Recovery toner container

Abstract

To provide a recovery toner container which includes a bearing member inside and which enables ejection of the bearing member with a simple configuration without specially providing an outlet for ejecting the bearing member from the inside of the container.SOLUTION: A regulation member is moved from the outside of a container, so that a bearing member inside the container is removed from a rotational shaft and can be ejected through a toner storage opening of the container. Even when the container has a sealed configuration by joining a plurality of container members, the bearing member can be removed in the sealed manner.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a collected toner container having a rotating member for transporting collected toner. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, an image forming apparatus is provided with a recovered toner container that recovers toner discharged from an image forming unit as recovered toner. Such a recovered toner container may be provided with a rotating member for transporting the recovered toner and smoothing the toner surface of the toner stored in the storage unit. The recovered toner container proposed in Patent Document 1 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a rotating member 52 is provided to uniformly store the toner in the longitudinal direction. The direction of the rotation axis of the rotating member 52 is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the recovered toner container 50. The rotating member 52 is rotatably held in the recovered toner container, and a cover member 53 is provided on the downstream side of the recovered toner container in the direction of transporting the recovered toner, and seals the discharge port 51 formed at the right end of the recovered toner container 50. The cover member 53 is provided with a bearing portion 53a that fits with the rotation axis of the rotating member 52 and rotatably supports it. The bearing portion 53a is provided so as to protrude from the right end of the recovered toner container 50 so as to penetrate into the inside of the container. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2013-167839 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When a rotating body bearing such as a screw in a container is attached to a lid member (detachable part) that can be detached from the container as in the conventional example, it is necessary to provide a toner seal structure for sealing between the lid member (detachable part) and the container, and it is necessary to deal with the number of parts, airtightness, etc. On the other hand, when a collected toner container is divided into upper and lower parts, for example, and a rotating member is assembled in the container, and then the divided container parts are sealed, it is possible to completely join the divided container parts in order to improve the sealing property of the container. In this way, it is possible to seal without using a sealing member to seal between the divided container parts. However, in this case, there are the following problems. That is, when recycling a collected toner container, if there are parts made of different materials, it is necessary to disassemble and separate them. When a collected container is formed by completely joining the divided container parts, disassembly is not easy, and there is a problem in ease of recycling. In general, a rotating shaft and a bearing member made of the same material are likely to generate abnormal noise and accelerate wear, so a material with good sliding properties may be used for the bearing member. In this case, it is necessary to remove the bearing member at the time of recycling, but in the case of a joined container, disassembly requires a lot of effort.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of these problems, and aims to provide a recovered toner container that has a bearing member for supporting a rotating member inside the container, and that allows the bearing member to be removed with a simple structure without providing a separate removal opening for removing the bearing member from inside the container. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The toner recovery container according to the present invention includes a first container member constituting a part of a storage section that contains toner, a second container member constituting a part of the storage section, a joining member that is made of the same material as the first container member and the second container member and joins the first container member and the second container member, a rotatable rotating member that transports the toner contained in the storage section, a bearing member that is provided inside the storage section and supports a rotation shaft of the rotating member, an opening for receiving toner in the storage section, and a bearing member that is formed integrally with the first container member or the second container member and supports the rotation shaft of the rotating member. a regulating portion that abuts against the bearing member when the bearing member moves in the rotation axis direction of the rotating member to regulate the movement of the bearing member in the rotation axis direction of the rotating member, the bearing member is configured in a shape that can pass through the opening, the regulating portion is configured to be separable or elastically deformable from the first container member or the second container member when the first container member and the second container member are joined, and the regulating portion is configured to be separable from the rotation axis of the rotating member when the regulating portion is separated or elastically deformed. Effect of the Invention

[0007] In a recovered toner container having a bearing member inside the container that supports a rotating member, it is possible to provide a recovered toner container that allows the bearing member to be removed with a simple configuration without having to provide a separate removal opening for removing the bearing member from inside the container. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of an image forming apparatus [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of a cleaning device [Diagram 3] A perspective view of a waste toner container [Figure 4] Cross-sectional view of the waste toner container taken along the screw axis [Diagram 5] A cross-sectional view of the screw shaft of the waste toner container, illustrating a method for separating the bearing member. [Figure 6] Detailed perspective view of a support portion of a bearing member [Figure 7] Detailed cross-sectional view of vessel joint [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a sectional perspective view of a bearing member holding portion showing another embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] [Example 1] (Image forming device) 1 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of an image forming apparatus 100. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 is a full-color printer of a tandem type intermediate transfer system in which image forming units 30Y, 30M, 30C, and 30K are arranged along the downward surface of an intermediate transfer belt 8.

