JP2007114646A - Scanning optical apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce manufacturing management cost and stabilize the product quality by simplifying the component management and easily and surely obtaining information regarding quality characteristic. <P>SOLUTION: The scanning optical apparatus, which is composed by assembling such an optical component as an optical element in a case and scans a luminous flux, is characterized in that an electronic component in which the information of the scanning optical apparatus is stored is mounted as a unit on the above described optical component or the case. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser beam printer or a digital copying machine, and a scanning optical apparatus mounted thereon.

  In recent years, color image forming apparatuses that output a color image with a plurality of (usually four colors) toners are increasing. Among them, in the tandem color image forming apparatus, four scanning optical devices are mounted, and scanning of four light beams is simultaneously performed on an image carrier corresponding to four colors, thereby improving the printing speed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). In recent years, there is also one that scans a plurality of light beams with one scanning optical device.

  In a color image forming apparatus that performs four scans simultaneously, if there is variation in the characteristics of the lenses corresponding to each scan line, the position of the scan line relative to each image carrier is relatively displaced. Then, the formed image is also displaced, and a phenomenon that the four color toner images are not completely superimposed, that is, a color shift occurs.

  For example, when the scanning line bends differently for each scanning optical device, the dot writing position shifts as shown in FIG. 8 for each color, thereby degrading the image quality. In order to prevent such color misregistration, it is necessary to unify the characteristics of the four scanning lenses provided in the apparatus.

  Here, since a plurality of resin scanning lenses are molded at the same time, there is a variation in optical characteristics for each molding die. There is also variation among molding lots. For this reason, when scanning lenses molded in different molds or molding lots are combined, variations among scanning lenses are likely to occur.

  Therefore, the following measures are taken in order to unify the lens characteristics. First, scanning lenses that have the same characteristics and are molded at the same molding time or at the same molding time are grouped in advance and sorted. In the assembling process, the sorted scanning lenses in the same group are assembled as scanning lenses for scanning optical devices used in the same image forming apparatus. Thus, a scanning optical device having the same quality characteristic is obtained.

  For example, the following is performed to select scanning lenses having the same characteristics. First, information on the surfaces of a plurality of scanning lenses that are molded at the same time is shown in the form of protrusions on the upper surface of the scanning lens (for example, see Patent Document 2). Further, a barcode associated with the lens characteristics is pasted on the scanning lens and displayed.

  Next, after visually confirming the indicated information, scanning lenses having the same characteristics are sorted. Then, four sorted scanning lenses having the same characteristics are selected and assembled to the four scanning optical devices used in the same image forming apparatus. In this way, four scanning optical devices having the same scanning line curve and other lens characteristics are formed, so that color misregistration hardly occurs and image adjustment is easy. Thus, the image quality of the image forming apparatus is maintained.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-186254 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 06-075181

  However, if the lens is provided with a shape such as a protrusion as in Patent Document 2, the flow of the resin is hindered at the time of forming the scanning lens, causing distortion inside the scanning lens and deteriorating the characteristics of the scanning lens. End up. In addition, the method of attaching and managing the bar code label has a problem that the attaching space is insufficient with a small lens. In addition, even if it can be pasted with a relatively large lens, there is a problem that a large amount of information cannot be included because the amount of information is limited by the barcode label. In addition, since the optical unit is covered with a cover, there is a problem that lens information cannot be obtained after completion.

  Further, in many cases, the first scanning lens and the second scanning lens, which have selected the mold and the molding lot, are combined and advanced adjustment is performed in the optical unit to be incorporated. These scanning lenses are sorted and aligned in advance. There is a need for sorting work.

  Further, since the sorting operation according to the scanning lens characteristics depends on the visual confirmation of the operator, there is a possibility that a sorting error may occur.

  An object of the present invention is to reduce manufacturing management costs and stabilize product quality by simplifying parts management and obtaining information on quality characteristics easily and reliably.

  A typical configuration according to the present invention for achieving the above object is configured by assembling an optical component such as an optical element in a casing, and in a scanning optical device that scans a light beam, the optical component or the casing is provided. An electronic component capable of storing information related to the scanning optical device is integrally attached.

