Konica Minolta, Inc.

Minolta Company, Ltd.

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.

Yasushi Nagasaka

Takahiro Matsuo

So Yano

Takaki Uemura

Kenji Takeshita

Jun Kohsaka

Naoki Tajima

Nobuo Kanai

Hiroshi Hiraguchi

Akira Taniyama

Keiji Ogoh

Hiromu Nakamura

Satoru Ono

A light-emitting device including a light-emitting element and causing the light emitting element to emit different light amounts. The light-emitting device includes: a measurement unit, a predetermined value storage unit, and a driving signal calculation unit. The measurement unit measures a surrounding temperature of the light-emitting element. The predetermined value storage unit stores a predetermined value of a driving signal for causing the light-emitting element to emit light. The driving signal calculation unit executes calculation of a value of the driving signal for causing the light-emitting element to emit a desired light amount by applying a correction factor in accordance with the measured surrounding temperature and the desired light amount to the predetermined value of the driving signal.

Light emitting device and image forming device

An optical writing device performing optical writing with a light-emitting element, performing light amount switching, and including: a unit estimating a first value corresponding to a current amount for causing the element to emit a first light amount immediately after the switching; a unit supplying to the element, from immediately after the switching, a current amount corresponding to a first digital value acquired by quantizing the first value; a unit estimating a time amount through which a current amount for keeping the element emitting the first light amount increases from the current amount for causing the element to emit the first light amount immediately after the switching to a current amount corresponding to a second digital value greater than the first digital value by one step; and a unit supplying to the element, when the time amount elapses after the switching, the current amount corresponding to the second digital value.

Optical writing device and image forming device

An optical writing device performing optical writing onto a photoreceptor, including: a light-emitting unit including a plurality of light-emitting elements that form a plurality of element rows spaced from one another in a sub scanning direction, each of the light-emitting elements having a main scanning direction position differing from a main scanning direction position of any other one of the light-emitting elements; a plurality of signal output units, one for each element row, each outputting a light amount signal for each light-emitting element in a corresponding element row, each light amount signal indicating an amount of light to be emitted by a corresponding light-emitting element; and a plurality of drive units, one for each light-emitting element, each, when receiving a light amount signal for a corresponding light-emitting element, supplying a drive current in accordance with the light amount signal to the corresponding light-emitting element.

An optical writing device adopting a low cost and simple structure can obtain temperatures of light emitting elements. The device comprises a plurality of light emitting elements arranged linearly in a main scanning direction. The amount of light emitting of the light emitting elements changes by self-generated heat. The light emitting elements are divided into a plurality of groups. Each of the groups includes a prescribed number of light emitting elements. The device comprises a control unit for calculating the amount of heat generation of the light emitting elements for each of groups from clock time t0 to clock time t0+&#x394;t. The control unit calculates the temperature for each of the groups at the clock time t0+&#x394;t, based on the amount of heat generation from the clock time t0 to the clock time t0+&#x394;t and the temperature at the clock time t0.

Optical writing device equipped with light emitting elements

An optical writing device including light-emitting elements forming element arrays. The element arrays are each composed of light-emitting elements arranged in line in a main scanning direction, and reside at respective positions along a sub-scanning direction. A correction unit receives signal values in one-to-one correspondence with the light-emitting elements and performs correction to acquire corrected signal values each indicating a light amount of a corresponding light-emitting element. The correction is for eliminating a light amount difference in the main scanning direction occurring for each element array. A driving unit supplies driving currents to the light-emitting elements based on the corrected signal values, and a control unit performs a control of causing at least two element arrays to emit light for different durations within one main scanning period. The control is for eliminating a light amount difference in the sub scanning direction occurring between the at least two element arrays.

Disclosed is an optical writer including a light source substrate including a base and a plurality of light sources disposed on the base, a rod lens array comprising a plurality of rod lenses having an optical axis, the rod lens array having a higher linear expansion coefficient than a linear expansion coefficient of the base of the light source substrate and the rod lens array being configured to condense light from the light sources onto an image retainer, a holder supporting the light source substrate and the rod lens array and restraining plates bonded to respective elongated faces of the rod lens array with thin adhesive layers, the elongated faces being parallel to the optical axis of the rod lenses, wherein the restraining plates and the holder each have a lower linear expansion coefficient than the linear expansion coefficient of the rod lens array.

