JPH10123385A - Optical component adjusting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply adjust a stable optical component without necessitating a dedicated adjusting jig, etc., by providing a specific cap member, etc., provided for an optical component holding member to be freely loosened and fastened. SOLUTION: Along with the turning of a cap 6 in a fastening direction, the cap 6 itself presses a mirror cylinder 7, which approaches a laser optical source 1 while being confined by the common difference hole 4a of a holder 4. At the time of approaching additionally, a compression coil spring 5 contracts to generate repulsion to prevent the backlash of the cylinder 7 and the loosening of the cap 6. Along with the turning of a cap 6 in a loosening direction to the contrary, the cylinder 7 is pressed back by repulsion, confined by the hole 4a of the holder and moves in the direction of going away from the light source 1. As force is applied to the cap 6 by the repulsion of the spring 5 also at this time, the cap 6 is not loosened. After adjusting the light source 1 and the optical axis 10 of the cylinder 7 once, the adjusting jig is not necessitated at the time of moving the cylinder 7 and the optical component is simply fine adjusted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for adjusting an optical component, and more particularly to a device for adjusting a position of a lens or the like in an optical scanning device used for a laser printer, a copying machine, or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 10 shows an example of an optical scanning device used in a laser printer. In a laser printer, an optical scanning device is generally used as a means for forming an electrostatic latent image on a surface to be scanned such as a photoconductor. Laser light 39 emitted from a laser light source 35 passes through a collimator lens 36 and a cylinder lens 38 and reaches a rotary polygon mirror 40.
The laser beam 44 reflected by the rotating polygon mirror 40 is, for example, an fθ lens 42 including a lens 41a and a lens 41b,
From the point C on the surface to be scanned 47 via the cylinder lens 43 to D
Scanned to a point. A part of the laser beam 44 reflected by the rotary polygon mirror 40 is reflected by a mirror 45 and sent to a BD (beam detect) sensor 46 to recognize a scanning start position. In the optical scanning device having such a configuration, the adjusting device 37 is used for, for example, adjusting the shape of the laser beam 44 that has reached the surface 47 to be scanned.

Hereinafter, a first conventional configuration of the adjusting device 37 will be described with reference to FIG. 2, and a second conventional configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the first conventional configuration shown in FIG. 2, a laser light source 11 is attached to a plate 12, and the plate 12 is fixed to a block 13 by screws 14 so that the block 13 supports the laser light source 11. I have.
The lens barrel 15 in which the collimator lens 15a is incorporated is housed in an opening 16a provided in the holder 16, and is further pressed and fixed by the holder 18 via the wave washer 17.

A screw 18a is cut in the outer periphery of the holder 18, and when the holder 18 is rotated, the lens barrel 15 is pressed against a stepped portion 16b in an opening 16a. The wave washer 17 is used to prevent looseness between the lens barrel 15 and the holder 18 or to prevent backlash.

A screw 1 is provided on an outer peripheral portion (C portion) of the holder 16.
6c is cut and screwed to a screw portion 13a provided on the block 13.

With the above configuration, when aligning the laser light 20 emitted from the laser light source 11 with the optical axis of the collimator lens 15a incorporated in the lens barrel 15, the screw 14 is loosened and the plate 12 is moved in a plane. Align the optical axis. After the alignment of the optical axis, the plate 12 is fixed by tightening the screw 14.

After the optical axis adjustment is completed, the lens barrel 15 is moved along the optical axis to narrow the laser beam 20 emitted from the laser light source 11 to a predetermined position. This movement is holder 1
By turning 6, the lens barrel 15 is moved along the optical axis with the precision of the screw pitch. After moving the lens barrel 15 to a required position, the holder screw 16 is fixed to the block 13 by tightening the set screw 19.

On the other hand, in the second conventional configuration shown in FIGS. 3 to 9, a laser light source 25 is mounted on a plate 26, and the plate 26 is fixed to the block 30 by screws 27 so that the laser light source 25 are supported. The lens barrel 29 in which the collimator lens 29a is incorporated is pressed against the block 30 by a leaf spring 31 fixed to the block 30 with screws 32.