  As described above, since the information about the scanning optical device is stored in the electronic component, the information can be obtained by reading the information stored in the electronic component at the time of manufacture. For this reason, it is not necessary to describe the mold number and the like that affect the quality of the optical component in the optical component and to sort them based on the description. For this reason, manufacturing management cost can be reduced by simplifying component management and obtaining information on quality characteristics easily and reliably. Moreover, since the optimal combination of optical components can be selected based on the said information, the quality of a product can also be stabilized.

[First Embodiment]
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the description, after describing the entire image forming apparatus and the entire scanning optical apparatus, the configuration and operation of an optical component incorporating an electronic component that is a characteristic part of the present invention will be described.

(Image forming device 50)
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus. As shown in FIG. 2, in the case of a color image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus 50 includes four photosensitive drums 51 that serve as image carriers.

  Around the photosensitive drum 51, a charging means 52 such as a corona discharger that uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 51 and the photosensitive drum 51 are exposed by a laser or the like to form an electrostatic latent image. A scanning optical device 53 as an exposure means for developing, a developing means 54 for supplying toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 51 to visualize the toner image, and the toner image A transfer means 55 such as a transfer corona discharger for transferring the image to the recording material is disposed to form an image forming portion.

  A recording material storage unit 56 for holding a recording material is disposed below the four image forming units corresponding to yellow Y, magenta M, cyan C, and black Bk. A feeding unit 57 for conveying the recording material to the image forming unit on the upstream side in the conveying direction, and for fixing the toner image transferred to the recording material on the downstream side in the recording material conveying direction from the image forming unit. Fixing means 58 is provided.

  At the time of image formation, the recording material S stored in the recording material storage unit 56 is picked up by the feeding unit 57 and sent to an image transfer position sandwiched between the photosensitive drum 51 and the transfer unit 55. On the other hand, a toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 51 by the action of the charging unit 52, the scanning optical device 53, and the developing unit 54.

  For this reason, when the recording material S is transported to the image transfer position and the recording material S is sandwiched between the photosensitive drum 51 and the transfer means 55, a charge is applied to the transfer means 55. The toner image formed on the drum 51 is electrostatically attracted toward the transfer unit 55.

  Thus, the four color toner images are transferred onto the recording material S in a superimposed manner. Finally, the toner image subjected to pressure and heat treatment in the fixing unit 58 and superimposed and transferred is fixed on the recording material S. Thereafter, the recording material S is discharged to the discharge unit 59 at the top of the image forming apparatus, and the image forming operation is completed.

(Scanning optical device 53)
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the scanning optical device, and is a diagram for explaining the function of each component included in the scanning optical device 53.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the scanning optical device 53 includes, as optical components, a semiconductor laser device 1, a collimator lens 2, a cylindrical lens 3, a rotary polygon mirror (deflection scanning means) 4 having a deflection reflection surface, and a rotation. It has a scanner motor 5 that is means for rotating the polygon mirror 4, a first scanning lens (optical element) 6, and a second scanning lens (optical element) 7.

  The optical components are housed and held integrally in an optical box 8 as a casing of the scanning optical device 53, thereby forming an optical unit. The first scanning lens 6 and the second scanning lens 7 incorporate an IC chip 9 as an electronic component. The IC chip 9 will be described in detail later.

  With such a configuration, the scanning optical device 53 exposes the photosensitive drum 51 as follows. First, the light beam generated from the semiconductor laser device 1 is converted into a parallel light beam by the collimator lens 2. The parallel light flux is condensed linearly by the cylindrical lens 3 and applied to the deflecting / reflecting surface of the rotary polygon mirror 4.

  The light beam deflected and reflected by the rotary polygon mirror 4 is condensed by the scanning lenses 6 and 7 so as to form a spot on the photosensitive drum 51. The scanning lenses 6 and 7 are designed so that the scanning speed of the spot is kept constant. Therefore, the main scanning is performed on the photosensitive drum 51 by the light flux reflected and irradiated by the rotation of the rotary polygon mirror 4. On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 51 is driven to rotate about the axis of the cylinder, thereby performing sub-scanning. In this way, the above-described electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 51.

(First scanning lenses 6 and 7 having IC chip 9)
A configuration in which an electronic component is incorporated in an optical component, which is a characteristic part of this embodiment, will be described. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a scanning lens 6 and an IC chip 9 according to this embodiment. FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the first scanning lens 6, and FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of the IC chip 9.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the scanning lens 6 is molded by injecting a light transmissive resin material into a mold (cavity). An IC chip 9 is embedded in the first scanning lens 6 at a position outside the region A through which the light beam scanned by the rotary polygon mirror 4 passes.

