JP2008026596A - Toner conveying device, developing device, and image forming apparatus with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a compact device even when toner removing members are provided and to suppress aggregation of toner well even when the device is made compact. <P>SOLUTION: The device is composed of a container 22, spiral members 23 and 24, a partitioning member 34 and the toner removing members 36 and 37. The spiral members 23 and 24 are composed of shafts 32 and 33 and spiral blades 30 and 31 and convey the toner in the axial direction by rotating. The partitioning member 34 is formed along the axial direction of the spiral members 23 and 24 and on the side of the spiral members 23 and 24. The toner removing members 36 and 37 are provided extending toward the spiral members 23 and 24 from the partitioning member 34 so that they can come into contact with at least the surface of the blades of the spiral members 23 and 24 and the toner stuck to the spiral members 23 and 24 are removed by the rotation of the spiral members 23 and 24. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner transport device, and more particularly to a toner transport device capable of suppressing aggregation of toner being transported. The present invention also relates to a developing device that performs development using magnetic toner (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “toner”), and in particular, a developing device capable of suppressing toner aggregation in the developing device, and the developing device. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including

  In general, image forming apparatuses such as electrophotographic developing printers, facsimiles, and copying machines are provided with a developing device that accommodates toner. By this developing device, a toner image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor on which the electrostatic latent image based on the image data is formed.

  Here, the developing device is provided with a container for storing the toner, a developing roller rotatably provided in the container, a toner conveying member, and the like, but when the fluidity of the toner in the container is reduced, The toner transportability is lowered and the toner tends to stay in the container. As a result, the toner staying in the container aggregates due to long-term use, and the aggregated toner adheres to the toner conveying member having spiral blades. When the toner adheres to the toner conveying member in this way, there is a problem that even if the toner is stirred by the toner stirring member in the container, the aggregation state is not improved and an abnormal image such as a toner fog is generated. Such problems include, for example, image formation having a toner recycling mechanism in which the toner remaining on the photosensitive member is removed by a cleaning device and then returned to the developing device via a conveying device using a conveying screw and reused. The same problem occurs in the apparatus.

  Therefore, various image forming apparatuses for improving the above problems have been proposed. For example, the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-177754 includes a rotation propulsion conveying means for returning the toner removed by the cleaning apparatus to the developing apparatus, and a toner for breaking the aggregated toner remaining in the recycled toner. A breaking member is provided. This toner breaker member is made of an elastic PET film sheet, and has a tongue piece that is deformed by applying a force from the outside when the rotationally propelling conveying means having a spiral shape is rotated. The aggregated toner is broken by the toner breaking member having the tongue piece.

However, in the above-described conventional image forming apparatus, the toner breaking member moves only in the traveling direction of the spiral blades of the rotationally propelled conveying means (that is, elastically deforms only in the longitudinal direction of the axis of the rotationally propelled conveying means). Therefore, the toner adhering to the spiral blades and shafts of the rotationally propelled conveying means cannot be scraped off sufficiently. As a result, the generation of aggregated toner cannot be sufficiently suppressed.
JP 2004-177754 A

  In order to solve the conventional problems as described above, the present applicant has already filed a toner conveying device that can effectively suppress the generation of aggregated toner (Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-089217). An example in which this toner conveying device is used in a developing device is shown in FIG.

  FIG. 1 shows a photoreceptor 101 and a developing device 102 of an image forming apparatus. The developing device 102 includes a container 103, a developing roller 104, and first and second spiral members 105 and 106. Each spiral member 105, 106 includes rotatable shafts 105a, 106a and blades 105b, 106b provided on the peripheral surfaces of the shafts 105a, 106a. By rotating, the toner is moved in the longitudinal direction of each shaft. Transport. A partition member 107 is provided between the first spiral member 105 and the second spiral member 106.

