveying member)
56 Rotating shaft 57 Spiral blade (toner feed part)
60, 70, 80 Stirring means 62, 72 Lateral flap (radial receiving part)
62a Stirrer (tip)
63,83 Vertical flap (Axial bearing)

Claims (11)

A conveying member comprising a rotating shaft and a toner feeding section that sends toner in the axial direction of the rotating shaft by rotating the rotating shaft;
Stirring means for stirring the toner,
The stirring means is made of a flexible film, receives a force in the radial direction of the rotating shaft from the toner feeding section, and deflects the stirring means in the radial direction; and from the toner feeding section, A toner conveyance mechanism comprising: an axial direction receiving portion that receives a force in the axial direction of the rotating shaft to bend the stirring means in the axial direction.   The stirring means includes a base portion extending in the axial direction, the radial direction receiving portion extending from the base portion toward the conveying member, and a side edge of the radial direction receiving portion projecting in a plate thickness direction of the radial direction receiving portion. The toner transport mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising the axial direction receiving portion.   The axial direction receiving portion is provided close to the base side, a distal end portion of the radial direction receiving portion is located below the rotating shaft, and the axial direction receiving portion is located above the rotating shaft. The toner transport mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the toner transport mechanism is a toner transport mechanism.   The toner feeding portion has a spiral shape, and the radial receiving portion becomes narrower toward the tip, and the tip of the radial receiving portion is located between the spirals of the toner feeding portion. The toner transport mechanism according to claim 2.   The toner conveyance mechanism according to claim 4, wherein an opening angle of the spiral in a side view of the toner feeding portion is larger than an angle formed between side edges of the radial receiving portion.   5. The radial direction receiving portion is provided in plural along the axial direction so as to be spaced apart from each other, and an interval between the radial direction receiving portions is different from a helical interval of the toner feeding portion. Toner transport mechanism.   The toner conveying mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the axial direction receiving portion is formed by being bent with respect to the radial direction receiving portion. The stirring means includes a radial stirring means and an axial stirring means, and the radial stirring means includes a base portion extending in the axial direction and a radial receiving portion extending from the base portion toward the conveying member,
The axial direction stirring means includes a base portion extending along a direction orthogonal to the axial direction, and an axial direction receiving portion extending from the base portion toward the conveying member. The toner transport mechanism described in 1.   The radial direction receiving portion and the axial direction receiving portion are provided in plural along the axial direction so as to be spaced from each other, and the axial direction receiving portion is at a position shifted in the axial direction with respect to the radial direction receiving portion. The toner transport mechanism according to claim 7, wherein the toner transport mechanism is disposed.   The toner conveying mechanism according to claim 9, wherein the toner feeding portion has a spiral shape, and an interval between the radial receiving portions is different from a helical interval of the toner feeding portion. An image including an image forming unit that forms a toner image, a transfer unit that transfers the toner image formed by the image forming unit to a recording sheet, and a fixing unit that fixes the toner image transferred to the recording sheet In the forming device,
An image forming apparatus comprising the toner transport mechanism according to claim 1.

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