  The IC chip 9 is an electronic component having an outer dimension of several mm or less and capable of wireless communication. As shown in FIG. 1B, the IC chip 9 internally includes an antenna 9a, a transmission / reception means 9b for transmitting / receiving information via the antenna, a storage means 9c for storing information, and a control for controlling each means. Means 9d.

  In the present embodiment, information (quality characteristic information) relating to the quality characteristics of the scanning lens, such as information on the mold number (cavity number) in which the scanning lens 6 is molded, molding lot information, etc., is stored in the storage means 9c of the IC chip 9. ) Is electrically stored. The molding lot is, for example, information on the molding date and molding time of the first scanning lens 6, or information on the mold state and molding timing updated when the input material is switched, in addition to the mold number. Further, the IC chip 9 has a capacity for writing other information, and information on quality characteristics of the scanning optical device can be written and held later.

(Communication means 100 for communicating with the IC chip 9)
When writing information to the storage means 9c of the IC chip 9 or reading information from the storage means 9c, a communication means 100 such as a reader / writer as shown in FIG. 4 is used. The communication unit 100 includes a transmission / reception head 101 that transmits / receives signals and information to / from the IC chip 9 and a controller 102 that controls a signal to the transmission / reception head 101. Thereby, the quality characteristic information can be written into the storage means 9c of the IC chip 9, and the quality characteristic information can be read from the storage means 9c.

(About quality control during production)
A procedure for quality control using the IC chip 9 and the communication means 100 when manufacturing the scanning optical device 53 and the image forming apparatus 50 using the same will be described.

  First, as shown in FIG. 4, when the first scanning lens 6 (or the second scanning lens 7 (not shown)) is taken out from the molding machine, the IC chip 9 embedded in the first scanning lens 6 has no communication. By means 100, the mold number of the molding machine, the molding lot, etc. are written. Thereby, the molded scanning lenses 6 and 7 each have quality characteristic information.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the formed scanning lens is housed in the same type of tray depending on the type. For example, the first scanning lens 6 is stored in the first tray 103, and the second scanning lens 7 is stored in the second tray 104. Here, quality characteristics information is recorded on the IC chip 9 in the scanning lenses 6 and 7, and the quality characteristic information can be grasped by reading it by the communication means 100 described above at any time.

  For this reason, the scanning lenses mounted on the same type of tray do not necessarily have the same cavity number, molding lot, and the like and have the same quality characteristics. As a result, it is not necessary to pre-sort each optical component for each identical optical component before the assembly process, and one of the operations in the manufacturing process can be reduced. That is, the sorting work in the assembly process can be reduced, and the productivity is improved.

  Next, the quality characteristics of the scanning lenses 6 and 7 are inspected with reference to the cavity numbers and molding lots stored in the IC chip 9. Then, quality characteristics for each mold number and each molding lot can be converted into data.

  Before shipping, the quality characteristic grasped by the above-described inspection is transmitted from the communication means 100 to the IC chip 9 attached to the scanning lenses 6 and 7. As a result, the quality characteristic information is stored in the IC chip 9 of the scanning lenses 6 and 7.

  Thus, by embedding the IC chip 9 capable of storing a large amount of information in an optical component, it is possible to integrally have detailed quality characteristics of the optical component.

  In addition, since the IC chip 9 is embedded in the optical element in this way, it can be easily assembled without interfering with other members in the assembly process of the scanning optical device.

  In the present embodiment, the IC chip 9 is embedded in the scanning lenses 6 and 7 that most affect the quality characteristics of the scanning optical device 53. For this reason, there is also an advantage that the quality of the entire quality characteristic of the scanning optical device 53 can be easily stabilized by stabilizing the quality of the scanning lenses 6 and 7.

  It is not always necessary to store the quality characteristic information in the IC chip 9 before shipment. For example, the quality characteristic data obtained by the above-described inspection may be transmitted to the assembly process through a communication line. In this case, in the assembling process, the communication means 100 may be used to grasp the cavity numbers and molding lots of the scanning lenses 6 and 7 and collate with the quality characteristic data described above.

