JP2009217153A - Optical scanner and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To highly precisely make an optical adjustment. <P>SOLUTION: A fitting part 101a and an inserting part 101b are formed in an optical housing 101, and a light source device 70 is attached rotatably around an axis that is almost in parallel to the optical axis of a coupling lens 11 while keeping a relative positional relation among a light source unit 71, a light receiving unit 73 and an incident optical system 74 constant. As a result, the light source device 70 is rotated while keeping the relative positional relation among a light source 10, coupling lens 11, branching optical element 12, reflective mirror 74c, condenser lens 74d, and a light receiving element 73c even when the light source device 70 is rotated in the pitch adjustment or the like in a sub scanning direction of a laser beam. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical scanning apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an optical scanning apparatus that scans a surface to be scanned and an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium.

  As an image forming apparatus that forms an image using laser light, for example, the surface of a rotating photosensitive drum is scanned with laser light to form a latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum, and the latent image is visualized. An image forming apparatus that forms an image by fixing the obtained toner image on a sheet as a recording medium is known. In recent years, this type of image forming apparatus is often used for simple printing as an on-demand printing system, and there is an increasing demand for higher image density and faster image output.

  Therefore, recently, a light source such as a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) in which a plurality of light emitting regions are monolithically arranged two-dimensionally is provided, and a plurality of laser beams emitted from the light source are used. An image forming apparatus capable of simultaneously scanning a plurality of scanning lines on a surface to be scanned has been proposed. In this type of image forming apparatus, unlike an image forming apparatus that uses an edge-emitting laser light source, a part of the laser beam emitted toward the surface to be scanned is branched and extracted. By detecting the intensity, the intensity of the laser light incident on the surface to be scanned is monitored (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-132580 A

  In an image forming apparatus using a plurality of laser beams, optical adjustment of a scanning line interval on a surface to be scanned is performed, for example, by rotating a light source around an optical axis of an optical system or the like. However, when the light source is rotated, the relative positional relationship between the light source and the monitor unit that monitors the intensity of the laser light changes. For this reason, it is desirable that the light source and the monitor unit be arranged in a state where the relative positional relationship between them is maintained constant.

  The present invention has been made under such circumstances, and a first object of the present invention is to provide an optical scanning device capable of accurately performing optical adjustment.

  A second object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of forming an image with high accuracy.

  From a first aspect, the present invention is an optical scanning device that scans a surface to be scanned in a main scanning direction using laser light, and emits a plurality of the laser lights shaped into substantially parallel light. A branch optical element that branches the laser light emitted from the light source unit into a first laser light and a second laser light; a scanning optical system that deflects and scans the first laser light in the main scanning direction A housing that houses the branch optical element and the scanning optical system; a light receiving unit that is disposed outside the housing and receives the second laser light; and is disposed in a fixed positional relationship with respect to the light source unit. An incident optical system for causing the second laser beam to enter the light receiving unit, and the housing includes a holding unit that holds the light source unit so as to be rotatable about the optical axis of the light source unit. Is an optical scanning apparatus according to claim in which the insertion portion to which the incident optical system is inserted therein is formed.

  According to this, the housing is formed with a holding portion that holds the light source unit so as to be rotatable about the optical axis of the light source unit, and an insertion portion into which the incident optical system is inserted into the housing. For this reason, at least the light source unit and the incident optical system can be arranged so that the mutual positional relationship is constant. Therefore, the optical adjustment of the scanning optical system can be performed accurately.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus for forming an image by fixing a toner image formed on the basis of a latent image obtained from information related to an image to a recording medium. An optical scanning device of the invention; a photosensitive member on which a latent image is formed by the optical scanning device; a developing unit that visualizes a latent image formed on a surface to be scanned of the photosensitive member; and a visible image formed by the developing unit An image forming apparatus comprising: transfer means for fixing the converted toner image to the recording medium.

