JPH10327303A - Deflecting scanner and image forming device mounting this - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the parts cost and assembling cost and the weight and size of a device by projecting flat fitting wings from the side faces of an optical box and fixing these to a supporting means such as the main body frame of an image forming device by a method such as directly fixing with a bolt so as to unnecessitate interposing a sheet-metal supporting plate, etc., between the main frame and the optical box. SOLUTION: A pair of fixing wings 7 projecting to the right and left from the side faces along the extended face of a bottom wall 6a are arranged on the outside of the optical box 6 of a deflecting scanner and the outer periphery of each fixing wing 7 is surrounded by a part of a side wall 6b and a reinforcing rib 8 formed in a body with this. The rib 8 increases the rigidity of the wing 7 to stably support the optical box 6. At the time of assembling the box 6 to the main frame 10, both wings 7 extended to the outside of the side wall 6b are mounted on a pair of supporting parts 11 of the frame 10 and each wing 7 is fixed with a pair of vises 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a deflection scanning device used for an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer and a laser facsimile, and an image forming apparatus having the same.

[0002]

BACKGROUND ART FIG. 6 shows a deflection scanning apparatus used in an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer or a laser facsimile according to one conventional example, the laser beam L ₀ is a light beam generated from the semiconductor laser 101 is a collimator Lens 1
01a (see FIG. 8), the light is collimated into a linear light beam by the cylindrical lens 102, and is incident on the reflection surface of the rotary polygon mirror 103. The reflected light is deflected and scanned by the rotation of the rotary polygon mirror 103 to become scanning light in the Y-axis direction (main scanning direction), and forms an image on the photoconductor on the rotating drum 105 via the scanning lens 104. The light beam formed on the photoreceptor forms an electrostatic latent image with the main scanning in the Y-axis direction by the rotation of the rotating polygon mirror 103 and the sub-scanning in the Z-axis direction by the rotation of the rotating drum 105.

A corona discharger is provided around the photoreceptor to uniformly charge the surface of the photoreceptor, and a visualization device for visualizing an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor into a toner image. A transfer corona discharger for transferring the toner image to a recording medium such as recording paper is disposed, and by these operations, recording information corresponding to the light beam generated by the semiconductor laser 101 is printed on the recording paper or the like. You.

The scanning light of the rotary polygon mirror 103 reaches one end of the scanning surface, is reflected by a BD mirror 106a, is introduced into a BD sensor 106c through a condenser lens 106b, and is sent to a scanning start signal by a controller (not shown). The light is converted and transmitted to the semiconductor laser 101. After receiving the scan start signal, the semiconductor laser 101 starts write modulation based on image information transmitted from a host computer (not shown).

A semiconductor laser 101, a cylindrical lens 102, a rotating polygon mirror 103, a scanning lens 104, a BD
The mirror 106a, the BD sensor 106c, and the like are mounted inside an optical box 107 made of synthetic resin. Rotating drum 10
5 is provided outside the optical box 107,
Scanning light from the optical box 107 to the rotating drum 10
A window for taking out toward 5 is provided.

The scanning lens 104 includes a spherical lens unit and a toric lens unit, and converts scanning light scanned at a constant angular speed by the rotary polygon mirror 103 into scanning light scanning at a constant speed in the Y-axis direction on the rotating drum 105. So-called fθ function.

Further, the main body frame 110 of the image forming apparatus
First, the optical box 107 is attached to the support plate 109 made of sheet metal by using the screw 109a.
After the four corners are screwed, as shown in FIG. 7, both ends of the support plate 109 are placed on the optical box support portions 111 and 112 of the main body frame 110 and screwed. Adjustment of the relative position of the optical box 107 with respect to the rotating drum 105 is performed by using the optical box 107 with the support plate 1.
09 or when the support plate 109 is screwed to the optical box support portions 111 and 112 of the main body frame 110.