Optical writer and image forming apparatus

An optical print head, including: a light emitting substrate which includes a light emitting element on a base; a rod lens array which focuses light emitted from the light emitting element onto an image carrier, the rod lens array having a larger linear expansion coefficient than the base of the light emitting substrate; and expansion suppressing members which are attached to both lateral surfaces of the rod lens array in a direction that is perpendicular to an optical axis direction and is a shorter direction, each of the expansion suppressing members having a smaller linear expansion coefficient than the rod lens array.

Optical print head and image forming apparatus

A fixing structure for fixing an optical element at a predetermined position in an optical device, the fixing structure has a plurality of first pressing members to fix the optical element at at least two positions on a surface of the optical element orthogonal to an optical axis of the optical element and a second pressing member to fix the optical element at a predetermined position on a surface of the optical element to the optical axis. A depth of pressing of the surface of the optical element by a tip of the second pressing member is larger than the depth of pressing of the surface of the optical element by the tips of the first pressing members.

Fixing structure for fixing optical element, laser scanning apparatus, image forming apparatus, and method for fixing optical element

A laser scanning optical device includes: alight source having a plurality of emission points; a plate-like light source holder which holds the light source in a center of the light source holder; a base arranged to face the light source holder; and an attitude adjusting part which adjusts an attitude of the light source by adjusting a tilt of the light source holder, and the attitude adjusting part includes an inclined part and an inclination conveying part, and adjusts the tilt of the light source holder with respect to the base by displacing an abutting position of the inclined part corresponding to the inclination conveying part along an inclined surface of the inclined part.

Laser scanning optical device

A polygon mirror is enclosed in an airtight cap that is provided with a polygon window. By having the normal line to the surface of the polygon window tilt a predetermined angle in the main scanning direction with respect to the principal ray of the light beam that is to be applied to the polygon window, the reflected light, which is a part of the light beam reflected by the surface of the polygon window, is not applied to the image forming area of a photoconductive drum.

Light beam scanner

In an optical system, the scanning center axis of a scanning lens, the principal ray of a laser beam applied to the scanning lens, and the rotational axis of a polygon mirror are in one plane. By forming a thin film layer on the deflecting facets, the exposure quantity of a photo conductor, which decreases as the incident angle to the deflecting facet increases, is corrected. The thin film layer has the increasing ratio of the reflectance that increases as the incident angle, which principal ray of the laser beam forms with the normal line to the deflecting facet of the polygon mirror, increases.

Light beam optical scanner and image forming apparatus

Laser beams LK and LY are respectively emitted from laser diodes,K and,Y and incident on a mirror face of a polygon mirror,via collimator lenses,K,,Y and first cylindrical lenses,K,,Y. The laser beams LK and LY are reflected off the polygon mirror,and deflected. Incidence angles of the laser beams LK and LY are set so that the laser beams LK and LY intersect with each other at a position P which is located before the polygon mirror

Multibeam scanning device

A laser beam scanning optical apparatus which images and scans a laser beam emitted from a laser diode on a photo-sensitive drum through a focusing lens, a polygon mirror and an f.theta. lens. An SOS photosensor detects the scanned laser beam and generates a detection signal. The laser diode is controlled to perform pulse emission a specified time after the generation of the detection signal. The pulse beam is incident to a beam detector which adopts a knife edge method, and the amount of a focal shift is detected. The focusing lens is moved along the optical axis in accordance with the detected amount of a focal shift to correct the position of the image point.

Laser beam scanning optical apparatus

A laser beam scanning optical apparatus which has Moire fringes generating elements which is located near a position optically equivalent to a scanning surface and modulates a laser beam emitted from a laser source to generate Moire fringes. The Moire fringes generating elements comprises, for example, a first filter which has spatial grating and a second filter which has spatial grating which slants slightly with respect to the spatial grating of the first filter, the first filter and the second filter being arranged upstream and downstream respectively in an optical path. The laser beam scanning optical apparatus further has a light receiving element for receiving the Moire fringes generated by the Moire fringes generating elements. Focusing means for correcting a position of an image point of the laser beam is driven in accordance with an output of the light receiving element. For example, the light receiving element is a photoelectric element with a plurality of light receiving surfaces, each of which generates an electric signal in accordance with the laser beam incident thereto, and from a phase difference between the electric signals, the position of the image point is detected.

Laser beam scanning optical apparatus having means for generating moire

A scanning lens system forms into an image a deflected beam having its object point in the main scanning direction located at a finite distance to scan a scanned surface. The fourth surface is parallelly decentered in the main scanning direction relative to the optical axis passing the center of a main scanning direction scanning width on the scanned surface. The third and fourth surfaces are rotatively decentered relative to the optical axis about an axis parallel to the sub scanning direction.

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Okazaki, Japan

Yasushi Nagasaka