JP5705195B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an electrostatic latent image by irradiating a charged photoreceptor surface with laser light, and a control method therefor.

  In an image forming apparatus that forms an image by an electrophotographic method, a charging device that uniformly charges a photosensitive surface of a photosensitive drum, and a latent image forming device that forms an electrostatic latent image according to image information on the charged photosensitive surface And a developing device for developing the electrostatic latent image. Further, a transfer device for transferring the developed latent image onto the recording paper is provided, and image forming processing is sequentially performed while rotating the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive drum.

  In such an image forming apparatus, if there is a variation in the thickness of the photosensitive film on the photosensitive drum, the sensitivity unevenness has an effect on the charging and exposure characteristics. It occurred as density unevenness.

  Further, not only the sensitivity unevenness of the photosensitive drum but also the density unevenness of the image is caused by the variation of the optical unit in the latent image forming apparatus. The optical unit variation referred to here is due to the mounting and processing accuracy of the lenses and mirrors in the optical unit. In an optical unit including a plurality of lasers, the irradiation pattern is shifted between these lasers and the optical axis is shifted. appear.

  Conventionally, such density unevenness has been a problem-free level, but has emerged as an unacceptable problem in the market with the recent demand for higher image quality.

  Conventionally, with respect to such problems, the variation of the optical unit itself has been suppressed, that is, the accuracy of attaching the lens and mirror in the optical unit has been increased to suppress the variation. Further, by selecting the products that satisfy the conditions from the manufactured products, the variation is reduced to a predetermined value or less, and the finishing accuracy of each part is improved.

  However, there is a problem that the cost of the apparatus is increased by suppressing unevenness of the photosensitive drum, making the optical system unit highly accurate, or performing adjustment and selection.

  Further, in the optical unit, when the laser is scanned, there is a tendency that the light amount decreases at the end of the photosensitive drum, that is, at the scanning start side and the scanning end side (hereinafter referred to as light amount end portion dropping). Due to such a phenomenon, the density is reduced at the edge of the image in the main scanning direction, which also causes a reduction in image quality.

  Conventionally, as a method for correcting a light amount edge drop, a correction amount for dividing one scan into a plurality of blocks in the main scanning direction and correcting a light amount edge drop of an optical system corresponding to each block (hereinafter referred to as profile data). There is a proposal to have the storage means. During scanning, the profile data of the block and the profile data of the adjacent block are read, and the data obtained by linear interpolation of the read profile data is used to control the laser drive current to correct the light amount edge drop. . (Patent Document 1)

JP 2005-262485 A

  However, in the characteristics of the laser and the optical unit, there are optical characteristic differences such as variations in FFP (far field pattern) and variations in the optical axis with respect to the laser emission intensity. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the fluctuation of the FFP (horizontal) proportion with respect to the laser emission intensity. It can be seen that as the laser emission intensity decreases, the FFP proportion decreases with no correlation to the amount of change in emission intensity. FIG. 14 is a graph showing the relationship with the correction amount actually required using the correction method of the conventional example. In some cases, the correction residual with respect to the actually required correction amount increases depending on the emission intensity of the laser.

  On the other hand, depending on the internal structure of the laser and the range of use of the emission intensity, there may be a case where the optical variation is relatively small, and the complexity of the correction method decreases the reliability due to an increase in the amount of program and stored data. There is.

In order to solve such a problem, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a semiconductor laser that emits a laser beam having a light amount corresponding to a supplied drive current in order to form an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductor. as the laser beam emitted from the semiconductor laser scans the said photosensitive member, and deflecting means for deflecting the laser beam, optical guiding the laser beam deflected by said deflecting means onto a surface of the photosensitive member A member, and a light receiving means for receiving laser light emitted from the semiconductor laser ;
Setting means for setting current setting data so that the amount of laser light incident on the light receiving means becomes a target light quantity based on the light reception result of the light receiving means; and a scanning direction in which the laser light scans the photoconductor corresponding to a plurality of positions, and a plurality of correction data corresponding to a plurality of reference current values, wherein the plurality of positions amount of the laser beam Ru guided on the respective surfaces of the photoreceptor by the optical member Storage means for storing the plurality of correction data for correcting the light amount to the target light amount on the surface of the photoconductor, and the correction data corresponding to the plurality of reference current values and corresponding to the plurality of positions, respectively. Based on the data generation means for generating the interpolation data for the current values between the plurality of reference current values for each of the plurality of positions, and set by the setting means Control and current value based on the serial current setting data, and the interpolated data corresponding to a current value based on the current setting data, the value of the drive current supplied to said semiconductor laser with respect to each of the plurality of positions based on And a control means.

