A developing device, including a casing and a seal member is provided. The casing includes a divider wall, dividing a space inside the casing into a container chamber and a developing chamber, and a developing roller. The divider wall includes an opening. The container chamber accommodates a developing agent. The seal member is configured to seal the opening. The seal member includes a ventilation section configured to allow air to pass there-through but restrict the developing agent from passing there-through at least at a part of an area that seals the opening.

There is provided a manufacturing method of manufacturing a cartridge by using a cartridge having a rotator, a frame that supports the rotator, an elastic member that is provided in a concave portion formed in the frame along a rotation axis direction of the rotator, and a sheet member that has one end fixed to the elastic member and the other end abutting on the rotator along the rotation axis direction of the rotator, and the manufacturing method includes: detaching the rotator from the frame; detaching the sheet member from the frame; detaching the elastic member from the frame; and attaching another sheet member to the frame via an adhesive member that is attached to an adhesive member attachment portion formed in the concave portion of the frame.

An accommodating container includes: an accommodating chamber, provided with an opening, for accommodating a developer; a seal member for unsealably sealing the opening; and a rotatable member rotatably supported inside the accommodating chamber. The seal member includes a sealing portion for sealing the opening, a connecting portion connected with the rotatable member, and at least one hole provided between the sealing portion and the connecting portion. The rotatable member includes a shaft portion and at least one projection extending in a direction of being spaced from the shaft portion. The hole and the projection are provided to establish a non-overlapping positional relationship with respect to a direction along the shaft portion.

A developing device including a holding body, a supply unit, a filling portion, a closing portion, and a duct portion is provided. The holding body holds a developer. The agitating unit agitates the developer. The supply unit supplies the developer that flows in from the agitating unit to the holding body. The filling portion is provided above the agitating unit and filled with the developer. The closing portion closes a lower portion of the filling portion, and causes the developer to drop from the filling portion into the agitating unit in a case where the closing portion is removed. The duct portion connects a space in the filling portion and a portion above the holding body.

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, a pair of connecting ports connecting the first path and the second path, and a transport member that operates in the housing. The transport member transports the developer in a determined direction, or a reverse direction to the determined direction, in the circulation path according to a load applied for driving the transport member.

An image forming apparatus includes a developing device detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus; a supplying device including an accommodating portion for accommodating a developer supplied from a developer container accommodating the developer, the supplying device being effective to supply the developer accommodated in the accommodating portion into the developing device; a controller for controlling the supply of the developer from the supplying device into the developing device; a communicating portion provided in the supplying device, for fluid communication between the accommodating portion and the developing device; a seal provided at the communicating portion to hermetically confining the developer in the accommodating portion before an operation of image forming apparatus; and a removing portion for receiving a driving force from the image forming apparatus to wind the seal up to permit fluid communication between the accommodating portion and the developing device.

Provided is an elastic member which is obtained by forming a resin coating layer on at least a part of the surface of a base that is formed of an elastic material, and which is characterized in that the resin coating layer is a coating film that contains 1.5-45 parts by mass of a low-friction powder per 100 parts by mass of a base resin and has a 100% modulus of 22-30 MPa. This elastic member has a resin coating layer that has a good balance between film formability and low friction, and is suitable as a sealing member for an opening part of a toner container that is provided on a toner cartridge of a printer, a copy machine or the like.

An image forming apparatus is provided which can reduce occurrence of unusual noise. The image forming apparatus includes a driving motor configured to drive a developer bearing member and a control unit which can control the driving motor between a first driving speed and a second driving speed higher than the first driving speed. In a case where the first driving speed is equal to the driving speed of the image forming operation, the control unit controls the driving motor to drive at the second driving speed while an unsealing operation is being performed.

A replacement cartridge toner hopper seal assembly comprising an auger mounted in the hopper, the auger is configured to rotate upon actuation. A toner paddle is coupled to the auger. An original hopper seal has an original hopper seal first end opposite an original hopper seal second end, the original hopper seal is coupled to the auger proximate the original hopper seal first end and proximate the toner paddle. A replacement seal extension is coupled to the original hopper seal second end. A window seat is coupled to a cartridge upper toner window of the cartridge toner hopper. The replacement seal extension is coupled to the window seat. The replacement seal extension being removable from the window seat responsive to actuation of the auger.

A developer cartridge includes a developer container, a casing, a sealing member, and a drive input. The developer container is configured to sealingly contain developer therein. The developer container has an outlet through which the developer flows out of the developer container. The casing is configured to accommodate the developer container therein. The casing supports the developer container to allow the developer container to rotate about an axis thereof in a rotating direction. The sealing member is configured to seal the outlet. The drive input is configured to transmit rotational driving force to the developer container. The sealing member is fixed to the casing.