Electrographic developing apparatus with toner flow director

Claim 1

An electrographic developing apparatus which comprises: a developer container having means dividing it into a toner supply section and a developing section and adapted to be normally substantially filled with a powder developer in the form of a mixture of a carrier and a toner; means adjacent the developing section for developing latent electrostatic images on an image bearing member by the use of the developer contained in the developing section of the container; a toner tank above said toner supply section and adapted to contain a supply of toner therein and having a bottom adapted to be contacted by the developer contained in the toner supply section of the container, said bottom having a toner passing aperture therein; a movable member movable along said bottom for opening and closing the toner passing aperture; means connected to said movable member for moving said movable member to open the toner passing aperture when toner is to be supplied and for holding the movable member in an aperture closing position when no toner is to be supplied; and developer moving means for, when the level of said developer is sufficiently high, physically contacting and forcibly moving a portion of the developer from the developing section of the container into the toner supply section during a time at least when said movable member is moved to the position where the toner passing aperture is open and the toner is being supplied for raising the level of the top of the developer contained in the supply section of the container relative to the level of the top of the developer in the developing section.