Patent ID: 8718517

Claim:
A toner cartridge comprising: a container for containing a toner, having an outlet for discharging a toner therein; a conveyance member disposed in the container, the conveyance member comprising a conveyance shaft and a conveyance blade, and conveying a toner in the container toward the outlet by rotation motion of the conveyance blade associated with rotation of the conveyance shaft; and an opening/closing member disposed so as to have a distance from an inner wall of the container, the opening/closing member being fixed to the conveyance shaft and opening or closing at least part of the outlet in conjunction with the rotation of the conveyance shaft, the opening/closing member comprising: a sectorial trapezoid section having a sectorial trapezoidal flat plane perpendicular to a direction of toner conveyance by the conveyance member, in which an inner circumferential section is fixed to the conveyance shaft and a length of a chord is greater or equal to a length of an opening width of the outlet that is perpendicular to the direction of toner conveyance; and a drop inhibition section for inhibiting a toner from dropping to the outlet at a downstream position in the direction of toner conveyance from the sectorial trapezoid section and a vertically upper position from the outlet, at least a part of the outlet becoming in a closed state during a period from a time when a downstream edge in a rotational direction of the conveyance shaft of the sectorial trapezoid section is located on a vertically upper side of a downstream edge of the outlet in the rotational direction to a time when an upstream edge in the rotational direction of the sectorial trapezoid section is located on a vertically upper side of an upstream edge of the outlet in the rotational direction, wherein the sectorial trapezoid section is disposed at a distance of 2 mm or more and 4 mm or less in the direction of toner conveyance from an upstream edge of the outlet in the direction of toner conveyance.