Patent ID: 8750767

Claim:
A toner replenishment device for coupling to a toner containing body comprising: a toner receiving port through which toner is selectively fed into the toner replenishment device; a toner feed unit configured to feed the toner from the toner receiving port into the toner replenishment device; a toner detector configured to be used for detecting, by interaction with the toner, whether the toner replenishment device has been filled with a specified amount of the toner; an agitating member having an agitating blade, the agitating member being operable to rotate so as to agitate the toner in the toner replenishment device, wherein the agitating blade is positioned near the toner detector over certain rotational angles of the agitating member; a position detector configured to generate a signal indicative of a rotational position of the agitating member; and a recognition unit configured to recognize the rotational position of the agitating member based on the signal output from the position detector, wherein the toner feed unit is operable to feed the toner into the toner replenishment device when a position of an end edge of the agitating blade is within a specified range based on the recognition performed by the recognition unit, the agitating blade not blocking a flow path of the toner from the toner receiving port to the toner detector while the end edge thereof is in the specified range, wherein the specified range is set to a range from one position to another position of the end edge of the agitating blade, the one position being a position that is spaced away from a position at which the end edge of the agitating blade comes closest to a lower end of the toner detector by a first specified angle in a direction away from the toner detector, the other position being a position that is spaced away from a position at which the end edge of the agitating blade comes closest to an upper end of the toner detector by a second specified angle in a direction away from the toner detector.