JP4508996B2 - Optical unit, image forming apparatus, and optical component unit fixing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical unit, an image forming apparatus, and an optical component unit fixing method. More specifically, for example, an optical scanning apparatus used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile. The present invention relates to an optical unit, an image forming apparatus including the optical unit, and a method of fixing an optical component unit in the optical unit.

  Image forming apparatuses such as digital copying machines, laser printers, and facsimiles have become widespread. In such an image forming apparatus, an optical scanning device that scans a laser beam is used. When an image is formed by an image forming apparatus, the photosensitive member is charged by a charging device, and then writing is performed according to image information by an optical scanning device to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member. Then, the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor is visualized with toner supplied from the developing device. The toner image visualized on the photosensitive member is transferred onto a recording sheet by a transfer device, and further fixed on the recording sheet by a fixing device, whereby a desired image can be obtained.

  In color image forming apparatuses such as digital copying machines and laser printers, a tandem system in which a plurality of photoconductors are arranged in tandem has been put into practical use as the speed thereof increases. Here, for example, four photosensitive drums are arranged in the conveyance direction of the recording paper, and these photosensitive members are simultaneously exposed by a scanning optical system corresponding to each of these photosensitive drums to form a latent image. The image is developed with a developing device using developers of different colors such as yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. Then, these visualized toner images are sequentially superimposed and transferred onto the same recording paper to obtain a color image.

  The tandem method in which a plurality of photosensitive drums are exposed simultaneously is advantageous for high-speed printing because both color and monochrome can be output at the same speed as compared with a method in which an image for each color is sequentially formed on one photosensitive drum. On the other hand, a scanning optical system corresponding to a plurality of photoconductors is required, and an apparatus for exposing the photoconductor tends to be large, and downsizing becomes a problem. Another problem is that color misregistration does not occur when a toner image visualized on each photoconductor is transferred onto a recording sheet.

  Regarding the tandem image forming apparatus as described above, for example, in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, a wedge-shaped prism disposed in an optical path from a light source device to a deflecting unit, and the wedge-shaped prism are substantially included. Write start position correction means that makes the position of the beam spot in the sub-scanning direction variable by adjusting the rotation around the optical axis so that the position of the beam spot on the photosensitive drum can be controlled during the writing of image data. An optical scanning device is disclosed. In this case, even during continuous printing, it is possible to effectively correct the relative color misregistration between the colors and output a good color image with little color misregistration.

  Patent Document 3 discloses a light source, an apparatus for branching light emitted from the light source into four lights, an adjustment apparatus for driving the second lens on a plane whose normal is the optical axis, A diffraction grating that diffracts and interferes with the condensed light from the first and second lenses, a fine movement stage that drives the diffraction grating in a direction including a component perpendicular to the groove direction within the grating plane, and an objective lens A four-interference image observation system configured by an imaging lens and a CCD camera for observing the interference light, and processing one of the four interference images to eliminate one of the aberrations having sensitivity to the decenter of the second lens. Lens adjustment that enables adjustment with high accuracy even for lenses with small NA by having a processing device to detect and a control device that detects the adjustment amount from the detected aberration and drives the adjustment device Device disclosed That.

  Patent Document 4 includes an optical deflecting device that deflects light in a predetermined direction, a plurality of laser elements, a glass lens, and a plastic lens, and the cross-sectional shape of light emitted from each laser element is a predetermined shape. Scanning optical system comprising: a pre-deflection optical system that converts the light into an optical system; and a post-deflection optical system that includes two lenses that image each of the light deflected by the light deflecting device at a constant speed on a predetermined image plane. Is disclosed. The powers of the two lenses of the deflection optical system are respectively defined positively with respect to the direction orthogonal to the rotation axis of the reflection surface of the optical deflection apparatus. Further, at least one lens surface of each lens is formed into a lens that does not include a rotationally symmetric surface. As a result, it is possible to provide an optical scanning device suitable for an image forming apparatus that can provide a color image without color misregistration at a low cost.

  The conventional optical scanning apparatus including the optical scanning apparatus as described above is configured such that an incident base unit obtained by unitizing optical components upstream of a polygon mirror such as a laser diode is fixed to an optical scanning apparatus casing. When the incident base unit is attached to the optical scanning device casing, it is affected by the relative warping of the parts, or the warpage caused by the difference in the thermal expansion coefficient between the optical scanning device casing and the incident base unit. In order not to occur, the fluctuation of the warp was allowed by pressing and fixing three locations other than the positioning location by the positioning pin with a coil spring.

In addition, when the optical scanning device is configured to be detachable in the image forming apparatus, there is also disclosed a fixing method in which fixing is performed by a pressing force by an elastic member and positioning by a fitting pin in order to improve the installation accuracy ( For example, see Patent Document 5).
JP 2004-109700 A JP 2004-109699 A JP 2004-233638 A JP 2002-90675 A JP 2003-131159 A

  However, an external force may be applied from the harness to the incident base unit when the harness connected to the incident base unit is pulled when the harness is fixed or the harness is pushed by another component. In such a case, if the conventional structure allows the movement of the incident base unit by pressing and fixing as described above, the position of the incident base unit in the optical scanning device fluctuates and the focal position of the laser shifts. Cause problems.

  Further, such a problem is not only an optical scanning device including the incident base unit including the optical component on a substrate, but also an optical unit including an optical component unit on which an optical component including a light emitting unit is mounted. Generally occurs. That is, when the light emitted by the light emitting means is output to another substrate in the optical unit, the external force applied by the light emitting means or a harness connected to another optical component causes the light in the optical component unit or There arises a problem that light input to other units is shifted. And in the prior art including patent documents 1-5, no proposal is made | formed about the fixation which considered harness fixation.

The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances as described above, and when mounting an optical component unit on which an optical component including a light emitting means is mounted on a housing, an external force from a harness connected to the light emitting means is used. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical unit capable of suppressing adverse effects, an image forming apparatus including the optical unit, and a method for fixing an optical component unit in the optical unit.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a first technical means of the present invention is an optical unit including an optical component unit on which an optical component including a light emitting means is mounted, and is connected to the light emitting means and the light elastic harness for signal transmission between the external emitting means, a first fixing member comprising a substrate of the optical component unit with screws that secure the housing of the optical unit, the substrate of the optical component unit to the housing And a third fixing member for fixing the harness to the substrate of the optical component unit. The fixing position by the first fixing member is more than the fixing position by the second fixing member. It is characterized by being in the vicinity of the fixing position by the third fixing member.

