JPH0535080A - Developing device using nonmagnetic one-component developer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To maintain excellent developing grade by enhancing the rigidity of a developer container made of a synthetic resin material. CONSTITUTION:In a developing device 36 provided with the developer container 36a supported so as to freely move back and forth with respect to an image carrier 30, and made of the synthetic resin material, a conductive elastic developing roller rotated/driven inside the developer container 36a and simultaneously, partially exposed from the developer container 36a to be abutted on the image carrier 30, and a layer thickness, regulating member 36c regulating the developer layer of the rotational periphery of an elastic developing roller to prescribed layer thickness and allowing the developer container 36a to elastically displace toward the image carrier 30, and the elastic developing roller to press-contact to the image carrier 30 with prescribed elastic pressing force, metal reinforcing elements 36k and 36m are applied for the developer container 36a to prevent deformation applied to the developer container 36a at the time of transmitting rotational driving force to a developing roller, as a characteristic.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a developing device for developing an electrostatic latent image carried on an image carrier such as a photoconductor or a dielectric with a non-magnetic one-component developer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a schematic configuration of a laser printer as an example of an electrostatic recording apparatus incorporating a conventional developing device using a non-magnetic one-component developer.
The non-magnetic one-component development means a coloring resin fine powder containing no magnetic substance, that is, a so-called toner only. In the laser printer shown in FIG. 3, a photoconductor drum 10 is used as an image carrier, and the photoconductor drum 10 has a photoconductive material layer, that is, a photoconductive material layer formed on the surface of a cylindrical base body made of aluminum, for example. As such a photosensitive material, for example, an organic photosensitive material, a selenium photosensitive material, an amorphous silicon photosensitive material, or the like is used. The photosensitive material layer of the photosensitive drum 10 is charged with a predetermined polarity by a suitable charger, for example, a corona charger 12. The laser beam scanning unit 1 is provided in the charging area of the photosensitive drum 10.
4, an electrostatic latent image is written. For writing the electrostatic latent image, the laser beam LB emitted from the laser beam scanning unit 14 is repeatedly scanned along the generatrix direction of the photoconductor drum 10 and the laser beam LB is written. For example, it is performed by blinking based on binary image data from a word processor or a microcomputer.
That is, the electric charge at the portion irradiated with the laser beam LB is released (the aluminum cylindrical base of the photoconductor drum 10 is grounded), whereby a binary electrostatic latent image is formed by the potential difference in the charging area. Will be.

The electrostatic latent image written by the laser beam scanning unit 14 is visualized by the developing device 16. The developing device 16 includes a developer container 16a made of a synthetic resin material for containing a non-magnetic one-component developer, that is, a toner, and a developing roller 16b in the developer container 16a.
The developing roller 16b is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow in the figure. As shown, a part of the developing roller 16b is exposed from the developer container 16a so that the photosensitive drum 10 is not exposed.
Be faced with. The developing device 16 is supported so as to be movable back and forth with respect to the photosensitive drum 10, and is elastically biased in the direction of arrow A by an appropriate elastic means such as a leaf spring (not shown), whereby the developing roller 16b. Is pressed against the photosensitive drum 10 with a predetermined pressing force. The developing roller 16b is configured as a conductive elastic roller, and is preferably a conductive porous rubber material. When the developing roller 16b is rotated, toner adheres to the rotating surface by frictional force to form a toner layer, and the toner layer thickness is adjusted by the layer thickness regulating member 16c made of an appropriate metal material such as stainless steel. It is regulated to a predetermined thickness. The layer thickness regulating member 16c is rotatably supported, and its upper end side is a coil spring (not shown).
Is elastically biased in the direction indicated by the arrow B by such an elastic means as described above, whereby the lower end side of the layer thickness regulating member 16d is pressed against the developing roller 16b with a predetermined pressure, whereby the layer thickness of the toner layer is reduced. It is regulated to a predetermined thickness. A charge injection voltage is applied to the layer thickness regulating member 16c, so that the toner particles are charged with a predetermined polarity when the layer thickness of the toner layer is regulated. With the rotation of the developing roller 16b, the toner layer having the charged toner particles is conveyed to a contact area between the developing roller 16b and the photosensitive drum 10, that is, a developing area, where the electrostatic latent image is uniform because of the layer thickness regulation of the toner layer. It is visualized or developed as a charged toner image with various toner densities. That is, a predetermined developing bias voltage is applied to the developing roller 16b, whereby the charged toner particles are electrostatically attached only to the electrostatic latent image area, and the electrostatic latent image is developed.

