Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: an image carrier unit that includes an image carrier that is to be rotated about a rotational driving shaft; a charging unit; an exposing unit including a light source substrate and a lens array; a developing unit; a transfer unit; and a fixing unit. The image carrier unit can be pulled out along the rotational driving shaft of the image carrier. The exposing unit is movable between a contacting position, at which the exposing unit abuts on a contacting surface of the image carrier unit to be positioned relative to the image carrier, and a retracted position, at which the exposing unit is away from the image carrier unit. At the contacting position, the contacting surface is closer to the exposing unit in an optical axial direction than a surface of the lens array is.

Abstract: Disclosed is an optical measurement device including a first light source, an optical element that condenses a light beam emitted from the first light source, a light irradiator that irradiates the light beam onto an object; and a photo detector that detects reflected light or scattered light of the light beam from the object through an imaging system, the light beam being irradiated onto the object, wherein a first optical path length from the first light source to a first conjugate image of the first light source by the optical element is different from a second optical path length from the photo detector to a second conjugate image of the photo detector by the imaging system at least in a first direction.

Abstract: An object detection apparatus includes an incident optical system, which includes light source units and a combining unit combining light beams emitted from the light source units; a deflection unit including rotating reflection parts that deflect the light beams to scan and be irradiated on a predetermined range of an object; an imaging unit forming an image based on the light from the predetermined range of the object; and an optical detection unit detecting the object based on the light received via the imaging unit. Further the combining unit combines the light beams such that each of the combined light beams passes a single light path when projected onto a predetermined plane, and each of the light paths exists outside a region of the deflection unit when projected onto the first plane.

Abstract: An imaging system includes an incidence face having a plurality of optical faces formed along a first axis with a first pitch; a prism face having a plurality of grooves formed along the first axis with a second pitch; and an exit face having a plurality of optical faces formed along the first axis with a third pitch. A virtual plane extends from an end of the one optical face of the incidence face to an end of the one optical face of the exit face. Among light flux emitting from a spot light source and entering the one optical face of the incidence face, a light beam that passes over the virtual plane is reflected at the prism face, and passes over the virtual plane again and goes to the one optical face of the exit face.

Abstract: Disclosed is a laser radar device including a modulated light beam generator that emits light beams to a target, a photodetector that receives reflected light; a reflected light condenser that condenses the reflected light; a rotator that rotates around a rotation axis; and mirrors included in the rotator that scan the light beams, and guide the reflected light to the reflected light condenser, wherein an angular detection range in a vertical direction is divided into a plurality of layers, wherein mirror surfaces of the mirrors are tilted by corresponding tilt angles relative to the rotation axis, the tilt angles being different from each other, wherein the modulated light beam generator emits the light beams in the vertical direction, the light beams having different emission angles, and wherein a difference between the emission angles corresponds to the angular detection range of one layer in the vertical direction.

Abstract: In a beam-spot position compensation method for use in an optical scanning device which scans a surface of a photosensitive medium by a light beam emitted by a light source, a plurality of sections are defined by dividing a scanning region on the scanned surface. An emission timing of the light beam for every section is adjusted so that a spacing between beam-spot positions corresponding to pixels of start and end of each section is changed by a predetermined amount. The sparseness or denseness of beam-spot position spacings of the plurality of sections in the whole scanning region is compensated.

Abstract: The method for producing an image forming apparatus includes emitting light beams from a printhead; optionally irradiating a photoreceptor with the light beams to form a latent image; optionally forming a visible image on a recording medium corresponding the latent image; obtaining plural pieces of information concerning a property of the light beams or lightness of the visible image at different positions in a direction; calculating variation width of N pieces of information corresponding to an attention area having a predetermined length in the direction; determining the number of pieces of information used for subjecting each of the N pieces of information to moving averaging, based on the variation width; when the number is two or more, subjecting each of the N pieces of information to moving averaging; and correcting quantities of light beams corresponding to the N pieces of information based on the average values.

Abstract: A velocity detecting device includes an image-pattern acquiring unit that includes a laser light source and an area sensor that acquires a one-dimensional or a two-dimensional image. The image-pattern acquiring unit includes a lens between a moving member and the area sensor, irradiates a beam emitted from the laser light source to the moving member to make a scattering light of the moving member scattered from the moving member on the area sensor by using the lens, and acquires an image pattern at a predetermined time interval in association with movement of the moving member. A velocity calculating unit calculates the velocity of the moving member by computing the image pattern acquired by the image-pattern acquiring unit. The lens is a reduced optical system that projects a reduced object onto the area sensor.

Abstract: An optical device includes: a light source that emits a light beam; a deflector that deflects the light beam in a main-scanning direction; and a scanning/image-forming optical system that includes a scanning lens that causes the light beam deflected by the deflector to converge to a scanned surface to form an image on the scanned surface. The scanning lens has refractive index gradient. At least one surface of the scanning lens is a tilt-decentered surface that has a tilt angle, which depends on a position in the main-scanning direction, in a sub-scanning direction. The tilt angle is set so as to compensate for variation, which results from the refractive index gradient, in direction of the light beam in the sub-scanning direction.