A motor 1 for rotatingly driving the polygon mirror 103
Reference numeral 03a denotes a drive circuit (not shown) mounted on the motor board 103b, and a magnetic circuit including a stator excited by a drive current of the drive circuit, a rotor opposed thereto, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 8, a semiconductor laser 101 is press-fitted into a center hole of a laser holder 101b.
A collimator lens 1 is provided at one end of the laser holder 101b.
The lens holder 101c for holding the lens holder 01a is assembled by a known method such as bonding. A driving substrate 101d for driving the semiconductor laser 101 is provided at the other end of the laser holder 101b.
Is fixed. After the collimator lens 101a, the drive board 101d, and the laser holder 101b are unitized as described above, the laser holder 101b is fitted into the circular hole 107a of the optical box 107. Next, the laser holder 1 is screwed into the screw hole 107b of the optical box 107 with screws.
01b is screwed into the optical box 107.

[0010]

However, according to the above-mentioned prior art, when assembling the optical box to the main body frame of the image forming apparatus, as described above, one of the above-mentioned supporting plates is made of a highly rigid support plate manufactured by sheet metal processing. Since the optical box is screwed and the support plate is fixed to the optical box support part of the main body frame, the fastening work such as screwing is troublesome, and many screws and support plates etc. Therefore, there is an unopened problem that the number of assembly parts is large, and as a result, the assembly cost and component cost of the apparatus increase.

In addition, since the supporting plate, which is a highly rigid sheet metal member or the like, has a large area and a large weight, there is an inconvenience that the size and weight of the deflection scanning device cannot be promoted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned unresolved problems of the prior art, and is intended to assemble an optical box directly into a main body frame of an image forming apparatus without using a sheet metal support plate or the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive and high-performance deflection scanning device and an image forming apparatus equipped with the same.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a deflection scanning apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a scanning means for deflecting and scanning a light beam generated from a light source; An image forming optical system for forming an image on a body, an optical box containing the image forming optical system and the scanning means, and assembling means for assembling the optical box to a supporting means separated from the optical box; However, the present invention is characterized in that a mounting wing protruding from the side surface of the optical box to the support means and a reinforcing rib for enhancing its rigidity are provided.

[0014] It is preferable that the mounting portion for assembling the light source to the side wall of the optical box is an opening opened at the upper end of the side wall.

[0015]

The plate-like mounting wing is projected from the side surface of the optical box, and this is fixed directly to a support means such as a main body frame of the image forming apparatus by means of a screw or the like. Since it is not necessary to interpose a support plate or the like made of sheet metal between the main body frame and the optical box, it can greatly contribute to simplifying the assembly process of the apparatus and reducing the number of assembly parts. Also, there is an advantage that the adjustment of the relative position of the optical box with respect to the rotating drum is required only once. As a result, it is possible to promote the cost reduction and the high performance of the image forming apparatus.

If the mounting portion for assembling the light source to the side wall of the optical box is an opening that is open at the upper end of the side wall, the outer side of the side wall of the optical box is formed in the step of integrally molding the optical box with a synthetic resin or the like. There is no need for a space for die cutting, and there is no need to limit the height of reinforcing ribs that enhance the rigidity of the mounting wings, and to provide notches or the like for die cutting. Therefore, by surrounding the outer peripheral edge of the mounting wing with the reinforcing rib having a sufficient height, the rigidity of the mounting wing can be sufficiently enhanced.

[0017]

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

FIG. 1 shows a deflection scanning device according to an embodiment. A laser beam, which is a light beam generated from a semiconductor laser 1 as a light source, is collimated by a collimator lens 1a (see FIG. 3), and is converted into a cylindrical lens. The light is condensed into a linear light beam by 2 and is incident on a reflection surface of a rotary polygon mirror 3 which is a scanning means. The reflected light is reflected by the rotating polygon mirror 3.
Is deflected and scanned by the rotation of the laser beam to become scanning light in the Y-axis direction (main scanning direction), and forms an image on a photosensitive member on a rotating drum (not shown) via the scanning lens 4. The light beam that forms an image on the photoreceptor forms an electrostatic latent image with the main scanning in the Y-axis direction by the rotation of the rotary polygon mirror 3 and the sub-scanning in the Z-axis direction by the rotation of the rotating drum.

A corona discharger for uniformly charging the surface of the photoreceptor is provided around the photoreceptor, and a visualization device for visualizing an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor into a toner image. A transfer corona discharger or the like for transferring the toner image to a recording medium such as a recording paper is disposed, and by these operations, recording information corresponding to the luminous flux generated by the semiconductor laser 1 is printed on the recording paper or the like. You.