As described above, according to the present invention, the amount of laser light guided to the surface of the photosensitive member can be controlled to the target amount of light on the surface of the photosensitive member regardless of the value of the current supplied to the semiconductor laser. .

Extracted configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus including an optical scanning device in the present embodiment Configuration diagram of an optical scanning device in the present embodiment Block diagram of the laser drive unit 11 in the present embodiment Time chart showing state transition of laser drive circuit 21 in the present embodiment Operation function table of laser drive circuit 21 in the present embodiment Schematic configuration diagram of the image plane illuminance measuring device 51 Graph showing the generation principle of illuminance correction data Flowchart describing the method of generating illuminance correction data Graph showing correction data for each light amount setting in the 15th image height block (No. 14) The graph which shows the correction approximate expression calculation method in the 15th image height block (No. 14) Flowchart diagram of illuminance correction in the engine control unit 3 The graph which shows the correction | amendment approximate expression calculation method in the 15th image height block (No. 14) in 2nd Embodiment. The flowchart figure of the illumination intensity correction | amendment of the engine control part 3 in 2nd Embodiment. The figure showing the fluctuation of FFP (horizontal) proportion with respect to the emission intensity of the laser A graph showing the relationship with the correction amount actually required using the correction method of the conventional example

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is an extracted configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus 1 including an optical scanning device 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the optical scanning device 2.

  The optical scanning device has a laser unit including a laser driving unit 11, a semiconductor laser 12, and a collimating lens 13.

  In a non-image region during one scan by the semiconductor laser, the laser beam L1 emitted from the semiconductor laser 12 in the laser unit enters the cylindrical lens 14 and reaches the polygon mirror 15. The polygon mirror 15 is rotated at a constant angular speed by the scanner motor unit 16. The laser beam that has reached the polygon mirror 15 is polarized by the polygon mirror 15, converted by the f-θ lens 17 to scan at a constant speed in a direction perpendicular to the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 19, and reflected by the reflection mirror 18. The beam detection (hereinafter abbreviated as BD) sensor 20 receives the light.

  In the image area during one scanning by the semiconductor laser, the laser beam L2 is emitted from the f-θ lens 17 similarly to the laser beam L1, and then irradiated onto the photosensitive drum 19 via the reflection mirror 18, thereby forming a latent image. I do. The latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 19 is developed with toner, and then transferred to and fixed on a sheet to print an image.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the laser driving unit 11 in the present embodiment. Reference numeral 21 denotes a laser drive circuit, which controls the drive current of the semiconductor laser 12 to cause the semiconductor laser 12 to emit light at a predetermined light amount (intensity).

  The semiconductor laser 12 includes a laser diode (hereinafter abbreviated as LD) 12a and a photodiode (hereinafter abbreviated as PD) 12b that monitors laser light output from the LD 12a. The PD 12b outputs a current corresponding to the amount of laser beam to be monitored. Reference numeral 23 denotes a light amount adjustment variable resistor for adjusting the LD 12a to emit light with a predetermined light amount. The PD current 22 corresponding to the light amount of the laser beam output from the PD 12 b is converted into a voltage by the light amount adjustment variable resistor 23 and output as a PD voltage signal 24. The PD voltage signal 24 is input to a light amount control circuit (APC CTL) 27 together with a reference voltage 26 generated by a reference voltage generation circuit (Vref) 25.

  The light amount control circuit 27 compares the PD voltage signal 24 with the reference voltage 26 when the sample / hold (hereinafter abbreviated as S / H) control signal 29 input from the engine control unit 3 requests a sample, and sets the current set value 28. The semiconductor laser 12 is set to a predetermined light amount by controlling the amount of light. When the S / H control signal 29 is requested to hold, the current set value 28 based on the result obtained when the sample is requested is held.

