Patent ID: RE38978

Claim:
A method of recycling transporting toner in an electrophotographic printer having a photosensitive drum on which a latent image is formed, a developing unit for developing the latent image by application of toner, and a transfer unit for transferring the developed image from the photosensitive drum to a printing medium, comprising the steps of: removing toner from said photosensitive drum after transfer of said image to said printing medium; collecting the toner thus removed in a toner collection chamber; using a belt conveyor to transport the toner from said toner collection chamber to a toner delivery chamber; returning the toner from said toner delivery chamber to said developing unit; using an idle rotatable element turning on a shaft to move said belt conveyor, said rotatable element rotating in relation to said shaft; and allowing foreign matter that becomes caught between said idle rotatable element and said shaft to escape through a groove formed in one of an outer surface of said shaft and an inner surface of said idle rotatable element.