[0010] In the image forming unit 30Y, a yellow toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 1Y and transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 8. In the image forming unit 30M, a magenta toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 1M and transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 8. In the image forming units 30C and 30K, a cyan toner image and a black toner image are formed on the photosensitive drums 1C and 1K, respectively, and transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 8.

[0011] The four-color toner image transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 8 is transported to a secondary transfer section T2 and secondarily transferred onto a recording material S. A separation roller 33 separates the recording material S pulled out from a recording material cassette 32 one by one and sends them to a registration roller 34. The registration roller 34 sends the recording material S to the secondary transfer section T2 in synchronization with the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 8. The recording material S onto which the four-color toner image has been secondarily transferred is heated and pressurized by a fixing device 35 to fix the toner image onto its surface.

[0012] (Image forming section) The image forming units 30Y, 30M, 30C, and 30K are configured almost identically, except that the colors of toner used in the developing devices 14Y, 14M, 14C, and 14K are different, that is, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. In the following, the image forming unit 30K will be described, and duplicated descriptions of the other image forming units 30Y, 30M, and 30C will be omitted.

[0013] The image forming unit 30K includes a charging device 2K, an exposure device 3, a developing device 14K, a transfer roller 5K, and a drum cleaning device 6K, which surround the photosensitive drum 1K. The photosensitive drum 1K has a photosensitive layer formed on the outer peripheral surface of an aluminum cylinder, and rotates at a predetermined process speed.

[0014] The charging device 2K charges the photosensitive drum 1K to a uniform negative potential. The exposure device 3 writes an electrostatic image onto the photosensitive drum 1K by scanning a laser beam, which is ON-OFF modulated based on a scanning line image signal that develops an image of each color, with a rotating mirror. The developing device 4K transfers toner to the photosensitive drum 1K to develop the electrostatic image into a toner image. New toner is supplied to the developing device 4K from a toner cartridge 7K in an amount corresponding to the amount of toner consumed by the developing device 4K during image formation.

[0015] The transfer roller 5K presses the intermediate transfer belt 8 to form a transfer portion between the photosensitive drum 1K and the intermediate transfer belt 8. A positive DC voltage is applied to the transfer roller 5K, so that the negative toner image carried on the photosensitive drum 1K is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 8. The toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1K without being transferred is collected by a drum cleaning device to be described later. The intermediate transfer belt 8 is supported by being stretched over a tension roller 8a, a drive roller 8b also serving as a secondary transfer counter roller, and a tension roller 8c, and is driven by the drive roller 8b to rotate in the direction of arrow C. The secondary transfer roller 8e contacts the intermediate transfer belt 8, the inner surface of which is supported by the drive roller 8b, to form a secondary transfer portion T2. ​​A positive DC voltage is applied to the secondary transfer roller 8e, so that the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 8 is transferred to the recording material S. The toner image remaining on the recording material S without being transferred here is collected by a belt cleaning device to be described later.

[0016] (Drum cleaning device) Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the cleaning device, in which (a) is a drum cleaning device and (b) is a belt cleaning device.

[0017] 2(a), the drum cleaning device 6 removes the residual toner adhering to the photosensitive drum 1 by rubbing a cleaning blade 6b against the photosensitive drum 1. In this embodiment, the drum cleaning device 6 is of a rubber blade type, but is not limited to this type.

[0018] The drum cleaning device 6 includes a cleaning blade 6b and a toner transport screw 6c arranged in a cleaning container 6a along the longitudinal direction of the container. The cleaning blade 6b is an elastic blade made of urethane rubber, and the edge of the tip of the blade is brought into contact with the circumferential surface of the rotating photosensitive drum 1 in the counter direction.