A second technical means includes, in the first technical means, positioning means for determining a position of the substrate of the optical component unit with respect to the housing, and the positioning means includes the first fixing on the substrate of the optical component unit. Positioning is performed in the vicinity of the fixed position by the member.

A third technical means includes, in the first technical means, positioning means for determining a position of the substrate of the optical component unit with respect to the housing, and the positioning means includes the first fixing on the substrate of the optical component unit. It is characterized by positioning at the center of the fixed position by the member.

According to a fourth technical means, in the second or third technical means, the positioning means is a line in which the optical axis of the light beam emitted by the light emitting means is lowered vertically on the substrate of the optical component unit. above, the position on the substrate of the optical component unit, in which characterized in that it is provided.

According to a fifth technical means, in any one of the second to fourth technical means, the optical axis of the light beam emitted from the light emitting means is vertically lowered on the substrate of the optical component unit . , a position on the substrate of the optical component unit, in which the substrate of the optical component unit is characterized by including a positioning relief means and movable in the optical axis direction with respect to the housing.

  According to a sixth technical means, in any one of the first to fifth technical means, the second fixing member includes two fixing members for fixing at two positions.

  According to a seventh technical means, in any one of the first to sixth technical means, the optical unit is an optical scanning device.

  The eighth technical means includes the optical unit of the seventh technical means and a photoconductor, and forms a latent image on the photoconductor by the optical unit, and visualizes the latent image to form an image. An image forming apparatus characterized in that the image forming apparatus performs the operation.

A ninth technical means is a method for fixing the optical component unit in an optical unit including an optical component unit on which an optical component including a light emitting means is mounted, wherein a substrate of the optical component unit is attached to a housing of the optical unit. A step of fixing to the body with a first fixing member made of a screw, a step of elastically pressing and fixing the substrate of the optical component unit to the housing by a second fixing member, and the light output means connected to the light A step of fixing a harness for transmitting a signal to the outside of the emitting means to a substrate of the optical component unit by a third fixing member, wherein the fixing position by the first fixing member is a fixing position by the second fixing member. Further, it is characterized by being in the vicinity of the fixing position by the third fixing member.

According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress an adverse effect due to an external force from a harness connected to a light emitting unit when an optical component unit including an optical component including a light emitting unit is mounted on the optical unit.

  The present invention will be described below by taking, as an example, an optical scanning device provided with the above-described incident base unit provided with an optical component such as a laser diode on a substrate, and an image forming apparatus provided with the optical scanning device. The present invention can be similarly applied to an optical unit (also referred to as an optical device) including an optical component unit on which an optical component including a light emitting unit is mounted. According to the present invention, even when the light emitted by the light emitting means is output to another substrate in the optical unit, an external force is applied to the optical component (particularly the light emitting means) by the harness connected to the optical component. Therefore, the light input to the other optical components in the optical component unit and the light input to the other optical component units are not shifted.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming apparatus in which the optical scanning device of the present invention is used. The image forming apparatus forms multicolor and single color images on a predetermined sheet (recording paper) in accordance with image data transmitted from the outside. As shown in the figure, the exposure unit 1, the developing device 2, the photosensitive drum 3 (3 (K), 3 (C), 3 (M), 3 (Y)), the cleaner unit 4, the charger 5, the middle The image forming apparatus includes a transfer belt unit 6, a fixing unit 7, a paper feed cassette 8, a paper discharge tray 9, a document reading device (scanner unit) 13, and the like. The image forming apparatus can form an image of document image information read by the scanner of the document reading device 13 on a medium such as a sheet. In addition, image information input from an external device or the like connected to the image forming apparatus can be formed.

  Note that image data handled in the image forming apparatus corresponds to a color image using each color of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y). Accordingly, four developing devices 2, photosensitive drums 3, charging devices 5, and cleaner units 4 are provided to form four types of latent images corresponding to the respective colors, and are respectively provided in black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. These are set to form four image stations.

  In the present embodiment, among the photosensitive drums 3 corresponding to black, cyan, magenta, and yellow, the photosensitive drum 3 (K) corresponding to black is the other photosensitive drum 3 (3 (C), 3 (M), 3 (Y)) and a larger diameter (for example, twice the diameter). By increasing the diameter of only the black photosensitive drum 3 (K), it is possible to speed up the monochrome image formation that is frequently used, and to make the replacement cycles of the photosensitive drums having different usage frequencies equivalent. This makes it possible to rationally use the photoconductors for the respective colors. The present invention is more effective for an image forming apparatus that requires such highly accurate optical scanning.

  In this embodiment, an example in which a latent image is formed while scanning one light beam for each of the photosensitive drums 3 corresponding to black, cyan, magenta, and yellow will be described. The two-beam method (two rows are used to simultaneously perform main scanning in two rows) is applied only to the exposure beam for the photosensitive drum 3 (K) for use, and a configuration for increasing the speed of black is also adopted. Can do.

  Further, in the case where only the black photosensitive drum 3 (K) is enlarged as described above, in order to accurately execute “phase control” when all the photosensitive members for each color are used during color image formation. The diameter of the black photoreceptor is preferably an integral multiple of the diameter of the photoreceptor drums 3 (C), 3 (M), and 3 (Y) for the other colors (yellow, magenta, cyan).

  In this embodiment, the angle formed by the optical axis of the light beam that scans each photosensitive drum 3 and the tangent to the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 at the intersection of the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 and the optical axis of the light beam. Are set to be equal to each other in the plurality of photosensitive drums 3.

  The charger 5 is a charging means for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 to a predetermined potential. As shown in FIG. 1, in addition to a contact type roller type or brush type charger, a charger type charging unit is used. A vessel may be used.

  The exposure unit 1 corresponds to an optical scanning apparatus according to the present invention, and is configured as a laser scanning unit (LSU) including a laser irradiation unit and a reflection mirror as shown in FIG. The exposure unit 1 includes a polygon mirror 201 that scans a laser beam, and optical elements such as a lens and a mirror for guiding the light beam reflected by the polygon mirror 201 to the photosensitive drum 3. The configuration of the optical scanning device constituting the exposure unit 1 will be specifically described later. In addition, the exposure unit 1 may use a method such as an EL or LED writing head in which other light emitting elements are arranged in an array.