  Reference numeral 31 denotes a current control circuit (CURRENT CTL), and a current set value 28 output from the light amount control circuit 27 when a data output is requested by a data output (DATA OUT) control signal 29 input from the engine control unit 3. The parallel correction data 45 is calculated and a drive current 32 corresponding to the result is output. When data output is prohibited, a drive current 32 corresponding to the current setting value 28 output from the light amount control circuit 27 is output.

  The parallel correction data 45 is a signal obtained by converting the serial correction data (CORRECT DATA) 43 input from the engine control unit 3 by the correction data conversion circuit (C.DATA CONVERT) 44.

  Reference numeral 35 denotes a differential receiver (LVDS) having a differential input. The non-inverted data (hereinafter abbreviated as DATA) signal 33 and the inverted data signal (hereinafter abbreviated as / DATA) signal 34 input from the image control unit 5. Receive. The output selection circuit 38 outputs the switching signal a39 and the switching signal b40 determined by the S / H control signal 29 or the data output control signal 30.

  Reference numeral 41 denotes a current driver, which has a differential amplification configuration in which the emitter terminals of the transistor a (41a) and the transistor b (41b) are connected. The transistor a (41a) performs switching driving of the LD 12a based on the switching signal 39a with the driving current 32. Similarly, the transistor b (41b) switches and drives the load resistor 42 based on the switching signal 39b with the driving current 32.

  Nonvolatile memory (hereinafter abbreviated as EEPROM) 46 stores data for generating serial correction data 43. The engine control unit 3 controls communication with the EEPROM 46 and reads data stored in the EEPROM 46 via a serial data output signal (DO) 49.

  FIG. 4 is a time chart showing state transition of the laser driving circuit 21 during image formation, and FIG. 5 is an operation function table of the laser driving circuit 21. The operation of the laser drive circuit 21 is based on the falling edge of the output signal of the BD sensor 20, the light amount control (APC) → the laser forced turn-off (OFF) → the data output (DATA OUT) → the laser forced turn-off (OFF) → the light amount control ( APC) is sequentially controlled in this order. The data output is an image area that is a printing range of the paper.

(1) Light quantity control (APC)
The light amount control circuit 27 is sampled, and the output selection circuit 28 forcibly outputs ON data so that the semiconductor laser 12 emits light regardless of the output of the receiver non-inverted output signal 36 and the receiver inverted output signal 37. . With the signal corresponding to the difference between the PD voltage signal 24 and the reference voltage 26, control is performed to set the light emission amount of the semiconductor laser 12 to a predetermined light amount as follows.
PD voltage signal 24> reference voltage 26: It is determined that the light emission amount of the semiconductor laser 12 is larger than the predetermined light amount, and the light emission amount of the semiconductor laser 12 is reduced by reducing the current setting value 28 and the laser drive current 32.
PD voltage signal 24 <reference voltage 26: It is determined that the light emission amount of the semiconductor laser 12 is smaller than the predetermined light amount, and the light emission amount of the semiconductor laser 12 is increased by increasing the current setting value 28 and the laser drive current 32.
PD voltage signal 24 = reference voltage 26: The amount of light emitted by the semiconductor laser 12 is determined to be the same as the predetermined amount of light, and neither the current setting value 28 nor the laser drive current 32 is increased or decreased.

(2) Forced laser extinction (OFF)
The current setting value 28 set by the light quantity control circuit 27 is held, and the output selection circuit 25 turns off the semiconductor laser 12 regardless of the output of the receiver non-inverted output signal 36 and the receiver inverted output signal 37. Forcibly outputs OFF data.

(3) Data output (DATA OUT)
The output selection circuit 31 outputs a signal corresponding to the receiver non-inverted output signal 36 and the receiver inverted output signal 37 with the current set value 28 set by the light quantity control circuit 27.

(4) Reset (not shown in FIG. 3) The reset state is entered, the current value set by the light quantity control circuit 27 is initialized, and the OFF data is forcibly output from the output selection circuit 38 so that the semiconductor laser 12 is extinguished. To do.

