Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Goichi Akanuma

Tomofumi Kitazawa

Tsuyoshi Hashiguchi

Mizuki Shinkawa

Fumiko Sakoh

Wataru Yokota

Hiroyuki Inoue

Kazuhiro Fujita

Shuichi Suzuki

Hiroshi Koide

Hiroshi Akiyama

Mitsumi Fujii

Manabu Seo

Jun Nakagawa

Ikuo Maeda

Takeshi Nanjyo

Yukito Sato

Shinichi Kojima

Shigeru Oouchida

Yukiko Hamano

Eri Watanabe

No-Cheol Park

Kazusuke Maenaka

Mitsuhiro Yoda

Dong-Ju Lee

Myeong-Gyu Song

Yang-Hyun Seok

Takayuki Fujita

A light deflector includes: a movable portion; a support having one end connected to the movable portion to elastically support the movable portion, the support including a support thick portion; a drive beam connected to the other end of the support to deform the support to cause the movable portion to oscillate about an oscillation axis; a connecting portion connecting the other end of the support to the drive beam, the connecting portion including a connecting thick portion; and a support frame supporting the drive beam via a fixing portion. The support thick portion and the connecting thick portion are connected to each other.

Light deflector, image projection apparatus, laser headlamp, head-mounted display, distance measurement apparatus, and mobile object

A light deflector includes a mirror unit having a reflecting surface; a pair of supports supporting the mirror unit; a pair of drive beams; a frame supporting the pair of drive beams in a cantilevered state; and connecting parts connecting the pair of drive beams to the pair of supports, respectively. Each of the connecting parts has a first area between the first axis and a corresponding drive beam of the pair of drive beams, and a second area at an opposite side of the first area relative to the first axis. The second area includes a projection projecting in a first direction opposite to a second direction toward a portion at which the corresponding drive beam is supported by the frame. The projection includes a first fillet of a fillet shape at an end proximate to a corresponding support of the pair of supports.

Light deflector, deflecting device, distance measurement device, image projection device, and vehicle

An optical deflector includes a mirror configured to reflect light; a pair of support portions each having an end connected to the mirror, and configured to support the mirror; first actuators connected to the respective support portions, and configured to deform the support portions so as to cause the mirror to oscillate about a first axis; a movable frame configured to support the first actuators; and second actuators connected to the movable frame and disposed opposite to the first actuators, with the support portions being interposed between the first actuators and the second actuators. The second actuators are not connected to the support portions. The first actuators and the second actuators bend and deform in the same direction.

Optical deflector, deflection apparatus, distance measuring apparatus, image projecting apparatus, and movable body

A light deflector including a mirror unit configured to reflect light; a pair of supports, one end of each of the pair of supports coupled to the mirror unit to support the mirror unit; a pair of drive beams each coupled to the other end of a corresponding support of the pair of supports, the pair of drive beams being configured to deform the pair of supports to rotate the mirror unit around a first axis; and connecting parts connecting the pair of drive beams to the pair of supports, respectively. Each of the connecting parts having a rib.

Light deflector, deflecting device, object recognition device, image projection device, and mobile object

An acoustic transducer includes a diaphragm and multiple vibrators to drive the diaphragm. The diaphragm has multiple cutouts and includes multiple arrangement portions. The multiple vibrators are disposed on the multiple arrangement portions, respectively. At least one of the multiple arrangement portions is disposed between two of the multiple cutouts adjacent to each other and supported at both ends thereof.

Acoustic transducer

A light deflector includes a fixed part, a movable part provided with a reflection plane, a pair of elastic supporting units configured to support the movable part, a pair of connecting parts configured to connect between the pair of elastic supporting units and the fixed part, and a driving unit configured to deform the pair of connecting parts to make the movable part oscillate. The pair of connecting parts are supported by the fixed part in a cantilevered state, and each one of the pair of connecting parts having a folded structure. An optical scanning system includes the light deflector. An image projection device includes the light deflector.

Light deflector, optical scanning system, image projection device, image forming apparatus, and lidar device

A light deflector includes a stationary part; a movable unit having a reflecting surface; a connecting part between the movable unit and the stationary part; a drive unit disposed on a first surface of the connecting part, the drive unit configured to deform the connecting part to oscillate the movable unit; and a rib disposed on a second surface of the connecting part, the second surface being an opposite surface of the first surface. The rib includes a portion whose longitudinal direction is orthogonal to a direction at which the connecting part is bent.

