DEVELOPER SUPPLIER, DEVELOPING DEVICE INCLUDING THE SAME, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND DEVELOPER CONTAINER INCLUDED IN THE DEVELOPER SUPPLIER

摘要

A developer supplier includes a developer container and a main unit. The main unit includes a mounting section. The developer container includes a container body and a container shutter. The container body is formed with a developer discharge port. The container shutter covers or exposes the developer discharge port. The main unit includes a housing, a guide mechanism, a fastening portion, a locking portion, and a lock release portion. The developer container is mounted into the mounting section in a first orientation being guided by the guide mechanism, and subsequently the container body is rotated in a first rotational direction so that the developer container changes to a second orientation in which the developer discharge port communicates with the developer supply port. The lock release portion is permitted to release the locking of the developer container so that the container body rotates to return to the first orientation.

主权项

1. A developer supplier, comprising:
a developer container configured to contain developer; and a main unit including a mounting section for allowing the developer container to be mounted therein, the main unit being configured to receive the developer supplied from the developer container, wherein: the developer container includes
a container body formed with a developer discharge port, anda container shutter supported on the container body slidably with respect to the developer discharge port, the container shutter being configured to cover or expose the developer discharge port; the main unit includes
a housing formed with a developer supply port facing the developer container and communicating with an inside of the housing,a guide mechanism configured to guide the mounting of the developer container into the mounting section,a fastening portion configured to secure the container shutter,a locking portion configured to lock the container body, anda lock release portion configured to release the container body from the locking portion; the main unit allows the developer container to be mounted into the mounting section in a first orientation while being guided in a first direction by the guide mechanism to secure the container shutter to the fastening portion, and subsequently allows the container body of the developer container to be rotated in a first rotational direction around an axis extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction to thereby move and expose the developer discharge port away from the secured container shutter in the first rotational direction so that the developer container changes to a second orientation in which the developer discharge port communicates with the developer supply port; the locking portion is permitted to lock the developer container in the second orientation; and the lock release portion is permitted to release the locking of the developer container so that the container body rotates in a second rotational direction opposite to the first rotational direction around the axis to return to the first orientation in which the developer discharge port is covered by the container shutter.