The developing device 16 includes a toner collecting / supplying roller 16d, a paddle roller 16e, and a toner stirring blade 16.
f is provided. The toner collecting / supplying roller 16g is brought into pressure contact with the developing roller 16b, scrapes off the toner not used for development from one side of the pressure contact area, that is, the right side in FIG. 4, from the developing roller 16b, and the opposite side, that is, in FIG. The right side functions to positively supply and adhere toner to the developing roller 16b. Paddle roller 1
6e is rotated so as to send the toner in the developer container 16a to the toner supply side of the toner collecting and supplying roller 16d, and the toner stirring blade 16f is operated to eliminate the dead stock of the toner in the developer container 16a. And sends the toner to the paddle roller 16e. Reference numeral 16g is a deformable seal material such as a soft sponge, and this seal material 16g prevents the toner from entering behind the layer thickness regulating member 16c.

The charged toner image obtained in the developing process is then electrostatically transferred onto a recording medium such as recording paper P by a suitable transfer device such as a conductive transfer roller 18. That is, a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the charged toner image is applied to the conductive transfer roller 18, so that the charged toner image is electrostatically transferred from the photosensitive drum 10 onto the recording paper P. The recording paper P is temporarily stopped at the pair of registration rollers 20 after being fed from a paper feed cassette (not shown), and then the pair of registration rollers is driven at a predetermined timing. The recording paper P is introduced into the contact area between the photosensitive drum 10 and the conductive transfer roller 18, whereby the charged toner image is transferred onto the recording paper P at a predetermined position. The recording paper P that has undergone such a transfer process is then sent along a guide plate 22 to an appropriate fixing device, for example, a heat fixing device 24, where the charged toner image is thermally fixed on the recording paper P. That is, the heat fixing device 2
Reference numeral 4 denotes a heat roller 24a and a backup roller 24b, and when the recording paper P is passed between them, the transferred toner image is melted by heat and firmly fixed onto the recording paper P. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 26 indicates a toner scraping blade for removing the residual toner from the photosensitive drum 26. The toner removed by the toner scraping blade 26 is stored in the toner reservoir 26a.
Further, reference numeral 28 indicates a static elimination lamp, and the irradiation of the static elimination lamp 28 eliminates residual charges from the photoconductor drum 10.

[0006]

As is apparent from the above-described structure, in the developing device using the non-magnetic one-component developer, the developer container is movable in the front-rear direction with respect to the photosensitive drum. And is elastically biased against the photosensitive drum by a predetermined pressing force, whereby the elastic developing roller is pressed against the photosensitive drum with a predetermined elastic pressing force. This is because the contact width between the elastic developing roller and the photosensitive drum, that is, the nip width greatly affects the developing density. Further, a layer thickness regulating member is elastically brought into pressure contact with the elastic developing roller, and the toner layer on the elastic developing roller is regulated to a predetermined layer thickness. this is,
This is because if the toner layer is too thick, the amount of charge on the toner will be insufficient, and so-called fog will occur in the background area of the charged toner image. Further, the toner collecting / supplying roller is elastically pressed against the elastic developing roller so that a new toner layer can always be formed on the elastic developing roller. This is because the toner layer with the remaining development history adversely affects the development quality.

