JP2013228543A - Noncontact heater and image forming apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a noncontact heater capable of uniformizing a light intensity distribution of a light condensing part while aligning parallelism of a plurality of beams and an image forming apparatus using the same.SOLUTION: A plurality of light source blocks 40 are disposed and attached to a light source block attaching reference surface 62 of a base member 61. The planar accuracy of the light source block attaching reference surface 62 of the base member 61 of an optical block 60 is set the same as those of the reference surfaces 42a of the optical blocks 40 and a light block attaching surface 41a of an optical axis adjustment tool 41. Thus, when a plurality of light source blocks are configured to be disposed on each of the attaching surfaces at a predetermined planar accuracy, even in an optical system for condensing a plurality of beams, high quality and directional parallel light can be obtained and heating can be efficiently performed with higher output.

Description

  The present invention relates to a non-contact heating apparatus for heating and fixing toner using non-contact heating such as a laser and an image forming apparatus using the same.

  2. Description of the Related Art An electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer includes a fixing device that fixes a toner image formed on a recording sheet to a recording material by heat melting. This fixing device includes a contact heating method in which a recording sheet on which a toner image is formed is sandwiched between a heated fixing roller and a pressure roller, and non-contact heating in which the toner is irradiated with light such as a laser and heated. There is a method.

  The non-contact heating method has an advantage that the toner can be directly heated and energy efficiency is higher than that of the contact heating method in which the entire fixing roller must be heated. On the other hand, since the light is condensed on the toner using a plurality of light sources, the problem is how to increase the parallelism of the light to make the light intensity distribution uniform and improve the light condensing property.

  Patent Document 1 proposes an integrated optical system holding member that condenses a plurality of laser beams using a step mirror and a deflecting beam splitter.

Japanese Patent No. 264,060

  However, the configuration described in the above-mentioned patent document uses two lenses, a convex lens and a concave lens, to make the light from the laser parallel light, and the convex lens is attached to the lens barrel side to which the laser element is attached, By adjusting the position of the concave lens attached to the optical system holding member having the multi-stage mirror, the parallelism of the plurality of laser beams is made uniform. Therefore, every time the laser lens barrel is attached to the holding member, the position of the concave lens has to be adjusted. As the number of lasers increases, it takes time and there is a limit to high output.

  Further, even if an aspheric lens is used and the number of lenses is one, the structure described in Patent Document 1 describes the reference plane for which part of the lens barrel to which the laser is fixed is adjusted. In addition, since a method for adjusting the position of the convex lens is not described, it is impossible to align the laser irradiation angle with respect to the lens barrel. Therefore, even if a plurality of such lens barrels are attached to the holding member, the laser beams are not parallel to each other, and the aimed effect cannot be obtained.

  In addition, a beam splitter is used to narrow the interval between a plurality of laser beams. However, since the transmission efficiency of the beam splitter is low, the output is not doubled even if two laser beams are superimposed. Also in Patent Document 1, “the beam splitter 7 has a characteristic of reflecting light deflected in the direction of arrow a”, and the meaning of this sentence is that light deflected in the direction of arrow b is not deflected. It can be said that only about half of the light can be reflected. That is, since only half of the light can be reflected and transmitted, the output of the superimposed light is approximately half of the total output, and there is no point in overlapping.

  In addition, since it has a structure in which a plurality of laser light sources are attached to one holding member surface, the heat dissipation of the laser light source in the central part is worse than that of the outer peripheral part. In order to use it for the target light source unit, it is necessary to attach a step mirror with high accuracy (because a focal length of 150 mm or more is required to scan the width of the document), but there is no description of its management adjustment method. There are issues such as inability to realize.

  In view of such circumstances, the present invention is intended to provide a non-contact heating device capable of making the light intensity distribution of the condensing unit uniform while aligning the parallelism of a plurality of beams, and an image forming apparatus using the same. To do.

The present invention relates to a non-contact heating apparatus that has at least two or more laser elements, and heats and melts the toner directly by condensing and irradiating light from the laser elements to the toner portion.
An optical block having a light source block including at least the laser element, a collimating lens, and a holding member having an optical axis adjustment mechanism, and a step mirror which is a step-like reflection mirror for narrowing the pitch of a plurality of laser beams; ,
The optical block and the light source block are characterized in that the mounting surfaces of the optical block and the light source block are in contact with each other and are engaged with each other.