  According to this, a final image is formed based on a latent image formed by an optical scanning device that has been optically adjusted with high accuracy. Therefore, it is possible to form an image on the recording medium with high accuracy.

  Further, according to a third aspect of the present invention, a toner image formed based on a latent image for each color obtained from information on a multicolor image is superimposed and fixed on a recording medium, whereby a multicolor image is obtained. An image forming apparatus to be formed, the optical scanning device of the present invention; a plurality of photoreceptors on which latent images corresponding to respective colors are formed by the optical scanning device; and a scanning surface of each of the plurality of photoreceptors An image forming apparatus comprising: a developing unit that visualizes the formed latent image; and a transfer unit that superimposes and fixes the toner images for each color visualized by the developing unit on the recording medium.

  According to this, a final image is formed based on a latent image formed by an optical scanning device that has been optically adjusted with high accuracy. Therefore, it is possible to form an image on the recording medium with high accuracy.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment.

  The image forming apparatus 200 is a printer that prints an image by transferring a toner image onto plain paper. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 200 includes an optical scanning device 100, a photosensitive drum 201, a charging charger 202, a toner cartridge 204, a cleaning case 205, a paper feeding tray 206, a paper feeding roller 207, and a registration roller pair 208. A transfer charger 211, a fixing roller 209, a paper discharge roller 212, a paper discharge tray 210, and a housing 220 for housing them.

  The housing 220 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and openings that communicate with the internal space are formed on the side walls on the + X side and the −X side.

  The optical scanning device 100 is disposed above the housing 220, and deflects and scans the laser light modulated based on image information in the main scanning direction (Y-axis direction in FIG. 1), whereby the surface of the photosensitive drum 201 is scanned. Scan. The configuration of the optical scanning device 100 will be described later.

  The photosensitive drum 201 is a cylindrical member having a surface formed with a photosensitive layer that becomes conductive when laser light is irradiated on the surface thereof. The direction is arranged as a longitudinal direction, and is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1 (direction indicated by an arrow in FIG. 1) by a rotation mechanism (not shown). In the vicinity thereof, the charging charger 202 is disposed at the 12 o'clock (upper) position in FIG. 1, the toner cartridge 204 is disposed at the 2 o'clock position, and the transfer charger 211 is disposed at the 6 o'clock position. A cleaning case 205 is disposed at the hour position.

  The charging charger 202 is disposed with a predetermined clearance with respect to the surface of the photosensitive drum 201, and charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 201 with a predetermined voltage.

  The toner cartridge 204 includes a cartridge body filled with toner of a black image component, a developing roller charged with a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the photosensitive drum 201, and the toner filled in the cartridge body is passed through the developing roller. To the surface of the photosensitive drum 201.

  The cleaning case 205 includes a rectangular cleaning blade whose longitudinal direction is the Y-axis direction, and is disposed so that one end of the cleaning blade is in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 201. The toner adsorbed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 201 is peeled off by the cleaning blade as the photosensitive drum 201 rotates, and is collected in the cleaning case 205.

  The transfer charger 211 is arranged with a predetermined clearance with respect to the surface of the photosensitive drum 201, and a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the charging charger 202 is applied.

  The paper feed tray 206 is arranged with the + X side end protruding from an opening formed on the + X side wall of the housing 220, and can accommodate a plurality of sheets 213 supplied from the outside. .

  The sheet feeding roller 207 takes out the sheets 213 one by one from the sheet feeding tray 206, and enters a gap formed by the photosensitive drum 201 and the transfer charger 211 via a registration roller pair 208 including a pair of rotating rollers. To derive.

  The fixing roller 209 is composed of a pair of rotating rollers, overheats and pressurizes the sheet 213, and guides it to the sheet discharge roller 212.

  The paper discharge roller 212 is composed of a pair of rotating rollers and the like, and with respect to the paper discharge tray 210 disposed with the −X side end protruding from the opening formed in the −X side side wall of the housing 220, The sheets 213 sent from the fixing roller 209 are sequentially stacked.