[0019] The cleaning blade 6b rubs against the circumferential surface of the rotating photosensitive drum 1, scraping off the residual toner adhering to the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 1 into the cleaning container 6a. The toner transport screw 6c rotates to transport the scraped off toner from the rear to the front in the longitudinal direction within the cleaning container 6a. The toner transported to the front is sent to the common toner transport pipe 4 through a discharge port provided on the front side of the cleaning container 6a.

[0020] (Belt cleaning device) 2(b), the belt cleaning device 13 rubs a cleaning blade 13b against the intermediate transfer belt 8 to collect the residual toner on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 8. In this embodiment, the belt cleaning device 13 is a rubber blade type, but is not limited to this type.

[0021] The belt cleaning device 13 includes a cleaning blade 13b and a toner transport screw 13c arranged in a cleaning container 13a along the longitudinal direction of the container. The cleaning blade 13b is an elastic blade made of urethane rubber, and the edge of the tip of the blade is brought into contact with the circumferential surface of the intermediate transfer belt 8 in the counter direction.

[0022] The cleaning blade 13b rubs against the circumferential surface of the rotating intermediate transfer belt 8, scraping off the residual toner adhering to the circumferential surface of the intermediate transfer belt 8 into the cleaning container 13a. The toner transport screw 13c rotates to transport the scraped off toner from the rear to the front in the longitudinal direction within the cleaning container 13a. The toner transported to the front is sent to the common recovered toner transport toner transport pipe 4 through a discharge port provided at the front side of the cleaning container 13a.

[0023] (Toner transport path) 1, a transport screw (not shown) is disposed inside the toner transport pipe 4, which transports the collected toner from right to left in the figure as the screw rotates. A container storage unit 50 is provided below the toner transport pipe 4 in the housing of the image forming apparatus 100. The collected toner discharged from the drum cleaning devices 6Y, 6M, 6C, and 6K merges with the collected toner discharged from the belt cleaning device 13 inside the toner transport pipe 4. The merged collected toner is transported through the toner transport pipe 4 toward the collected toner container 10 and supplied into the collected toner container 10.

[0024] (Recycled toner container) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the collected toner container. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view along the screw of the collected toner container. As shown in FIG. 3, the collected toner container 10 of this embodiment is constructed by joining a lower container 10c as a first container member constituting a part of the storage section that stores collected toner, and an upper container 10d as a second container member constituting a part of the collection section that collects toner. That is, the lower container 10c and the upper container 10d made of molded resin are combined with a joining member 10e so that the concave shapes face inward, forming a sealed container with an appearance of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped. The collected toner container of this embodiment is approximately 480 mm long, 200 mm wide, and 100 mm high. Moreover, polystyrene (PS) is used as the material of the upper container 10d and the lower container 10c.

[0025] The collected toner container 10 has an opening (collection port) 10a on the upper surface at one end thereof for receiving collected toner. A shutter 41 is provided at the opening 10a, which opens and closes in conjunction with the attachment and detachment of the collected toner container 10 to and from the image forming apparatus. The collected toner container 10 has a convex shape 12 on a side wall portion 10b at the other end thereof.

[0026] The convex shape 12 is a transparent convex portion used for detecting the toner powder level in the collected toner container 10. The convex shape 12 shields the detection optical path formed between the light emitting section 45 and the light receiving section 46 arranged in the image forming apparatus. When there is no toner in the convex shape 12, the light of the light emitting section 45 enters the light receiving section 46, and it is determined that the collected toner can be continuously stored. When the convex shape 12 is filled with toner, the light of the light emitting section 45 no longer enters the light receiving section 46, and it is determined that the amount of collected toner in the collected toner container 10 has reached a predetermined amount. In other words, the convex shape 12 constitutes a storage section capable of storing toner therein, and is configured to indicate that the container 10 for storing collected toner is full when a predetermined amount of toner is stored in the convex shape 12. Whether or not a predetermined amount of toner is contained in the convex shape 12 is detected by the light-emitting section 45 and the light-receiving section 46, and when it is detected that the convex shape 12 indicates that the container is full, the image forming device prompts the user to replace the collected toner container 10 through a display on the operation panel. Note that if the toner that has fallen from the opening 10a is blown up and adheres to the inner wall surface of the convex shape 12, the light from the light-emitting section 45 is blocked, which may lead to an erroneous determination of the toner accumulation state of the collected toner container 10, and therefore the opening 10a and the convex shape 12 are arranged apart in the longitudinal direction.