  The exposure unit 1 has a function of forming an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image data on the surface thereof by exposing the charged photosensitive drum 3 according to the input image data. The developing unit 2 visualizes the electrostatic latent images formed on the respective photosensitive drums 3 with toner of four colors (YMCK). The cleaner unit 4 removes and collects toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 after development and image transfer.

  The intermediate transfer belt unit 6 disposed above the photosensitive drum 3 includes an intermediate transfer belt 61, an intermediate transfer belt driving roller 62, an intermediate transfer belt driven roller 63, an intermediate transfer belt cleaning unit 64, and the like.

  The intermediate transfer belt driving roller 62 and the intermediate transfer belt driven roller 63 stretch the intermediate transfer belt 61 and rotate it in the direction of arrow M. The intermediate transfer belt 61 is provided in contact with each photosensitive drum 3. A function of forming a color toner image (multicolor toner image) on the intermediate transfer belt 61 by sequentially superimposing and transferring the toner images of the respective colors formed on the photosensitive drum 3 onto the intermediate transfer belt 61. have. The intermediate transfer belt 61 is formed endlessly using a film having a thickness of about 100 μm to 150 μm. In addition, a toner box for each color is provided above the intermediate transfer belt 61, and toner is supplied to the photosensitive drum 3.

  The toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum 3 to the intermediate transfer belt 61 by an intermediate transfer roller (not shown) that is in contact with the back side of the intermediate transfer belt 61. A high voltage transfer bias (a high voltage having a polarity (+) opposite to the toner charging polarity (−)) is applied to the intermediate transfer roller in order to transfer the toner image. The intermediate transfer roller is a roller whose base is a metal (for example, stainless steel) shaft having a diameter of 8 to 10 mm and whose surface is covered with a conductive elastic material (for example, EPDM, urethane foam, or the like). With this conductive elastic material, a high voltage can be uniformly applied to the intermediate transfer belt 61. In this embodiment, a roller shape is used as the transfer electrode, but a brush or the like can also be used.

  As described above, the electrostatic images visualized according to the hues on the photosensitive drums 3 are stacked on the intermediate transfer belt 61. As described above, the laminated image information is transferred onto the sheet by the transfer roller 10 disposed at a contact position between the sheet and the intermediate transfer belt 61 described later by the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 61.

  At this time, the intermediate transfer belt 61 and the transfer roller 10 are pressed against each other at a predetermined nip, and a voltage for transferring the toner onto the sheet is applied to the transfer roller 10 (the polarity opposite to the toner charging polarity (−)). (+) High voltage). Further, in order to obtain the nip constantly, the transfer roller 10 uses either the transfer roller 10 or the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 62 as a hard material (metal or the like) and the other as a soft material (elasticity such as an elastic roller). A rubber roller, a foaming resin roller, or the like) is used.

  Further, as described above, the toner adhered to the intermediate transfer belt 61 by contacting the photosensitive drum 3 or the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 61 without being transferred onto the sheet by the transfer roller 10 is used in the next step. Therefore, the intermediate transfer belt cleaning unit 64 is configured to remove and collect the toner. The intermediate transfer belt cleaning unit 64 includes a cleaning blade as a cleaning member that comes into contact with the intermediate transfer belt 61. The intermediate transfer belt 61 that comes into contact with the cleaning blade is supported by an intermediate transfer belt driven roller 63 from the back side. ing. The waste toner that is no longer needed is stored in the waste toner box 15.

  The paper feed cassettes 8 (8a, 8b, 8c, 8d) are trays for storing sheets (recording paper) used for image formation, and are provided in a plurality below the exposure unit 1 of the image forming apparatus. ing. A paper discharge tray 9 provided at the upper part of the image forming apparatus is a tray for collecting printed sheets face down.

  Further, the image forming apparatus is provided with a sheet conveyance path S1 for sending the sheet of the sheet feeding cassette 8 to the sheet discharge tray 9 via the transfer roller 10 and the fixing unit 7. A pickup roller 11, a registration roller 12, a transfer roller 10, a fixing unit 7, and the like are disposed in the vicinity of the sheet conveyance path S 1 from the sheet feeding cassette 8 to the sheet discharge tray 9.

  The pickup roller 11 is provided in the vicinity of the end of the paper feed cassette 8 and picks up sheets one by one from the paper feed cassette 8 and supplies them to the paper transport path S1. The registration roller 12 temporarily holds the sheet being conveyed on the sheet conveyance path S1. The sheet has a function of conveying the sheet to the transfer roller 10 at the timing when the leading edge of the toner image on the photosensitive drum 3 and the leading edge of the sheet are aligned.

  The fixing unit 7 includes a heat roller 71 and a pressure roller 72, and the heat roller 71 and the pressure roller 72 rotate with the sheet interposed therebetween. The heat roller 71 is set to have a predetermined fixing temperature by a control unit based on a signal from a temperature detector (not shown), and the pressure roller 72 and the toner are thermocompression-bonded to the sheet. The multi-color toner image transferred onto the sheet is melted, mixed and pressed, and thermally fixed to the sheet.

  Next, the sheet conveyance path will be described. As described above, the image forming apparatus is provided with a plurality of paper feed cassettes 8 (8a, 8b, 8c, 8d) that store sheets in advance. In order to feed sheets from the sheet feeding cassette 8, pickup rollers 11 are arranged to guide the sheets one by one to the sheet transport path S1.

  The sheet conveyed from the sheet feeding cassette 8 is conveyed to the registration roller 12 and is conveyed to the transfer roller 10 at a timing when the leading edge of the sheet and the leading edge of the image information on the intermediate transfer belt 61 are aligned. Written. Thereafter, the sheet passes through the fixing unit 7, whereby unfixed toner on the sheet is melted and fixed by heat and discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 9.

  The above-mentioned conveyance path is for a single-sided printing request for a sheet. On the other hand, when a double-sided printing request is made, the sheet that has finished single-sided printing and has passed through the fixing unit 7 as described above is reversed. The sheet is conveyed to the conveyance path S <b> 2, and after printing is performed on the back surface of the sheet through the registration roller 12, the sheet is discharged to the sheet discharge tray 9.