  Next, the configuration of the optical scanning device 100 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the optical scanning device 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the optical scanning device 100 includes a light source device 70 that emits laser light, and a line image that is arranged along a straight line that forms an angle of about 60 degrees with the X axis with the light source device 70 as a base point. The forming lens 13 and the polygon mirror 15, the first scanning lens 16, the second scanning lens 17, and the folding mirror 19 sequentially arranged on the + X side of the polygon mirror 15, the line image forming lens 13, the polygon mirror 15, An optical housing 101 that accommodates the two-scanning lens 17 and the folding mirror 19 is provided. Here, for convenience of explanation, an xyz coordinate system defined by rotating an XY coordinate by an angle of 30 degrees around the Z axis is defined, and the explanation using this coordinate system will be given as appropriate.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the light source device 70, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a layout of the light source 10 and the optical elements 11, 12, 74 c, 74 d, and 73 c included in the light source device 70. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the light source device 70 includes a light source unit 71, a light receiving unit 73 attached to the −x side and the −y side of the light source unit 71, and an incident optical system 74, respectively. Yes.

  The light source unit 71 includes a light source 10, a coupling lens 11, a branching optical element 12, and a holder 72 that holds them.

  The holder 72 is hollow and has a rectangular parallelepiped main body portion in which a circular opening 72b penetrating in the y-axis direction is formed on the -y side surface, and the circular opening 72b is surrounded on the -y side surface of the main body portion. The ring-shaped convex portion 72a is formed in three parts, and the extending portion 72c extends in the −y direction from below the annular convex portion 72a. Further, a portion from the central portion of the upper surface of the extending portion 72c to the + Y side end portion is a concave portion 72d that curves with the y-axis direction as the generatrix direction.

  The light source 10 is a surface emitting semiconductor laser array having a light emitting surface in which VCSELs as light emitting regions are two-dimensionally arranged. The light source 10 is held inside the holder 72 in a state where the light emitting surface is parallel to the zx plane and the center thereof coincides with the center of the circular opening 72b.

  FIG. 5 is a view of the light source 10 as viewed from the −y side. As shown in FIG. 5, in this light source 10, 32 VCSELs that emit diverging light on the light emitting surface (the surface on the -y side) have a direction parallel to a straight line L1 that forms an angle θ1 with the x axis. They are arranged in a matrix of 4 rows and 8 columns with the row direction and the direction parallel to the z axis as the column direction. In this embodiment, as an example, the spacing Dz in the sub-scanning direction of the VCSEL is 18.4 μm, and the spacing Dy in the main scanning direction is 30 μm, and the VCSELs adjacent to each other in the z-axis direction (sub-scanning direction) The distance dz is 2.3 μm (= Dz / 8). Laser light that is divergent light is emitted from each VCSEL in the −y direction, and each laser light is incident on the coupling lens 11 via the circular opening 72 b of the holder 72.

  The coupling lens 11 is disposed at the center of an extending portion 72 c provided on the holder 72. The coupling lens 11 is, for example, a lens having a refractive index of about 1.5 and having a focal point on the −y side, and shapes the laser light into substantially parallel light by changing the divergence angle of the incident laser light.

  The coupling lens 11 is attached to the extended portion 72c in a state in which, for example, a UV curable adhesive is applied to the upper surface of the extended portion 72c provided in the holder 72, and the coupling lens 11 is supported by a jig or the like. Place with. Next, the coupling lens 11 is moved in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, the Z-axis direction, and each axis via a jig or the like, and the optical axis of the coupling lens 11 coincides with the center of the light source 10. As described above, after adjusting the position and posture of the coupling lens 11, UV irradiation is performed on the UV curable adhesive to cure the adhesive. In the present embodiment, the curvature of the outer edge portion of the coupling lens 11 and the curvature of the recess 72d formed on the upper surface of the extension portion 72c are made substantially equal, so that the coupling lens 11 can be satisfactorily extended. It can be made to adhere to.

