Patent ID: 8103195

Claim:
A toner hopper that houses toner to be used for developing a latent image, the toner hopper comprising: a housing that houses the toner; and a toner agitating unit that is rotatably supported inside the housing and operative to agitate the toner in the housing, the toner agitating unit including a rotary shaft extending in a longitudinal direction; and an agitating member that is attached to the shaft and rotates with the shaft, wherein the agitating member is made of resin, and the agitating member has a plurality of slits extending from an outer edge of the agitating member toward the rotary shaft, wherein the toner agitating unit includes a first section with the slits and a second section without slits, and the first section is brought into contact with a first wall portion of a wall of the housing by rotation of the toner agitating unit, wherein the housing has a second wall portion at a position more distant from the rotary shaft than the first wall portion is, and wherein the second section is brought into contact with the second wall portion by rotation of the toner agitating unit.