Patent ID: 7428399

Claim:
A toner replenishing device, comprising: a toner bottle containing a toner; a coupling to insert a cap portion side of the toner bottle at a specific position and connect it in a removable state; and a driving unit to rotate the coupling and replenish the toner to a developing device requiring the replenishing of toner from the cap portion by rotating the toner bottle and rotating the coupling to the specific position when the toner bottle is pulled out at a position other than the specific position, wherein the coupling is provided rotatably in a casing, wherein the driving unit includes: a driven gear connected to the coupling slidably in a toner bottle insert/pull-out direction through the rotary shaft penetrating the casing; a pressing member to press the driven gear in the pull-out direction of the toner bottle; a driving gear that is engaged with the driven gear to turn the coupling; and a protrusion formed on a part of the driven gear to project toward the casing, wherein the casing is provided with a circular shape rib projecting to oppose the protrusion of the driven gear and a concave portion is formed on a part of the rib, when the toner bottle is pulled out, by moving the driven gear with the pressing force of the pressing member, the protrusion is brought on the rib to keep the driven gear meshed with the driving gear, from this state, the protrusion is slid on the rib into the concave portion by rotating the driven gear with the rotation of the driving gear, thus, the meshing of the driven gear with the driving gear is released to stop the rotation of the coupling.