[0027] 4, a screw 15 is disposed in the upper portion of the inner space of the collected toner container 10 as a rotating member capable of transporting toner from one end side to the other end side of the collected toner container 10. The screw 15 has a rotating shaft, and the rotating shaft is rotatably supported by bearings provided in the side walls of the collected toner container 10 at one and the other ends.

[0028] The bearing portion on one end side close to the opening 10a supports the shaft portion of the screw 15 at the inner diameter portion of the bearing member 50 so that the screw 15 can rotate. The bearing member 50 is disposed inside the recovered toner container 10 which is sealed by the upper container 10d and the lower container 10c which are joined at the joint portion 10e, and neither the bearing member 50 nor the screw 15 are exposed to the outside.

[0029] In addition, the material of the bearing member 50 is polyoxymethylene (POM), which is resistant to wear and has good slip properties. That is, the bearing member 50 is made of a different material from the upper container 10d, the lower container 10c, and the screw 15.

[0030] The other end of the screw 15 protrudes outward from the waste toner container 10, and a drive connector 42 is fixed to the protruding end. A drive motor 44 having a pin 44a is disposed on the image forming apparatus side where the waste toner container 10 is housed. The screw 15 is rotated when the pin 44a engages with the drive connector 42 and rotates. The screw 15 is made of molded resin, and is made of the same polystyrene material as the upper container 10d and the lower container 10c. The blade shape that transports the toner downstream of the screw 15 has an outer diameter of φ20 mm, an inner diameter of φ8 mm, and a pitch of approximately 20 mm.

[0031] -How to install screws and bearing parts In the present embodiment, the waste toner container 10 is assembled by assembling the screw 15 and the bearing member 50 inside, and then assembling the lower container 10c and the upper container 10d, and joining the mating portions to form an integrated waste toner container 10. Specifically, the right end of the shaft of the screw 15 is passed through a hole provided on the right end side of the upper container 10d in FIG. 4, through which the end of the screw 15 passes, and then the bearing member 50 is fitted to the left end shaft portion of the screw 15 and attached to the upper container 10d. At this time, the screw regulating portion 65 has a function of holding the screw 15 and the bearing member 50 so that they do not fall out of the upper container 10d until the lower container 10c and the upper container 10d are joined. That is, the screw regulating portion 65 functions as a support portion capable of supporting the screw 15. As shown in FIG. 6, the screw regulating portion 65 is composed of a hole-shaped portion 65a through which the shaft portion of the screw 15 passes, and a screw shaft holding portion 65b. The inner diameter of the hole-shaped portion 65a is larger than the shaft portion of the screw shaft 15, and the slit width of the holding portion 65b is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the shaft portion of the screw 15. Therefore, the screw 15 is held in place with the shaft portion of the screw 15 fitted into the hole-shaped portion 65a.

[0032] - Support method for bearing components As shown in Fig. 5(a) and Fig. 6, the axial stopper 50a of the bearing member 50 is fitted into the axial direction restricting portion 60 provided in the upper container 10d. Also, the rotation direction stopper 50b, which is a side portion of the axial direction stopper 50a, is fitted into the rotation restricting portion 61. Therefore, the bearing member 50 is configured to restrict co-rotation in both the rotation axis direction and the rotation direction with respect to the rotation of the screw 15. That is, when the bearing member 50 moves in the rotation axis direction of the screw 15, the axial direction restricting portion 60 abuts against the bearing member 50 to restrict the bearing member 50 from moving in the rotation axis direction.