  The branch optical element 12 is a plate-like member having a rectangular opening at the center in the x-axis direction as a longitudinal direction, and a reflection surface for reflecting laser light is formed on the surface on the + y side. The branch optical element 12 has the center of the opening located at or near the focal position of the coupling lens 11 and the reflection surface is inclined 45 degrees with respect to the zx plane. It is fixed to the upper surface of the part. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the laser beam LB that has passed through the coupling lens 11 has a light beam (scanning laser beam LB1) that includes the principal ray and enters the opening of the branching optical element 12, and passes through the opening. The light beam (monitoring laser beam LB2) incident on the reflection surface of the element 12 is reflected in the −x direction, and thus is branched into the scanning laser beam LB1 and the monitoring laser beam LB2.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the light receiving unit 73 is disposed on the −x side of the light source unit 71. The light receiving unit 73 includes a case 73a whose longitudinal direction is fixed to the −x side surface of the holder 72 main body, and a light receiving element 73c (see FIG. 4) disposed inside the case 73a. It consists of In the light receiving unit 73, the laser light incident from the opening 73b formed on the -y side surface of the case 73a is received by the light receiving element 73c. Then, a photoelectric conversion signal corresponding to the intensity of the received laser beam is output from the light receiving element 73c.

  The incident optical system 74 is provided on the −x side of the extending portion 72c formed in the holder 72, and has a casing 74a whose longitudinal direction is the y-axis direction, a reflection mirror 74c that is held inside the casing 74a, and a collecting mirror. An optical lens 74d is included.

  The casing 74a is a hollow member formed so that the dimension in the x-axis direction increases from the −y side end portion to the central portion slightly + y side, and the + x side surface is reflected by the branching optical element 12. An opening 74b through which the monitor laser beam LB2 enters is formed. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the monitoring laser beam LB2 that has traveled from the opening 74b into the casing 74a is reflected in the + y direction by the reflecting mirror 74c and then enters the condenser lens 74d. Then, the light is condensed on the light receiving element 73 c by the condensing lens 74 d through an opening (not shown) formed in the casing 74 a and an opening 73 b provided in the light receiving unit 73.

  The light source device 70 configured as described above is attached to the optical housing 101 of the optical scanning device 100 so as to be rotatable about an axis substantially parallel to the optical axis of the coupling lens 11. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIGS. 6 (A) and 6 (B).

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the optical housing 101 is formed with a circular fitting portion 101a penetrating the side wall of the optical housing 101 in the y-axis direction, and on the −x side of the fitting portion 101a. A rectangular insertion portion 101b penetrating in the y-axis direction is formed. The inner diameter of the fitting portion 101a is defined to be equal to the outer diameter of the annular convex portion 72a of the holder 72, and the dimensions of the insertion portion 101b in the z-axis direction and the x-axis direction are provided in the incident optical system 74. It is defined to be sufficiently larger than the dimensions of the casing 74a in the z-axis direction and the x-axis direction.

  As can be seen from FIGS. 6A and 6B, the light source device 70 has a ring of the holder 72 in the fitting portion 101a with the incident optical system 74 inserted from the + y side into the insertion portion 101b. By fitting the convex portion 72a, the optical housing 101 is attached so as to be rotatable about an axis substantially parallel to the optical axis of the coupling lens 11. Thereby, the pitch of the laser beam condensed on the photosensitive drum 201 in the sub-scanning direction can be adjusted by rotating the light source device 70 in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. It has become. Further, in this state, as shown in FIG. 6B, the opening 73b formed in the case 73a of the light receiving unit 73 is exposed through the insertion portion 101b.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the line image forming lens 13 is a cylindrical lens whose first surface has refractive power in the z-axis direction (sub-scanning direction), and the scanning laser beam LB1 emitted from the light source device 70 is converted into a polygon. The light is condensed on the deflection surface of the mirror 15.