Next, an embodiment of an optical scanning device to which the present invention is applied will be specifically described.
The optical scanning device of this embodiment has a plurality of photosensitive drums 3 as described above, and each photosensitive drum 3 is simultaneously scanned and exposed by a plurality of light beams, and each photosensitive drum 3 has a different color. The present invention can be applied to a tandem type image forming apparatus that forms a color image by forming an image (latent image) and superimposing each color image on the same transfer medium to visualize the image.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum for black (K) image formation, a photosensitive drum for cyan (C) image formation, a photosensitive drum for magenta (M) image formation, and yellow (Y ) Photosensitive drums for image formation are arranged at substantially equal intervals. The tandem image forming apparatus forms images of the respective colors at the same time, so that the time required for forming a color image can be greatly shortened. In this example, the photosensitive drum for forming a black (K) image has a diameter twice that of the photosensitive drum for forming an image of another color. The image forming speed during image formation can be improved. Hereinafter, black, cyan, magenta, and yellow are represented by K, C, M, and Y, respectively.

  The optical scanning device according to the present invention for exposing the photosensitive drum 3 includes a unitary primary optical system (incident optical system) and a secondary optical system (exit optical system). The primary optical system includes four semiconductor lasers that respectively emit YMCK light beams, and optical elements such as mirrors and lenses that guide these light beams to the polygon mirror 201 (rotating polygon mirror) of the secondary optical system. This corresponds to the optical component unit according to the present invention. The secondary optical system includes the polygon mirror 201 that scans a laser beam on the photosensitive drum 3 that is a scanning target, and a lens that guides the light beam reflected by the polygon mirror 201 to the photosensitive drum 3. An optical element such as a mirror, a BD sensor that detects a light beam, and the like are provided. Further, the polygon mirror 201 employs a configuration shared by each color.

  FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a configuration example of the primary optical system unit of the optical scanning device of the present invention. 3 to 7 are diagrams showing a configuration example of the optical scanning device, FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the optical scanning device, FIG. 4 is a view of the optical scanning device viewed from above, and FIG. 5 is an optical scanning device. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the optical scanning device viewed obliquely from above, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the optical scanning device viewed obliquely from below. FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the primary optical system unit in the optical scanning device of FIG. 3 to 8 show a state in which the covers attached to the upper and lower surfaces of the optical scanning device are removed.

2 to 8, 100 is a primary optical system unit, 101 is a laser diode, 102 is a collimator lens, 103 is an aperture, 104 is a laser drive substrate, 105 is a laser holder, 106 is a lens holder, 107 is a lens barrel, 110 is a first mirror, 111 is a second mirror, 112 is a cylindrical lens, 113 is a third mirror, 120 is a substrate on which optical elements of the primary optical system are arranged, 200 is a secondary optical system unit, and 201 is a polygon mirror , 202 is a first fθ lens, 203 is a second fθ lens, 204 is a mirror for K, 205 is a first mirror for C, 206 is a second mirror for C, 207 is a third mirror for C, and 208 is a first mirror for M. , 209 is a second mirror for M, 210 is a first mirror for Y, 211 is a second mirror for Y, 212 is a third mirror for Y, and 220 is for each color. Cylindrical lenses, 221a and 221b are fixing shafts, 222 is an installation position of the primary optical system unit, 223 is a frame for holding the cylindrical lens, 224 is a side wall constituting the casing, 225 is an intermediate wall constituting the casing, 226 is an opening provided in the intermediate wall, 227 is a polygon motor, 301 is a positioning pin, 302 is a positioning relief pin, 303 is a positioning relief hole, 304 is a first fixing member, 305 and 306 are second fixing members, and H is a harness _group, H 1 to H _{4 harness,} T 1 through T ₄ are binding band.

  Each of the laser diodes 101 for K, C, M, and Y is driven by a laser drive circuit (not shown) as light source drive means. Various control signals output from the control unit of the image forming apparatus and image data supplied from the image processing unit are input to the laser driving circuit, and light emission of each laser diode 101 is controlled according to these control signals and image data. .

  K, C, M, and Y collimator lenses 102 are disposed on the laser emission side of each laser diode 101, respectively. The light beam output from each laser diode 101 is substantially elliptical diffused light, and is collimated by the collimator lens 102 provided for each color (light whose beam diameter does not change as the beam travels). Is done. After each color collimator lens 102, an aperture (slit) 103 having a predetermined gap is arranged to regulate the diameter of the light beam.

  Each laser diode 101 is attached to a laser holder 105. The laser holder 105 is attached to the back side of the lens holder 106 that is integrally formed on the substrate of the primary optical system. A lens barrel 107 in which the collimator lens 102 and the aperture 103 are arranged is attached to the front side of the lens holder 106. The light beam emitted from the laser diode 101 is emitted to the front outside of the lens barrel 107 through the collimator lens 102 and the aperture 103.

  The light beam emitted from the lens barrel 107 of the K laser diode 101 is directed to the second mirror 111 through the K collimator lens 102 and the K aperture 103. The light beam emitted from the lens barrel 107 of the C, M, Y laser diode 101 enters the first mirror 110 through the C, M, Y collimator lens 102 and the aperture 103, respectively. The first mirror 110 includes three mirrors that individually reflect the C, M, and Y light beams, and the light beams for the respective colors reflected by these mirrors travel in the traveling direction of the K light beam. , And enters the second mirror 111.

  The laser diodes 101 of the respective colors are arranged at different heights in the sub scanning direction (direction perpendicular to the substrate surface). The difference in height is set to about 2 mm, for example. The first mirror 110 is disposed at a position where only the light beam emitted from the corresponding laser diode 101 can be reflected. Further, the three mirrors (for C, M, and Y) constituting the first mirror 110 are arranged at positions overlapping the light beam emitted from the K laser diode 101 when viewed from the main scanning direction.

  With the configuration as described above, the K light beam emitted from the K laser diode 101 and the C, M, and Y light beams reflected by the first mirror 110 all coincide in the main scanning direction, There is a deviation (level difference) in the sub-scanning direction, and the optical axes of the respective light beams are incident on the second mirror 111 in parallel with each other. In this case, the light beam for each color emitted from each collimator lens 102 is parallel light whose diameter does not change even when the light beam travels.

  The second mirror 111 causes the incident light beams for K, C, M, and Y colors to enter the cylindrical lens 112. The cylindrical lens 112 is arranged to focus the incident light beam for each color in the sub-scanning direction. Then, the light beam for each color emitted from the cylindrical lens 112 is reflected by the third mirror 113 and enters the reflecting surface of the polygon mirror 201.

