Conveyance member, developer cartridge, and image-forming apparatus

1. A conveyance member comprising:

a rotating shaft;

a plurality of support members that extend from the rotating shaft in a direction crossing an axial direction of the rotating shaft; and

a plurality of arcuate members each having one end supported respectively by one of the support members, and having another end extending in a direction other than the axial direction so as to form an arc,

wherein:

when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, there are a plurality of overlapping areas in which adjacent arcuate members overlap in the axial direction; and

a length of at least one of the plurality of overlapping areas close to one end of the rotating shaft is greater than a length of each of the overlapping areas in the axial direction toward another end of the rotating shaft.

2. The conveyance member according to claim 1 , wherein the rotating shaft is substantially cross-shaped in cross-section.

3. The conveyance member according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of arcuate members are arranged in a substantially staggered manner in the axial direction.

4. The conveyance member according to claim 1 , further comprising a scrape member provided at the rotating shaft.

5. The conveyance member according to claim 1 , further comprising a substantially U-shaped discharging member provided at the rotating shaft.

6. The conveyance member according to claim 1 , further comprising a scrape member provided closer to the other end of the rotating shaft than the plurality of arcuate members.

7. A developer cartridge comprising:

a cartridge body that includes a cartridge chamber containing developer and an outlet for outputting the developer from the cartridge chamber; and

a conveyance member that rotates in the cartridge body, and includes:

a rotating shaft;

a plurality of support members that extend from the rotating shaft in a direction crossing an axial direction of the rotating shaft; and

a plurality of arcuate members each having one end supported respectively by one of the support members, and having another end extending in a direction other than the axial direction so as to form an arc,

wherein:

when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, there are a plurality of overlapping areas in which adjacent arcuate members overlap in the axial direction; and

a length of at least one of the plurality of overlapping areas close to one end of the rotating shaft is greater than a length of each of the overlapping areas in the axial direction toward another end of the rotating shaft.

8. The developer cartridge according to claim 7 , wherein the rotating shaft is substantially cross-shaped in cross-section.

9. The developer cartridge according to claim 7 , wherein the plurality of arcuate members are arranged in a substantially staggered manner in the axial direction.

10. The developer cartridge according to claim 7 , further comprising a scrape member provided at the rotating shaft.

11. The developer cartridge according to claim 7 , further comprising a substantially U-shaped discharging member provided at the rotating shaft.

12. The developer cartridge according to claim 7 , further comprising a scrape member provided closer to the other end of the rotating shaft than the plurality of arcuate members.

13. An image-forming apparatus comprising:

an image holder that holds an image;

a latent-image-forming unit that forms a latent image on the image holder;

a developing unit that develops the latent image;

a transfer unit that transfers the developed image onto a recording medium;

a fixing unit that fixes the transferred image to the recording medium;

a cartridge body that includes a cartridge chamber containing developer and an outlet for outputting the developer from the cartridge chamber; and

a conveyance member that rotates in the cartridge body, and includes:

a rotating shaft;

a plurality of support members that extend from the rotating shaft in a direction crossing an axial direction of the rotating shaft; and

a plurality of arcuate members each having one end supported respectively by one of the support members, and having another end extending in a direction other than the axial direction so as to form an arc,

wherein:

when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, there are a plurality of overlapping areas in which adjacent arcuate members overlap in the axial direction; and

a length of at least one of the plurality of overlapping areas close to one end of the rotating shaft is greater than a length of each of the overlapping areas in the axial direction toward another end of the rotating shaft.

14. The image-forming apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the rotating shaft is substantially cross-shaped in cross-section.

15. The image-forming apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the plurality of arcuate members are arranged in a substantially staggered manner in the axial direction.

16. The image-forming apparatus according to claim 13 , further comprising a scrape member provided at the rotating shaft.

17. The image-forming apparatus according to claim 13 , further comprising a substantially U-shaped discharging member provided at the rotating shaft.

18. The image-forming apparatus member according to claim 13 , further comprising a scrape member provided closer to the other end of the rotating shaft than the plurality of arcuate members.