Since various loads are applied to the elastic developing roller as described above, a high output driving motor is required, and such a high output driving motor is used as a frame of the electrostatic recording apparatus itself. Can not be installed. This is because the developer container is movably supported in the front-rear direction with respect to the photoconductor drum and therefore movable with respect to the frame. For this reason, the drive motor for the elastic developing roller must be attached to the developer container itself. In this case, the drive motor is attached to the side wall of the developer container, and the shaft of the elastic developing roller is attached to one end side thereof. The rotational driving force is transmitted via a suitable reduction gear train. In such a configuration, when the rotational driving force is transmitted to the shaft of the elastic developing roller, a large force also acts on the side wall of the developer container. As a result, the developer container made of synthetic resin is distorted and deformed, and at this time, the uniform pressing state of the layer thickness regulating member with the elastic developing roller and the uniform pressing state of the developing roller with the photosensitive drum are hindered. Good development quality cannot be maintained.
It is possible to make the entire developer container with a metal material or the like to increase the synthesis, but in that case, not only the weight of the developer container increases but also the cost increases. However, it is not the best measure to use a metal material for the entire developer container. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to enhance the rigidity of a developer container made of a synthetic resin material in a developing device using a non-magnetic one-component developer so that good developing quality can be maintained.

[0008]

To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a developing device for developing an electrostatic latent image held on an image bearing member with a non-magnetic one-component developer. ,
A developer container made of a synthetic resin material that contains a non-magnetic one-component developer and is supported so as to be movable back and forth with respect to the image carrier, and is driven to rotate in the developer container. A conductive elastic developing roller which is partially exposed from the developer container and is brought into contact with the image bearing member, and when the elastic developing roller is rotationally driven, its rotating peripheral surface. A non-magnetic one-component developer is attached by frictional force to form a developer layer, and the developer layer formed on the peripheral surface of rotation of the elastic developing roller is regulated to a predetermined layer thickness. A layer thickness regulating member which is brought into pressure contact with the elastic developing roller with a predetermined elastic pressing force, the developer container is elastically displaced toward the image carrier, and the elastic developing roller carries the image carrier. Development that can be pressed against the body with a predetermined elastic pressing force In the above, there is provided a developing device characterized in that a metallic reinforcing element is applied to the developer container in order to prevent distortion deformation applied to the developer container during transmission of rotational driving force to the elastic developing roller. To be done.

As apparent from the above construction, in the present invention, by applying the metallic reinforcing element to the developer container, the developer container is added to the developer container when the rotational driving force is transmitted to the elastic body developing roller. Distortion and deformation are prevented, whereby the uniform thickness contact state of the layer thickness regulating member with the elastic developing roller and the uniform pressure contact state of the developing roller with the photosensitive drum can be maintained.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the developing device according to the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. First, referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic configuration of a laser printer as an embodiment of an electrostatic recording apparatus according to the present invention. In this laser printer, an organic photosensitive material (OPC) is used as an image carrier. A photosensitive drum 30 is provided. In this embodiment, the photosensitive drum 30 has a diameter of 40 mm.
And is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow in the figure during the recording operation. The peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 30 is set to 70 mm / s.

In the organic photosensitive material layer of the photoconductor drum 30, the contact type charger 3 is disposed substantially on the side of the photoconductor drum 30.
Negative charge is provided by 2 and a uniform negative charging area is formed therein. In this embodiment, the contact type charger 32
Is configured as a conductive rotary brush charger, and for the conductive rotary brush charger 32, a cored bar in which conductive rayon fibers (REC B made by Unitika) are woven and used for flocking is used. The outer diameter of the conductive rotary brush rotator 32 is about 16 mm
The rotational speed of the photosensitive drum 30 is 70 mm / s.
It is about 0.8 times as high as 56mm / s. In this embodiment, a voltage obtained by superimposing a DC offset voltage of -600V on an AC voltage having a peak-to-peak voltage of 1.0kV at a frequency of 500Hz is applied to the conductive rotary brush charger 32, whereby the surface of the photoconductor drum 30 is approximately charged. A uniform charging area of -600V is formed. A DC constant current power source may be used as the power source of the conductive rotary brush rotator 32. In this embodiment, a conductive rotary brush charger is used as the contact type charger 32, but other types of contact type chargers such as a conductive elastic blade charger and a conductive elastic roller charger are used. It is also possible to use a conductive fixed brush charger or the like, and it is also possible to use a non-contact type charger such as the corona charger described in FIG.