  In the assembly process of the scanning optical device 53, first, as shown in FIG. 5, one set or a plurality of sets of trays 103 and 104 on which a plurality of scanning lenses 6 and 7 of the same type are mounted are supplied. Next, quality characteristic information is acquired from the IC chip 9 of the first scanning lens 6 and the IC chip 9 of the second scanning lens 7 by using the communication unit 100. Then, each quality characteristic information is inquired by a routine programmed in advance, and an optimum combination of the first scanning lens 6 and the second scanning lens 7 is obtained. The optimum combination of the scanning lenses 6 and 7 obtained here is displayed on a display device such as a display (not shown) with the tray number and the scanning lens number. Thus, the operator takes out the first scanning lens 6 and the second scanning lens 7 and the tray designated by the display device, and assembles them into the optical box 8 of the scanning optical device 53.

  The optical characteristics of the scanning lenses 6 and 7 combined in this way are optimum in one or a plurality of combinations of the first and second scanning lenses. That is, for example, in the case where an image is formed using four scanning optical devices 53, all the photosensitive drums 51 can be combined with each other so as to suppress the bending of the scanning lines of all the scanning optical devices 53. The bending of the scanning line is suppressed. Then, the shapes of the electrostatic latent images and toner images formed on the four photosensitive drums 51 are made uniform. Therefore, when these four color toner images are superimposed and transferred onto the recording material S, the toner images are surely overlapped, and color misregistration and the like can be prevented.

  As described above, when the scanning optical device 53 is manufactured by using the IC chip 9 attached to the scanning lenses 6 and 7 and the communication unit 100 that reads and writes the quality characteristic information with respect to the IC chip 9. In this case, the cost of parts management can be reduced, and at the same time, variations in quality characteristics of the scanning optical device 53 can be suppressed and the quality can be stabilized.

(About quality control at the time of replacement)
A procedure for quality control when the scanning optical device 53 in the image forming apparatus 50 is replaced will be described.

  An IC chip 9 is embedded in the scanning lenses 6 and 7. The IC chip 9 stores quality characteristic information stored at the time of manufacture. The quality characteristic information of the IC chip 9 included in the scanning lenses 6 and 7 of each scanning optical device 53 is transmitted to a memory (not shown) in the image forming apparatus and recorded and held.

  Of the four scanning optical devices, any one or a plurality of scanning optical devices may need to be replaced if they fail for some reason. In this case, a control device such as a CPU (not shown) of the image forming apparatus identifies the failed scanning optical device. Then, a display prompting the user to exchange is performed.

  At this time, the quality characteristic information of the scanning lenses 6 and 7 of the scanning optical device to be replaced or the code thereof is output. In this output, there are a method of displaying on a display means such as a display panel, and a method of printing the fact on the recording material S and printing it out. When the main force is to be printed out, even if one or more of the scanning optical devices 53 fail, it is possible to print out by moving other scanning optical devices unless all of them fail. Is possible. For this reason, the user can obtain information on the failed scanning optical device.

  Here, when prompting the display panel to replace the scanning optical device 53, the quality characteristic information of the scanning optical device 53 to be replaced stored in the memory is also displayed. Then, the user can grasp what quality characteristic information the scanning optical device 53 to be replaced has.

  Here, for example, when there is a specialized replacement operator such as a serviceman, the user can inform the serviceman of the failure and the quality characteristic information of the failed scanning optical device 53. The service person can carry out the replacement work by bringing the scanning optical device 53 having the quality characteristic information.

  In this way, the user can identify the scanning optical device to be replaced, the user can grasp the quality characteristic information of the scanning optical device, and the serviceman can preliminarily inform the serviceman so that the serviceman can It is possible to grasp the quality characteristic information of the scanning optical device to be replaced. For this reason, it is not necessary for the service person to visually confirm the scanning optical device and confirm the failure location and the quality characteristic information. For this reason, the trouble of replacement can be reduced, and the cost for the replacement work can be greatly reduced.

  Further, there is a case in which a mechanism for transmitting information of the IC chip 9 included in the scanning lenses 6 and 7 to the memory of the image forming apparatus is not provided. In this case, the scanning optical device may be replaced with an appropriate one according to the following procedure.