  A support member 110 is provided on the inner wall of the upper portion of the container 103. To the support member 110, toner removing members 111 and 112 for removing toner attached to the spiral members 105 and 106 are provided. Yes. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each toner removing member 111, 112 is formed of an elastic metal wire, and its tip is provided so as to contact the surface of the corresponding spiral member 105, 106. ing.

  In the configuration as described above, the toner attached to the spiral members 105 and 106 is removed by the toner removing member as follows.

  That is, as the spiral members 105 and 106 rotate, the spiral blades 105b and 106b apparently move in the longitudinal direction of the shafts 105a and 106a. Then, the lower end portions including the tip portions of the toner removing members 111 and 112 that are in contact with the spiral members 105 and 106 are pressed against the blades 105b and 106b while being elastically deformed by receiving the force from the blades 105b and 106b. By such contact of the toner removing members 111 and 112, the toner adhering to the spiral members 105 and 106 is scraped off.

  Incidentally, in order to reduce the size of the apparatus, or to secure an optical path for exposure to the photosensitive member, and also to secure a space in the paper conveyance path, as shown in FIG. In addition, the developing device 102 is required to be reduced in size (particularly in the vertical direction). In FIG. 2, parts corresponding to those in FIG.

  However, with the configuration of the toner removing member shown in FIG. 1, it is difficult to shorten the vertical dimension of the apparatus. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, when the vertical dimension is shortened, the distance between the fixing portion at the upper end of the toner removing members 111 and 112 and the portion in contact with the spiral members 105 and 106 is shortened. In this state, when the toner removing members 111 and 112 are elastically deformed as the spiral members 105 and 106 rotate, as shown in FIG. 3, the tips of the toner removing members 111 and 112 become the blades 105b and 106b. In the state of moving along the outer peripheral edge of the toner cartridge and being closest to the support member 110, the degree of elastic deformation becomes so tight that excessive stress acts on the toner removing member. For this reason, the toner removing members 111 and 112 may be damaged or plastically deformed, and the toner may not be efficiently removed.

  It is an object of the present invention to achieve downsizing of a device provided with a toner removing member even when a toner removing member is provided, and to suppress toner aggregation well even when the device is downsized. Is to be able to.

  A toner conveying device according to a first aspect is a device for conveying toner in one direction, and includes a container for storing toner, a spiral member, a side wall, and a plurality of toner removing members. The spiral member includes a rotatable shaft provided in the container and spiral blades provided on the peripheral surface of the shaft, and conveys toner in the axial direction by rotating. The side wall is formed along the axial direction of the spiral member and on the side of the spiral member. The plurality of toner removing members are provided extending from the side wall toward the spiral member so as to be able to come into contact with at least the surface of the blade of the spiral member, and remove the toner attached to the spiral member by the rotation of the spiral member.

  In this toner conveying device, the spiral member rotates in the container, and thereby the toner is conveyed along the axial direction of the spiral. Here, a toner removing member is provided on the side wall of the spiral member. When the spiral member rotates, the toner attached to the spiral member is removed by the toner removing member.

  Here, the toner removing member is provided on the side of the spiral member, and the tip side is in contact with the surface of the blade of the spiral member. Therefore, even when the toner removing member is provided, it is easy to shorten the size of the toner conveying device, particularly in the vertical direction. Further, when the toner removing member is provided on the side, the stress at the time of elastic deformation is smaller than the configuration in which the toner removing member is elastically deformed by contacting the outer peripheral edge of the spiral member blade as shown in FIGS. Get smaller. Here, when the present invention is applied to a developing device used in a system using a small-diameter photosensitive drum, the upper portion of the developing device serves as an optical path of a writing laser beam to the photosensitive drum. It is necessary to reduce the direction dimension. As described above, even when the vertical dimension of the developing device is reduced, the toner removing member is provided on the side of the spiral member in the present invention, so that the portion between the portion supporting the toner removing member and the spiral member is not provided. Since the toner removal member can be lengthened as a result, the stress during the elastic deformation of the toner removal member can be reduced. Further, when assembling the developing device, for example, according to the present invention, it is possible to visually check the assembling state of the toner removing member before attaching the lid of the developing device, and to prevent problems during assembling. .

