Laser scan based recording apparatus

A laser scan based recording apparatus in which laser light emitted from a laser light source is reflected by a polygonal mirror, having a plurality of reflecting surfaces, to scan a photoreceptor, said apparatus comprising:

• a system which detects an optical intensity of the laser light reflected from each of said reflecting surfaces of said polygonal mirror to measure a reflectance of said reflecting surfaces during a rotation of said polygonal mirror;
• a system which stores detection outputs from said detecting system individually;
• a system which reads a previously stored detection output for one reflecting surface of said reflecting surfaces when the laser light scans said one reflecting surface during a subsequent rotation of said polygonal mirror, the reflectance of said one reflecting surface having been measured;
• a system which corrects a reference voltage in accordance with said detection output read by the reading system to output a corrected reference voltage;
• and
• a first emission control system which controls an emission output of said laser light source on the basis of said corrected reference voltage,
• wherein said storing system includes a number of sample and hold circuits, said number corresponding to a number of said plurality of reflecting surfaces.

A laser scan based recording apparatus comprising:

• a laser diode;
• a rotatably driven polygonal mirror having a plurality of reflecting surfaces for directing laser light from said laser diode to scan a photoreceptor;
• a photosensor for detecting the laser light reflected from each of said reflecting surfaces;
• a storage device that stores, for each of said reflecting surfaces, a voltage associated with an optical intensity detected with said photosensor during a rotation of said polygonal mirror for scanning, the voltage of each of said reflecting surfaces being stored in association with a corresponding one of the reflecting surfaces;
• a reading system that reads said stored voltage from said storage device when said one of the reflecting surfaces associated with the read voltage is rotated to a scan position in a subsequent rotation of said polygonal mirror;
• a computing device that calculates a correction voltage from the voltage read by said reading system and correcting a reference voltage on the basis of said correction voltage;
• and
• a laser output control circuit for controlling an emission output of said laser diode on the basis of the reference voltage thus corrected.

A laser scan based recording apparatus comprising:

• a laser diode;
• a rotatably driven polygonal mirror having a plurality of reflecting surfaces for directing laser light from said laser diode to scan a photoreceptor;
• a photosensor for detecting the laser light reflected from each of said reflecting surfaces;
• a storage device that stores, for each of said reflecting surfaces, a voltage associated with an optical intensity detected with said photosensor during a rotation of said polygonal mirror;
• a reading system that reads said stored voltage from said storage device when said reflecting surface is rotated to a scan position in a subsequent rotation of said polygonal mirror;
• a computing system that calculates a correction voltage from the voltage read by said reading system and correcting a reference voltage on the basis of said correction voltage;
• a laser output control circuit for controlling an emission output of said laser diode on the basis of the reference voltage thus corrected;
• sample and hold circuits, corresponding in number to a number of said plurality of reflecting surfaces of the polygonal mirror, which sample and hold detection outputs of said photosensor for the laser light reflected from respective reflecting surfaces;
• a write selecting device that, in synchronism with rotation of the polygonal mirror, selects and causes a first one of the sample and hold circuits to perform sampling and holding operations;
• and
• a read selecting device that, in synchronism with the rotation of said polygonal mirror, selects a second one of the sample and hold circuits which leads said first one of the sample and hold circuits by one scan line, and reads voltage held in said second one of said sample and hold circuits.

A process for adjusting optical intensity of a laser beam to be emitted onto a photoreceptor by using a n-th surface of a rotating polygonal mirror, where n is a positive integer, to draw an image on the photoreceptor, said process comprising:

• emitting the laser beam onto the n-th surface of the rotating mirror;
• detecting an optical intensity of the laser beam reflected by the n-th surface during a predetermined rotation of said polygon mirror for scanning by using a first photodetector;
• providing an output of the first photodetector indicative of the reflectance of the n-th surface detected during the rotation of said polygon mirror when the n-th surface is rotated to a scan position;
• creating a reference value based on the provided output of the first photodetector during a subsequent rotation of said polygon mirror;
• and
• receiving the laser beam, which is not reflected by the n-th surface, by using a second photodetector, and carrying out a feed back control by comparing an output from the second photodetector during the subsequent rotation of said polygon mirror with the reference value.