Scanning optical apparatus having at least one division sensor
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsToshiyuki Mizuno, Yoshinobu Shiraiwa
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A scanning optical apparatus is provided with a light source, a scanning device and a detector. A light beam generated from the light source is deflected by the scanning device to be scanned on a surface to be scanned. The light beam scanning on the surface to be scanned is detected by the detector. The detector is constructed such that three or more photosensors are closely arranged adjacent one another in the scanning direction. At least one of the photosensors is a division sensor which is arranged symmetrically with respect to the scanning direction.
Claims23
A scanning optical apparatus comprising:
- a light source section;
- scanning means for deflecting a light beam from said light source section and for scanning on a scanning surface;
- and
- detecting means for detecting the light beam which scans on the scanning surface, said detecting means including three or more photosensors closely arranged adjacent one another in the scanning direction, at least one of said photosensors being comprised by a division sensor arranged symmetrically with respect to the scanning direction.
A recording apparatus comprising:
- a light source section;
- a recording medium;
- scanning means for deflecting a light beam from said light source section and for scanning on the recording medium;
- and
- detecting means for detecting the light beam which scans on said recording medium, said detecting means including three or more photosensors closely arranged adjacent one another in the scanning direction, at least one of said photosensors being comprised by a division sensor arranged symmetrically with respect to the scanning direction.
A method of detecting an out-of-scanning position of a light beam in a scanning optical apparatus, comprising the steps of:
- deflecting the light beam from a light source section and scanning on a scanning surface;
- detecting the scanned light beam by three or more photosensors closely arranged adjacent one another in the scanning direction, at least one of said photosensors being comprised by a division sensor arranged symmetrically with respect to the scanning direction;
- and
- discriminating that the scanning position of the light beam which scans on the scanning surface has been deviated on the basis of signals which are generated from said division sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.