JPH03144538A - Optical scanning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent sticking matter such as dust from sticking on the incidence port of an optical fiber array and to enable stable light irradiation by providing a rotary grating which has a grating hole for irradiating the optical fiber array with the light beam emitted by a light source and rotates around the light source and an air blowing means which blows air out of the grating hole of the rotary grating. CONSTITUTION:The light beam emitted by the light source 2 which blinks according to an image signal passes through the grating hole 6 of the rotary grating 4 which rotates around the light source 2 and is made incident on arcuately arrayed incidence ports 11a of the optical fiber array 10. At the same time, an air flow generated by the fan 8 passes through the grating hole 6 from inside the rotary grating and strikes on the incidence ports 11a of the optical fiber array 10. This air flow blows away dust, dirt, etc., which are to stick on the incidence ports 11a of the optical fiber array 10 by the rotation of the rotary grating 4. Consequently, the quantity of propagated light becomes uniform among the optical fibers and the quantity of light emitted from projection ports becomes invariably constant, so that the stable light irradiation becomes possible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an optical scanning device, and particularly to an optical scanning device capable of stable light irradiation.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, optical scanning devices using optical fiber arrays formed of a large number of optical fibers have been developed. Conventional optical scanning devices include, for example, a rotating grating with grid holes, a light source placed in the center of the rotating grating, and light emitted from the light source based on image information, passing through the grating holes and exiting the rotating grating. Some devices are equipped with an optical fiber array that propagates a light beam irradiated onto a photoreceptor. In such an optical scanning device, the entrance ports of the optical fiber array are arranged close to each other in an arc shape along the outer peripheral surface of the rotating grating.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, as mentioned above, since the entrance of the optical fiber array is placed close to the outer circumferential surface of the rotating grating, when optical scanning is performed for a long time, dust and dirt adhering to the rotating grating will gradually disappear. If the material adheres to the entrance of the optical fiber array and covers the entrance, the amount of light beam propagated by the optical fiber array may decrease, or there may be a difference in the amount of light propagated between each optical fiber, resulting in inaccurate There was a problem that stable light irradiation could not be performed.

The present invention was created in view of the above circumstances, and
It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical scanning device that can perform stable light irradiation without adhesion of dust, dirt, etc. to the entrance of an optical fiber array.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention disposes an entrance of an optical fiber array consisting of a plurality of optical fibers near a light source, and also arranges a photoreceptor near an exit of this optical fiber array. In an optical scanning device that irradiates a light beam from a light source onto a photoreceptor through the optical fiber array, the light source body includes a blinking light source and a grid hole for irradiating the optical fiber array with the light beam emitted from the light source. The light source is configured to include a rotating lattice that is rotatably provided around the light source, and a blowing means for blowing air out of the lattice holes of the rotating lattice.

[Effect]

According to the optical scanning device of the present invention having the above configuration, the light beam emitted from the light source based on image information is irradiated to the entrance of the optical fiber array through the lattice holes of the rotating lattice that rotates around the light source. At the same time, the air flow generated by the blowing means also blows out from the grid holes and hits the entrance of the optical fiber array. Therefore, dust, dirt, etc. that tend to adhere to the entrance of the optical fiber array due to the rotation of the rotating grating etc. are blown away by the air flow blown out from the grid holes, and dust, dirt, etc. tend to adhere to the entrance of the optical fiber array. Therefore, the amount of light beam irradiated from the exit port is always constant, and stable light irradiation can be performed.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the optical scanning device of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the optical scanning device includes a light source body 1 that generates a light beam, and an optical fiber array 10 for propagating the light beam from the light source body 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the light source body 1 includes a light source 2, a rotating grating 4 rotatably disposed around the light source 2, and a rotating grating 4 disposed near the rotating grating 4 and inside the rotating grating 4. It has a fan 8 as a blowing means for sending an air flow to. The light source 2 generates a light beam by blinking in response to an electric signal based on image information, and for example, a light emitting diode (LED) or a laser diode (LD) can be used. Further, the rotating grating 4 has a cylindrical shape, and a portion of its side wall is provided with a grating hole 6 for irradiating the light beam generated from the light source 2 to the outside of the rotating grating. The rotating grating 4 is rotated about the position of the light source 2 by a drive source (not shown). In order to efficiently blow out the air flow sent into the rotating lattice 4 by the fan 8 from the lattice holes 6 to the outside of the rotating lattice,
Preferably, it is sealed except for the air intake (not shown) and the grid holes 6. The fan 8 is rotationally driven by a drive source (not shown), takes in air from an air intake port, and sends an air flow to the inside of the rotating lattice 4. In addition, although a fan is used as the ventilation means in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this.