An electrostatic latent image is written by the laser beam scanning unit 34 on the charging area formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 by the conductive rotary brush charger 32.
This laser beam scanning unit is also arranged on the side of the photosensitive drum 30 like the conductive rotary brush charger 32. The laser beam scanning unit 34 is similar to that described with reference to FIG. 3, and the laser beam LB emitted from the laser beam scanning unit 34 scans the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 along the generatrix direction thereof, and, for example, a word processor. Alternatively, it blinks based on the binary image data from the microcomputer, whereby a binary electrostatic latent image is written in the charged area of the photoconductor drum 30, and at this time, a negative charge is emitted from the irradiation position of the laser beam LB. After that, the potential at that point (charge well) rises from about −600V to about −100V (decreased in absolute value). The laser beam scanning unit 3
In 4, a semiconductor laser is used as a laser source, and a polygon mirror or the like is used as a deflection optical system for the laser beam.

The electrostatic latent image written on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 is developed by the developing device 36 with a non-magnetic one-component developer, that is, toner, and the developing device 36 is arranged below the photosensitive drum 30. It The developing device 36 is provided with a developer container 36a for accommodating toner. An opening is formed in a part of the developer container 36a on the upper side thereof, that is, a part directly below the photosensitive drum 30, and the developing device 36a is provided with an opening. The roller 36b is arranged so as to be in contact with the photosensitive drum 30. In the present embodiment, the developer container 36 is manufactured as a molded product from a suitable hard synthetic resin material such as an ABS resin material. The developer container 36 is rotatably supported by the frame structure of the laser printer, and therefore, the developer container 36 is
A pivot shaft 37 is projected from the rear upper ends of both side walls. With such a configuration, the developer container 36a is movable in the front-rear direction with respect to the photosensitive drum 30, and the developing roller 36b can contact the photosensitive drum 30. Further, the developer container 36a is elastically biased upward by an appropriate elastic means such as a leaf spring (not shown), so that the developing roller 36b is elastically pressed against the photosensitive drum 30 by a predetermined pressing force. Is pressed against. A drive motor (not shown) is attached to one side wall of the developer container 36, and its rotational driving force is applied to one end side of the shaft of the developing roller 36b via a reduction gear train (not shown) provided on the side wall. Transmitted,
As a result, the developing roller 36b is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, and the peripheral speed thereof is the peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 30.
It is 170 mm / s, which is about 2.5 times 70 mm / s. Developing roller 36
b is configured as a conductive elastic roller, and when the developing roller 36b is rotated, the toner is sequentially attached to the surface by a frictional force to form a toner layer. As a material for the developing roller, a conductive porous rubber material, for example, a conductive porous urethane foam / sponge material (trade name: Rubycell made by Toyo Polymer) is preferably used. The average pore diameter of the porous urethane foam / sponge material is 10 μm, and the number of pore cells is 200 cells / inch.
And its volume resistance is 10 ⁴ to 10 ⁷ Ωcm, and its Asker C hardness is 23 °. The developing roller 36b made of such a material not only has a good toner transport property but also has a characteristic that it is relatively soft, and is pressed against the photosensitive drum 30 with a linear pressure of about 30 gf / cm.

Further, the developing device 36 has a conductive layer thickness regulating member, that is, a layer thickness elastically engaged with the developing roller 36b in order to regulate the layer thickness of the toner adhered to the developing roller 36b to a predetermined thickness. A regulation blade 36c is provided, and this layer thickness regulation blade 36c is supported by a rigid support member 36d. The rigid support member 36d is rotatably supported,
Further, the upper end side thereof is elastically biased clockwise (in FIG. 1) by the coil spring 36e, whereby the layer thickness regulating blade 36c is elastically pressed to regulate the layer thickness of the toner layer on the developing roller 36b. Be done. The layer-thickness regulating blade 36c is formed of a stainless plate (USU304) having a thickness of 0.1 mm, and a negative voltage, for example, −400V is applied to the blade 36c, so that each toner particle has a negative charge injection when the toner layer thickness is regulated. Upon receipt, it is charged with a predetermined electric charge. The toner may be electrified by frictional electrification with the layer thickness regulating blade 36c. During development, a developing bias voltage of -300V is applied to the developing roller 36b,
Therefore, the charged toner is electrostatically attached to the electrostatic latent image area, but is prevented from adhering to the background area.