  In the non-contact heating device of the present invention, the non-contact heating device has a mounting member for mounting the optical block on a main body of the non-contact heating device, and the mounting surface of the optical block and the mounting member has the predetermined plane accuracy. It is characterized in that the mounting surfaces are in contact with each other and engaged.

  In the non-contact heating apparatus of the present invention, the optical block is integrally formed so that a mounting surface of the step mirror has the predetermined plane accuracy.

In the non-contact heating apparatus of the present invention, the optical block is attached with a folding mirror for changing the direction of the parallel laser light reflected by the step mirror, and the mounting surface of the folding mirror and the mounting of the optical block The surface is integrally formed so as to have the predetermined plane accuracy.

  In the non-contact heating apparatus of the present invention, the optical block is characterized in that each mounting surface of the light source block, the step mirror, the folding mirror, and the mounting member is formed on an outer peripheral surface.

  In the non-contact heating apparatus of the present invention, the optical block has an opening structure on one side.

  Further, in the non-contact heating device of the present invention, the plurality of optical blocks are attached to a mounting portion of the non-contact heating device at predetermined intervals, and openings for allowing laser light beams from other optical blocks to pass through the optical block. A part is formed.

  In addition, the present invention is an image forming apparatus using the non-contact heating device.

  According to the present invention, the light source block and the optical block have mounting surfaces having a predetermined plane accuracy, and are mounted so that the mounting surfaces are in contact with each other, thereby adjusting the optical axis of the light source block. It becomes possible to adjust with a different adjustment jig. Furthermore, since the mounting surface accuracy is a predetermined accuracy, the optical axis of the laser beam is reproduced even after the light source block whose optical axis has been adjusted is mounted on the optical block, so that fine adjustment work is not required during assembly. Work efficiency can be improved.

  In addition, a plurality of light source blocks are arranged in the optical block, and stepped mirror mounting parts are integrally formed so as to narrow the pitch of the plurality of laser beams, so that the pitch of each laser beam can be adjusted to parallelism. Since the diameter of the condenser lens for an expensive high-power laser can be reduced, the output can be increased, the condenser lens can be reduced in size, and the cost can be reduced.

  Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an attachment member for attaching the optical block to the heating device main body, and the attachment surface of the optical block and the attachment member has the predetermined plane accuracy, and Since the optical surface adjusted by the optical axis adjustment jig can be easily reproduced when the optical block is attached to the main body, it is not necessary to adjust the optical axis. Assembly time can be shortened.

  According to the invention, the optical block is integrally formed so that the mounting surface of the step mirror has the predetermined plane accuracy, so that the operation of attaching the step mirror to the optical block It is possible to carry out while checking the optical axis on a different adjustment jig, and it becomes possible to improve the efficiency of assembling the heating device and manage the parallelism of a plurality of laser beams.

  According to the invention, the optical block is attached with a folding mirror for changing the direction of the parallel laser light reflected by the step mirror, and the mounting surface of the folding mirror and the mounting surface of the optical block are By being integrally molded so as to have a predetermined plane accuracy, the work of attaching the folding mirror to the optical block can be performed while checking the optical axis on an adjustment jig different from the heating device body. It is possible to improve the assembly work efficiency and manage the parallelism of multiple laser beams.

  Further, according to the present invention, the optical block is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the light source block, the step mirror, the folding mirror, and the mounting member. Easy to measure and manage.

  In addition, according to the present invention, since the optical block has an opening structure on one side surface, the optical block can be integrally formed by a die casting method or the like. It becomes possible to manage.

  Further, according to the present invention, the plurality of optical blocks are attached to the attachment portion of the heating device at a predetermined interval, and the opening for passing the laser beam from the other optical block is formed in the optical block. More parallel laser beams can be obtained. Furthermore, by disposing a plurality of the optical blocks at intervals, the heat dissipation of the laser located at the center can be improved. As a result, it is possible to prevent the emission lifetime of the laser located at the central portion from being shortened compared to the laser at other locations.