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus of the first aspect, the plurality of toner removing members are arranged such that the base end side is mounted on the side wall and the front end side is in contact with the spiral member. The toner can be rotated in the toner transport direction from the starting point.

  In this case, the front end side of the toner removing member is in contact with the spiral member. Therefore, when the spiral member rotates, the contact portion moves in the toner transport direction. Along with this movement, the toner removing member rotates in the toner transport direction starting from the base end side.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus of the first or second aspect, the plurality of toner removing members are formed of a metal wire that can be elastically deformed.

  In this case, the durability against the force applied when the spiral member is rotated is improved as compared with the PET film sheet of the prior art, so that the life of the toner removing member can be extended.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus of the third aspect, the plurality of toner removing members include a coil portion provided on the base end side and a toner scraping portion extending from the coil portion toward the spiral member. A torsion coil spring.

  In this case, when the spiral member rotates, the front end side of the toner removing member moves in the toner transport direction. At this time, the toner scraping portion of the toner removing member is twisted and elastically deformed. When the tip of the toner removing member moves a predetermined distance and moves away from the spiral member, it is restored by the elastic force. Here, it is possible to realize an elastically deformable toner removing member with a simple configuration.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the toner conveying device according to the fourth aspect, the toner scraping portion of the toner removing member includes a shaft contact portion that contacts the shaft of the spiral member and a blade contact that contacts the blade of the spiral member. Part. In this case, the toner adhering to the shaft and blades of the spiral member can be scraped off.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the toner conveying apparatus according to the fourth or fifth aspect, the side wall is formed to extend upward from the bottom of the container, and the plurality of protrusions formed to protrude upward from the upper end of the side wall. Is provided. The coil portions of the plurality of toner removing members are attached to the plurality of protrusions.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the toner conveying device according to the first to sixth aspects, the side wall is a part of the container formed to extend upward from the bottom of the container. In this case, the configuration becomes simpler.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus of the first or second aspect, the plurality of toner removing members are formed of an elastically deformable resin sheet.

  A toner conveying device according to a ninth aspect is a developing device for forming a toner image on an image carrier provided in an image forming unit of an image forming apparatus, and is supported in the container for storing toner. A developing roller for supplying toner to the image carrier, a spiral member, a side wall, and a plurality of toner removing members are provided. The spiral member includes a rotatable shaft provided in the container and spiral blades provided on the peripheral surface of the shaft, and conveys toner in the axial direction by rotating. The side wall is formed along the axial direction of the spiral member and on the side of the spiral member. The plurality of toner removing members are provided extending from the side wall toward the spiral member so as to be able to come into contact with at least the surface of the blade of the spiral member, and remove the toner attached to the spiral member by the rotation of the spiral member.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus according to the ninth aspect, the container includes a stirring chamber for stirring the toner and a developing chamber in which a developing roller for guiding the toner onto the surface of the image carrier is installed. is doing. The side wall is a partition member that partitions the stirring chamber and the developing chamber so that the stirring chamber and the developing chamber can communicate with each other.

  An image forming apparatus according to an eleventh aspect includes a paper storage unit that stores paper, a paper feed unit that feeds paper from the paper storage unit, a paper transport unit that transports paper from the paper feed unit, and a paper transport unit An image forming unit that forms a toner image on the conveyed paper, and a fixing unit that fixes the toner image on the paper formed by the image forming unit. The image forming unit is provided on the surface based on image information. It includes an image carrier on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, and a developing device for forming a toner image on the image carrier. The developing device includes a container that stores toner, a developing roller that is supported in the container and supplies toner to the image carrier, a spiral member, a side wall, and a plurality of toner removing members. . The spiral member includes a rotatable shaft provided in the container and spiral blades provided on the peripheral surface of the shaft, and conveys toner in the axial direction by rotating. The side wall is formed along the axial direction of the spiral member and on the side of the spiral member. The plurality of toner removing members are provided extending from the side wall toward the spiral member so as to be able to come into contact with at least the surface of the blade of the spiral member, and remove the toner attached to the spiral member by the rotation of the spiral member.

  In the present invention as described above, even when the developing device is downsized, the toner adhering to the spiral member can be efficiently removed by the toner removing member, and aggregation of the toner can be suppressed. In this case, damage to the toner removing member can be avoided.

[overall structure]
FIG. 4 shows an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 1 includes a sheet feeding unit 2 disposed at a lower portion of the image forming apparatus main body 1 a, a sheet conveying unit 3 disposed on the side and above the sheet feeding unit 2, and an upper side of the sheet conveying unit 3. The image forming unit 4 disposed on the image forming unit 4, the fixing unit 5 disposed on the discharge side of the image forming unit 4, and the image forming unit 4 and the image reading unit 6 disposed above the fixing unit 5 are provided. .

  The paper feed unit 2 includes a plurality of paper feed cassettes 7 in which paper 9 is accommodated, and the paper 9 is selected from the paper feed cassette 7 selected from the plurality of paper feed cassettes 7 by the rotation operation of the paper feed roller 8. Is sent out to the paper transport unit 3 side, and the paper 9 is surely fed to the paper transport unit 3 one by one. These four paper feed cassettes 7 are detachable from the image forming apparatus main body 1a.

  The paper 9 fed to the paper transport unit 3 is transported toward the image forming unit 4 via the paper supply path 10. The image forming unit 4 forms a predetermined toner image on a sheet 9 by an electrophotographic process, and includes a photoconductor 11 that is rotatably supported in a predetermined direction (the direction of an arrow X in the drawing). In addition, a charging device 12, an exposure device 13, a developing device 14, a transfer device 15, a cleaning device 16, and a charge eliminating device 17 are provided around the photoconductor 11 along the rotation direction.

  The sheet 9 on which the toner image is transferred by the image forming unit 4 is conveyed from the image forming unit 4 to the fixing unit 5. The fixing unit 5 includes a heating roller 18 and a pressure roller 19, and the toner image is fixed on the paper 9 by both rollers 18 and 19. Next, the sheet 9 on which the image is formed in the fixing unit 5 from the image forming unit 4 is discharged onto the discharge tray 21 by the discharge roller pair 20.

[Developer]
FIG. 5 shows the developing device 14. The developing device 14 includes a container 22 that receives toner supply and stores toner. The container 22 has a stirring chamber 22a for stirring the toner and a developing chamber 22b in which a developing roller 27 described later for guiding the toner onto the surface of the photoreceptor 11 is installed. Further, the developing device 14 includes a first spiral member 23. The first spiral member 23 includes a shaft 32 that is a rotatable first shaft provided in the stirring chamber 22a, and a spiral blade 30 provided on the peripheral surface of the shaft 32, and an arrow A in the drawing. , The toner is conveyed in the longitudinal direction of the shaft 32. Further, the developing device 14 includes a second spiral member 24. The second spiral member 24 is provided in the developing chamber 22 b, and a shaft 33, which is a rotatable second shaft disposed substantially parallel to the shaft 32, and a spiral blade 31 provided on the peripheral surface of the shaft 33. The toner is conveyed in the longitudinal direction of the shaft 33 by rotating in the direction of arrow B in the figure. FIG. 6 shows a plan view of the second spiral member 24.

  In addition, the 1st spiral member 23 and the 2nd spiral member 24 are arrange | positioned substantially parallel. A partition member 34 is provided between the first spiral member 23 and the second spiral member 24 so as to allow the stirring chamber 22a and the developing chamber 22b to communicate with each other. Yes. The partition member 34 is formed by extending the bottom surface of the container 22 upward.

  An opening 22c is formed along the longitudinal direction of the container 22 on the photosensitive member 11 side of the container 22, and a developing roller 27 including a fixed magnet roller and a nonmagnetic developing sleeve is provided in the opening 22c portion. It has been. The developing sleeve includes a fixed magnet roller and is rotatably supported to guide the toner stored in the container 22 onto the surface of the photoreceptor 11.

  Further, a magnetic blade 28 and a magnetic seal member (not shown) are provided inside the container 22. The magnetic blade 28 is made of a plate-like magnetic body, and is arranged so that the tip is close to the surface of the developing roller 27. The magnetic seal member is provided at the end of the developing roller 27 in the longitudinal direction.

  A toner replenishing hole 22d is formed in the upper surface of the container 22 above the first spiral member 23 so that toner can be introduced by a toner cartridge (not shown). The charged toner is transported while being stirred in the stirring chamber 22a from one end side to the other end side by the first spiral member 23, and then transported to the developing chamber 22b. The toner conveyed to the developing chamber 22 b is conveyed while being stirred in the reverse direction in the developing chamber 22 b by the second spiral member 24, and is guided to the developing roller 27. The thickness of the toner guided to the developing roller 27 is regulated by a magnetic blade 28 that acts as a toner layer thickness regulating member. Thereafter, the toner carried on the surface of the developing roller 27 is guided to the developing position, that is, on the surface of the photoreceptor 11.

  The developing roller 27 is set to a predetermined peripheral speed, and is set to rotate in the same direction between the drum and the roller with respect to the rotation direction X of the photoconductor 11. Further, the developing roller 27 is arranged at a predetermined distance from the photoconductor 11.

[Toner removing member]
As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, in the present embodiment, toner removing members 36 and 37 for removing the toner adhering to both spiral members 23 and 24 are provided. Since both the toner removing members 36 and 37 have basically the same structure, the toner removing member 37 provided on the second spiral member 24 side will be described below.

  The toner removing member 37 is formed of an elastic metal wire (for example, SUS304). As shown in FIG. 7B, the coil portion 40 provided on the base end side, and the upper end portion of the coil portion 40 Torsion coil spring having a toner scraping portion 41 extending from the lower end portion of the coil portion 40 to the second spiral member 24 side and a stopper 42 extending along the wall surface of the partition member 34. The toner scraping portion 41 of the toner removing member 37 includes a pair of blade abutting portions 41 a that extend vertically upward at the front end portion and the base end portion and can contact the surface of the blade 31, and a pair of blade abutting portions. A shaft abutting portion 41b that extends in the horizontal direction between the portions 41a and abuts against the shaft 33. And the coil part 40 is inserted in the circular protrusion 34a (refer FIG. 7A) formed in the upper end part of the partition member 34 so that it might protrude upwards. The stopper 42 is in contact with the wall surface of the partition member 34.

  Further, with the toner removing member 37 attached to the partition member 34 as described above, a cap 45 is attached to the upper end of the protrusion 34a from above. The cap 45 prevents the toner removing member 37 from coming out of the protrusion 34a. The cap 45 is formed with a restricting portion 45 a extending toward the second spiral member 24, and the toner scraping portion 41 comes into contact with the restricting portion 45 a so that the toner scraping portion 41 is against the stopper 42. Therefore, it is prevented from opening more than a predetermined angle (about 90 degrees).

  As described above, the toner removing member 36 is formed symmetrically with the toner removing member 37 and the partition member 34 as a boundary, and the cap 45 is similarly formed symmetrically. However, in FIGS. 6 and 7, the toner removing member 36 and the cap 45 therefor are not shown.

[Remove toner]
Next, taking the toner removing member 37 as an example, the process of removing the toner attached to the second spiral member 24 will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, when the second spiral member 24 rotates, the spiral blade 31 apparently moves in the direction of the arrow C in the drawing of the shaft 33 with the rotation. Then, the toner adhering to the surface of the shaft 33 is scraped off and removed by the shaft contact portion 41b that contacts the shaft 33 of the second spiral member 24, and either one of the pair of blade contact portions 41a or Both abut against the surface of the blade 31 and the toner adhering to the blade 31 is scraped off. At this time, the blade contact portion 41a receives a force from the blade 31 and elastically deforms in the direction of arrow C.