  The polygon mirror 15 is a polygonal columnar member whose upper surface and lower surface are regular hexagons. Six deflecting surfaces are formed on the side surface of the polygon mirror 15, and are rotated at a constant angular velocity in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 2 by a rotating mechanism (not shown). Thereby, the scanning laser beam LB1 incident on the polygon mirror 15 is scanned in the Y-axis direction.

  The first scanning lens 16 has an image height proportional to the incident angle of the scanning laser beam LB1, and the image plane of the scanning laser beam LB1 scanned at a constant angular velocity by the polygon mirror 15 is defined with respect to the Y axis. Move at a constant speed.

  The second scanning lens 17 is arranged with the longitudinal direction as the Y-axis direction, and forms an incident scanning laser beam LB1 on the surface of the photosensitive drum 201 via the mirror 18.

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 200 configured as described above will be described. When the image information from the host device is received, the optical scanning device 100 is driven by the modulation data based on the image information, and the image from the light source 10 of the light source device 70 passes through the coupling lens 11 as shown in FIG. 32 laser beams modulated based on the information are emitted. Of these laser beams, the scanning laser beam LB1 whose spot shape has been shaped by passing through the opening of the branch optical element 12 is deflected by the line mirror forming lens 13 by the line image forming lens 13, as shown in FIG. Focused on the surface. Then, scanning is performed in the Y-axis direction by being deflected by the deflection surface of the polygon mirror 15. Thereafter, the scanning laser beam LB1 is condensed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 201 by the second scanning lens 17 via the folding mirror 19 with the scanning speed adjusted by the first scanning lens 16. Further, the monitoring laser beam LB2 emitted from the light source 10 and reflected by the reflecting surface of the branch optical element 12 through the coupling lens 11 is turned back by the reflecting mirror 74c as shown in FIG. The light is condensed on the light receiving element 73c by the condenser lens 74d. In the optical scanning device 100, a signal output when the monitoring laser beam LB2 enters the light receiving element 73c is constantly monitored, and the light amount control of the laser beam output from the light source 10 is performed.

  On the other hand, the photosensitive layer on the surface of the photosensitive drum 201 is charged with a predetermined voltage by the charging charger 202, so that charges are distributed with a constant charge density. When the photosensitive drum 201 is scanned by the laser beam deflected by the polygon mirror 15, the photosensitive layer where the laser beam is focused has conductivity, and the potential at that portion becomes zero. . Accordingly, the photosensitive drum 201 rotating in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 is scanned with a laser beam modulated based on the image information, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image defined by the charge distribution on the surface. Is done.

  When an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 201, toner is supplied to the surface of the photosensitive drum 201 by the developing roller of the toner cartridge 204. At this time, since the developing roller of the toner cartridge 204 is charged with a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the photosensitive drum 201, the toner attached to the developing roller is charged with the same polarity as that of the photosensitive drum 201. Therefore, the toner does not adhere to the portion of the surface of the photosensitive drum 201 where the electric charge is distributed, and the toner adheres only to the scanned portion, and the electrostatic latent image is visualized on the surface of the photosensitive drum 201. A toner image is formed. Then, after the toner image is attached to the sheet 213 by the transfer charger 211, the image is formed on the sheet 213 by being fixed by the fixing roller 209. The paper 213 on which the image is formed in this manner is discharged by the paper discharge roller 212 and sequentially stacked on the paper discharge tray 210.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the optical housing 101 is formed with the fitting portion 101a and the insertion portion 101b. Accordingly, the light source device 70 can be rotated about an axis substantially parallel to the optical axis of the coupling lens 11 in a state where the relative positional relationship of the light source unit 71, the light receiving unit 73, and the incident optical system 74 is maintained constant. Can be attached. Therefore, for example, when adjusting the pitch of the laser beam in the sub-scanning direction, the light source 10 and the coupling lens 11 are branched even if the light source device 70 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. The relative positional relationship among the optical element 12, the reflection mirror 74c, the condensing lens 74d, and the light receiving element 73c does not vary, and as a result, the optical characteristics of the optical scanning device 100 can be accurately adjusted.