It is a figure explaining the schematic structure of the image forming apparatus using the non-contact heating apparatus of this invention. It is a figure explaining schematic structure of a non-contact heating device. It is a figure explaining the spread of laser beam light. It is the figure explaining the structure for the structure of a light source block, and an optical axis adjustment. It is the figure explaining the attachment structure in the optical block of a light source block and a step mirror. It is a figure explaining the effect of the step mirror in an optical block. It is a figure explaining the attachment surface of the step mirror in an optical block. It is a figure explaining the opening structure in an optical block. It is a figure explaining multiple attachment of an optical block. It is the perspective view explaining the structure and laser beam path which attach a plurality of optical blocks. It is the top view explaining the structure and laser beam path which attach a plurality of optical blocks.

A non-contact heating apparatus using a scanning multiple exposure laser according to the present invention will be described below.
First, the basic configuration of an image forming apparatus using the non-contact heat fixing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  Since the image forming apparatus 10 is a color image forming apparatus, a developing unit 11 for forming a toner image of each color, and a single color unfixed toner image visualized by the developing unit 11 are superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 27. The four-color unfixed toner images formed on the intermediate transfer belt 27 are transferred onto the paper by the secondary transfer unit 13 and the secondary transfer unit 13 for transferring to the paper. From a non-contact fixing unit (non-contact heating device) 14 for heating and fixing the toner image on the paper by melting the unfixed toner image, a paper feeder 15 and a paper tray 16 for sending the paper to the secondary transfer unit 13 Composed.

Next, the detailed configuration of the developing unit 11 will be described.
The developing unit 11 is based on image information on a photosensitive member 21 for forming a toner image, a charger 22 for charging the photosensitive member 21 to a predetermined potential, and the photosensitive member 21 charged to the predetermined potential. An exposure device 23 for forming an electrostatic latent image, a developing tank 24 for charging and adhering toner to the photosensitive member 21 in order to visualize the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive member 21, and A cleaning unit 25 for removing the toner remaining after the unfixed toner image formed on the photoconductor 21 is transferred from the photoconductor 21, and a static elimination for setting the potential on the photoconductor 21 to 0 V after cleaning. The unit 26 is configured.
The developing unit 11 is arranged with the same configuration as described above for each of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black colors, and forms toner images of the respective colors.

Next, image forming processes in the individual developing units 11 and the image forming apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the image forming apparatus 10 acquires image data from an external device. A drive unit (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 10 rotates the photosensitive member 21 in the direction of the arrow shown in the drawing at a predetermined speed (here, 220 mm / s), and the charger 22 moves the surface of the photosensitive member 21. Charge to a predetermined potential

  In this embodiment, the charger 22 is provided with a wedge-shaped electrode formed by forming a plurality of wedge shapes on a stainless steel plate having a thickness of 0.1 at a position 7 mm away from the surface of the photosensitive member 21, and the wedge-shaped electrode and the photosensitive member. A scorotron charger provided with a grid for controlling the potential of the surface of the photosensitive member 21 is used between the two. A high voltage of −3 to −8 KV is applied to the wedge-shaped electrode from a high-voltage power supply (not shown), thereby generating an unequal electric field at the tip of the wedge-shaped electrode, and the avalanche of air discharge generated in the photoconductor 21. Can be charged. The surface potential of the photosensitive member 21 is adjusted to a predetermined potential by changing the voltage of a power source applied to a grid (not shown) installed between the wedge-shaped electrode and the photosensitive member 21 (a scorotron charger). ). In this embodiment, it is uniformly charged to -620V.

  Next, in the exposure device 23 that forms an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the print image on the surface of the photoconductor 21 charged to a predetermined potential, a laser beam is applied in the direction of the rotation axis of the photoconductor 21 according to the image pattern to be printed. Irradiation is performed according to the image by a scanning device (not shown) to form an electrostatic latent image.

  Further, the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive member 21 is statically moved by being brought into sliding contact with a developer tank 24 in which a developer in which magnetic powder called a carrier and a toner are mixed is rotated and conveyed by a magnetic brush. Toner adheres on the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image.

  The toner image formed on the photoreceptor 21 as described above is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 27 by an applied electric field supplied from a high voltage power supply (not shown) in the primary transfer unit 12 that is next in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 27. Is done. Such a transfer operation is sequentially performed on the development units 11 of the respective colors, so that a four-color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 27.

