| 摘要 |
<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a miniaturized toner cartridge in which untransferred toner removed from a photoreceptor is returned neither too much nor too little while keeping the capacity of a toner recovery chamber to the minimum, and an image forming apparatus equipped with the toner cartridge. <P>SOLUTION: After starting to use the toner cartridge 1, the sealing of a discharge port 13 by a sealing member 8 is released by the first rotation of a stirring body 8 provided in a toner storage chamber 4. The untransferred toner removed from the surface of the photoreceptor which finishes a transfer stage by the operation of a cleaning part passes through a toner recovery tube 11 and a toner recovery port 10 and is returned to the toner recovery chamber 5. When the amount of the untransferred toner returned to the chamber 5 exceeds the installation height of a toner path 12, the untransferred toner is returned to the chamber 4 by a waste toner carrying member 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO |
