Patent ID: 7437107

Claim:
A toner container which is rotatable along a direction of a rotation axis of the toner container to discharge toner, comprising: a cylindrical body which contains toner; the cylindrical body having a first portion at a first end of the toner container and a second portion at a second end of the toner container, a diameter of the first portion being smaller than a diameter of the second portion; a discharge port formed at the first portion; a spiral formed on the cylindrical body to move the toner from the second end to the discharge port; a slidable shutter on a surface of the first portion to open/close the discharge port; a protrusion outwardly provided on the first portion between the discharge port and the second portion, and a cylindrical surface formed on the first portion between the protrusion and the second portion which elongates along the rotational axis of the toner container in a predetermined length, the cylindrical surface having a largest diameter throughout within the first portion; a diameter of the cylindrical surface being smaller than the diameter of the second portion, and a maximum height of the protrusion being lower than an outermost peripheral of the second portion.