  Further, since the light source unit 71, the light receiving unit 73, and the incident optical system 74 can be integrally configured, the light source device 70 can be reduced in size and the configuration can be simplified, and as a result, the optical scanning device. 100 and the image forming apparatus 200 can be downsized and the configuration can be simplified.

  Further, the branch optical element 12 passes the scanning laser light LB1 including the principal ray of the laser light LB emitted from each VCSEL of the light source 10, and reflects the other monitoring laser light LB2 to thereby reflect the light source 10 The laser beam LB from is branched. As a result, it is possible to scan the photosensitive drum 201 with the scanning laser beam LB1 having a high intensity and monitor the intensity of the laser beam from the light source 10 based on the monitoring laser beam LB2 that does not contribute to the scanning. The utilization efficiency of laser light can be improved. Further, since the opening of the branching optical element 12 also functions as an aperture, for example, the number of parts can be reduced and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced compared to the case where both the beam splitter and the aperture member are used. It becomes.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6A, the optical housing 101 has been described in which the fitting portion 101a and the insertion portion 101b are separately formed. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The optical housing 101 may be formed with an opening 101c formed integrally with the fitting portion 101a and the insertion portion 101b in FIG. Thereby, compared with the case where the fitting part 101a and the insertion part 101b are formed in the optical housing 101, the processability of the optical housing 101 can be improved.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment includes the optical scanning device 100. Therefore, a final image is formed based on the latent image formed by the optical scanning device 100 that has been optically adjusted with high accuracy. Therefore, an image can be accurately formed on the recording medium (paper 213).

  In the above embodiment, the case where the optical scanning device 100 is used in a single-color image forming apparatus (printer) has been described. However, the image forming apparatus supports color images as schematically shown in FIG. 7 as an example. However, a tandem color machine including a plurality of photosensitive drums may be used. The tandem color machine shown in FIG. 7 includes a black (K) photosensitive drum K1, a charger K2, a developing device K4, a cleaning unit K5, a transfer charging unit K6, and a cyan (C) photosensitive drum C1, A charging unit C2, a developing unit C4, a cleaning unit C5, a transfer charging unit C6, a magenta (M) photosensitive drum M1, a charging unit M2, a developing unit M4, a cleaning unit M5, and a transfer charging unit M6; Photosensitive drum Y1 for yellow (Y), charger Y2, developer Y4, cleaning unit Y5, transfer charging unit Y6, optical scanning device 900 including light source device 70, transfer belt 901, fixing unit 902, and the like It has.

  In the optical scanning device 900, for example, a plurality of VCSELs in the light source 10 are assigned to black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. Laser light from each VCSEL for black is irradiated to the photosensitive drum K1, laser light from each VCSEL for cyan is irradiated to the photosensitive drum C1, and laser light from each VCSEL for magenta is applied to the photosensitive drum M1. The laser beam from each VCSEL for yellow is irradiated to the photosensitive drum Y1.

  Each photosensitive drum rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 7, and a charger, a developer, a transfer charging unit, and a cleaning unit are arranged in the order of rotation. Each charger uniformly charges the surface of the corresponding photosensitive drum. The surface of the photosensitive drum charged by the charger is irradiated with a beam by the optical scanning device 900, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum. Then, a toner image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum by the corresponding developing device. Further, the toner images of the respective colors are transferred onto the recording paper by the corresponding transfer charging means, and finally the image is fixed on the recording paper by the fixing means 901.