  Next, the transfer paper is conveyed from the paper tray 16 to the secondary transfer unit 13, and the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 27 is transferred with a voltage supplied from a high voltage power source (not shown), and the toner image is transferred and formed on the paper. Is done.

  The paper on which the toner image has been transferred is sent to a non-contact fixing unit (non-contact heating device) 14 where the toner part is heated and melted by being irradiated with infrared rays, and melted and fixed on the paper to obtain a stable image. Can do.

Next, the basic configuration of the non-contact heating apparatus 14 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
The non-contact heating device 14 includes a laser unit 30 and a paper transport unit 35.
As the light source (light emitting unit 31) of the non-contact heating device 14, a plurality of infrared laser elements having a wavelength of 880 nm and an optical output of 20 W are combined to give a total output of 300 W. The laser element is connected to a laser driving circuit that is driven individually or in series (not shown). Infrared light emitted from the laser element (light emitting unit) 31 is diffused at a predetermined angle as it is, so it passes through a collimating lens 32 made of synthetic glass for making parallel light, and the light intensity distribution of the condensing unit is rectangular. After passing through a homogenizer (not shown) for becoming, the light enters the polygon mirror 33, passes through the Fθ lens (condensing lens) 34, and is condensed at the focal position a set as the paper passage position. It is comprised so that.

  The paper transport unit 35 for transporting the paper to the focal position “a” includes a paper transport belt 38 suspended from a pressure roller 36 and a tension roller 37. The paper on which the toner is heated at the focal position a is conveyed while being sandwiched between the positioning roller 28 and the pressure roller 36, and the toner surface is smoothed. The positioning roller 28 has a structure having an elastic layer and a surface coat layer on at least the surface of the core material in order to smooth the surface of the toner heated in a non-contact manner with a laser. In this example, a silicon rubber having a thickness of 0.2 mm was coated on a stainless steel core having a diameter of 18 mm, and then a PFA (polytetrafluoroethylene) tube having a thickness of 30 μm was coated.

  For the collimating lens 32 and the condensing lens 34, not only synthetic glass but also quartz glass or silicon resin may be used. In order to prevent loss due to reflection, surface coating treatment may be performed.

  A non-contact heating apparatus when a semiconductor laser is used as the light source will be described in detail.

  Since the light emitting portion 31 of the semiconductor laser has a large beam divergence angle from the light emitting point (see FIG. 3), the collimating lens is installed in the vicinity of the light emitting point to make the beam once parallel light and then condensed by the condenser lens. It is common to use a structure that

  In this structure, uniform parallel light cannot be obtained unless the light emitting point of the laser element is accurately positioned at the focal position of the collimating lens. Therefore, it is necessary to manage the light emitting point of the laser element and the position of the collimating lens with high precision. is there. On the other hand, the shape of the light emitting part 31 of a general semiconductor laser is rectangular, and the aspect ratio (aspect ratio) is about 1 μm in the height direction and several μm to several hundreds μm in the width direction. In addition, the beam divergence angle (the divergence angle α in the height direction and the divergence angle β in the width direction) and the light emission position are also greatly different in the height direction and the width direction. In particular, since the spread angle α in the height direction is as large as ± 25 degrees or more, it is necessary to make the distance between the collimating lens and the light emitting point as close as possible to allow all light to enter the collimating lens without loss (optical axis adjustment). There is. Further, if the position of the light emitting unit 31 is slightly deviated from the focal position of the lens, parallel light cannot be formed. Therefore, there is a problem that it is necessary to manage the collimating lens and the laser emission position on the order of microns. This is more noticeable when multiple lasers are used to increase the output. In this case, the optical axes must be adjusted by the number of lasers, and all of the laser beams must be aligned in parallel. It will be a laborious work.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the laser element 31 and the collimating lens 32 have a one-block configuration. The light source block 40 includes a laser element (light emitting portion) 31, a collimating lens 32, a base member 42 for attaching the laser element 31 and the collimating lens 32, a laser holding member 45, and a fixing screw 46 for fixing the laser holding member 45 to the base member 42. A laser position adjusting member 47 for adjusting the mounting angle by adjusting the position of the laser element 31, a collimating lens holding member 48 for attaching the collimating lens 32 to the base member 42, and the outer periphery of the collimating lens holding member 48 are It is comprised from the screw part 49 provided in the inner periphery.

