Patent ID: 8538288

Claim:
A toner box comprising: a main body that is configured to accommodate toner therein and that has a main-body-side communication through-hole, through which an interior and an exterior of the main body communicate; a shutter disposed so as to be capable of moving between an open position in which the shutter opens the main-body-side communication through-hole, and a closed position in which the shutter closes the main-body-side communication through-hole; a shutter cover that is configured to cover part of the shutter, the shutter cover having a cover-side communication through-hole at a position corresponding to the main-body-side communication through-hole to allow communication of toner through the main-body-side communication through-hole; and a toner seal that is configured to be disposed between the main body and the shutter when the shutter is in the closed position and surround a perimeter of the main-body-side communication through-hole when the shutter is in the closed position, a leading edge of the shutter defined in a closing direction, in which the shutter is moved from the open position to the closed position, being positioned on an upstream side of the main-body-side communication through-hole in the closing direction when the shutter is in the open position, part of the shutter being covered by a portion of the shutter cover surrounding the cover-side communication through-hole when the shutter is in the closed position, a downstream edge of the toner seal in the closing direction is disposed, relative to a downstream edge of the cover-side communication through-hole in the closing direction, such that the downstream edge of the toner seal is upstream in the closing direction relative to the downstream edge of the cover-side communication through-hole, a gap being formed between the downstream edge of the toner seal and the downstream edge of the cover-side communication through-hole, such that the downstream edge of the toner seal is exposed inside the cover-side communication through-hole when the shutter is in the open position.