Light beam scanner with oscillatory scan element

A light beam scanning device comprising:

• a housing;
• a rotor mounted for angular oscillation with respect to said housing about an axis of rotation, said rotor including a mirror, a magnet, and a shaft, said shaft having a shaft axis lying generally along said axis of rotation, said mirror being disposed to receive a light beam and redirect the light beam as a scanning beam during angular oscillation of said rotor, said magnet being disposed so as to move in an arcuate path about said axis of rotation during angular oscillation of said rotor, said arcuate path comprising a portion of a circle centered on said axis of rotation;
• at least one spring arm, said spring arm being generally elongated between a pair of ends, said spring arm being secured at an inner end to said rotor and secured at an outer end to said housing at a location radially outwardly from said inner end, said spring arm establishing an equilibrium angular position of said rotor with respect to said housing and imposing a restoring force, when said rotor is displaced from its equilibrium position, urging said rotor toward said equilibrium position;
• and
• an electromagnetic motor including said magnet and a generally tubular coil having an opening extending along an axis of said coil, said coil being secured to said housing with said coil axis generally tangent to said circle.

A light beam scanning device comprising:

• a housing;
• a rotor mounted for angular oscillation with respect to said housing about an axis of rotation, said rotor including a mirror disposed to receive a light beam and redirect the light beam as a scanning beam during angular oscillation of said rotor;
• an electromagnetic motor coupled to said housing and said rotor, said electromagnetic motor imposing an angular oscillatory force between said housing and said rotor;
• and
• a spring coupled to said housing and said rotor, said spring imposing a restraining force to the angular oscillating movement of said rotor so as to provide a generally constant rate of angular speed within an angular range intermediate first and second angular end positions,
• wherein said electromagnetic motor and said spring each include an arm extending generally radially outwardly from said rotor and moving circumferentially in a plane which is perpendicular to said axis of rotation during imposition of said forces.