  The light source block 40 is attached to the optical axis adjustment table 41 so that the reference surface 41a, which is the vertical surface of the optical axis adjustment table (optical axis adjustment jig) 41, faces the reference surface 42a of the base member 42, and optical axis adjustment is performed. Do. The reference surfaces 41a and 42a are formed with a predetermined plane accuracy. A beam profiler 50 for measuring a beam profile that is an intensity distribution of the laser beam is installed at the irradiation destination of the laser beam, and the optical axis is adjusted according to the measurement result.

Next, problems when using a semiconductor laser as a light source will be described.
The beam of the semiconductor laser has a divergence angle as shown in FIG. Therefore, in order to obtain parallel light, it is necessary to install a collimating lens. However, since a semiconductor laser has a large divergence angle of emitted light, there is a restriction that uniform parallel light cannot be obtained unless it is arranged so that the light emitting point of the laser element comes to the focal position of the collimating lens. In particular, the shape of the light emitting part 31 of the semiconductor laser is rectangular, and the aspect ratio (aspect ratio) is about 1 μm in general height direction, several μm in width direction to several hundred μm in high output type. Is very large and the beam divergence angle (height direction divergence angle α and width direction divergence angle β) and the emission position are also very different (astigmatic difference) in both directions (height direction and width direction). If the position of the portion 31 is slightly deviated from the focal position of the lens, parallel light cannot be formed. Therefore, there is a problem that it is necessary to manage the position of the collimating lens and the laser emission position on the order of microns. In particular, when using a plurality of lasers in order to increase the output, it is necessary to adjust the optical axes by the number of lasers, which is very laborious and time consuming, and there is a limit to increasing the output.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the laser element (light emitting section) 31 and the collimating lens 32 are configured as one block. The light source block 40 includes a laser element (light emitting portion) 31, a collimating lens 32, a base member 42 for attaching the laser element 31 and the collimating lens 32, a laser holding member 45, and a fixing screw 46 for fixing the laser holding member 45 to the base member 42. A laser position adjusting member 47 for adjusting the mounting angle by adjusting the position of the laser element 31, a collimating lens holding member 48 for attaching the collimating lens 32 to the base member 42, and the outer periphery of the collimating lens holding member 48 are It is comprised from the screw part 49 provided in the inner periphery.

  The light source block 40 is attached to the optical axis adjustment table 41 so that the reference surface 41a, which is the vertical surface of the optical axis adjustment table (optical axis adjustment jig) 41, faces the reference surface 42a of the base member 42, and optical axis adjustment is performed. Do. The reference surfaces 41a and 42a are formed with a predetermined plane accuracy. A beam profiler 50 for measuring a beam profile that is an intensity distribution of the laser beam is installed at the irradiation destination of the laser beam, and the optical axis is adjusted according to the measurement result.

  The light source block 40 is provided with a reference plane 42a having a predetermined plane accuracy, and the laser element 31 and the collimating lens 32 can be installed at predetermined positions from the reference plane 42a. Thus, a structure is adopted in which the main body side mounting reference surface with a predetermined planar accuracy is brought into contact with and engaged. Thus, even if the light source block 40 adjusted by the optical axis adjusting jig 41 different from the main body is attached to the main body of the heating device 14 (FIG. 10: described later in detail), the optical axis is reproduced and is fine. It is possible to obtain high-quality parallel light without requiring any adjustment work.

  In particular, the reference surface 42a of the mounting portion of the light source block 40, the reference surface of the mounting portion of the optical block for mounting the light source block 40 to the heating device 14 (described in detail later), the light source block 40 is mounted and the When the light source block 40 is attached to the main body by setting the plane accuracy of the reference surface 41a of the attachment portion of the optical axis adjustment jig 41 of the light source block 40 for adjusting the optical axis to 2 μm or less, the optical axis adjustment jig The light output angle and the parallel light flux size adjusted in 41 can be reproduced, and the adjustment work of the main body optical system can be greatly reduced.

