Abstract: An optical scanning device includes a coupling optical system, a light source including a plurality of light emitting units for emitting light beams, and a deflector including a deflecting surface for deflecting the light beams. The coupling optical system is arranged on an optical path between the light source and the deflector so that the light beams enter the deflector at an angle with respect to a normal direction of the deflecting surface in a sub-scanning direction. The light emitting units are arranged two-dimensionally, and a distance between two light emitting units at opposite ends in a main scanning direction is smaller than a distance between two light emitting units at opposite ends in the sub-scanning direction.

Abstract: An optical scanning system includes a light source, a polygon mirror, a first optical system, a second optical system, and a monitoring device. The light source includes a plurality of light-emitting units. The first optical system is arranged on an optical path of light beams, and guides the light beams from the light source to the polygon mirror. The second optical system guides the light beams deflected by the polygon mirror to a photosensitive drum. The monitoring device monitors light amount of light beams emitted from the light-emitting units. An optical axis of a coupling lens and a cylindrical lens is inclined from a normal of a deflection-reflection surface of the polygon mirror with respect to a sub-scanning direction.

Abstract: A surface inspection apparatus, for inspecting a plurality of surfaces formed in a peripheral edge portion of a plate-like object, includes a image pickup mechanism, which photographs the peripheral edge portion of the plate-like object having a plurality of surfaces, and an image processing device, which processes an image obtained by the photographing device. The image pickup mechanism includes an optical system which guides images of the plurality of surfaces of the plate-like object in one direction, and a camera unit having an image pickup surface, on which the images of the plurality of surfaces guided by the optical system in the one direction are formed.

Abstract: A player changes the pitch of tones produced through a trombone by controlling the breath and a slide, and the control of slide is not easy for children, handicapped persons and old players; a supporting system is combined with the trombone, and includes a manipulating board fitted to an appropriate portion of the trombone close to the slide, a driving mechanism connected to the slide and a controlling unit connected to the manipulating board and driving mechanism; when the player wishes to change the pitch of tones through the sliding motion of the slide, he moves a lever on the manipulating board by a distance shorter than a target stroke of the slide, and the controlling unit calculates the target stroke so as to supply a driving signal to the driving mechanism; and the driving mechanism exerts force on the slide so as to assist the player in varying the length of the column of air.

Abstract: An optical scanner includes a light source, an optical coupler, an optical line image unit, a deflector, and an optical scanning unit. The optical scanning unit includes scanning lenses that guide the beams to a surface to be scanned. A surface on the deflector side of the scanning lens closest to a deflection reflecting surface has a negative power in a vertical scanning direction, and is a special toric surface in which a radius of curvature in a vertical scanning changes from an optical axis of the lens surface toward a periphery of the horizontal scanning direction. An F number of the beams toward the surface to be scanned of the scanning lens in the vertical scanning direction is larger in a peripheral part than in a central part in an effective scanning width.

Abstract: A saxophone has a complicated key mechanism for selectively closing and opening tone holes, and fingering on touch buttons and keys is not easy for children, handicapped persons and old players; a supporting system is combined with the saxophone so as to assist a human player in fingering, and includes sensors, actuators and a controlling unit; while the human player is fingering on the touch buttons and keys, the sensors inform the controlling unit of changes of the depressed touch buttons and depressed keys, and the controlling unit supplies driving signals to the actuators associated with the tone holes to be closed so as to permit the human player easily and quickly to play music tunes.

Abstract: In a musical keyboard instrument, a keyboard having a plurality of keys that pivotally move about a frame is mechanically isolated from a tone generator having a plurality of operating members allowing musical tones to be generated in response to the keys being depressed. A plurality of key-depression detection devices are arranged for the keys so as to detect the key-depression operations applied to the keys. A drive control device drives the operating members so as to generate musical tones in response to key-depression signals output from the key-depression detection devices upon detection of the key-depression operations applied to the keys. Thus, it is possible for the player, in particular, a weak person, to easily and rapidly perform key-depression operations, thus realizing desired musical performance of the musical keyboard instrument.

Abstract: A scanning unit in an image forming apparatus includes a light source, a coupling lens, an aperture, an image forming lens, and a polygon mirror. The light source includes a plurality of surface-emitting lasers. The coupling lens, the aperture, and the image forming lens are arranged on the optical path of light beams emitted by the light source. The polygon mirror deflects light beams of an image formed by the coupling lens towards a photosensitive drum for scanning. The focal length of the image forming lens in a sub-scanning direction is set to be equal to or smaller than an optical path length between the image forming lens and the aperture.

Abstract: A multi-beam scanner includes light sources, a deflector deflecting the beams emitted from the light sources at an equiangular velocity, a scanning image-forming optical system guiding the deflected beams to a surface so as to be formed into light spots on the scanned surface, a light receiving device receiving the beams deflected toward optical write-in starting portions on the scanned surface as synchronizing beams, and a synchronizing beam optical system guiding the beams deflected toward the optical write-in starting portions on the scanned surface to the light receiving device. The scanning image-forming optical system includes two or more scanning positive lenses, with a region having a positive power in a main scanning direction on an optical write-in starting side, and each deflected beam received by the light receiving device passes through one or more but not all of the scanning positive lenses to be guided to the light receiving device.

