To provide a powder hopper apparatus which holds a powder under a stable state by sensing the state of the powder in the hopper and enables the flowing of the powder to a discharging port to be performed in a smooth manner.

The powder hopper apparatus is equipped with a powder stably holding means 8, and the powder stably holding means 8 includes a sheet 16 having flexibility which is laid on the internal wall surface 14; a plurality of tubes 18, which are expanded by the injection of a gas and shrink by the discharge of the gas, and are installed between the internal wall surface 14 and the sheet 16; a plurality of pressure sensors 20, which detect the pressure of a powder being applied to the sheet 16, and are installed in a manner to be adjacent to the tubes 18 between the sheet 16 and the internal wall surface 14; and a gas injecting-discharge means 22, which makes the plurality of tubes expand and shrink, by selectively injecting and discharging the gas to each of the plurality of tubes 18 in response to the outputs of the pressure sensors 20.

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