[Illuminance correction data generation]
FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of the image plane illuminance measurement device 51. The image plane illuminance measuring device 51 is roughly composed of an optical unit 52, a measurement photodiode 53, and an optical drive unit 54. The measurement photodiode (hereinafter abbreviated as APD) 53 uses an avalanche photodiode (APD) and is arranged on the optical unit 52 corresponding to the irradiation position of the photosensitive drum 19. The optical drive unit 54 is configured to be able to operate the optical unit 52 in the main scanning direction and in a direction perpendicular to the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 19. The laser beam L2 emitted from the semiconductor laser 12 in the laser unit of the optical scanning device 2 used for image plane illuminance measurement may be either scanning light or stationary light.

  Reference numeral 56 denotes an illuminance measurement control unit, which includes an APD control unit 57, an analog-digital converter (hereinafter abbreviated as AD), and a current control unit. The APD control unit 57 is connected to the APD 53 and the measurement photodiode control signal 55, and converts the power supplied to the APD 53 and the current output from the APD 53 into a voltage signal. The AD 59 quantizes the APD voltage signal 58 with a predetermined sampling rate and resolution.

  Reference numeral 61 denotes a current control unit which controls the laser drive circuit 21 in the laser drive 11 with a laser drive circuit control signal 62 so that the semiconductor laser 12 has a predetermined light quantity. The laser drive circuit control signal 62 includes an S / H control signal 29, a data output (DATA OUT) control signal 30, and serial correction data 43, and a set value for setting the semiconductor laser 12 to a predetermined light amount is determined by the serial correction data 43. Transfer to the laser drive circuit 21. Since the control method is the same as that in the image forming apparatus 1, description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 7 is a graph for explaining the operation principle of generation of illuminance correction data, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart describing a generation method of illuminance correction data. The correction data generation specification is described below.

1. Light intensity adjustment Image surface illuminance measurement is performed at a total of 13 positions at an image height (± 150 mm) in the image area at regular intervals of 25 mm. However, it does not matter whether the intervals between the positions of the image height are equal.
The illuminance at the 13 image heights is measured, the image height that is the minimum illuminance is detected, the laser drive circuit 21 is set to the light amount adjustment mode so that the illuminance at the image height becomes a predetermined value, and the light amount adjustment variable resistor 23 adjust. The light quantity obtained as described above is defined as 100% light quantity, and the laser drive current 32 set at this time is defined as 100% light quantity drive current.

2. Image plane illuminance measurement The optical drive unit 54 moves the measurement photodiode 53 on the optical unit 52 in accordance with the above specifications, and measures the image plane illuminance at 13 image heights.

3. Calculation of approximate expression before correction A quaternary approximate expression is generated from the measured values of image plane illuminance at 13 image heights obtained by image plane illuminance measurement.

4). Correction Value Calculation The illuminance correction value is calculated with a total of 25 correction blocks at an image area internal image height (± 150 mm) at regular intervals of 12.5 mm. The arrangement method of the correction block with respect to the image height may not coincide with the image height at the time of image plane illuminance measurement. From the fourth-order approximation, the image plane illuminance difference (ΔP0 to ΔP24) of the other 24 blocks with respect to the correction block having the lowest illuminance is calculated. The image plane illuminance difference (ΔP0 to ΔP24) is quantized using the laser drive current 32 as a full scale to obtain correction data.

5. Correction value storage For the above items 2 to 4, correction data is calculated in the same manner for the image plane illuminance when the respective light amount driving currents of the laser driving current 32 are set to 80%, 60%, 40% and 20%. To do. The variable means of the laser drive current 32 is executed by inputting a value that uses the serial correction data (CORRECT DATA) 43 as a predetermined light amount drive current. The correction data obtained as described above is stored in the EEPROM 46 via the serial data input signal (DI) 48.

[Correction approximation formula / calculation method]
9 is a graph showing correction data for each light amount setting in the 15th image height block (No. 14), and FIG. 10 is a graph showing a correction approximate expression calculation method in the 15th image height block (No. 14). .
The lowest value of the image plane illuminance at the 100% current set value, 80% current set value, 60% current set value, 40% current set value and 20% current set value is the value of the image plane illuminance of the 15th image height block. The difference value is used as correction data.