A light deflector is provided including a mirror unit including a reflection plane, the mirror unit configured to rotate around a predetermined rotational axis, a pair of supporting beams configured to support the mirror unit in a rotatable manner, and drivers configured to drive the mirror unit to rotate, through the supporting beams. Each of the drivers has one end coupled to the supporting beams and another end coupled to a supporting unit formed to surround the mirror unit, and the supporting unit at least partially includes a thick portion and a thin portion different from each other in thickness.

Light deflector, optical scanning device, image projection device, and mobile object

A movable device includes a reflector; a movable section including the reflector; a first drive section connected to the movable section, the first drive section configured to drive the movable section; a first support connected to the first drive section to support the first drive section; and two adjusters disposed symmetrically with respect to the reflector.

Movable device, image projection apparatus, heads-up display, laser headlamp, head-mounted display, object recognition device, and vehicle

A light deflector is provided including a mirror unit having a light reflection plane, a movable frame to support the mirror unit, a support frame disposed to surround the movable frame, a pair of serpentine beams each disposed between the movable frame and the support frame on both sides of the movable frame to form a turning shape, each of the serpentine beams having one end attached to the support frame, and another end attached to the movable frame, and a vibration damper provided on a portion that moves due to deformation of the serpentine beams caused by application of voltage being transferred.

Light deflector, two-dimensional image display apparatus, optical scanner, and image forming apparatus

A light deflector includes a mirror unit having a light reflection plane, a base, a pair of elastic supporting members each having one end attached to the mirror unit and the other end attached to the base and configured to support the mirror unit in a rotatable and oscillatable manner, and a pair of drive bars each having one end attached to another end of a corresponding one of the elastic supporting members and the other end attached to the base in a cantilevered state. The mirror unit rotates and oscillates about a center of rotation as deformation of the drive bars is transmitted to the mirror unit through the elastic supporting members. The center of rotation of the mirror unit is within a range of &#x2212;0.05&#xd7;D to &#x2212;0.01&#xd7;D, where D denotes a diameter of the mirror unit.

Light deflector, and devices incorporating the same

An optical deflection device includes a mirror having a reflection face for deflecting light that enters the reflection face; and a support member to support the mirror including a torsion bar having one end being continuously connected to the mirror; a beam being continuously connected to another end of the torsion bar; and a plurality of piezoelectric elements disposed on the beam including a first piezoelectric element and a second piezoelectric element.

Optical deflection device and image forming apparatus

An optical deflecting device includes a mirror having a reflecting surface and a support unit to support the mirror. The support unit includes a first drive unit. The first drive unit includes a plurality of continuously meandering first beams and a plurality of first piezoelectric members respectively provided to the plurality of first beams to swing the mirror around a first axis to deflect light incident on the reflecting surface of the mirror. Two voltages having non-similar waveforms are respectively applied in parallel to each two of the first piezoelectric members respectively provided to adjacent two of the first beams.

Optical deflection device, apparatus including the same, and method of controlling optical deflecting device

An actuator is configured of a frame element, a pair of beam elements, a movable element rotatably supported by the frame element via the beam elements, a driver configured to rotate the movable element relative to the frame element around the beam elements as a rotary shaft; and damper elements provided on the rotary axis of the beam elements.

Actuator, protective cover for actuator, actuator manufacturing method, and optical deflector incorporating actuator, and two dimensional optical scanner and image projector incorporating optical scanner

The deflecting mirror includes a fixed base member; a mirror having a reflection surface; a support member swingablly supporting the mirror; a pair of driving beam members, each having a first end connected with the fixed base member and a second end connected with the support member to support the support member from both sides; and a piezoelectric member fixed to each driving beam member and extending from the first or second end of each driving beam member while having length not longer than about half the length of the driving beam member. The piezoelectric member and the driving beam members constitute piezoelectric unimorph or bimorph structure. By applying voltage to the piezoelectric member, the driving beam members are driven at the same time in the same direction, thereby vibrating the support member in a direction perpendicular to the reflection surface of the mirror, resulting in swinging of the mirror.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Goichi Akanuma