  Further, as the rotation of the second spiral member 24 proceeds, the spiral blade 31 apparently moves further in the direction of the arrow C, so that the blade contact portion 41 a that contacts the blade 31 is forced from the blade 31. In response, it is further elastically deformed toward the partition member 34 side. During this elastic deformation, the toner scraping portion 41 is deformed so as to rotate from the coil portion 40 in the toner removing member 37. Even when the blade contact portion 41a is elastically deformed, the toner attached to the surface of the blade 31 is removed by the blade contact portion 41a. Of course, the toner that has come into contact with the shaft 33 is also removed by the shaft contact portion 41b.

  When the rotation of the second spiral member 24 further proceeds, the contact of the blade contact portion 41a with the blade 31 is released, the elastic deformation is released by the restoring force of the toner removing member 37 as a torsion coil spring, and the cap 45 is restricted. By contacting the part 45a, the original posture (the posture indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6) is restored. The above operation is repeatedly executed, and the toner attached to the shaft 33 and the blade 31 of the second spiral member 24 is removed.

[Effects of Embodiment]
In this embodiment, since the toner removing members 36 and 37 are provided on the sides of the spiral members 23 and 24, it is easy to reduce the vertical dimension of the container 22. Even when the vertical dimension of the container 22 is reduced, the toner removing member can be lengthened, and the stress at the time of elastic deformation of the toner removing member can be reduced. Further, since the toner removing members 36 and 37 are constituted by torsion coil springs, the stress at the time of elastic deformation is further reduced, and deterioration and damage of elastic characteristics can be suppressed. Therefore, the toner adhering to the spiral members 23 and 24 can be removed more efficiently.

  Further, since the toner removing members 36 and 37 are formed of an elastically deformable metal wire, durability against the force applied when the spiral member is rotated is improved as compared with the conventional elastic film sheet. In addition, the life of the toner removing members 36 and 37 can be extended. Further, the configuration of the toner removing members 36 and 37 is simplified. Further, since the toner removing members 36 and 37 have a shaft contact portion and a blade contact portion, toner attached to the shaft and blades of the spiral members 23 and 24 can be effectively removed.

  Further, in this embodiment, in assembling the developing device, after the toner removing members 36 and 37 are assembled, the state can be visually confirmed and the lid can be attached. Therefore, it is possible to prevent problems when the toner removing member is assembled.

[Other Embodiments]
(A) FIG. 8 shows another embodiment. In this embodiment, the toner removing member is formed of an elastic film sheet. Other configurations are the same as those in the above embodiment.

  In other words, in this embodiment, the toner removing members 36 ′ and 37 ′ are formed by strip-shaped elastic film sheets, the base end side of the toner removing members 36 ′ and 37 ′ is fixed to the partition member 34, and the tip end sides of the corresponding spiral members 23 and 24. It extends to the shaft side and is in contact with the surfaces of the blades of the spiral members 23 and 24.

  The operation of each toner removing member 36 ′, 37 ′ for removing the toner adhering to the spiral members 23, 24 is basically the same as that of the above-described embodiment. Therefore, the toner adhering to the spiral members 23 and 24 can be removed.

  (B) In the above embodiment, the toner removing member is applied to the toner conveying member of the developing device. However, the toner removing member may be applied to other toner conveying members such as a toner conveying member of the cleaning device.

  (C) In the above embodiment, a digital copying machine is shown as an example of an image forming apparatus, but other image forming apparatuses such as a facsimile and a printer may be used.