Abstract: A scanning optical system leads the light fluxes deflected by the polygon mirror to a photosensitive drum. An absolute value of a lateral magnification in a main scanning direction is larger than an absolute value of a lateral magnification in a sub-scanning direction. Moreover, a beam diameter in the sub-scanning direction on a surface of the photosensitive drum is equal to or smaller than a beam diameter in the main scanning direction and larger than a scan line interval.

Abstract: A key actuating system (1) of a keyboard musical instrument is provided which helps quickly push the keys by reducing reaction force with respect to force of pushing the keys during manual operation, and which supports a person having less strength to play the keyboard musical instrument. The key actuating system for a keyboard musical instrument generates a sound when a key (3) is pushed including: a pressure detection sensor (11) detecting a pushing pressure on the key; a status detection sensor (13) detecting a movement status of the key: an actuator (15) actuating the key in a pushing direction of the key; and a control portion (19), when the pressure detection sensor detects the pushing pressure and the status detection sensor detects motion of the key, controls operations of the actuator in order to maintain the detected pressure by the pressure detection sensor at a pressure threshold which is in a range larger than 0 and smaller than a pushing pressure on the key which is necessary for making a sound.

Abstract: A vehicle alternator for generating electric power has a stator, a rotor, a rectifier, a regulator case, and a cooling fin part. A stator winding is wound on the stator. The rotor is placed on opposite faces to the stator. The rectifier rectifies an alternating current output voltage excited in the stator winding. The regulator case accommodates a regulator substrate for adjusting the output voltage and a heat sink. On one surface of the heat sink the regulator substrate is mounted. The cooling fin part has plural cooling fins bonded to the other surface of the heat sink. The cooling fin part and the heat sink are made of a same material of a superior thermal expansion coefficient, such as copper or copper alloy.

Abstract: A first optical system guides a light beam from a light source to an optical deflector, and a second optical system converges the light beam deflected by the optical deflector on a surface to be scanned. The first optical system includes at least one resin lens having a diffractive surface. The second optical system includes at least one resin optical element. A beam diameter depth in a main scanning direction, Wm, that can have a maximum intensity of 1/e2, satisfies conditions ?m1+?m2+?m3??d1×(f2/f1)2<Wm/40??(1) ?d1>0 and ?m2<0.

Abstract: In order to realize a small and light key actuating apparatus for actuating a key which is rotatably supported with respect to a frame, a key actuating apparatus (7) is provided which includes a polymer transducer (9) for rotatably moving the key (3) by using a deformation of the transducer, wherein the transducer which is substantially formed in a plate shape includes: a polymer film (15) which is dielectric and made from an elastically deformable polymer material; and a pair of electrodes (17) arranged at both sides of surfaces of the polymer film, and the transducer is deformed corresponding to switching between an application of voltage and a lack of voltage between the electrodes.

Abstract: A diffractive-optical element that is transparent includes a diffraction surface that is formed by a step. A width of the step is set substantially equal to a common multiple of ?i/{n(?i)?1} for two or more wavelengths, where ?i (i=1, 2, . . . ) is a wavelength and n(?i) is a refractive index with respect to the wavelength ?i.

Abstract: An optical axis of at least one surface of a resin-made diffracting lens is shifted in a main scanning direction with respect to an incident beam. A synchronous detection can cancel a problem of a misalignment in the main scanning direction due to a temperature variation. A light reflected from a second surface of the resin-made diffractive lens condenses on a position that is displaced in an optical axis direction from an optical beam outgoing point of a semiconductor laser, and thereby the light reflected again from the semiconductor laser does not form an image on a scanned surface and an impact on the image becomes low.

Abstract: A line-imaging lens condenses a light beam from a light-source unit in one direction to form a line image. An optical deflecting unit deflects the light beam passing through the line-imaging lens. An imaging optical unit images the light beam deflected by the optical deflecting unit in a spot shape on a scanning surface to be scanned. An adjusting unit adjusts a position of irradiation of the light beam from the light-source unit on the optical deflecting unit.

Abstract: A coupling lens arranged on an optical path of an optical beam from a VCSEL, which has a refraction plane and a diffraction plane that respectively change a power according to a temperature change and suppresses a beam-waist position change in a main-scanning direction and a sub-scanning directions on the scanning surface caused by the temperature change, by a wavelength change of the optical beam caused by power changes of the refraction plane and the diffraction plane and the temperature change. A deflecting unit deflects the optical beam that passed through the coupling lens. A scanning optical system condenses a deflected optical beam on the scanning surface.

Abstract: A common photodetecting unit detects a plurality of beams scanned by a plurality of polyhedral reflection mirrors provided in a multiple stages with a common rotation axis, and generates a synchronization detection signal based on detected beams. The reflection mirrors make a predetermined angle ?1 in a direction of rotation of the reflection mirrors. When time between two consecutive synchronization detection signals on a time line generated by the common photodetecting unit is ti, where i is a positive integer equal to or smaller than number of split beams, at least one of ti is different from others.

Abstract: An optical scanner includes a light source, an optical coupler, an optical line image unit, a deflector, and an optical scanning unit. The optical scanning unit includes scanning lenses that guide the beams to a surface to be scanned. A surface on the deflector side of the scanning lens closest to a deflection reflecting surface has a negative power in a vertical scanning direction, and is a special toric surface in which a radius of curvature in a vertical scanning changes from an optical axis of the lens surface toward a periphery of the horizontal scanning direction. An F number of the beams toward the surface to be scanned of the scanning lens in the vertical scanning direction is larger in a peripheral part than in a central part in an effective scanning width.