  Here, the cylindrical lens 112 has a lens power in the sub-scanning direction, and the light beam converges near the reflecting surface of the polygon mirror 201 in the sub-scanning direction according to the optical path length from the cylindrical lens 112 to the polygon mirror 201. It is set to be. That is, the light beams for the respective colors incident on the cylindrical lens 112 as parallel lights are almost converged on the reflection surface of the polygon mirror 201 in the sub-scanning direction. At the same time, the light beams for the respective colors incident on the cylindrical lens 112 with the optical axes parallel to each other converge at substantially the same position on the surface of the polygon mirror 201 in the sub-scanning direction.

  Since this cylindrical lens 112 does not have lens power in the main scanning direction, the incident light beam for each color is emitted as parallel light as it is in the main scanning direction and is incident on the reflecting surface of the polygon mirror 201. To do. Usually, parallel light is incident on the polygon mirror 201 in the main scanning direction. Light that converges in the main scanning direction is not preferable because a negative field curvature is generated by an fθ lens described later. Further, the sub-scanning direction is converged on the surface of the reflecting surface in order to correct the surface tilt of the reflecting surface. For example, the position of the light beam incident on the reflection surface of the polygon mirror 201 in the sub-scanning direction is near the center in the height direction of the reflection surface.

  In the optical scanning device of this embodiment, four light beams for YMCK are deflected by one polygon mirror 201 of the secondary optical system. In this case, it is necessary to be able to separate the four light beams after passing through the polygon mirror 201 and to prevent the light beams for each color from shifting in the main scanning direction. For this reason, the four light beams emitted from the cylindrical lens 112 of the primary optical system are incident on the polygon mirror 201 from the same direction in the main scanning direction to the same position, and the angular difference in the sub-scanning direction. It is set so as to be incident at substantially the same position from a certain direction. In these optical path settings, the arrangement of the laser diodes 101 having a difference in height in the sub-scanning direction makes the light beams for the respective colors coincide in the main scanning direction and has a predetermined height difference in the sub-scanning direction. It is realized by going forward. Thereby, the light beam for each color can be separated by the scanning optical system.

  Further, with the above configuration, since the light beams for the respective colors are parallel light and their optical axes are parallel to each other on the optical path from the collimator lens 102 for each color of the primary optical system to the cylindrical lens 112, the collimator lens The optical path length from 102 to the cylindrical lens 112 can be freely set.

  Next, the overall configuration of the optical scanning device will be described. The optical scanning device receives the light beam emitted from the primary optical system unit 100 and the primary optical system unit as described above, and scans the light beam on the photosensitive drum 3 that is a scanned object. And an optical system unit 200. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 7, the primary optical system unit 100 described above is attached to the lower side of the secondary optical system unit 200, and the light beam reflected by the third mirror 113 of the primary optical system unit 100 is reflected. It is configured to enter the polygon mirror 201 of the secondary optical system unit.

  The secondary optical system unit 200 has a frame in which a plurality of optical elements such as mirrors and lenses that act on the light beam emitted from the primary optical system unit 100 are arranged. The frame includes a side wall 224 that surrounds an area where optical elements such as the mirror and the lens are disposed, and an intermediate wall 225 in which the optical element is disposed in a space surrounded by the side walls 224. ing. At least a part of the intermediate wall 225 is connected to an intermediate point in the height direction of the side wall 224.

  That is, in a normal secondary optical system unit, a configuration in which an optical element such as a mirror or a lens is attached to the bottom surface of the casing using a casing that is surrounded by a wall and shielded from the inside (build-up). In the present embodiment, the frame of the secondary optical system is constituted by an intermediate wall 225 extending in the horizontal direction and a side wall 224 that surrounds the periphery of the intermediate wall 225 and is disposed in the vertical direction. Is configured.

  In addition, a secondary optical system unit incorporating the primary optical system unit is attached with a dustproof or stray light blocking cover so as to surround the optical element disposed in the side wall 224 from above and below. It is done.

Next, each optical element of the secondary optical system will be described.
The polygon mirror 201 has a plurality of (for example, seven) reflecting surfaces in the rotation direction, and is driven to rotate by a polygon motor 227. The polygon mirror 201 and the polygon motor 227 are installed below the intermediate wall 225 (on the side opposite to the photosensitive drum 3).

  The light beams of the respective colors emitted from the laser diode 101 of the primary optical system and reflected by the third mirror 113 are reflected by the reflecting surface of the polygon mirror 201 of the secondary optical system, and then the photosensitive member through the respective optical elements. The drum 3 is scanned.

  As described above, each laser beam incident on the polygon mirror 201 with an angle difference in the sub-scanning direction maintains the angle difference and passes through the scanning optical system including the first fθ lens 202 and the second fθ lens 203. It will be separated later.

  The first fθ lens 202 has lens power in the main scanning direction. Thereby, in the main scanning direction, the light beam of the parallel light emitted from the polygon mirror 201 is converged so as to have a predetermined beam diameter on the surface of the photosensitive drum 3. Further, the first fθ lens 202 has a function of converting a light beam moving at a constant angular velocity in the main scanning direction by a constant angular velocity movement of the polygon mirror 201 so as to move at a constant linear velocity on the scanning line on the photosensitive drum 3. have.

  The second fθ lens 203 has lens power mainly in the sub-scanning direction. As a result, the diffused light beam emitted from the polygon mirror 201 is converted into parallel light in the sub-scanning direction. The second fθ lens 203 also has lens power in the main scanning direction, and complements the function of the first fθ lens 202 so that the control of the beam diameter and the beam linear velocity movement can be executed with high accuracy. .

  The first fθ lens 202 and the second fθ lens 203 are made of resin. In order to form an aspherical shape for obtaining desired characteristics of the fθ lens, it is preferable to use a resin material for the fθ lens. In particular, since the second fθ lens 203 has lens power in both the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, in order to obtain a complicated aspherical shape that realizes this, it can be manufactured using a resin material. preferable. As the resin material, an optimum material is selected in consideration of characteristics such as transparency, moldability, photoelastic modulus, heat resistance, hygroscopicity, mechanical strength, and cost.