The light quantity setting value is divided into the following five areas, and a correction approximate expression is obtained from the 15th correction data. A straight line connecting a correction value at the 100% light emission setting and a correction value at the 80% light intensity setting value in an area between the 100% light emission setting and the 80% light intensity setting value is an approximate expression. In the same manner, an approximate expression is obtained. (Coefficient is dec value)
(1) Approximate expression L1 (100% ≦ Po <80%): ΔP14 (100% −80%) = 90ILD−26
(2) Approximate expression L2 (80% ≦ Po <60%): ΔP14 (80% −60%) = 30ILD + 22
(3) Approximate expression L3 (60% ≦ Po <40%): ΔP14 (60% −40%) = 55ILD + 7
(4) Approximate expression L4 (40% ≦ Po <20%): ΔP14 (40% −20%) = 100 ILD-11
(5) Approximate expression L5 (20% ≦ Po): ΔP14 (20%) = 9 ILD
The approximate expression for the entire image height block is obtained by the above method.

[Illumination correction method]
FIG. 11 is a flowchart of illuminance correction in the engine control unit 3.

1. Initial Sequence An initial sequence is executed when the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on or reset. The engine control unit 3 reads a 100% light amount setting correction value, an 80% light amount setting correction value, a 60% light amount setting correction value, a 40% light amount setting correction value, and a 20% light amount setting correction value from the EEPROM 46 in the optical scanning device 2, Store in the backup memory 6.
The approximate expression Ln is calculated according to the correction approximate expression / calculation method and stored in the backup memory 6.

2. The illuminance correction light amount setting value P is the light amount of the semiconductor laser 12 necessary for obtaining the optimum drum surface illuminance with respect to the latent image unevenness due to the spectral sensitivity variation of the photosensitive drum 19, for example. After inputting the light amount setting value P, an approximate expression corresponding to this is selected.
The set current value is calculated by substituting the light amount setting value into the selected approximate expression.
For example, when the light quantity setting value P is 72%, the approximate expression L2 is selected from the backup memory 6, and is calculated as follows using the correction data obtained from [correction approximate expression / calculation method]. Correction value ΔP14: 43.6 dec = 30 × 0.72 + 22 (= 2Bh)
Laser drive current ILD: 140.72 dec = 256 × 0.72-43.6 (= 8 Ch) The correction value ΔPn and laser drive current ILD for the entire image height block are obtained by the method described above.

[Embodiment 2]
FIG. 11 is a graph showing a correction approximate expression calculation method for the fifteenth image height block (No. 14) in the second embodiment. The lowest value of the image plane illuminance at the 100% current set value, 80% current set value, 60% current set value, 40% current set value and 20% current set value is the value of the image plane illuminance of the 15th image height block. The difference value is used as correction data.

The light quantity setting value is divided into the following five areas, and a correction approximate expression is obtained from the 15th correction data. A linear approximate expression for the entire image height block is generated from the correction value in the 100% light emission setting and the 80% light intensity setting value in the region between the 100% light emission setting and the 80% light intensity setting value. It goes without saying that the approximate expression may be generated by the first order or higher.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart of illuminance correction of the engine control unit 3 in the second embodiment.

3. Initial Sequence An initial sequence is executed when the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on or reset. The engine control unit 3 reads a 100% light amount setting correction value, an 80% light amount setting correction value, a 60% light amount setting correction value, a 40% light amount setting correction value, and a 20% light amount setting correction value from the EEPROM 46 in the optical scanning device 2, Store in the backup memory 6.
A primary approximate expression L is calculated from the 100% light intensity setting correction value, 80% light intensity setting correction value, 60% light intensity setting correction value, 40% light intensity setting correction value, and 20% light intensity setting correction value, and is stored in the backup memory 6. .

4). Illuminance correction After the light intensity setting value P is input, the light intensity setting value is substituted into the primary approximation formula L to calculate the set current value.
For example, when the light quantity setting value P is 72%, the correction value ΔPn and the laser drive current ILD are calculated as follows.
Correction value ΔP14: 46.2 dec = 63.5 × 0.72 + 0.5 (= 2Eh)
Laser drive current ILD: 138.1 dec = 256 × 0.72-46.2 (= 8 Ah) The correction value ΔPn and laser drive current ILD for the entire image height block are obtained by the method described above.

