Exposure device, signal transmission mechanism for the exposure device, and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a rotating image carrying member that is mounted to an apparatus body;
• an exposure device that is mounted to the apparatus body and that includes a substrate, an optical component, and a receiving section, the substrate having a plurality of exposure light-emitting elements disposed thereon in a row along a direction of a rotational axis of the image carrying member, the optical component formed integrally with the substrate, the optical component being provided with a plurality of graded index lenses, the optical component causing exposure light emitted from the plurality of exposure light-emitting elements to be focused on the image carrying member, the receiving section being provided at the substrate and converting an optical signal received through the graded index lenses into an electrical signal;
• and
• a light-emitting section that is provided at a side of the image carrying member at the apparatus body and that emits the optical signal to be received by the receiving section through the graded index lenses.