MICRO-OSCILLATING MEMBER, LIGHT-DEFLECTOR, AND IMAGE-FORMING APPARATUS

• US 20080013140A1
• Filed: 07/20/2007
• Published: 01/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: YASUDA, Susumu, SHIMADA, Yasuhiro
• Granted Patent: US 7,388,702 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 359/199
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/085 the reflecting means being moved or deformed by electromagnetic means
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/105 with one or more pivoting mirrors or galvano-mirrors G02B26/101 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 359/904 Micromirror

Abstract

The present invention provides a resonance type micro-oscillating member capable of retraining a fluctuation of angular velocity, and specifically provides a micro-oscillating member, which is a nested micro-oscillating member, wherein there exist a reference oscillation mode which is the characteristic oscillation mode of a reference frequency, and an even numbered oscillation mode which is the characteristic oscillation mode of a frequency being approximate even number times the reference frequency.

Claims

1-10. -10. (canceled)

11. A micro-oscillating member, comprising:

a support portion;

a movable system comprising a first movable element, a first torsion spring which connects the first movable element to the support portion such that the first movable element is oscillatable around an oscillating axis, a second movable element, and a second torsion spring which connects the second movable element to the first movable element such that the second movable element is oscillatable around the oscillating axis;

a driving portion for oscillating the first and second movable elements around the oscillating axis; and

a driving control portion for controlling the driving portion,

wherein the movable system has a reference oscillation mode which is a characteristic osillation mode of a reference frequency, and an even numbered osillation mode which is a characteristic oscillation mode of a frequency being 1.98 n times or more to 2.02 n times or less the reference frequency when n is an integer of 1 or more, and

wherein the driving control portion controls the driving portion such that the movable system simultaneously oscillates in the reference oscillation mode and the even numbered oscillation mode.

12. The micro-oscillating member according to claim 11, wherein the first and second movable elements and the first and second torsion springs are integrally formed from one piece of plate.

13. The micro-oscillating member according to claim 12, wherein the one piece of the plate is a single-crystalline silicon wafer.

14. The micro-oscillating member according to claim 11, wherein, at a driving time of the movable system, an increasing time of a displacement angle of at least one of the first and second movable elements is different from a decreasing time of the displacement angle.

15. The micro-oscillating member according to claim 11, wherein a frequency of the even numbered oscillation mode is 1.98 times or more to 2.02 times or less a frequency of the reference oscillation mode.

16. The micro-oscillating member according to claim 11, wherein the movable system further comprises a the third movable element, and a third torsion spring which connects the third movable element to the second movable element such that the third movable element is oscillatable around the oscillating axis.

17. A light-deflector comprising a micro-oscillating member according to claim 11, and a light-reflecting portion provided on at least one of the first and second movable elements.

18. An image-forming apparatus comprising:

a light source for emitting a laser light;

a light-deflector according to claim 17;

and an image-forming optical system for forming an image on a photosensitive member using the laser light deflected by the light-deflector.

19. A micro-oscillating member, comprising:

a support portion; and

a movable system comprising a first movable element, a first torsion spring which connects the first movable element to the support portion such that the first movable element is oscillatable around an oscillating axis, a second movable element, and a second torsion spring which connects the second movable element to the first movable element such that the second movable element is oscillatable around the oscillating axis;

wherein the movable system has a reference oscillation mode which is a characteristic osillation mode of a reference frequency, and an even numbered osillation mode which is a characteristic oscillation mode of a frequency being 1.98 n times or more to 2.02 n times or less the reference frequency when n is an integer of 1 or more.

20. An image-forming apparatus comprising:

a light source for emitting a laser light;

a resonance type light-deflector for deflecting the laser light;

an image-forming optical system for forming an image using the laser light deflected by the resonance type light-deflector; and

a photosensitive member on which the image is formed by the laser light of the image formed in the image-forming optical system,

wherein the resonance type light-deflector comprises;

a support portion;

a movable system comprising a first movable element, a first torsion spring which connects the first movable element to the support portion such that the first movable element is oscillatable around an oscillating axis, a second movable element, and a second torsion spring which connects the second movable element to the first movable element such that the second movable element is oscillatable around the oscillating axis;

a driving portion for oscillating the first and second movable elements around the oscillating axis; and

a driving control portion for controlling the driving portion, and

wherein an action of at least one movable element of the first and second movable elements includes a first action of replacement to a first direction around the oscillating axis, and a second action of replacement to a second direction opposite to the first direction,

wherein the driving control portion controls the driving portion such that a time of the first action is longer than a time of the second action,

wherein the resonance type light-deflector reflects the laser light from the light source at a time of the first action, and

wherein the image-forming optical system forms an image on the photosensitive member using the laser light reflected at the time of the first action.

21. The image-forming apparatus according to claim 20, wherein a modulation clock of a laser light is controlled so as to negate fluctuation of a scanning velocity of the laser light on the photosensitive member.

22. The image-forming apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the image-forming optical system has a characteristic of negating fluctuation of a scanning velocity of the laser light on the photosensitive member.