Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Ikuko Katoh

Masanori Yoshikawa

Keisuke Fujimoto

Hideo Hirose

Masaaki Nakano

In an overfilled optical scanner in which a plurality of light beams are used, a uniform luminous-energy distribution is achieved on a scanning plane to be scanned. The optical scanner includes: a light sourcefor producing a first light beam Land a second light beam L; a polygon mirror; a first image formation optical system for leading the light beams Land Lto a deflecting plane of the polygon mirror and for forming, on the deflecting plane, a line image whose width is greater than the plane width of the deflecting plane; and a second image formation optical system for leading the light beams Land Lfrom the polygon mirror to the scanning plane of a photosensitive drum and forming an image on the scanning plane. The first image formation optical system is adjusted so that the optical axes Aand Aof the first and second light beams Land Lare approximately symmetrical about the optical axis Aof the first image formation optical system. The powers of the first and second light beams Land Lare thus balanced with each other on the scanning plane.

Growing community of inventors

Kyoto, Japan

Ikuko Katoh