[0033] In addition, when combined with the lower container 10c, the bearing member 50 is sandwiched between the upper container 10d and the lower container 10c. That is, the bearing member 50 is supported by both the upper container 10d and the lower container 10c. This prevents the stoppers 50a, 50b from climbing over the rotation restricting portion 61 and the axial restricting portion 61 and falling off.

[0034] How to remove bearing parts Next, a method for separating the bearing member 50 from the collected toner container 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0035] FIG. 5a is a cross-sectional view of the waste toner container 10 in a completed state, cut at the center of the axis of the screw 15. FIG. 6(a) is a perspective view of the bearing member 50, and FIG. 6(b) is a perspective view of the mounting portion of the bearing member 50 of the upper container 10d (without the bearing member 50). In this state, as described above, the bearing member 50 is supported by the axial direction restricting portion 60 and the rotation restricting portion 61 provided on the upper container 10d so as not to fall off the axis of the screw 15. That is, the axial direction restricting portion 60 and the rotation restricting portion 61 function as bearing support members that support the bearing member 50. Also, as shown in FIG. 7, the upper container 10d and the lower container 10c are joined by the joining member 10e, so that they cannot be separated. Therefore, the joint is completely sealed, so there is no risk of the toner inside leaking. In this embodiment, the joining member 10e is formed by injection molding using the same thermoplastic resin (polystyrene) material as the upper container 10d and the lower container 10c, and a mold for molding the upper container 10d and a mold for molding the lower container 10c are combined together, and the joining member 10e is further formed into the mold by injection molding.

[0036] The operation after the toner contained in the collected toner container 10 is removed will be described with reference to FIG. 5(b). In order to remove the bearing member 50 from the shaft of the screw 15, the axial direction restricting portion 60 that restricts the screw axial direction of the bearing member 50 is moved. To do this, the tip of a flat head screwdriver or the like is inserted into the release recess 64 provided in the axial direction restricting portion 60 that is formed integrally with the upper container 10d and twisted to separate the notch portion 62 provided at the boundary between the upper container 10d and the axial direction restricting portion 60, thereby moving the axial direction restricting portion 60. The notch portion 62 has a locally thin wall shape, and is formed so that the axial direction restricting portion 60 can be easily separated. That is, the axial direction restricting portion 60 is configured to be cut off (separated) from the outside of the collected toner container when the upper container 10d and the lower container 10c are joined together. When the axial direction restricting portion 60 is separated, as shown in FIG. 5(c), the axial direction restricting portion 60 falls into the collected toner container 10, and the bearing member 50 is no longer restricted in the screw axial direction, and is therefore able to move. At this time, it is necessary to provide a retreat area 64 in advance, which is a space for the bearing member 50 to move leftward as shown in FIG. 5(c). The retreat area 64 is a space between the axial end of the screw 15 and the inner wall of the upper container 10d, and is set to be larger than the width of the bearing member 50 in the axial direction of the screw 15. Therefore, the bearing member 50 is able to move leftward as shown in FIG. 5(c). In this state, the bearing member 50 also falls into the collected toner container 10. When the axial direction restricting portion 60 is separated in this manner, the bearing member 50 is able to be separated from the axial end of the screw 15. Therefore, by moving the bearing member 50 to the opening 10a while avoiding the screw 15, the bearing member 50 can be separated and removed from the inside of the collected toner container 10 as shown in Fig. 5(d). The bearing member 50 is formed to be smaller than the opening area of ​​the opening 10a. In other words, since the bearing member 50 is configured in a shape that allows it to pass through the opening 10a, it can be removed without dividing the upper container 10d and the lower container 10c again or without destroying them.

[0037] Further, the drive connecting portion 42 disposed on the opposite side of the screw 15 is provided so as to protrude to the outside of the collected toner container 10. The drive connecting portion 42 and the screw 15 are configured so that the phase in the rotational direction is fixed so as to transmit the rotational drive, and are configured to be connected in the axial direction of the screw 15 by press-fitting or snap-fitting with a retaining shape.