The developing device 32 further includes a toner collecting / supplying roller 36f, a paddle roller 32g, a toner agitator 36h, and a toner replenisher 36i. The toner collecting and supplying roller 36f is preferably formed of a conductive sponge material, for example, a pore diameter of about 40 cells / inch and a volume resistance of 10 ⁴ Ωcm, and a contact depth of about 1 mm with respect to the developing roller 36b. And are rotated in the same direction as the developing roller 32b. The toner collecting / supplying roller 36f scrapes off toner not used for development from the developing roller 36b on one side thereof, that is, the left side in FIG. 1, and positively applies toner to the developing roller 36b on the other side, that is, the right side in FIG. Functions to supply and adhere to. -40 for the toner collecting and supplying roller 36f
A bias voltage of 0 V is applied, which prevents toner particles from entering the sponge material of the toner collecting and supplying roller 36f, and also electrostatically supplies the toner to the developing roller 36b. The paddle roller 32e collects the toner in the developer container 36a and supplies the toner to the supply roller 36.
It is rotated so as to be fed to the toner supply side of f, and the toner agitator 36h is operated to eliminate the dead stock of the toner in the developer container 36a, and functions to deliver the toner to the paddle roller 32h. Further, the toner replenishing device 36i is provided in the toner replenishing portion of the developer container 36a, and the toner replenished therein is supplied to the paddle roller 32.
To send to the side.

The point to be noted here is the developer container 36a.
Is reinforced by a plurality of integrally formed reinforcing ribs 36j extending outside the bottom portion and between the side walls.
In addition to the integrally formed reinforcing ribs 36j, it is further reinforced by a reinforcing element made of a suitable metal material. In this embodiment, a bracket-shaped reinforcing element 36k and a rod-shaped reinforcing element 36m are used as the two types of reinforcing elements. As is clear from FIGS. 1 and 2, the bracket-shaped reinforcing element 36k corresponds to the developer container 36a. The front wall surface and the bottom wall surface on the front side of the developer container 36 are fixed to each other by a suitable adhesive agent.
a is fixed to the bottom wall surface on the rear side of a and the top wall surface thereof,
Both of these reinforcing elements extend between the side walls of the developer container 36a, which increases their rigidity. In particular, since the bracket-shaped reinforcing element 36k fixed to the front bottom wall surface of the developer container 36a is extended between the two integrally formed ribs 36j adjacent to each other, the reinforcing effect is great, and the developing roller 36b. It will be excellent as a reinforcing element applied in the vicinity of. By appropriately applying such a metal reinforcing element to the developer container 36b, the rigidity of the developer container 36b can be greatly increased, and thus the deformation deformation of the developer container 36b which is caused when the developing roller 36b is rotationally driven is prevented. It can be stopped. The metal material of the reinforcing element is preferably stainless steel or the like, but other metal material such as steel material may be used.

The charged toner image obtained in the development process is
It is transferred onto the recording paper P by the transfer device 38, and
The copying machine 36 is configured as a conductive transfer roller in this embodiment.
Be done. The conductive transfer roller 36 is located on the photosensitive drum 30 side.
On the side opposite to the conductive rotary brush charger 32.
It is placed on the side. The conductive transfer roller 36 is a developing roller.
Can be formed from a conductive porous rubber material similar to 36b
Line of 50gf / cm to the photoconductor drum 30
It is pressed by pressure. In this embodiment, the porous rubber
As a material, average pore diameter 10 μm, number of pore cells 200 cells / i
nch, volume resistance 10 ⁷Ωcm and Asker C hardness of 23 degrees
Porous urethane foam / sponge material (made by Toyo Polymer
The trade name of Rubicell) is used. Conductive transfer roller 3
In FIG. 8, a charged toner image is recorded on the recording paper P from the photosensitive drum 26.
A transfer voltage for transferring is applied, but in this embodiment,
Is a direct current that gives a positive charge of about 10 μA to the recording paper P.
It is configured as a constant-current power source, which
The transfer can be performed stably. In this example,
Is a contact type conductive transfer roller 38 as a charger.
However, other types of chargers such as corona charging
A container or the like can also be used.

