Patent ID: 6201939
Filing Date: 2001-03-13
Classification: G03G

Abstract:
A color electrophotographic apparatus comprising:three or more image forming units for different colors, each of said three or more image forming units having a developing unit, and at least one of said image forming units provided with a central angle around a central axis different from that of the other image forming units,a rotatable assembly of image forming units having said three or more image forming units arranged radially,a photoconductor for having toner images formed thereon,an image superimposing member for forming a full color image by accepting respective toner images formed on said photoconductor,a laser exposure device for irradiating laser signals in accordance with the toner image to be printed, anda spilt toner reservoir having a side wall and located at a lowermost position with respect to the image forming units and for receiving dropped toner from an opening in each of said image forming units while said electrophotographic apparatus is forming said full color image, each of said image forming units being positioned with said opening facing the spilt toner reservoir when dropped toner is primarily transferred to said spilt toner reservoir, wherein said side wall extends generally upwardly toward said rotatable assembly to form a narrow gap between an edge of said side wall, positioned opposite from a receiving portion of the spilt toner reservoir, and an outer periphery of said rotatable assembly of image forming units for preventing scattering of dropped toner due to air flow caused by rotation of said rotatable assembly in order to retain dropped toner in said spilt toner reservoir.