With the above configuration, when aligning the optical axis of the laser beam 28 emitted from the laser light source 25 with the collimator lens 29a incorporated in the lens barrel 29, the screw 27 is loosened and the plate 26 is moved in a plane. Align the optical axis. After the optical axis is aligned, the screw 27 is tightened to fix the plate 26.

After the completion of the optical axis adjustment, the lens barrel 29 is moved along the optical axis to narrow the laser light 28 emitted from the laser light source 25 to a predetermined position. In this case, the lens barrel 29
Is always pressed against the block 30 by the leaf spring 31, so that the displacement of the optical axis due to the movement of the lens barrel 29 hardly occurs. However, in the case of this configuration, when finely adjusting the lens barrel 29, a dedicated adjustment jig as shown in FIG. 5 is required.

The adjustment by the adjustment jig is performed as follows.
For example, when the lens barrel 29 is moved in the front-rear direction shown in FIG. 3, the protrusion 34 of the adjusting jig 33 of the eccentric shaft shown in FIG. 5 is attached to the lens barrel 29 via the round hole 31 a of the leaf spring 31. The lens barrel 29 is moved in the front-rear direction while being restrained by the leaf spring 31 and the block 30 by turning the adjustment jig 33 into the groove 35 provided.

However, in this case, regarding the position of the projection 34 of the adjusting jig 33, the lens barrel 29 is rotated between the state shown in FIG. 8 and the state shown in FIG. Is not constant, and the amount of movement of the lens barrel 29 varies depending on the position of the projection 34 of the adjustment jig 33. This variation in the amount of movement has made adjustment more difficult.

In the case of the second conventional configuration, the lens barrel 29
It is necessary to loosen the screw 32 when moving the lens, and to reduce the pressing force of the leaf spring 31, and it is necessary to tighten the screw 32 with care so that the lens barrel 29 does not move after the adjustment.
Work efficiency was poor.

[0015]

The above-mentioned conventional arrangement has the following disadvantages. That is, in the former case, when the fine adjustment of the aperture is performed by turning the holder 16, the lens barrel 15 in which the collimator lens is incorporated moves together with the holder 16, so that the laser light is removed by the play of the screw of the holder 16. There is a disadvantage that the optical axis of the lens barrel 20 is shifted from that of the lens barrel 15.

Further, even if the optical axis is not shifted during the adjustment, there is a disadvantage that the optical axis is shifted by the tightening operation of the set screw 19 when fixing the holder 16.

On the other hand, in the latter case, once the optical axes are aligned, the optical axis is hardly shifted due to the movement of the lens barrel 29, but a dedicated adjusting jig is required as described above. The use of the adjustment jig does not always enable stable adjustment, and the adjustment work is troublesome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical component adjusting apparatus which can easily perform stable optical component adjustment without requiring a dedicated adjusting jig or the like.

[0019]

An object of the present invention is to provide a laser light source holding member (2, 3) for holding a laser light source (1) and a laser light source holding member fixed to the laser light source holding member and opposed to the laser light source. An optical component holding member (4) having an opening (4a) and having an optical component (7, 7a) movable along the opening; and an elastic member (10) for applying an elastic force to the optical component. 5), an inner surface (6a) in contact with an optical component end face protruding from the optical component holding member under the elastic force, and a through hole for emitting laser light from the laser light source.
(6b) and a cap member (6) provided loosely to the optical component holding member.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a laser light source. The laser light source 1 is mounted on a plate 2 fixed to a base member 3 of the optical device by screws 9.

The holder 4 fixed to the base member 3 of the optical device by screws 8 is provided with a compression coil spring 5 and an opening (tolerance hole) 4a for incorporating the lens barrel 7 holding the collimator lens 7a. ing. The outer peripheral portion (C portion) of the holder 4 is subjected to screw processing, and a screw portion 4b is provided. A screw portion 6c provided on the inner peripheral portion of the cap 6 is screwed into the screw portion 4b of the holder 4. In addition, the through hole 6 b provided in the cap 6 is a hole for emitting the laser light from the laser light source 1.

