A developing device includes a housing in which a circulation path is formed by a first path through which a developer passed to a developing roll flows, a second path disposed offset from the first path in a direction of gravity, and a pair of connecting ports connecting the first path and the second path; and a transport member that operates in the housing to transport the developer in a determined direction in the circulation path, in which the transport member transports the developer in the determined direction in a case where a load at a determined time during transportation in the determined direction is equal to or less than a reference value, transports the developer in a reverse direction to the determined direction in a case where the load at the determined time during transportation in the determined direction exceeds the reference value, and transports the developer in the determined direction in a case where a load during or after transportation in the reverse direction is equal to or less than an allowable value.

A powder accommodating container includes a powder accommodating portion that accommodates powder, a sealing section that openably seals a supply port by being removed from the powder accommodating portion, and a breaking section that has a film-shaped member that breaks the powder in the powder accommodating portion by being removed from the powder accommodating portion in a case of opening the supply port, is fixed to plural places in the powder accommodating portion such that the film-shaped member is removable, and is fixed to the powder accommodating portion such that a force required for removing a tip of the film-shaped member from the powder accommodating portion is larger than other portions.

A developing apparatus includes a sealing sheet to seal an opening portion in a developing container, an attaching portion provided on an accommodating chamber and to which the sealing sheet is attached, and a discharge portion through which the sealing sheet is discharged from inside of the developer container to outside of the developer container. The initial developer in the accommodating chamber moves to a second chamber through the opening portion by discharging the sealing sheet through the discharge portion from the inside of the developer container to the outside of the developer container. The discharge portion is disposed upstream from the opening portion and above the opening portion, and the discharge portion is disposed on a wall surface of the developer container intersected with a side wall of the developer container, the side wall having a through hole which a second conveyance screw penetrates.

A developing apparatus includes a first conveyance screw in a first chamber and a second conveyance screw in a second chamber, a developer accommodating portion disposed above the second conveyance screw, and an opening portion in the accommodating portion and through which the developer is supplied to the second chamber. In addition, a sealing sheet is attached to a sheet attaching portion and seals the opening portion, and a sheet discharge portion is disposed above the sheet attaching portion and discharges the sealing sheet to out of the developing apparatus. The sheet discharge portion is formed along a radial direction of the second conveyance screw in a cross section perpendicular to a rotation axis direction of the second conveyance screw.

A developing apparatus includes a developer conveyance member including a rotatably supported flexible sheet having a first distance between its rotation axis and an edge of the flexible sheet in a state where the flexible sheet is unbent. A lid of a developing container includes a corner portion that extends a storage space outward of an imaginary circle with a radius of the first distance centered on the rotational axis, and a contact portion which protrudes from an inner surface of the corner portion to an inner side of the imaginary circle and with which the flexible sheet contacts while the conveyance member is being rotated. The contact portion has a distal edge shaped such that a distance between the distal edge and the rotation axis increases toward a downstream side in a rotation direction of the conveyance member as viewed in the direction along the rotation axis.

A developing device includes: a developer storage unit that stores a developer; a developer transporting unit that is connected to the developer storage unit through an opening portion; a closing member that openably closes the opening portion; and a loosening section that acts simultaneously with opening of the opening portion by the closing member to loosen the developer at an inner end portion of the developer storage unit, opposite to the opening portion.

A developing device includes a developer storing unit that stores a developer before use of the developing device, a developer containing unit that contains, when the developing device is used, the developer stored in the developer storing unit such that the developer is capable of being stirred by the developer containing unit, a developer holding unit that is provided in a portion of the developer containing unit and that holds the developer contained in the developer containing unit and moves the developer in a rotation direction, a sealing unit including a sealing tape portion that seals a slit-shaped opening formed in the developer storing unit along a longitudinal direction of the developer storing unit while the sealing tape portion is capable of being pulled out and that seals the slit-shaped opening of the developer storing unit by being removably fixed onto an edge of the opening and an extended tape portion that is folded at an end of the sealing tape portion in a longitudinal direction of the sealing tape portion and that extends along the sealing tape portion in such a manner as to project outward beyond the sealing tape portion, a scraping unit that is disposed at an end portion of the developer storing unit in the longitudinal direction and that causes the extended tape portion of the sealing unit to move while making frictional contact with the scraping unit so as to scrape off developer powder deposited on the extended tape portion and on the sealing tape portion, which follows movement of the extended tape portion, and a holding unit that is disposed outside the scraping unit in the longitudinal direction of the developer storing unit with a space formed between the holding unit and the scraping unit and that holds the extended tape portion and the sealing tape portion such that the extended tape portion and the sealing tape portion are capable of moving.

A developing device includes: a developer storage unit that stores a developer; a developer transporting unit that is connected to the developer storage unit through an opening portion; a closing member that openably closes the opening portion; and a loosening section that acts simultaneously with opening of the opening portion by the closing member to loosen the developer at an inner end portion of the developer storage unit, opposite to the opening portion.

A cleaning device includes a cleaning portion including a blade and a blade supporting member having a flat surface portion, and a cleaning frame including a mounting portion, a disposing portion and an accommodating portion. The disposing portion opposes the flat surface portion with a gap with respect to a thickness direction. The accommodating portion is adjacent to respective sides of the disposing portion with respect to a height direction. A distance between the flat surface portion and the accommodating portion with respect to the thickness direction is larger than the gap. The cleaning device includes a sealing member formed of a thermoplastic resin material and configured to seal the gap by a portion extending in a longitudinal direction between the disposing portion and the flat surface portion. A part of the sealing member is accommodated in the accommodating portion.

A developer container includes a developer accommodating portion, a rotatable member, and a flexible sheet member. The developer container further includes an elastically deformable elastic member. With respect to a longitudinal direction of the developer accommodating portion, between an end portion of the rotatable member and an inside surface of the developer accommodating portion, a gap is formed to permit movement of the rotatable member relative to the developer accommodating portion. In an unused state, the sheet member is elastically deformable together with the elastic member by the movement of the rotatable member relative to the developer accommodating portion in the longitudinal direction.