Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, L.L.P.
Process cartridge including developing unit and incorporated in image forming apparatus
A process cartridge for use in an image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member and a developing unit. The developing unit includes a developer bearing member to bear developer including toner and carrier, a casing forming a developer container containing the developer, a screw having a shaft with a spiral screw blade, a toner density sensor to detect a density of the toner on a detection surface, and a detection surface agitating member fixedly mounted on the shaft of the screw at a position facing a detection surface to scrape away the developer accumulated on the detection surface as the screw rotates. The detection surface agitating member includes an elastic sheet elastically deformable to scrape away the developer accumulated on the detection surface and disposed at a substantially same angle to an axial direction of the shaft of the screw as the spiral screw blade.
Ricoh Company, Ltd.
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inventional inventional additional additional
Kohta Hitoshi Nobutaka Yushi Hiroyuki Keiichi Tetsuya Yoshiaki Shin Takeroh Akira Shinji
Fujimori Ishibashi Takeuchi Hirayama Uenishi Yoshida Muto Miyashita Hasegawa Kurenuma Yoshida Kato