With the above arrangement, when the cap 6 is turned in the tightening direction, the cap 6 itself presses the lens barrel 7, and the lens barrel 7 approaches the laser light source 1 while being restrained by the tolerance hole 4 a of the holder 4. . Further, when the lens barrel 7 approaches the laser light source 1, the compression coil spring 5 contracts to generate a repulsive force, thereby preventing rattle of the lens barrel 7 and loosening of the cap 6.

When a screw pitch is used to move the lens barrel 29, for example, if a screw having a 0.5 pitch is used, the screw is tightened or loosened by one turn to obtain a rotation angle of 1 degree (1 degree). °) 0.5mm / 3
60 degrees = 1.4 μm / degree, so that fine adjustment is possible, and the structure moves constantly with respect to the rotation angle. In the case where finer adjustment is required, the problem can be solved by increasing the outer diameter of the cap 6.

Conversely, when the cap 6 is rotated in the loosening direction, the lens barrel 7 is pushed back by the repulsive force of the compression coil spring 5, and is constrained by the tolerance hole 4 a of the holder 4 and moves away from the laser light source 1. Also at this time, since the force is applied to the cap 6 by the repulsive force of the compression coil spring 5, the cap is not loosened. If the movement amount of the lens barrel 7 is known in advance, the compression coil spring 5 is designed to have an appropriate repulsive force when it is at a predetermined position, thereby preventing the cap from loosening when the cap 6 is loosened. Can be.

According to the above configuration, once the laser light source 1 and the optical axis 10 of the lens barrel 7 are once aligned, fine adjustment can be easily performed by hand without the need for an adjusting jig when the lens barrel 7 is moved.

If the outer periphery of the rotating cap 6 is subjected to knurling or the like to make a crease, or if the outer periphery of the cap 6 is formed into a polygon instead of a cylinder, the cap may be removed. This is effective for preventing slippage when turning the 6 by hand.

In the above embodiment, the compression coil spring 5 is used as the elastic member. However, the same effect can be obtained by using an elastic member such as sponge or rubber.

Further, the optical component is not limited to the collimator lens, but can be applied to other lenses and mirrors.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an optical component adjusting apparatus that can easily perform stable optical component adjustment without requiring a dedicated adjusting jig or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial side sectional view showing an optical component adjusting device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial side sectional view showing a first conventional configuration.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a second conventional configuration.

FIG. 4 is a front view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side view of an adjustment jig used in a second conventional configuration.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a main portion of a second conventional configuration with a partially cutaway portion.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a relationship between a lens barrel and an adjustment jig in a second conventional configuration.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a lens barrel and an adjustment jig in a second conventional configuration.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a lens barrel and an adjustment jig in a second conventional configuration.

FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of an optical scanning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Laser light source, 2 ... Plate, 3 ... Base, 4 ... Holder (optical component holding member), 5 ... Compression coil spring (elastic member), 6 ... Cap, 7 ... Lens barrel, 7a ... Collimator lens, 8, 9 ... screws, 10 ... optical axis.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A laser light source holding member for holding a laser light source, and an optical component fixed to the laser light source holding member, having an opening at a position facing the laser light source, and movable along the opening. An optical component holding member comprising: an elastic member that applies an elastic force to the optical component; an inner surface that contacts the optical component end surface that protrudes from the optical component holding member by receiving the elastic force; An adjusting device for an optical component, comprising: a through-hole for emitting laser light; and a cap member provided loosely with respect to the optical component holding member. 2. An inner peripheral portion of the cap member is screwed to an outer peripheral portion of the optical component holding member, and the optical component is held by the optical component holding member. 2. The optical component adjusting device according to claim 1, wherein the direction is adjusted by a reaction force of the elastic member and a loose adjustment of the cap member with respect to the optical component holding member.