  Of the four light beams for each color separated by the polygon mirror 201 and passed through the first and second fθ lenses 202 and 203, the K light beam passes through the first and second fθ lenses 202 and 203. The light is reflected by the K mirror 204, passes through the K cylindrical lens 220, and enters the photosensitive drum 3 (K). Drawing is performed in the scanning area on the photosensitive drum 3 (K).

  The separated Y light beam is reflected by the Y first to third mirrors 210, 211, and 212, passes through the Y cylindrical lens 220, and enters the photosensitive drum 3 (Y). Similarly, the separated C light beam is reflected by the C first to third mirrors 205, 206, and 207, passes through the C cylindrical lens 220, and enters the photosensitive drum 3 (C). The separated light beam for M is reflected by the first and second mirrors 208 and 209 for M and enters the photosensitive drum 3 (M) through the cylindrical lens 220 for M.

  In the secondary optical system, the cylindrical lens 220 for each color has lens power in the sub-scanning direction. Thereby, in the sub-scanning direction, the light beam incident as parallel light is converged on the photosensitive drum 3 so as to have a predetermined beam diameter. In the main scanning direction, the light beam converged by the first fθ lens 202 is converged on the photosensitive drum 3 as it is. The cylindrical lens 220 is formed using a resin. The long cylindrical lens 220 that covers the entire scanning width as in the optical scanning device is preferably a resin lens.

  The light beams of the respective colors emitted from the cylindrical lens 220 expose the charged photosensitive drum 3 according to the image data. As a result, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image data is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 3. Then, the electrostatic latent images formed on the respective photosensitive drums 3 are visualized by YMCK toner by the developing unit.

  With the above configuration, the optical path lengths from the polygon motor 201 of the secondary optical system to the photosensitive drum 3 are equal to each other in the four light beams for each color.

  The optical scanning apparatus having the above-described configuration includes a frame having the side wall 224 and the intermediate wall 225 as described above, and each optical element of the secondary optical system as described above is disposed on the frame. Is done. These optical elements are distributed and arranged on both sides of the intermediate wall 225.

  The intermediate wall 225 does not have a uniform surface having the same height, and is formed so that its height changes according to the arrangement of the optical elements and the optical path. For example, the polygon mirror 201, the polygon motor 227, the first mirror for Y 210, the first mirror for M 208, and the first mirror for C 205 are arranged on the lower side of the intermediate wall 225 (on the opposite side of the photosensitive drum 3). Other optical elements such as first and second fθ lenses 202 and 203, K mirror 204, C second mirror 206, C third mirror 207, M second mirror 209, and Y second mirror 211, the third mirror 212 for Y, the cylindrical lens 220 for each color, and the like are disposed on the upper side of the intermediate wall 225 (on the photosensitive drum 3 side).

  With the configuration described above, the optical path of the light beam from the primary optical system reflected by the polygon mirror 201 is set so as to cross the intermediate wall 225 from the lower side to the upper side of the intermediate wall 225. Accordingly, the intermediate wall 225 includes an opening 226 that does not shield the optical paths in the region where the optical paths of these light beams exist.

  Further, each optical element of the secondary optical system as described above is attached to the intermediate wall 225 directly or via a predetermined support member. Conventionally, a configuration (build-up) in which an optical element such as a mirror or a lens is attached to the bottom surface of the housing has been adopted, so it is necessary to provide a support member (stay) for mounting the optical element on the bottom inner surface of the housing And the height of the supporting member is high, there is a problem that the mounting error of the optical element increases. On the other hand, as in this embodiment, the secondary optical system is configured using a frame having the intermediate wall 225, and the optical elements are distributed and arranged on both sides of the intermediate wall 225. The mounting accuracy can be improved.

  That is, in the configuration of the present embodiment, each optical element can be directly attached to the intermediate wall 225, or can be attached via a support member as necessary. The support member includes a frame for holding an optical element such as a lens or a mirror. By attaching the optical element directly to the intermediate wall 225, the attachment accuracy of the optical element can be stably secured. Also, when the optical element is attached to the intermediate wall 225 via a predetermined support member, the height of the support member does not become unnecessarily high as in the conventional case, and the optical element is mounted at a short distance from the intermediate wall 225. It can fix and can improve the attachment accuracy of an optical element compared with the past.

  When the optical element is attached to the intermediate wall 225 directly or via a predetermined support member, each optical element is fixed using a predetermined fixing member. For example, not only a general fixing member such as a screw but also a leaf spring can be used as the fixing member. For example, both ends of a mirror or the like that folds the optical path can be installed on the intermediate wall 225 or a support member provided on the intermediate wall 225, and a leaf spring can be pressed and fixed to both ends. In this case, for example, an adjustment screw or the like that moves forward and backward in contact with the folding mirror can be provided so that the angle of the mirror can be adjusted. The fixing member as described above is disposed at a position where the light beam for exposing the photosensitive drum 3 is not shielded.

  The optical scanning device as described above is configured by disposing a primary optical system unit at a predetermined position of a secondary optical system frame. Thus, the unitized optical scanning device is configured to be detachable from the image forming apparatus such as a printer.

  The image forming apparatus includes the optical scanning device (exposure unit) as described above, and exposes the photosensitive drum 3 according to the image data by the optical scanning device. In this embodiment, since the optical scanning device is manufactured as a unit, it can be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus main body. For example, when there is a change in specifications such as speeding up of image formation, it can be dealt with by replacing the optical elements of the primary optical system and the secondary optical system or changing the arrangement as described above. The scanning device unit itself can be configured to be replaceable.

  Further, in order to fix the optical scanning device in the image forming apparatus, two fixing shafts 221a and 221b are attached to both side surfaces of the optical scanning device. A support portion for fixing and supporting the fixing shafts 221a and 221b is provided inside the frame of the image forming apparatus main body, and the frame of the optical scanning device is fixed to the shafts 221a and 221b that are fixedly supported. That is, the optical scanning device is held in the image forming apparatus main body by the two fixing shafts 221a and 221b.

  Hereinafter, mainly with reference to FIG. 8 (and FIG. 2), a fixing mechanism of an incident base unit, which is an example of an optical component unit on which an optical component is mounted, which is a main characteristic part of the present invention will be described.

The optical scanning apparatus according to the present invention includes an incident base unit (primary optical system unit 100) on which an optical component including a light emitting means including the laser diode 101 and the like is mounted as described above. In this optical scanning device, a harness group H that is connected to the laser drive substrate 104 and transmits signals to the outside (a laser drive circuit or a control unit of the image forming apparatus) is required. The harness group H is composed of H _{1 to} H ₄ connected to the laser drive substrates 104 of the respective colors. Of course, each of H _{1 to} H ₄ is not necessarily a single signal line, and there are often a plurality of lines.

