Optical scanning device in image forming apparatus
First Claim
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1. An optical scanning device comprising:
- a light source that emits a light beam;
a first optical system that guides the light beam emitted by the light source;
an optical deflector that deflects the light beam guided by the first optical system; and
a second optical system that converges the light beam deflected by the optical deflector on a surface to be scanned, wherein the first optical system includes at least one resin lens having a diffractive surface, the second optical system includes at least one resin optical element, and a beam diameter depth in a main scanning direction, Wm, that can have a maximum intensity of 1/e2, satisfies conditions
Δ
m1+Δ
m2+Δ
m3−
Δ
d1×
(f2/f1)2<
Wm/40
(1)
Δ
d1>
0 and Δ
m2<
0
(2) where, Δ
m1 is a beam waist position shift in the main scanning direction due to a change in the power in a refracting unit when the temperature in the first optical system rises by 1°
C., Δ
m2 is a beam waist position shift in the main scanning direction due to a change in the power in the diffracting unit when the temperature in the first optical system rises by 1°
C., Δ
m3 is a beam waist position shift in the main scanning direction when the temperature in the second optical system rises by 1°
C., Δ
d1 is a shift in the distance between a forward principal point of the first optical system in the main scanning direction and the light source when the temperature in the first optical system rises by 1°
C., f1 is a focal distance of the first optical system in the main scanning direction, and f2 is a focal distance of the second optical system in the main scanning direction.
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Abstract
A first optical system guides a light beam from a light source to an optical deflector, and a second optical system converges the light beam deflected by the optical deflector on a surface to be scanned. The first optical system includes at least one resin lens having a diffractive surface. The second optical system includes at least one resin optical element. A beam diameter depth in a main scanning direction, Wm, that can have a maximum intensity of 1/e2, satisfies conditions
Δm1+Δm2+Δm3−Δd1×(f2/f1)2<Wm/40 (1)
Δd1>0 and Δm2<0. (2)
95 Citations
21 Claims
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1. An optical scanning device comprising:
-
a light source that emits a light beam;
a first optical system that guides the light beam emitted by the light source;
an optical deflector that deflects the light beam guided by the first optical system; and
a second optical system that converges the light beam deflected by the optical deflector on a surface to be scanned, wherein the first optical system includes at least one resin lens having a diffractive surface, the second optical system includes at least one resin optical element, and a beam diameter depth in a main scanning direction, Wm, that can have a maximum intensity of 1/e2, satisfies conditions
Δ
m1+Δ
m2+Δ
m3−
Δ
d1×
(f2/f1)2<
Wm/40
(1)
Δ
d1>
0 and Δ
m2<
0
(2)where, Δ
m1 is a beam waist position shift in the main scanning direction due to a change in the power in a refracting unit when the temperature in the first optical system rises by 1°
C., Δ
m2 is a beam waist position shift in the main scanning direction due to a change in the power in the diffracting unit when the temperature in the first optical system rises by 1°
C., Δ
m3 is a beam waist position shift in the main scanning direction when the temperature in the second optical system rises by 1°
C., Δ
d1 is a shift in the distance between a forward principal point of the first optical system in the main scanning direction and the light source when the temperature in the first optical system rises by 1°
C., f1 is a focal distance of the first optical system in the main scanning direction, and f2 is a focal distance of the second optical system in the main scanning direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 7, 8, 9)
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3. An optical scanning device comprising:
-
a light source that emits a light beam;
a first optical system that guides the light beam emitted by the light source;
an optical deflector that deflects the light beam guided by the first optical system; and
a second optical system that converges the light beam deflected by the optical deflector on a surface to be scanned, wherein the first optical system includes at least one resin lens having a diffractive surface, the second optical system includes at least one resin optical element, and a beam diameter depth in a sub-scanning direction, Ws, that can have a maximum intensity of 1/e2, satisfies conditions
Δ
s1+Δ
s2+Δ
s3−
Δ
d1×
(β
1×
β
2)2<
Ws/40
(4)
Δ
d1>
0 and Δ
s2+Δ
s2<
0
(5)where, Δ
s1 is a beam waist position shift in the sub-scanning direction due to a change in the power in the refracting unit when the temperature in the first optical system rises by 1°
C., Δ
s2 is a beam waist position shift in the sub-scanning direction due to a change in the power in the diffracting unit when the temperature in the first optical system rises by 1°
C., Δ
s3 is a beam waist position shift in the sub-scanning direction when the temperature in the second optical system rises by 1°
C., Δ
d1 is a shift in the distance between a forward principal point in a main scanning direction of the first optical system and the light source when the temperature in the first optical system rises by 1°
C., β
1 is a lateral magnification of the first optical system in the sub-scanning direction, and β
2 is a lateral magnification of the second optical system in the sub-scanning direction. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6)
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10. An optical scanning device comprising:
-
a light source that emits a light beam;
a coupling lens that shapes the light beam into a beam pattern;
an anamorphic optical element that guides the light beam shaped by the coupling lens;
an optical deflector that deflects the light beam guided by the anamorphic optical element; and