The scanning light of the rotary polygon mirror 3 reaches one end of the scanning surface, is reflected by the BD mirror 5a, is introduced to the BD sensor 5c through the condenser lens 5b, and is sent to the controller (not shown) by a controller (not shown). The light is converted and transmitted to the semiconductor laser 1. After receiving the scanning start signal, the semiconductor laser 1 starts writing modulation based on image information transmitted from a host computer (not shown).

Semiconductor laser 1, cylindrical lens 2, rotary polygon mirror 3, scanning lens 4, BD mirror 5a, B
The D sensor 5c and the like are mounted inside the optical box 6 made of synthetic resin. The rotating drum is provided outside the optical box 6, and one end of the optical box 6 is provided with a window for taking out scanning light from the optical box 6 toward the rotating drum.

The scanning lens 4 comprises a spherical lens unit and a toric lens unit, and converts scanning light scanned at a constant angular speed by the rotary polygon mirror 3 into scanning light scanning at a constant speed in the Y-axis direction on the rotating drum. It has a so-called fθ function.

A cylindrical lens 2, a rotary polygon mirror 3, a scanning lens 4 and the like are assembled on a bottom wall 6a of the optical box 6. The semiconductor laser 1 unitized with the collimator lens 1a is attached to the side wall of the optical box 6. 6b.

Outside the optical box 6, a pair of mounting wings 7 protruding left and right from the side along the extended surface of the bottom wall 6a are arranged, and the outer peripheral edge of each mounting wing 7 is formed on the side wall 6b. It is surrounded by a part and a reinforcing rib 8 formed integrally therewith. The reinforcing ribs 8 of the mounting wings 7 are for reinforcing the rigidity of the mounting wings 7 to stably support the optical box 6, and the height of the reinforcing ribs 8 is, as shown in FIG.
Side wall 6b at inner end 8a integrated with side wall 6b
And gradually decreases toward the outer end 8b.

When assembling the optical box 6 to the main body frame 10 as the support means, as shown in FIG. 2, the two mounting wings 7 projecting outside the side wall 6b are respectively mounted on the pair of support portions 11 of the main body frame 10. And each mounting wing 7 is screwed by a pair of screws 12.

As shown in FIG. 3, the semiconductor laser 1 is press-fitted into a center hole of a laser holder 1b, and a lens holder 1c holding a collimator lens 1a is attached to one end of the laser holder 1b by a known method such as bonding. Assembled in a way,
A drive substrate 1d for driving the semiconductor laser 1 is fixed to the other end of the laser holder 1b. After the collimator lens 1a, the drive substrate 1d, and the laser holder 1b are unitized as described above, the laser holder 1b is inserted into the circular hole 6 of the optical box 6.
c, and the laser holder 1b is screwed to the optical box 6 with a screw fastened to the screw hole 6b of the optical box 6.

The light source is assembled in this manner, and the cylindrical lens 2, the rotary polygon mirror 3, the scanning lens 4, the BD mirror 5a, and the BD sensor 5 are placed inside the optical box 6.
After assembling c and the like, the upper opening of the optical box 6 is closed with a lid member, and assembling to the main body frame 10 is performed using the both mounting wings 7 as described above. When each mounting wing 7 is screwed to the support portion 11 of the main body frame 10, the optical box 6 is precisely aligned with a rotating drum (not shown) with the screws 12 loosened, and the scanning light of the rotary polygon mirror 3 is scanned. After adjusting the imaging position of
Tighten 2.

According to the present embodiment, the support plate between the optical box 6 and the main body frame 10 as in the conventional example is not required. Therefore, the number of screws required for assembling the apparatus is reduced, and the assembling process is reduced. Can be greatly simplified.

By omitting the support plate and the screws, the number of assembly parts of the apparatus can be greatly reduced, and the alignment of the optical box 6 with respect to the rotating drum is simple.

Further, the optical box 6 is attached to the mounting wings 7 and the reinforcing ribs 8.
In addition, when integrally formed of a synthetic resin, the weight reduction of the device can be greatly promoted as compared with the case where a supporting plate processed by sheet metal is used.

