Patent ID: 7925182

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a toner cartridge to store a toner; a developing device to develop an electrostatic latent image formed on a surface of a photoreceptor by the toner; and a toner conveyance unit to replenish a toner from the toner cartridge to the developing device, the image forming apparatus forming an image by transferring and fixing a developed toner image onto a recording medium, the toner conveyance unit having a first conveyance part connected to the toner cartridge and provided with a feed port for a toner from the toner cartridge, and a second conveyance part connected to the developing device and provided with a replenishment port for a toner to the developing device, the toner conveyance unit having an apparatus upper portion including the toner cartridge and the first conveyance part and an apparatus lower portion including the developing device and the second conveyance part, and a hinge mechanism between the upper and lower portions, wherein the first conveyance part is separated from the second conveyance part by operation of the hinge mechanism, the toner conveyance unit including a lock mechanism to lock the apparatus upper portion and apparatus lower portion closed, in a state locked by the lock mechanism, the first conveyance part and the second conveyance part being connected to each other, and the feed port of the first conveyance part and the replenishment port of the second conveyance part are opened by shutter members, allowing for a toner replenishment, and in a lock-released state, the feed port of the first conveyance part and the replenishment port of the second conveyance part being closed by the shutter members, allowing the first conveyance part and the second conveyance part to be separable from each other.