a scanning optical system that converges the light beam deflected by the optical deflector on a surface to be scanned to form a laser spot, wherein the scanning optical system includes more than one resin lens, the anamorphic optical element is a resin lens having a first surface and a second surface, the first surface being rotationally symmetric having formed thereon a concentric circular power diffractive surface, the second surface having formed thereon a power diffractive surface that converts the light beam emitted from the light source into a parallel light beam in a main scanning direction and into a convergent light beam in a sub-scanning direction, and the power of the power diffractive surface is set so that a beam waist position shift in a main scanning direction or a sub-scanning direction or both the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, caused by mode hopping or temperature variation in the semiconductor laser device is substantially zero. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. An optical scanning device comprising:
-
a light source that emits a light beam;
a coupling lens that shapes the light beam into a beam pattern;
an anamorphic optical element that guides the light beam shaped by the coupling lens;
an optical deflector that deflects the light beam guided by the anamorphic optical element; and
a scanning optical system that converges the light beam deflected by the optical deflector on a surface to be scanned to form a laser spot, wherein the scanning optical system includes more than one resin lens, the anamorphic optical element is an anamorphic resin lens having a first surface and a second surface, the first surface being anamorphic refractive surface, the second surface bearing thereon a power diffractive surface having an axis in a main scanning direction, and the power of the power diffractive surface is set so that a beam waist position shift in the main scanning direction or a sub-scanning direction or both the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, caused by mode hopping or temperature variation in the semiconductor laser device is substantially zero. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An image forming apparatus comprising an optical scanning device that includes a light source that emits a light beam;
-
a first optical system that guides the light beam emitted by the light source;
an optical deflector that deflects the light beam guided by the first optical system; and
a second optical system that converges the light beam deflected by the optical deflector on a surface to be scanned, wherein the first optical system includes at least one resin lens having a diffractive surface, the second optical system includes at least one resin optical element, and a beam diameter depth in a main scanning direction, Wm, that can have a maximum intensity of 1/e2, satisfies conditions
Δ
m1+Δ
m2+Δ
m3−
Δ
d1×
(f2/f1)2<
Wm/40
(1)
Δ
d1>
0 and Δ
m2<
0
(2)where, Δ
m1 is a beam waist position shift in the main scanning direction due to a change in the power in a refracting unit when the temperature in the first optical system rises by 1°
C., Δ
m2 is a beam waist position shift in the main scanning direction due to a change in the power in the diffracting unit when the temperature in the first optical system rises by 1°
C., Δ
m3 is a beam waist position shift in the main scanning direction when the temperature in the second optical system rises by 1°
C., Δ
d1 is a shift in the distance between a forward principal point of the first optical system in the main scanning direction and the light source when the temperature in the first optical system rises by 1°
C., f1 is a focal distance of the first optical system in the main scanning direction, and f2 is a focal distance of the second optical system in the main scanning direction.
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20. An image forming apparatus comprising at least one image forming device that includes
a photosensitive image bearing unit; -
an optical scanning unit that scan a surface of the image bearing unit with a light beam to thereby forming a latent image on the image bearing unit; and
a developing unit that develops the latent image on the image bearing unit into a visual image, wherein the optical scanning unit includes a light source that emits a light beam;
a coupling lens that shapes the light beam into a beam pattern;
an anamorphic optical element that guides the light beam shaped by the coupling lens;
an optical deflector that deflects the light beam guided by the anamorphic optical element; and
a scanning optical system that converges the light beam deflected by the optical deflector on a surface to be scanned to form a laser spot, wherein the scanning optical system includes more than one resin lens, the anamorphic optical element is a resin lens having a first surface and a second surface, the first surface being rotationally symmetric having formed thereon a concentric circular power diffractive surface, the second surface having formed thereon a power diffractive surface that converts the light beam emitted from the light source into a parallel light beam in a main scanning direction and into a convergent light beam in a sub-scanning direction, and the power of the power diffractive surface is set so that a beam waist position shift in a main scanning direction or a sub-scanning direction or both the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, caused by mode hopping or temperature variation in the semiconductor laser device is substantially zero.
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21. An image forming apparatus comprising:
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a photosensitive image bearing unit;
an optical scanning unit that scan a surface of the image bearing unit with a light beam to thereby forming a latent image on the image bearing unit; and
a developing unit that develops the latent image on the image bearing unit into a visual image, wherein the optical scanning unit includes a light source that emits a light beam;
a coupling lens that shapes the light beam into a beam pattern;
an anamorphic optical element that guides the light beam shaped by the coupling lens;
an optical deflector that deflects the light beam guided by the anamorphic optical element; and
a scanning optical system that converges the light beam deflected by the optical deflector on a surface to be scanned to form a laser spot, wherein the scanning optical system includes more than one resin lens, the anamorphic optical element is an anamorphic resin lens having a first surface and a second surface, the first surface being anamorphic refractive surface, the second surface bearing thereon a power diffractive surface having an axis in a main scanning direction, and the power of the power diffractive surface is set so that a beam waist position shift in the main scanning direction or a sub-scanning direction or both the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, caused by mode hopping or temperature variation in the semiconductor laser device is substantially zero.
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Specification