In the optical scanning device according to the present invention, for example, a first fixing member 304 such as a screw member that fixes the substrate 120 formed by die casting such as aluminum to a housing of the optical scanning device (illustrated by the intermediate wall 225 here). And second fixing members 305 and 306 such as a screw member with a spring for elastically pressing and fixing the substrate 120 to the intermediate wall 225, and a third fixing member for fixing the harness H to the substrate 120. Although not shown in FIG. 8, the third fixing member is a member such as a screw member that is fixed to the substrate 120 at the position of a binding band T ₃ as an example of a binding member for binding the harness. As a main feature of the present invention, the fixing position by the first fixing member 304 is set closer to the fixing position by the third fixing member than the fixing position by the second fixing members 305 and 306, so that the laser drive substrate by the harness H is used. Since the external force applied to 104 and the like can be prevented, it is possible to prevent the position of the primary optical system unit 100 from fluctuating.

Further, the number of the second fixing members may be three or more, or one. However, as described as the second fixing members 305 and 306, the second fixing members are two fixing members for fixing at two positions. Is preferred. Thus, as screw fixing the one location in the vicinity of the fixed portion of the harness H of incident base unit 100 so that the position of the incident base unit 100 does not vary (the vicinity of the binding band T _3), and pressing and fixing the remaining two points Thus, adverse effects due to external force from the harness H are suppressed.

As a method for fixing the substrate 120 in this optical scanning device, the step of fixing the substrate 120 to the intermediate wall 225 with the first fixing member 304 and the substrate 120 to be elastically pressed to the intermediate wall 225 by the second fixing members 305 and 306. The step of fixing and the step of bundling the harness H with the binding bands T _{1 to} T ₄ and fixing the harness H to the substrate 120 with the third fixing member are included. Here, as described above, the fixing position by the first fixing member 304 is closer to the fixing position by the third fixing member than the fixing positions by the second fixing members 305 and 306.

  Further, the optical scanning device according to the present invention is provided with projections such as positioning pins (positioning bosses) 301 for positioning the substrate 120 with respect to the intermediate wall 225 on the intermediate wall 225 side, and is fitted to the positioning pins 301. It is preferable that the receiving portion is provided in the vicinity of a position where the first fixing member 304 is fixed on the substrate 120. The receiving portion may be a through hole as illustrated so that the positioning pin 301 can be seen in FIG. By using the fixing mechanism of such a positional relationship, first, the positioning pin 301 is fitted into the receiving portion, and then the fixing by the first to third fixing members is executed, whereby the incident base unit 100 and the optical scanning device casing ( Here, it can be made less susceptible to distortion due to the difference in thermal expansion coefficient of the intermediate wall 225). Here, a protruding portion such as a positioning pin may be provided on the substrate 120 side, and a receiving portion may be provided on the intermediate wall 225 side.

  As described above, the optical scanning device preferably includes positioning means for determining the position of the optical component unit with respect to the housing. Then, the positioning means positions in the vicinity of the fixing position by the first fixing member in the optical component unit as described above, or, as will be described later with reference to FIG. 9, the position of the fixing position by the first fixing member in the optical component unit. It is good to position at the center.

  Further, as shown in the figure, the positioning receiving portion is positioned on the substrate 120 corresponding to the optical axis of the light beam emitted from the laser diode 101 (or simply on the optical path), that is, the optical axis of the light beam. It is preferable to be provided at a position on the surface including the substrate 120 and on the substrate 120. Here, the corresponding position on the substrate 120 means a position on a line where the optical axis of the light beam is lowered to the substrate 120 in the vertical direction. Further, it is preferable that, on the optical axis of the light beam, the optical path that is reflected by a mirror or the like is on the optical path that has the longest straight line. This is also applicable to the form described later with reference to FIG.

  Further, it is preferable to provide positioning escape means for allowing the substrate 120 to move in the optical axis direction with respect to the intermediate wall 225 at a position on the substrate 120 on the surface including the optical axis of the light beam. For example, a long hole (positioning escape hole 303) extending in the optical axis direction is provided at a position on the optical component unit spaced from the receiving portion on the surface including the optical axis of the light beam, and on the intermediate wall 225 side, A protrusion (positioning escape pin (positioning escape boss) 302) for fitting the positioning escape hole 303 (provided with a play portion so as to be loosely fitted) while being movable in the optical axis direction with respect to the substrate 120. ) Should be provided. This is also applicable to the form described later with reference to FIG. Further, the positioning escape hole 303 may not be a through hole as shown in FIG. 8, but may be a bottomed hole into which the positioning escape pin 302 can be inserted.

  First, the positioning pin 301 is fitted to the receiving portion while the positioning escape hole 303 is inserted into the positioning escape pin 302, and then the first to third fixing members are used for fixing. As a result, the influence of distortion due to the difference in the thermal expansion coefficient between the incident base unit 100 and the optical scanning device housing (here, the intermediate wall 225) can be escaped and hardly received. Here, a protrusion such as a positioning escape pin may be provided on the substrate 120 side, and a long hole may be provided on the intermediate wall 225 side. Furthermore, the positioning escape means exemplified by the long hole and the protrusion may be exchanged with the positioning means. That is, the center position of the protrusion corresponding to the long hole may be the vicinity or center of the fixing position by the first fixing member.

  FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing another example of the fixing mechanism of the primary optical system unit according to the present invention, in which 311 is a housing side protrusion, 312 is an optical component unit side recess, 313 is a screw through hole, 314 is a screw.

  As described above, the positioning pin 301 for positioning the incident base unit 100 with respect to the optical scanning device may be in the vicinity of the fixing portion by the first fixing member 304, but it is more preferable to use the following fixing mechanism. That is, the fixing mechanism illustrated in FIG. 9 is provided with a protrusion (housing side protrusion 311) for positioning the substrate 120 with respect to the intermediate wall 225 on the intermediate wall 225 and is fitted to the case side protrusion 311. Part (optical component unit side recess 312) is provided on the substrate 120 side. Furthermore, in this fixing mechanism, it is assumed that the center positions of the housing protrusion 311 and the optical component unit side recess 312 coincide with the center of the fixing position by the first fixing member. FIG. 9 shows an example in which a screw through hole 313 for screwing the screw 314 and the screw 314 is provided in the concave part 312 on the optical component unit as such a first fixing member. The fixing mechanism is not limited to the one illustrated in FIG.