The recording papers P are accommodated in a paper feed cassette 40 in a stacked state, from which the recording papers are fed one by one by a pickup roller 42 and guided by a guide 44.
Sent in. The guide 44 extends toward the contact area between the photosensitive drum 30 and the conductive transfer roller 38, and a pair of registration rollers 46, 4 are provided in the middle of the guide 42.
6 is arranged. The recording paper fed by the pickup roller 42 is a pair of registration rollers 46, 46.
After being temporarily stopped at the position, the photoconductor drum 3 is moved by the pair of registration rollers 46, 46 at an appropriate timing.
0 toward the contact area of the conductive transfer roller 38, whereby the charged toner image is transferred onto the recording paper P at the predetermined position.

Immediately after passing through the transfer process, the recording paper is brought into contact with the grounded conductive brush 48, thereby releasing a part of the positive charges of the recording paper, and thus between the recording paper P and the photosensitive drum 30. The electrostatic attraction force of the recording paper P is weakened.
Can be easily separated from the photoconductor drum 30. A discharge blocking plate 50 is disposed between the ground conductive brush 48 and the conductive transfer roller 38 to prevent discharge from occurring. After a part of the positive charges are released from the recording paper, the recording paper P is sent to a thermal fixing device 52 of the same type as the thermal transfer device described in FIG. 3, where the transferred toner image is thermally fixed on the recording paper. To be done. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the conductive transfer roller 38 is arranged such that its rotation center is lower than the rotation center of the photoconductor drum 10. Therefore, the leading end of the recording paper P that has undergone the transfer process is transferred. Photosensitive drum 30 on the side
The tip end side portion can be reliably guided to the thermal transfer device 52 along the guide plate 54 by being bent by gravity in a direction away from the guide plate 54.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 56 indicates a charge eliminating lamp for removing residual charges from the photosensitive drum 30, and reference numeral 58 indicates a toner scraping blade for removing residual toner from the photosensitive drum 30. The toner removed by the toner scraping blade 58 is stored in the toner container 60, and reference numeral 62 indicates a power source section of the laser printer.

[0020]

As is apparent from the above description, in the developing device according to the present invention, the strain deformation applied to the developer container when the rotational driving force is transmitted to the elastic developing roller is applied thereto. Blocked by a reinforcing element made of metal material,
Therefore, the uniform thickness contact state of the layer thickness regulating member to the elastic developing roller and the uniform pressure contact state of the developing roller to the photosensitive drum can be maintained, and good developing quality can be maintained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a laser printer incorporating a developing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an appearance of a developer container of the developing device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a laser printer having a conventional developing device. 30 ... Photosensitive drum 32 ... Conductive rotating brush charger 34 ... Laser beam scanning unit 36 ... Developing device 36a ... Developer container 36b ... Developing roller 36c ... Layer thickness regulating blade 36k ... Blacket-like reinforcing element 36m ... Rod-like reinforcing element

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Yukio Nishio 1015 Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor, Makoto Matsuoka 1015, Kamedotachu, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor Hiroshi Keira 1405 Daimaru, Inagi-shi, Tokyo Inside Fujitsu Aisotec Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

Claims: What is claimed is: 1. A developing device for developing an electrostatic latent image held on an image bearing member with a non-magnetic one-component developer, which contains the non-magnetic one-component developer. A developer container made of a synthetic resin material, which is supported so as to be movable back and forth with respect to the image carrier, and is driven to rotate in the developer container and partially exposed from the developer container. And a conductive elastic developing roller adapted to be brought into contact with the image carrier, and when the elastic developing roller is driven to rotate, a non-magnetic one-component developer is rubbed on the rotating peripheral surface. A developer layer is adhered by force to form a developer layer. Further, a predetermined elastic force is applied to the elastic body developing roller to regulate the developer layer formed on the rotating peripheral surface of the elastic body developing roller to a predetermined layer thickness. It is provided with a layer thickness regulating member that can be pressed by pressure. A developing device in which a developer container is elastically displaced toward the image carrier and the elastic developer roller is pressed against the image carrier with a predetermined elastic pressing force. 2. A developing device, wherein a metallic reinforcing element is applied to the developer container in order to prevent distortion deformation applied to the developer container during transmission of the rotational driving force of the developer container.