Patent ID: 7835671

Claim:
A developing device, comprising: a developer support that supports on a surface thereof a developer including a magnetic carrier and a toner by a plurality of magnetic poles provided inside the developer support, and feeds the toner to a latent image on a surface of a latent image support in a location facing the latent image support by rotation of the surface of the developer support; a developer feeding and conveying member that conveys the developer in an axial direction of a rotary shaft thereof by rotation of the rotary shaft about center thereof and feeds the developer to the developer support; a developer recovering and conveying member that conveys the developer recovered from the developer support after the developer support passes the location facing the latent image support in an axial direction of a rotary shaft thereof by rotation of the rotary shaft about center thereof; and a developer stirring and conveying member that receives a feed of an excess developer that is conveyed to the downstreammost side in the conveying direction of the developer feeding and conveying member, without being fed to the developer support, and a recovered developer that is recovered from the developer support and conveyed to the downstreammost side in the conveying direction of the developer recovering and conveying member, conveys the excess developer and the recovered developer, while stirring the two developers, in an axial direction of a rotary shaft thereof by rotation of the rotary shaft about center thereof and feeds the developers to the uppermost side in the conveying direction of the developer feeding and conveying member, wherein spaces are provided where three development conveying members are located, the three development conveying members are the developer feeding and conveying member, the developer recovering and conveying member, and the developer stirring and conveying member, the spaces are partitioned by a casing and form three developer conveying paths, the three developer conveying paths include a developer recovering and conveying path having the developer recovering and conveying member disposed therein, a developer feeding and conveying path having the developer feeding and conveying member disposed therein, and a developer stirring and conveying path having the developer stirring and conveying member disposed therein, a central position of the rotary shaft of the developer recovering and conveying member is higher than a central position of the rotary shaft of the developer stirring and conveying member and a central position of the rotary shaft of the developer feeding and conveying member, and the central position of the rotary shaft of the developer recovering and conveying member is lower than a central position of a rotary shaft of the developer support.