  In this positional relationship fixing mechanism, the center of the fixing position by the first fixing member and the center position of the housing side projection 311 corresponding to the positioning pin 301 in FIG. And then fixing by the second and third fixing members can eliminate thermal expansion and warpage that occur between the positioning center and the fixing position center by the first fixing member. it can.

  As described above, in the optical scanning device according to the present invention, the incident base unit to which the laser diode is attached, the second fixing member that elastically presses and fixes the incident base unit to the optical scanning device, and a signal to the incident base unit. And a third fixing member for fixing the harness to the incident base unit, a first fixing member for fitting and fixing the incident base unit to the optical scanning device is provided, and the fixing position by the first fixing member is By setting the position closer to the position fixed by the third fixing member than the position fixed by the second fixing member, the LSU incident base can be fixed without the influence of the external force from the harness.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming apparatus in which an optical scanning device of the present invention is used. It is a top view which shows the structural example of the primary optical system unit of the optical scanning apparatus of this invention. It is a sectional side view of an optical scanning device. It is the figure which looked at the optical scanning device from the upper part. It is the figure which looked at the optical scanning device from the lower side. It is the perspective view which looked at the optical scanning device from diagonally upward. It is the perspective view which looked at the optical scanning device from the slanting lower part. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a primary optical system unit in the optical scanning device of FIG. 5. It is sectional drawing which shows the other example of the fixing mechanism of the primary optical system unit which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Exposure unit, 2 ... Developing device, 3 ... Photosensitive drum, 4 ... Cleaner unit, 5 ... Charger, 6 ... Intermediate transfer belt unit, 7 ... Fixing unit, 8 ... Paper feed cassette, 9 ... Paper discharge tray, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Transfer roller, 11 ... Pick-up roller, 12a, 12c, 12d, 12e ... Conveyance roller, 12 ... Registration roller, 13 ... Scanner unit, 61 ... Intermediate transfer belt, 62 ... Intermediate transfer belt drive roller, 63 ... Intermediate transfer belt Follower roller, 64 ... intermediate transfer belt cleaning unit, 71 ... heat roller, 72 ... pressure roller, 100 ... primary optical system unit, 101 ... laser diode, 102 ... collimator lens, 103 ... aperture, 104 ... laser drive substrate, 105 ... Laser holder, 106 ... Lens holder, 107 ... Lens barrel, 110 ... First mirror 111 ... Second mirror, 112 ... Cylindrical lens, 113 ... Third mirror, 120 ... Substrate, 200 ... Secondary optical system unit, 201 ... Polygon mirror, 202 ... First f.theta. Lens, 203 ... Second f.theta. Lens, 204 ... K Mirror, 205 ... first mirror for C, 206 ... second mirror for C, 207 ... third mirror for C, 208 ... first mirror for M, 209 ... second mirror for M, 210 ... first mirror for Y, 211 ... second mirror for Y, 212 ... third mirror for Y, 220 ... cylindrical lens, 221a, 221b ... fixing shaft, 222 ... position of the primary optical system unit, 223 ... frame for holding the cylindrical lens, 224 ... side wall, 225 ... intermediate wall, 226 ... opening, 227 ... polygon motor, 301 ... positioning pin, 302 ... positioning escape pin, 303 Positioning escape hole, 304 ... first fixing member, 305,306 ... second fixing member, 311 ... housing side projection, 312 ... optical component unit side recess, 313 ... screw through hole, 314 ... screw, H ... harness group, H _{1 to} H ₄ ... Harness, T _{1 to} T ₄ ... Binding band.

Claims (9)

An optical unit including an optical component unit equipped with optical components, including light emitting means, a harness connected to said light emitting means transmits signals to the external of the light emitting device, the substrate of the optical component unit A first fixing member that is a screw that fixes the optical component unit to the housing, a second fixing member that elastically presses and fixes the substrate of the optical component unit to the housing, and the harness of the optical component unit . And a third fixing member fixed to the substrate , wherein the fixing position by the first fixing member is closer to the fixing position by the third fixing member than the fixing position by the second fixing member. . The optical unit according to claim 1, wherein the substrate of the optical component unit, comprising a positioning means for positioning relative to said housing, said positioning means comprises a fixed position by the first fixing member in the substrate of the optical component unit An optical unit that is positioned in the vicinity of The optical unit according to claim 1, wherein the substrate of the optical component unit, comprising a positioning means for positioning relative to said housing, said positioning means comprises a fixed position by the first fixing member in the substrate of the optical component unit An optical unit characterized by being positioned at the center of the center. The optical unit according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the positioning means on the line drawn down on the substrate of the optical component unit of the optical axis of the light beam emitted by said light emitting means in the vertical direction, the optical an optical unit, characterized in that the position on the substrate of the component units, is provided. The optical unit according to any one of claims 2 to 4, on the line drawn down on the substrate of the optical component unit of the optical axis of the light beam emitted by said light emitting means in the vertical direction, the optical An optical unit comprising positioning escape means for allowing the substrate of the optical component unit to move in the optical axis direction with respect to the housing at a position on the substrate of the component unit.   6. The optical unit according to claim 1, wherein the second fixing member includes two fixing members for fixing at two locations.   The optical unit according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the optical unit is an optical scanning device.   An image comprising: the optical unit according to claim 7; and a photoconductor, wherein a latent image is formed on the photoconductor by the optical unit, and the latent image is visualized to form an image. Forming equipment. A method of fixing the optical component unit in an optical unit including an optical component unit on which an optical component including a light emitting unit is mounted, wherein a substrate of the optical component unit is attached to a housing of the optical unit with a screw . a step of fixing one fixing member, a step and is connected to said light emitting means external to the signal of said light emitting means for resiliently pressed and fixed by the second fixing member to the substrate of the optical component unit to the housing A step of fixing a harness for transmission to a substrate of the optical component unit by a third fixing member, wherein the fixing position by the first fixing member is more by the third fixing member than the fixing position by the second fixing member. A method for fixing an optical component unit, characterized in that the optical component unit is positioned in the vicinity of a fixing position.

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