Patent ID: 8090300

Claim:
A powder conveying apparatus, comprising: a powder container for storing powder; and a powder agitating/conveying member provided in the powder container, the powder agitating/conveying member including: a shaft revolving around an axis thereof; at least one primary conveying blade provided on an external surface of the shaft with a predetermined pitch, the primary conveying blade being aligned to convey powder in a first direction along an axial direction by revolution in one rotational direction around the axis of the shaft; and a secondary conveying element provided on the external surface of the shaft in the pitch between adjacent traversals of the primary conveying blade around the shaft and being located radially inward of a radially outer end of the primary conveying blade, the secondary conveying element having a pitch smaller than the pitch of the primary conveying blade so that the secondary conveying element traverses around the shaft a plurality of times within a single pitch of the primary conveying blade, the secondary conveying element being aligned to cause a conveying force in the first direction to a part of the powder being conveyed in the first direction by the primary conveying blade at a conveying speed slower than that of the primary conveying blade.