  In addition, by setting the plane accuracy of the mounting surfaces of the light source block 40 and the optical block 60 to 2 μm or less, a plurality of laser beams can be condensed with high accuracy even in a document scanning optical system having a focal length of 150 mm or more. As a result, the original can be irradiated with a high W density laser beam.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the mounting structure of the light source block and the step mirror in the optical block, and FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the effect of the step mirror in the optical block.
The optical block 60 includes a base member 51, a light source block 40 attached to the base member 51, and a step mirror 71. As will be described in detail later, a folding mirror is further attached.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of light source blocks 40 are arranged and attached to the light source block attachment reference surface 62 of the base member 61. The light source block mounting reference surface 62 of the base member 61 of the optical block 60 has the same plane accuracy as the reference surface 42a of the light source block 40 and the light source block mounting surface 41a of the optical axis adjusting jig 41 of the light source block 40. The light source block 40 is engaged with the optical block 60 by bringing the mounting surface (reference surface 42 a) of the light source block 40 into contact with the mounting reference surface 62 of the optical block 60. In this way, by configuring so that a plurality of light source blocks can be arranged on each mounting surface with a predetermined plane accuracy, the optical axis of the laser beam is reproduced even after the light source block 40 whose optical axis has been adjusted is mounted on the optical block 60. Therefore, even in an optical system that condenses multiple beams, it is possible to easily obtain parallel light with good quality and orientation, and it is not necessary to perform fine adjustment work during assembly, so work efficiency It becomes possible to increase the power and heat can be efficiently performed with higher output.

  Next, the step mirror 71 installed in the optical block 60 will be described. The step mirror 71 is installed at intervals so as to narrow the pitch of the plurality of laser beams as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the light emitted from the laser elements of the light source block 40 installed at a pitch of 20 mm is folded back by the step mirror 71 and installed at a pitch of 10 mm. In particular, in order to narrow the pitch while maintaining the parallelism of a plurality of laser beams, each step mirror 71 needs to be installed with high accuracy. However, as in this embodiment, a mirror installation surface (mirror mounting surface) 73 is used. Is installed on the outer peripheral surface of the base member 61 of the optical block 60 (shaded portion in FIG. 7), which facilitates processing and accuracy measurement, and can be realized. And since the pitch of each laser beam can be narrowed while maintaining parallelism, the diameter of the condenser lens for expensive high-power laser can be reduced, so high output and miniaturization of the condenser lens, Cost reduction is possible. In addition, the work to attach the step mirror to the optical block can be performed while checking the optical axis on an adjustment jig different from the main body of the heating device, improving the efficiency of heating device assembly work and managing the parallelism of multiple laser beams. It becomes possible.

  Furthermore, by making one side surface of the base member 61 of the optical block 60 into an opening structure as shown by the hatched portion 65 in FIG. 8, the base member 61 of the optical block 60 can be integrally formed by a die casting method or the like. High-precision accuracy control can be performed with a strong metal member.

  Also, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, an attachment portion for attaching the optical block 60 to the main body is formed on the same surface as the surface 62 to which the light source block 40 of the optical block 60 is attached, and has a predetermined plane accuracy. It is set as the structure attached to the attachment member 75 of the main body side which has the attachment surface 76 of this. The mounting surface 62 and the mounting surface 76 are brought into contact with each other, and the optical block 60 is engaged with the mounting member 75. Thus, when the optical block 60 is attached to the main body, the optical axis adjusted by the optical axis adjusting jig can be easily reproduced, and the optical block 60 can be attached to the main body with high accuracy. Since adjustment is not necessary, the assembly work time can be shortened, and the optical axis adjustment work when incorporating a light source having an optical system into the main body can be greatly reduced.

  Further, in this embodiment, in order to change the direction of the laser beam folded by the step mirror 71, the mounting surface of the folding mirror 72 and the laser beam of another optical block are passed through the base member 61 of the optical block 60. An opening 64 is provided. The mounting surface of the folding mirror 72 is also integrally formed so as to have the predetermined planar accuracy. By doing so, the work of attaching the folding mirror 72 to the optical block 60 can be performed while checking the optical axis on an adjustment jig different from the heating device main body, improving the heating device assembly work efficiency and increasing the number of laser beams. Parallelism management can be performed. As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, laser light emitted from a plurality of light source blocks 40 arranged on a straight line is reflected in parallel by the step mirror 71 with a pitch narrowed in the Z direction. Further, the light is reflected by the folding mirror 72 in a right angle direction. A plurality of optical blocks 60 are arranged in parallel, and the laser constraints reflected by the folding mirror 72 pass through the opening 64 and are output in parallel arranged in the X direction. A laser beam can be obtained.