  In each of the above embodiments, the case where the optical scanning device 100 of the present invention is used in a printer has been described. However, the image forming apparatus other than the printer, for example, a copier, a facsimile, or a multifunction machine in which these are integrated. Is also suitable.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus 200. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an optical scanning device 100. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a light source device 70. FIG. It is a figure which shows the optical layout of the light source device. It is a figure which shows the light source. 6A and 6B are views for explaining a procedure for attaching the light source device 70 to the optical housing 101. FIG. It is a figure which shows the modification of the optical housing. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus corresponding to a color image.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Light source, 11 ... Coupling lens, 12 ... Branch optical element, 13 ... Line image formation lens, 15 ... Polygon mirror, 16 ... 1st scanning lens, 17 ... 2nd scanning lens, 19 ... Folding mirror, 70 ... Light source 71, light source unit, 72 ... holder, 72a ... annular projection, 72b ... circular opening, 72c ... extension, 72d ... recess, 73 ... light receiving unit, 73a ... case, 73b ... opening, 73c ... light receiving element 74 ... Incident optical system, 74a ... Casing, 74b ... Opening, 74c ... Reflection mirror, 74d ... Condensing lens, 100 ... Optical scanning device, 101 ... Optical housing, 101a ... Fitting part, 101b ... Insertion part, 101c ... Opening part 200 ... Image forming apparatus 220 ... Housing 201 ... Photosensitive drum 202 ... Charging charger 204 ... Toner cartridge 205 Cleaning case, 206 ... feed tray, 207 ... feed roller, 208 ... registration roller pair, 209 ... fixing roller, 210 ... discharge tray, 211 ... transfer charger, 212 ... discharge roller, 213 ... paper, LB ... laser Light, LB1... Scanning laser light, LB2... Monitoring laser light.

Claims (7)

An optical scanning device that scans a surface to be scanned in a main scanning direction using laser light,
A light source unit that emits a plurality of the laser beams shaped into substantially parallel light;
A branching optical element that branches the laser beam emitted from the light source unit into a first laser beam and a second laser beam;
A scanning optical system that deflects and scans the first laser light in the main scanning direction;
A housing for housing the branch optical element and the scanning optical system;
A light receiving unit disposed outside the housing and receiving the second laser light;
An incident optical system that is disposed in a fixed positional relationship with respect to the light source unit and that makes the second laser light incident on the light receiving unit;
The housing includes a holding portion that holds the light source unit so as to be rotatable about the optical axis of the light source unit, and an insertion portion into which the incident optical system is inserted. Optical scanning device.   The optical scanning device according to claim 1, wherein the holding portion and the insertion portion are integrally formed.   The light source unit includes: a light source in which a plurality of light emitting regions emitting the laser light are two-dimensionally arranged in a plane parallel to the main scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction; The optical scanning device according to claim 1, further comprising: a coupling element that changes a divergence angle of the plurality of laser beams emitted from a light source and shapes the laser beams into parallel light.   The optical scanning device according to claim 1, wherein the light source is disposed outside the housing.   The optical scanning device according to claim 1, wherein the light source is held so as to be rotatable about an optical axis of the coupling element. An image forming apparatus that forms an image by fixing a toner image formed based on a latent image obtained from information related to an image to a recording medium,
An optical scanning device according to claim 1;
A photoreceptor on which a latent image is formed by the optical scanning device;
Developing means for visualizing a latent image formed on the surface to be scanned of the photoreceptor;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a transfer unit that fixes the toner image visualized by the developing unit to the recording medium. An image forming apparatus that forms a multicolor image by superimposing and fixing a toner image formed based on a latent image for each color obtained from information about a multicolor image on a recording medium,
An optical scanning device according to claim 1;
A plurality of photosensitive members on which latent images corresponding to the respective colors are formed by the optical scanning device;
Developing means for visualizing latent images formed on the scanned surfaces of the plurality of photoconductors;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a transfer unit configured to superimpose and fix the toner image of each color visualized by the developing unit on the recording medium.

Images