TONER SUPPLYING APPARATUS AND TONER SUPPLYING METHOD FOR IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A toner supplying apparatus comprising:
- plural toner cartridges that store toners, respectively, and have toner discharging ports;
plural sub-hoppers having respectively, toner receiving ports formed in positions opposed to the toner discharging ports and toner supply ports for feeding the toners to plural developing devices; and
a supporting member arranged the plural sub-hoppers such that the toner supply ports are adjacent to one another at an interval same as the arrangement pitch of the plural developing devices.
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Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes plural developing devices arranged at a fixed interval, plural toner cartridges arranged at an interval smaller than the interval among the developing devices, and plural sub-hoppers that receive toners stored in the toner cartridges and feed the toners to plural developing devices. The plural sub-hoppers respectively have toner receiving ports formed in positions opposed to toner discharging ports of the toner cartridges and have toner supply ports for feeding toners to the developing devices. The plural sub-hoppers are arranged at an interval same as an arrangement pitch of the developing devices.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A toner supplying apparatus comprising:
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plural toner cartridges that store toners, respectively, and have toner discharging ports; plural sub-hoppers having respectively, toner receiving ports formed in positions opposed to the toner discharging ports and toner supply ports for feeding the toners to plural developing devices; and a supporting member arranged the plural sub-hoppers such that the toner supply ports are adjacent to one another at an interval same as the arrangement pitch of the plural developing devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A sub-hopper comprising:
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a toner receiving ports formed in an upper part opposed to a toner discharging port of a toner cartridge; a toner supply port for feeding the toner to a developing device; a gear rotates by a driving motor provided in a main body; a mixer attached to a rotating shaft of the gear; and a cover that the toner receiving port is formed. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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Specification