Patent ID: 8185022

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a casing, a process cartridge configured to be detachably attached to the casing, and a toner box configured to be attached to the casing, wherein at least one of the casing and the toner box has a passage opening through which toner is movable between the toner box and the process cartridge, the process cartridge comprises: a first housing which rotatably supports an image carrier and which has a first opening and a first edge portion bounding the first opening; and a second housing which supports a toner carrier, which is attached to the first housing so that the toner carrier confronts the image carrier and the second housing is movable relative to the first housing in an orthogonal direction substantially orthogonal to a rotational axis of the image carrier and which has a second opening and a second edge portion bounding the second opening, the process cartridge is configured to be attached to the casing so that the first opening confronts and communicates with the passage opening and a relative position of the first opening to the passage opening is fixed, and the process cartridge further comprises an elastic element which blocks a gap between the first edge portion and the second edge portion and which permits relative movement between the first opening and the second opening, while allowing toner communication between the first opening and the second opening.