Patent ID: 11960233
Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Field: Optics (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 10:
11. An image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said image forming portion is a first image portion, and further comprising a second image forming portion including an image bearing member for bearing a toner image and configured to form the toner image;
wherein said feeding device comprises:
an aggregate feeding passage configured to aggregate the residual toner discharged from said first image forming portion and the residual toner discharged from said second image forming portion and capable of feeding the residual toner in an aggregate feeding direction traversing an up-down direction, said aggregate feeding passage having a first receiving opening and a second receiving opening through which the residual toner discharged from said first image forming portion and the residual toner discharged from said second image forming portion are received, respectively, and an aggregate discharging opening configured to discharge the residual toner aggregated in said aggregate feeding passage and being provided between said first receiving opening and said second receiving opening with respect to the aggregate feeding direction, and
an aggregate screw member provided in said aggregate feeding passage including a first helical portion and a second helical portion,
wherein the first helical portion feeds the residual toner received from the first image portion toward the aggregate discharging opening by rotating said aggregate screw member in a predetermined direction and the second helical portion feeds the residual toner received from the second image portion toward the aggregate discharging opening by rotating said aggregate screw member in the predetermined direction.