  Furthermore, by adopting this configuration, the plurality of optical blocks 60 can be installed at intervals as shown in the figure, and the heat dissipation of the laser located in the center can be improved. As a result, it is possible to prevent the emission lifetime of the laser located at the central portion from becoming shorter than that of the laser at other locations. In other words, the heat generation efficiency decreases when the laser becomes hot, and damage occurs when it becomes severe. Since the laser element itself generates heat during light emission, the light emission life is shortened unless the laser arranged at the center is cooled at the same level as the laser arranged at the end, but this can be prevented.

  As described above, the light source block, the optical block, and the main body mounting portion are divided into three parts as in the present configuration, and each mounting surface is formed on the same surface, so that a plurality of parallelisms can be obtained. A uniform laser beam can be easily formed, and high-power and efficient heating can be performed.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and the design and the like within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention are also claimed. Included in the range.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 11 Developing unit 12 Primary transfer unit 13 Secondary transfer unit 14 Non-contact heating device 15 Paper feeding device 16 Paper tray 21 Photoconductor 22 Charger 23 Exposure device 24 Developing tank 25 Cleaning unit 26 Static elimination unit 27 Intermediate transfer Belt 28 Positioning roller 31 Laser element (light emitting part)
32 Collimating lens 33 Polygon mirror 34 Fθ lens (Condensing lens)
35 Paper transport unit 36 Pressure roller 37 Tension roller 38 Paper transport belt 40 Basic light source block 41 Optical axis adjustment base 41a Reference surface 42 Base member 42a Reference surface 43 Positioning pin 45 Laser holding member 46 Fixing screw 47 Laser position adjustment member 48 Collimator Lens holding member 49 Screw portion 50 Beam profiler 60 Optical block 61 Base member 62 Mounting reference surface 63 Mirror installation surface (mounting reference surface)
64 Opening 65 One side surface 71 of opening structure Step mirror 72 Folding mirror 75 Mounting member 76 Mounting surface

Claims (8)

In a non-contact heating apparatus that has at least two laser elements, and heats and melts the toner directly by condensing and irradiating light from the laser elements to the toner portion,
An optical block having a light source block including at least the laser element, a collimating lens, and a holding member having an optical axis adjustment mechanism, and a step mirror which is a step-like reflection mirror for narrowing the pitch of a plurality of laser beams; ,
The non-contact heating apparatus, wherein the optical block and the light source block have mutual mounting surfaces with predetermined plane accuracy and are in contact with each other and are in contact with each other. The non-contact heating apparatus according to claim 1,
An attachment member for attaching the optical block to the non-contact heating device body;
The non-contact heating device, wherein the optical block and the mounting member are engaged with each other by mounting the mounting surfaces of the optical block and the mounting member in contact with each other. In the non-contact heating apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The non-contact heating apparatus, wherein the optical block is integrally formed so that a mounting surface of the step mirror has the predetermined plane accuracy. In the non-contact heating apparatus in any one of Claims 1-3,
The optical block is
A folding mirror for changing the direction of the parallel laser light reflected by the step mirror is attached,
A non-contact heating apparatus, wherein the mounting surface of the folding mirror and the mounting surface of the optical block are integrally formed so as to have the predetermined plane accuracy. In the non-contact heating apparatus in any one of Claims 1-4,
The non-contact heating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical block has an outer peripheral surface on which the light source block, the step mirror, the folding mirror, and the attachment member are attached. In the non-contact heating apparatus in any one of Claims 1-5,
The non-contact heating device, wherein one side of the optical block has an opening structure. In the non-contact heating apparatus in any one of Claims 1-6,
A plurality of the optical blocks are attached to an attachment portion of a non-contact heating device at a predetermined interval, and an opening for passing a laser beam from another optical block is formed in the optical block. Heating device.   An image forming apparatus using the non-contact heating device according to claim 1.

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