[0038] The collected toner container 10 and the parts remaining inside the container are all made of the same material. In this embodiment, the upper container 10d, the lower container 10c, and the screw 15 are all formed by injection molding of polystyrene, and the bearing member 50 is formed by injection molding of polyoxymethylene. Therefore, the upper container 10d and the lower container 10c are easily reusable as materials after being crushed as they are without being divided. In addition, by using polyoxymethylene as the material for the bearing member 50, it is effective in reducing the wear resistance and sliding resistance of the bearing portion, and is effective in improving the durability of the collected toner container 10 itself. Therefore, the collected toner container 10 itself can be easily reused as it is by simply discharging the collected toner stored therein, and it is possible to improve both the life span and recyclability of the collected toner container.

[0039] [Example 2] Another embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 8. The method of assembling the screw and the bearing member, and the method of supporting the bearing member are similar to those in the first embodiment, so only the method of removing the bearing member will be described.

[0040] The axial direction regulating portion 60 provided on the upper container 10d is configured to give flexibility to the upper container 10. The axial direction regulating portion 60 is configured to be integrated with the upper container 10d via the expansion and contraction portion 60b. The expansion and contraction portion 60b is formed in a bellows-like thin-walled shape, and is configured to be movable (elastically deformable) in the direction of the arrow by inserting a flathead screwdriver or the like into the slit recess 60a and twisting it. By moving the tip of the axial direction regulating portion 60 in this manner, it is possible to move the bearing member 50 toward the retreat area 64 by avoiding the overlap of the axial stopper 50a of the bearing member 50 and the axial direction regulating portion 60 in the axial direction of the screw 15. In this embodiment 2, since the axial direction regulating portion 60 is not completely separated from the upper container 10d, there is no need to take care to leave the separated axial direction regulating portion 6 inside the collected toner container 10. In addition, there are no cases where the axial regulating portion cannot be separated properly when being cut off, and the upper container 10d and the lower container 10c can be easily crushed and reused as materials without having to be divided.

[0041] (others) In this embodiment, the bearing member 50 is attached to the upper container 10d side, but it may be rotatably attached to the lower container 10c. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] 10 Waste toner container 10a opening 10c lower container 10d Upper container 10e Joining materials 15 Conveying member (screw) 50 Bearing materials 50a Axial stopper 50b Rotation direction stopper 60 Axial direction restriction part 61 Rotation control part 62 Notch 63 Release recess 64 Evacuation area 65 Screw regulation part

Claims

1. a first container member constituting a part of a container portion for containing toner; A second container member that constitutes a part of the container portion; a joining member that is made of the same material as the first container member and the second container member and joins the first container member and the second container member; a rotatable member that transports the toner contained in the container; a bearing member provided inside the housing portion and supporting a rotation shaft of the rotation member; an opening for receiving toner in the container; a regulating portion that is formed integrally with the first container member or the second container member and that, when the bearing member moves in the rotation axis direction of the rotating member, comes into contact with the bearing member to regulate the bearing member from moving in the rotation axis direction of the rotating member, The bearing member is configured to have a shape that allows it to pass through the opening, The regulating portion is configured to be separable or elastically deformable from the first container member or the second container member when the first container member and the second container member are joined, and the regulating portion is configured to be separable from the rotation shaft of the rotating member when the regulating portion is separated or elastically deformed.

2. 2. The waste toner container according to claim 1, wherein the rotating member is made of the same material as the first container member and the second container member, and the bearing member is made of a different material from the rotating member.

3. 3. The toner recovery container according to claim 2, wherein the bearing member is made of polyoxymethylene, and the rotating member is made of polystyrene.

4. A first support portion that supports the bearing member; 2. The toner recovery container according to claim 1, further comprising: a second support portion that is provided on one end side of the rotating member in the direction of the rotation axis of the rotating member where the bearing member is provided, the second support portion being capable of rotatably supporting the rotation axis of the rotating member and being disposed inside the bearing member.

5. 2. The waste toner container according to claim 1, wherein the waste toner container is provided with a recess for separating or elastically deforming the regulating portion.

6. 2. The waste toner container according to claim 1, wherein the bearing member is supported by the first container member and the second container member.

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