When the optical box 6 is integrally formed with the mounting wings 7 and the reinforcing ribs 8 by injection molding or the like, a circular hole 6c for fitting the laser holder 1b of the semiconductor laser 1 is formed.
In order to form a screw hole 6d for screwing the laser holder 1b and the laser holder 1b, a punching piece is necessary as is well known. Since the die-cutting direction (die-cutting direction) of the punched piece after molding is perpendicular to the side wall 6b of the optical box 6 as shown by the arrow A,
There is a possibility that the height of the outer end portion 8b of the reinforcing rib 8 becomes an obstacle. Therefore, the height of the outer end portion 8b of the reinforcing ribs 8, or lower than the height H ₁ of the lower end of the circular hole 6c of the side wall 6b of the optical box 6, or does not interfere with the vent Komano type-broken circular hole 6c As described above, it is necessary to take measures such as providing the notch 8c in the reinforcing rib 8.

FIG. 4 shows a first modification. In this embodiment, instead of providing the circular hole 6c for fitting the laser holder 1b, a U-shaped opening 26c opened upward is provided on the side wall 26b of the optical box 26. In this case, the cut piece for forming the opening 26c can be pulled upward along the side wall 26b as shown by the arrow B. Therefore, the height of the outer end portion 28b of the reinforcing rib 28 is adjusted to the screw hole 26 for screwing the laser holder 21b to the optical box 26.
height H of the lower end of the mounting reference surface 26e disposed around d.
_If it is lower than _2, there is no risk of obstruction of the mold setting work.

There is an advantage that the strength of the reinforcing rib 28 can be easily secured as compared with the case where a notch is provided in the reinforcing rib 28 or the height is greatly restricted.

FIG. 5 shows a second modification. The mounting reference surface 36c for assembling the laser holder 31b on the bottom wall 36a of the optical box 36 and the positioning dowel 36d
Is provided, and a circular hole and an opening in the side wall of the optical box 36 are omitted. The light source portion is housed inside the optical box 36, does not require a fitting hole or the like of the laser holder 31b on the side wall of the optical box 36, and raises the height of the reinforcing rib 38 in consideration of the mold breaking direction of the punching piece. There is an advantage that the optical box 36 can be completely sealed in addition to the need to limit or provide a cutout. However, since the temperature inside the optical box 36 rises due to the heat generated by the semiconductor laser 31, it is necessary to take measures against this.

[0035]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

The optical box can be assembled by directly screwing the mounting wing integrally formed with the optical box to the main body frame of the image forming apparatus. As a result, it is possible to greatly contribute to the reduction of the component cost and the assembly cost of the image forming apparatus, and to the reduction in the weight and size of the apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a deflection scanning device according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional elevation view showing a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in cross-section.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show a part of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, in which FIG. 3A is a partial sectional view, and FIG. 3B is a partial perspective view showing a state where a semiconductor laser and the like are removed.

4A and 4B show a first modified example, in which FIG. 4A is a partial cross-sectional view, and FIG. 4B is a partial perspective view showing a state where a semiconductor laser and the like are removed.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view showing a second modification.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view showing a deflection scanning device according to a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is an elevational view showing the apparatus of FIG. 6;

FIGS. 8A and 8B show a part of the apparatus shown in FIG. 6, wherein FIG. 8A is a partial sectional view thereof, and FIG. 8B is a partial perspective view showing a state where the semiconductor laser is removed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference numerals 1, 31 Semiconductor lasers 1b, 21b, 31b Laser holder 2 Cylindrical lens 3 Rotating polygon mirror 4 Scanning lens 6, 26, 36 Optical box 6c Circular hole 7 Mounting wing 8, 28, 38 Reinforcing rib 10 Main frame 11 Support section 26c Opening Part 36c Reference mounting surface 36d Dowel

Claims (4)

[Claims] A scanning means for deflecting and scanning a light beam generated from a light source; an imaging optical system for forming an image of the light beam on a photosensitive member via the scanning means; and an imaging optical system and the scanning means. And an assembling means for assembling the optical box to supporting means separated from the optical box, and the assembling means has a mounting wing protruding from the side surface of the optical box to the supporting means and its rigidity. A deflection scanning device comprising a reinforcing rib for strengthening. 2. The deflection scanning device according to claim 1, wherein the mounting portion for mounting the light source on the side wall of the optical box is an opening that is opened at an upper end of the side wall. 3. The deflection scanning device according to claim 1, wherein the optical box is made of a synthetic resin. 4. An image forming apparatus comprising: the deflection scanning device according to claim 1; and a rotating drum that supports a photosensitive member.