Claims (6)

A semiconductor laser that emits a laser beam having a light amount corresponding to the supplied drive current in order to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor;
Deflection means for deflecting the laser beam so that the laser beam emitted from the semiconductor laser scans on the photoreceptor;
An optical member for guiding the laser beam deflected by the deflecting means onto the surface of the photoreceptor;
A light receiving means for receiving laser light emitted from the semiconductor laser;
Setting means for setting current setting data based on the light reception result of the light receiving means so that the amount of laser light incident on the light receiving means becomes a target light amount;
A plurality of correction data corresponding to a plurality of positions in the scanning direction in which the laser beam scans the photosensitive member and corresponding to a plurality of reference current values, respectively, on the surface of the photosensitive member by the optical member; Storage means for storing the plurality of correction data for correcting the light amount of the laser light guided to each of the plurality of positions to a target light amount on the surface of the photoconductor, corresponding to the plurality of reference current values; Data generating means for generating, for each of the plurality of positions, interpolation data for a current value between the plurality of reference current values, based on the correction data corresponding to each of the plurality of positions;
Based on the current value based on the current setting data set by the setting means and the interpolation data corresponding to the current value based on the current setting data, the semiconductor laser is supplied to each of the plurality of positions. An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls a value of the driving current. The storage means includes first correction data corresponding to a first reference current value which is the plurality of reference current values as the plurality of correction data, and a second reference current value smaller than the first reference current value. And second correction data corresponding to a third reference current value smaller than the second reference current value are stored,
The data generation means converts the first interpolation data as the interpolation data for the current value between the first reference current value and the second reference current value into the first correction data and the second correction data. And second interpolation data as the interpolation data for the current value between the second reference current value and the third reference current value is generated based on the second correction data and the third correction data. Based on the correction data of
When the current setting data set by the setting means is between the first reference current value and the second reference current value, the control means sets the current setting data set by the setting means. And the first interpolation data to control the value of the drive current supplied to the semiconductor laser, and the current setting data set by the setting means is the second reference current value and the third When the current is between a reference current value, the value of the drive current supplied to the semiconductor laser is controlled based on the current setting data and the second interpolation data set by the setting means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   The first interpolation data is a linear approximation formula corresponding to a current value between the first reference current value and the second reference current value, and the second interpolation data is the second interpolation data. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image forming apparatus is a linear approximation formula corresponding to a current value between a reference current value and the third reference current value. Comprising signal generating means for generating a synchronization signal in response to receiving the laser beam deflected by the deflecting means;
The control unit generates the driving current based on input image data at a timing based on a generation timing of the synchronization signal generated by the signal generation unit to form the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor. Supply to the laser,
The control means includes the semiconductor in a period other than a period in which the electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor in a period from when the signal generation means generates the synchronization signal to generation of the next synchronization signal. 4. The laser light is emitted from a laser, and the setting means sets the current setting data based on a light reception result of the light receiving means that has received the laser light. The image forming apparatus described in 1.   The light quantity of the laser beam that is the lowest among the light quantities of the laser light at the plurality of positions at positions corresponding to the photoconductor detected by the measurement light quantity detection means is set as a reference light quantity, and the correction data Are generated for each of the plurality of positions in accordance with the difference between the light amount of the laser light and the reference light amount at a position other than the position at which the light amount of the lowest laser light is detected by the measurement light amount detection means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is stored in the storage unit. An optical scanning device including the semiconductor laser, the storage unit, the optical member, and the storage unit;
The main body of the image forming apparatus includes the data generation unit and a storage unit that stores the interpolation data outside the optical scanning device.
The data generation means reads the correction data from the storage means provided in the optical scanning device, stores the interpolation data generated based on the correction data read from the storage means in the storage means,
The control means is a value of the drive current supplied to the semiconductor laser for each of the plurality of positions based on the current setting data set by the setting means and the interpolation data stored in the storage means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is controlled.