The figure which shows the image development apparatus as background art. The figure which shows the image development apparatus as background art. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a toner removing member employed in the developing device illustrated in FIG. 2. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus in which an embodiment of the present invention is employed. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a developing device of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a toner removing member provided in the developing device. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the toner removing member. The figure which shows other embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

11 Photoconductor 14 Developing device 22 Container 22a Stirring chamber 22b Developing chamber 23, 24 Spiral member 30, 31 Blade 32, 33 Shaft 34 Partition member 36, 37 Toner removing member 40 Coil portion 41 Toner scraping portion 41a Blade contact portion 41b Shaft contact part

Claims (11)

A toner conveying device for conveying toner in one direction,
A container for storing toner;
A spiral member that includes a rotatable shaft provided in the container and a spiral blade provided on a peripheral surface of the shaft, and rotates to convey the toner in the axial direction;
Side walls formed along the axial direction of the spiral member and on the sides of the spiral member;
A plurality of toner removing members that extend from the side wall toward the spiral member so as to be able to come into contact with at least the surface of the blade of the spiral member, and remove toner adhering to the spiral member by rotation of the spiral member; ,
A toner conveying device.   The plurality of toner removing members are arranged such that a base end side is attached to the side wall and a front end side is in contact with the spiral member, and can be rotated in the toner transport direction from the base end side. The toner conveying device according to claim 1, wherein   The toner conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of toner removing members are formed of an elastically deformable metal wire.   The toner according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of toner removing members are torsion coil springs including a coil portion provided on a base end side and a toner scraping portion extending from the coil portion toward the spiral member. Conveying device.   The toner scraping portion of the toner removing member has a shaft contact portion that contacts the shaft of the spiral member and a blade contact portion that contacts the blade of the spiral member. Toner transport device. The side wall is formed to extend upward from the bottom of the container, and the upper end of the side wall is provided with a plurality of protrusions formed to protrude upward,
The coil portions of the plurality of toner removing members are attached to the plurality of protrusions.
The toner conveying device according to claim 4 or 5.   The toner conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the side wall is a part of a container formed to extend upward from a bottom of the container.   The toner conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of toner removing members are formed of an elastically deformable resin sheet. A developing device for forming a toner image on an image carrier provided in an image forming unit of an image forming apparatus,
A container for storing toner;
A developing roller supported in the container and for supplying toner to the image carrier;
A spiral member that includes a rotatable shaft provided in the container and a spiral blade provided on a peripheral surface of the shaft, and rotates to convey the toner in the axial direction;
Side walls formed along the axial direction of the spiral member and on the sides of the spiral member;
A plurality of toner removing members that extend from the side wall toward the spiral member so as to be able to come into contact with at least the surface of the blade of the spiral member, and remove toner adhering to the spiral member by rotation of the spiral member; ,
A developing device comprising: The container includes a stirring chamber for stirring the toner and a developing chamber in which a developing roller for guiding the toner onto the surface of the image carrier is installed.
The side wall is a partition member that partitions the stirring chamber and the developing chamber so that the stirring chamber and the developing chamber can communicate with each other.
The developing device according to claim 9. A paper storage unit for storing paper, and a paper feeding unit for feeding out the paper from the paper storage unit;
A paper transport unit for transporting paper from the paper feed unit;
An image forming unit that forms a toner image on a sheet conveyed from the sheet conveying unit;
A fixing unit for fixing a toner image on a sheet formed by the image forming unit;
With
The image forming unit includes an image carrier on which an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface based on image information, and a developing device for forming a toner image on the image carrier,
The developing device includes:
A container for storing toner;
A developing roller supported in the container and for supplying toner to the image carrier;
A spiral member that includes a rotatable shaft provided in the container and a spiral blade provided on a peripheral surface of the shaft, and rotates to convey the toner in the axial direction;
Side walls formed along the axial direction of the spiral member and on the sides of the spiral member;
A plurality of toner removing members that extend from the side wall toward the spiral member so as to be able to come into contact with at least the surface of the blade of the spiral member, and remove toner adhering to the spiral member by rotation of the spiral member; ,
An image forming apparatus.

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