  That is, the service person who has received a notification from the user that the scanning optical device has failed brings a plurality of scanning optical devices having different quality characteristics. At the same time, a communication means 200 (see FIG. 6) having a transmission / reception head 201 and a controller 202 for controlling a signal to the transmission / reception head 201 is brought. Then, the image forming apparatus is inspected, the scanning optical device to be replaced is specified and taken out, and the IC chip 9 disposed in the scanning optical device 53 using the communication means 200 as shown in FIG. connect. Thereby, the quality characteristic information of the optical component stored in the IC chip 9 is acquired. Then, based on the quality characteristic information, a scanning optical device having a quality characteristic to be replaced is selected and attached to the image forming apparatus.

  As described above, the service person acquires the quality characteristic information directly from the IC chip 9 and attaches the scanning optical device most suitable for the quality characteristic of the scanning optical device assembled in the image forming apparatus, so that the image forming apparatus The quality in image formation can be maintained.

  In this way, in the replacement at the time of failure of the scanning optical device, it is possible to provide a scanning optical device that matches the quality characteristics of the image forming apparatus, and it is possible to stabilize service quality and improve service.

[Other Embodiments]
In the above-described embodiment, the IC chip 9 is embedded and held integrally in the scanning lenses 6 and 7, but the invention is not limited to this. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, as long as it is outside the region A through which the light beam passes, it may be attached to the surface of the scanning lens and integrally held. Since the IC chip 9 is attached from the outside after the scanning lenses 6 and 7 are molded, there is no need to embed the IC chip 9 when molding the resin, and the shape of the scanning lens can be easily obtained. For this reason, productivity improves.

  In the above-described embodiment, the quality characteristic information of the scanning lens, which is an optical element attached to the IC chip 9 attached to the scanning lenses 6 and 7, is held, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the data to be held may include at least one of the part number of the optical element, the mold number, the quality characteristic value, and the quality characteristic value of the scanning optical device. It may include depth data, reflectivity over the entire image height of the mirror in addition to the lens, characteristics of the scanning optical device itself, and the like.

  In addition, the IC chip may be attached to any one of the components formed by the scanning optical device such as a lens other than the scanning lens, the optical box 8, and the lid of the optical box 8.

  Further, when it is desired to coexist with a conventional management method, an IC chip may be included in a bar code sticker attached to a scanning optical device or the like.

Explanatory drawing of a scanning lens and IC chip. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus. FIG. 6 illustrates a configuration of a scanning optical device. Explanatory drawing of the state which writes information in IC chip of a scanning lens. The figure which put the scanning lens on the tray. The figure which shows the state which a communication means and a scanning optical apparatus communicate. Explanatory drawing of the scanning lens of other embodiment. The figure explaining a scanning line curve.

Explanation of symbols

1. Semiconductor laser device (light source)
4 ... Rotating polygon mirror (deflection scanning means)
6. First scanning lens (optical element)
7. Second scanning lens (optical element)
8 ... Optical box (housing)
9 ... IC chip (electronic component)
50. Image forming apparatus
51 ... Photosensitive drum (image carrier)
53 ... Scanning optical device
100 ... Communication means
200 ... Communication means

Claims (6)

In a scanning optical device configured by assembling an optical component such as an optical element in a housing and scanning a light beam,
An optical component capable of storing information relating to a scanning optical device is integrally attached to the optical component or the housing. In a scanning optical apparatus comprising a light source that emits a light beam, a deflection scanning unit that deflects and scans the light beam, an optical element that forms an image of the light beam, and a housing that houses and fixes the light source, the deflection scanning unit, and the optical element.
A scanning optical apparatus, wherein an electronic component capable of storing information relating to the optical element is integrally attached to the optical element. The scanning optical device according to claim 1 or 2,
The scanning optical device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic component is embedded in the optical element. The scanning optical device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The scanning optical apparatus, wherein the electronic component holds the information and can write or read the quality characteristic information by a communication unit that communicates with the electronic component wirelessly. The scanning optical device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The scanning optical apparatus characterized in that the information includes any one of a part number, a mold number, a quality characteristic value, and a quality characteristic value of the scanning optical apparatus. In an image forming apparatus having an image carrier and a scanning optical device that scans the image carrier with a light beam,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scanning optical apparatus is the scanning optical apparatus according to claim 1.

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