US 2003/0076403 A1Published application

Image forming apparatus

AssigneeKonica Corporation

InventorsNaoki Tajima, Takeshi Suzuki, Kazuyuki Tanoue

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Abstract

In a scanning optical system provided with a plurality of scanning optical devices, each scanning optical device including a light source to emit a light beam, a collimator lens into which the light beam emitted from the light source enters, a deflector to deflect the light beam passing through the collimator lens in a main scanning direction, an image forming lens to focus the light beam coming from the deflector onto a scanned surface, and a base plate on which the light source, the collimator lens, the deflector and the image forming lens are fixed, the plurality of scanning optical devices are piled up in a sub-scanning direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction in such a manner that each base plate is substantially parallel to other base plates; and the scanning optical system is further provide with a plurality of link members to connect two neighboring base plates independently of other base plates.

Claims50

Dependent claims

A color image forming apparatus, comprising:

a first image forming device including a first scanning optical device to form a first image and a first developing device to develop the first image into a first color toner image;
and
a second image forming device including a second scanning optical device to form a second image and a second developing device to develop the second image into a second color toner image;
each of the first and second optical devices comprising:
a light source which emits a light beam;
a deflector which deflects the light beam so as to scan an image forming surface in a main scanning direction with the light beam;
a plurality of lenses provided between the deflector and the image forming surface and to focus the deflected light on the image forming surface, wherein each of the plurality of lenses having a length along the main scanning direction;
and
a lens attitude adjusting device including a tilting device to rotate at least one lens of the plurality of lenses around an axis parallel to the length of the one lens to adjust the characteristic of the image,
wherein at least one of the tilting devices rotates the one lens so that the characteristic of the first image and the characteristic of the second image substantially become the same.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 10/303,423Filed 25 Nov 2002
Priority: JP 281466/19982 Oct 1998
Published: 24 Apr 2003
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification4 codes

B41J 2/471
Using the combination of scanning and modulation of light: using dot sequential main scanning by means of a light deflector, e.g. a rotating…
G02B 26/123
Using multifaceted mirrors: multibeam scanners, e.g. using multiple light sources or beam splitters
B41J
Typewriters
G02B
Optical elements, systems or apparatus

Family

Application09/406,244Continuation · filed 24 Sep 1999
Application10/303,423Continuation · filed 25 Nov 2002
US 2001/0012049 A1Published application
US 6,512,533 B2Related patent
US 6,677,973 B2Related patent
US 2003/0076403 A1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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