The optical fiber array 10 includes a plurality of optical fibers 12.1
2... are formed by being fixed in parallel.

Optical fiber 12 used in optical fiber array 10
is an optical fiber having a known configuration, and is made of 2M class materials with different refractive indexes for the light beam from the light source.The material with a high refractive index forms the center of the optical fiber as the core, and the material with a low refractive index forms the cladding. It is structured around a core. The entrance ports 11a of the optical fiber array 10 are arranged in an arc shape so as to be concentric with the outer circumferential surface of the rotating grating 4, and are disposed near the outer circumferential surface of the rotating grating 4. Further, the output ports 11b of the optical fiber array 10 are arranged so as to form a continuous straight line.

At a position in the vicinity of the output port 11b of the optical fiber array 10, a photoreceptor is provided as a photoreceptor for recording the light beam emitted from the light source 2 based on image information, passed through the grid holes, and irradiated outside the rotating grid. A drum 20 is provided. The photosensitive drum 20 is equipped with a drive source 22 such as a motor, and is configured to be able to rotate around an axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the photosensitive drum 20 .

In this case, the axial direction of the photosensitive drum 20 is arranged parallel to the arrangement direction of the output ports 11b of the optical fiber array 10 arranged in a straight line.

In addition, in the optical scanning device of the present invention, the amount of light beam emitted from the light source 2 is controlled, and the light beam is rotated so that it is accurately incident on each optical fiber 12 constituting the optical fiber array 10. A controller (not shown) is provided to control the drive source that rotates the grating 4 and to control the drive source 22 so that the photosensitive drum 20 rotates in synchronization with the drive source.

Next, the operation of the optical scanning device according to the present invention will be explained.

A light beam emitted from a light source 2 that blinks based on an image signal passes through the lattice holes 6 of a rotating lattice 4 that rotates around the light source 2, and enters the entrance port 11a arranged in an arc of an optical fiber array 10. be done. All of the above operations are performed synchronously by the controller. At the same time, fan 8
The air flow generated by
The light passes through and hits the entrance 11a of the optical fiber array 10. This air flow blows off dust, dirt, etc. that tend to adhere to the entrance port 11a of the optical fiber array 10 due to the rotation of the rotating grating 4 or the like.

Each optical fiber 12 configuring the optical fiber array 10
The light beam that is accurately incident on the optical fiber is propagated by being totally reflected at the interface between the core and the cladding due to the relationship between the refractive index of the core and the cladding. The light beam propagated by the optical fiber is irradiated from the exit port 11b of the optical fiber array 10 onto the photosensitive drum 20 which is being rotated by the drive source 22.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified as appropriate.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the light beam emitted from the light source of the light source is irradiated to the entrance of the optical fiber array through the lattice holes of the rotating lattice rotating around the light source, and the air flow generated by the blowing means is also irradiated. Similarly, since the air blows out from the grid holes and hits the entrance of the optical fiber array, dust, dirt, etc. that may adhere to the entrance of the optical fiber array are blown away by the air flow blown out from the grid holes.
The amount of light propagated between each optical fiber is equal, and the amount of light beam irradiated from the exit port is always constant, resulting in the effect that stable light irradiation can be performed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The upper figure is a schematic plan view showing one embodiment of the optical scanning device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the light source body of the optical scanning device shown in FIG. 1... Light source body, 2... Light source, 4... Rotating grating, 6
... Grid hole, 8... Fan, 10... Optical fiber array, 11a... Input port, llb... Output port,
20...Photoreceptor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An inlet of an optical fiber array consisting of a plurality of optical fibers is disposed near the light source, and a photoreceptor is disposed near the exit of the optical fiber array, so that the light beam from the light source is directed through the optical fiber array. In the light scanning device, the light source body has a blinking light source and a grid hole for irradiating the optical fiber array with a light beam emitted from the light source, and is rotatable around the light source. What is claimed is: 1. An optical scanning device comprising: a rotating grating; and blowing means for blowing air out of the grating holes of the rotating grating.