A toner conveying apparatus includes: a first conveying portion to convey the toner, the first conveying portion having a first screw that is rotatable, and a first conveying passage forming member that forms a first conveying space so as to surround the first screw; and a second conveying portion to convey upward the toner from the first conveying portion, the second conveying portion having a second screw that is rotatable, and a second conveying passage forming member that forms a second conveying space so as to surround the second screw and that includes a connecting portion. The first conveying space includes a first region and a second region that is closer to the connecting portion than the first region is, and a cross-sectional area of the first conveying space is smaller in the second region than in the first region.

Provided is a powder container having a new structure capable of stable discharge and transport of a powder contained in a container by enabling the powder to be reliably discharged to the outside of the package while preventing the powder from spilling and flying out of the container. The powder container has a container body (138) for transporting powder contained therein from a first end side (138a) to a second end side (138b) thereof by self-rotating; a nozzle receiver (139) having a nozzle receiving hole (insertion section) (139a) arranged inside the second end side of the container body and configured to allow a transport nozzle (162) having a powder receiving inlet (170) to be inserted therein, and a supply port 139b arranged in at least a part of the nozzle receiver (139) and configured to supply the powder in the container body (138) to the powder receiving inlet (170): and a shutter (140) supported by the nozzle receiver 139 and configured to open and close the nozzle receiving hole (insertion section) 139a by sliding in response to insertion of the transport nozzle 162 into the nozzle receiver (139).

An image forming apparatus, including a casing, a toner cartridge, and a process cartridge, is provided. The toner cartridge detachably attached to the casing stores toner therein. The process cartridge detachably attached to the casing includes a developing unit and a drum unit. The developing unit includes a developer roller and a toner conveyer tube. The toner conveyer tube has a first opening, through which the toner from the toner cartridge is acceptable into the toner conveyer tube while the toner cartridge and the process cartridge are attached to the casing. The drum unit includes a photosensitive drum supporting the toner conveyer tube by contacting a circumferential surface of the toner conveyer tube. The developing unit is pivotable with respect to the drum unit with the toner conveyer tube and the drum unit being slidable on each other.

A toner conveying apparatus conveying toner used for image forming includes a first conveying portion to convey the toner and having a first screw and a first conveying passage forming member that forms a first conveying space, and a second conveying portion to convey upward the toner and including a second screw and a second conveying passage forming member that forms a second conveying space. The second conveying passage forming member has a connecting port connected to the first conveying passage forming member. The second screw overlaps with the first screw viewed in a direction of a rotational axial line of the first rotation shaft. A cross-sectional area of the first conveying space orthogonal to the direction of the rotation axial line in a second region is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the first conveying space orthogonal to the direction of the rotational axial line in a first region.

A toner transport apparatus includes a toner, a transport container having a transport path for transporting the toner toward the developing apparatus, and a pipe through which the toner is transported from the toner container to the transport container, with the pipe having an outlet hole from which the toner is discharged into the transport container. An air pump transports the toner from the toner container to the transport container, and an optical sensor includes a light-emitting element to emit a light and a light-receiving element to receive the light so that an optical path from the light-emitting element to the light-receiving element intersects with a passage area of the toner through which the toner passes after being discharged from the outlet hole of the pipe and before landing at a landing point of the transport container.

A toner conveying device that conveys toner. The toner conveying device includes a housing, a toner guide portion, and at least two vibration motors. The housing has, in its inside, a toner conveyance path. The toner guide portion is provided in the housing and includes an opening through which toner flows in or out, and a guide passage communicating between the opening and the toner conveyance path. The at least two vibration motors apply vibrations to the toner guide portion. The vibration motors are started at different timings, and driven and controlled by drive signals in which a first pulse and a second pulse of different pulse widths alternately continue.

An image forming device may comprise: an attaching unit to which a removable toner bottle is attached; a toner storage that stores toner supplied from the toner bottle attached to the attaching unit; a detector that detects an empty state of toner in the toner storage; and a hardware processor that: supplies toner to the toner storage from the toner bottle when the toner bottle attached to the attaching unit is new; and switches a state of the toner bottle to an old state from a new state if the empty state detected by the detector is released.

An example toner cartridge includes a customer replaceable unit monitoring (CRUM) apparatus to store error information of a toner injection process of the toner cartridge using a toner refill apparatus. Based on the error information not being stored in the CRUM apparatus, an availability of a refill operation of the toner cartridge is identified based on a predetermined first reference value and an amount of toner detected in the toner cartridge, and, based on the error information being stored in the CRUM apparatus, the availability of the refill operation of the toner cartridge is identified based on a predetermined second reference value and the amount of toner detected in the toner cartridge.

An image forming apparatus includes: a detection unit configured to detect an amount of developer stored in a developing container and to output remaining amount information; and a control unit configured to perform control, during a replenishment of the developer to the developing container using a replenishment container, to cause a display unit to display a message related to the replenishment. When the replenishment is instructed, the control unit is further configured to perform a first control during the replenishment in a case where the remaining amount information indicates a first remaining amount, and configured to perform a second control different from the first control during the replenishment in a case where the remaining amount information indicates a second remaining amount greater than the first remaining amount.

A pressurization device for a toner cartridge includes an inner cover (200), an airbag (400) and a sliding member (500). The inner cover (200) is arranged at a toner feeding port (110) of the toner cartridge (100); the airbag (400) is made of elastic material; the airbag (400) includes a fixed end that is fixed to the inner cover (200) and a free end that extends outward from the fixed end; the fixed end is provided with an airbag opening (410) interconnected to an interior of the toner cartridge (100); a remaining portion of the airbag (400) is arranged as closed except for the airbag opening (410); a first end of the sliding member (500) is connected to the free end of the airbag (400) and moves toward the fixed end of the airbag (400) back and forth, so that the airbag (400) ejects gas into the toner cartridge (100) by means of being compressed. Through compressing the airbag (400), high-pressure gas is continuously ejected into the toner cartridge (100), and toner is mixed with gas to be ejected together from a toner outlet at a front end of the toner cartridge (100), so that fluidity of the ejected toner is improved, problems such as easy compacting and clumping of the toner at the toner outlet and inside each toner flowing passage of the printing device are eliminated, and a blockage due to accumulation is effectively prevented.