Patent ID: 8265527

Claim:
A developing unit, comprising: a developer case to accommodate a two-component developer including toner particles and carrier particles; a developer bearing member disposed in the developer case and bearing the two-component developer to supply to an electrostatic latent image for development of the electrostatic latent image into a visible image; a developer supply path formed inside the developer case to supply the two-component developer along an axial direction of the developer bearing member; an agitation and conveyance member disposed in the developer supply path to agitate and convey the two-component developer; a toner collecting mechanism to collect toner particles from the two-component developer remaining on the developer bearing member after development; a collected toner conveyance path formed inside the developer case and separated from the developer supply path, comprising a collected toner conveying member disposed therewithin to convey toner collected by the toner collecting mechanism; a developer releasing area where the developer is separated from the developer bearing member using a magnetic repulsion force, the collected toner conveyance path and the developer supply path arranged in communication with each other in the vicinity of one end of the collected toner conveyance path in a direction of conveyance of collected toner so as to recirculate toner unused for development, and wherein the toner collecting mechanism is located outside of the developer releasing area, and the developer releasing area is located between an image development area and the toner collection mechanism, and wherein an axis of a roller of the toner collection mechanism is higher than an axis of the developer bearing member.