A toner container according to one example embodiment includes a housing having a reservoir for storing toner. A rotatable shaft is positioned within the reservoir and has an axis of rotation. An extension from the rotatable shaft is rotatable with the rotatable shaft around the axis of rotation. The extension is pivotable independent of the rotatable shaft about a pivot axis that is spaced radially from the axis of rotation. A magnet is positioned at the pivot axis of the extension and is pivotable with the extension such that an orientation of the magnet varies relative to the pivot axis as the extension pivots about the pivot axis.

A developing device includes a developer container, a developer carrier, first and second stirring/transporting members, a driving motor, first and second magnetic permeability sensors, and a control portion. The first magnetic permeability sensor is arranged in a first conveying chamber in the developer container, in a region other than a part facing a communication portion and senses the toner concentration in developer in the developer container. The second magnetic permeability sensor is arranged in a second conveying chamber in the developer container, in a region between a regulating portion and a downstream end of the developer carrier in the second direction. The control portion controls the supply amount of developer based on the output value of the first magnetic permeability sensor, and calculates the stable volume of developer in the developer container based on the difference between the output values of the first and second magnetic permeability sensors.

A development device includes a development container, a first conveying member, a second conveying member, a toner concentration sensor, and a developer carrier. The first and second conveying members are equal to each other in outer diameter and shaft diameter, the outer diameter being 1.3 times the shaft diameter or more but 1.6 times the shaft diameter or less. Where L represents an axial length of the first conveying member, K represents a distance of a center position of the sensing surface of the toner concentration sensor from a downstream end of a first conveying chamber of the development container in the first direction, P represents a pitch of the conveying blade of the first conveying member, and R represents a rotational speed of the first conveying member, formula (1) is satisfied: 30000<(PRL)/K<45000 (1).

A development device includes a development container, a first conveying member, a second conveying member, a toner concentration sensor, and a developer carrier. The toner concentration sensor is arranged at a wall portion of the first conveying chamber in which the first conveying member is arranged. The first and second conveying members are equal to each other in outer diameter and shaft diameter, the outer diameter being 2.3 times the shaft diameter or more but 3.0 times the shaft diameter or less. Where D represents the shaft diameter of the first conveying member, L represents an axial length of the first conveying member, and K represents a distance of a center position of a sensing surface of the toner concentration sensor from a downstream end of the first conveying chamber in the first direction, formula (1) is satisfied: 500<(L.sup.2K)/D.sup.4<2500 (1).

An image forming apparatus includes a developing device, an image bearing member, an image density detecting portion, a toner content detecting portion, a humidity sensor, a supplying portion, and a controller configured to control the supplying portion so that a toner content is between an upper limit and a lower limit thereof. The controller can execute setting control in which the target value of the toner content is set on the basis of an image density of a reference toner image. The controller sets the lower limit until execution of subsequent setting control, wherein the lower limit is higher when a humidity is a first humidity and an average image ratio is a first ratio than when the humidity is a second humidity higher than the first humidity and the average image ratio is a second ratio larger than the first ratio.

The technology described herein relates to double-stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) compositions targeting the Serpinal gene, and methods of using such dsRNA compositions to inhibit expression of Serpinal.

An image forming apparatus is configured to determine that a toner container was replaced during power off in a case where identification information acquired from a toner container and identification information stored in a nonvolatile memory do not match each other when power is turned on. In a case where the replaced toner container does not satisfy a replacement condition and does not contain a black toner, the image forming apparatus permits the execution of printing in a monochrome print mode, and suspends the execution of printing in the color print mode.

A method for estimating an amount of toner in a reservoir of an image forming device according to one example embodiment includes rotating a shaft positioned in the reservoir. By rotating the shaft, a first magnet and a second magnet having a variable angular offset between them are rotated around an axis of rotation of the shaft. The first magnet and the second magnet are continually sensed at a point in their rotational paths. An amount of angular offset between the first magnet and the second magnet is continually determined from the sensing. An estimate of the amount of toner remaining in the reservoir is continually updated based on a predetermined correlation between the determined amount of angular offset between the first magnet and the second magnet and the amount of toner remaining in the reservoir.

A carrier is provided including a core particle and a resin layer coating the surface of the core particle. The resin layer includes fine metal particles, and a detected metal element amount A obtained by X-ray photoelectron spectrometry of the surface of the carrier is in a range of 4.0 atomic %A20.0 atomic % and an average major-axis length B of the fine metal particle exposing from the resin layer is in a range of 100 nmB800 nm.

A toner container according to one example embodiment includes a housing having a reservoir for storing toner. A rotatable shaft is positioned within the reservoir and has an axis of rotation. A first magnet is rotatable with the shaft around the axis of rotation. An arm connected to the shaft leads the first magnet around the axis of rotation in an operative rotational direction of the shaft. A second magnet connected to the shaft trails the first magnet around the axis of rotation in the operative rotational direction. The arm is operatively connected to the second magnet such that an angular offset between the first magnet and the second magnet increases as an angular offset between the first magnet and the arm increases and the angular offset between the first magnet and the second magnet decreases as the angular offset between the first magnet and the arm decreases.