Abstract: A light beam scanning device scans a luminous flux irradiated from a light source and deflected by a deflector to a scanned surface through an optical system having a set of mirrors. A apparatus, such as the light beam scanning device, further includes a scanning line curve adjusting device to bend a first mirror of the set of mirrors so as to correct a curve in a scanning line on the scanned surface, and a scanning line tilt adjusting device to change orientation of a second mirror of the set of mirrors so as to correct a tilt in the scanning line on the scanned surface. The light beam scanning device may be provided in an image forming apparatus.

Abstract: Each of a plurality of pixels is formed with a group of a plurality of spots or a single spot. The barycentric position of each pixel is determined by the distribution of the spots or the position of the single spot. While the number of pixels on the exposure object is maintained in a first direction corresponding to the array direction of the light sources, an exposure feasible width on an exposure object can be adjusted in the first direction by setting the barycentric position at least in the first direction out of the first direction and a second direction that is the moving direction of the exposure object.

Abstract: An optical scanning device includes: a light source unit; a light deflecting unit that deflects a light beam emitted from the light source unit; a scanning optical device that focuses the light beam deflected by the light deflecting unit on a scanned surface; and a light shielding member. The scanning optical device is provided in a direction in which a sound pressure level of a noise caused by rotation of a rotating polygon mirror included in the light deflecting unit is highest.

Abstract: A light source unit is disclosed. The light source unit includes a phase type optical element which modulates a phase distribution of laser beams emitted from a light source. The phase type optical element has a phase distribution so that a first ratio of the peak intensity of side lobe laser beams to the peak intensity of main lobe laser beams in a beam intensity profile at a focal position of the laser beam condensing element is greater than a second ratio of the peak intensity of side lobe laser beams to the peak intensity of main lobe laser beams in the beam intensity profile at the focal position of the laser beam condensing element when it is assumed that the phase type optical element is not disposed.

Abstract: Provided is an optical scanning device including: a plurality of light sources; an optical deflector that includes reflection surfaces that deflect different light beams toward opposite sides of the optical deflector; and a light-shielding member provided in an area between incident light beams emitted from the plurality of light sources. The light-shielding member is positioned such that a portion of the light-shielding member is in a light-shield area surrounded by a circumscribed circle of the optical deflector, a line tangent to the circumscribed circle and orthogonal to a Y direction, and the incident light beam, the Y direction being a direction parallel to a main scanning direction and passing through a rotation center of the optical deflector, the main scanning direction being a direction, in which surfaces of image carriers are scanned.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: an image carrier unit that includes an image carrier that is to be rotated about a rotational driving shaft; a charging unit; an exposing unit including a light source substrate and a lens array; a developing unit; a transfer unit; and a fixing unit. The image carrier unit can be pulled out along the rotational driving shaft of the image carrier. The exposing unit is movable between a contacting position, at which the exposing unit abuts on a contacting surface of the image carrier unit to be positioned relative to the image carrier, and a retracted position, at which the exposing unit is away from the image carrier unit. At the contacting position, the contacting surface is closer to the exposing unit in an optical axial direction than a surface of the lens array is.

Abstract: An optical scanning device acquires a displacement amount of each of scanning light beams in the main scanning direction, and corrects, based on the displacement amount, writing energy density at a write position such that a variation in image density due to a variation of the displacement amount is reduced. The light beams are used for scanning a target surface to write image data on the target surface. The writing energy density is an amount of light per unit surface area of the target surface.

Abstract: An optical scanning device includes a light source, a pre-deflection optical system, a polygon mirror, and a scanning optical system. The pre-deflection optical system includes a coupling lens and a diffraction lens. A light output surface of the coupling lens is a phase shifting surface, while a light output surface of the diffraction lens is a diffractive surface. The absolute value of the focal length of the diffraction lens is longer than the absolute focal length of the coupling lens.

Abstract: An optical scanning device includes, in an effective scanning area in the target surface, a mechanism that causes a scanning speed at each scanning position with respect to a scanning speed at an approximately center in the effective scanning area to be within a range under a predetermined condition.

Abstract: An optical scanning apparatus which includes: a light source unit which emits a light beam; a deflection scanning device which deflects the light beam emitted from the light source unit; an optical scanning unit having a scanning imaging lens and which scans a surface to be scanned; and a light beam detector which detects a position in a sub-scanning direction of the light beam, and is disposed in a position maintaining a correlation, in a time-varying characteristic, between an amount of change of a position in the sub-scanning direction of the light beam on the surface to be scanned and an amount of change of a position in the sub-scanning direction of the light beam detected by the light beam detector, in which a difference between the amount of change of the position in the sub-scanning direction of the light beam on the surface to be scanned and the amount of change of the position in the sub-scanning direction of the light beam detected by the light beam detector is equal to or less than a set value.

Abstract: At least one of a coupling lens and a cylindrical lens has a diffraction lens surface having a ring-band structure with a height h between adjacent ring-bands. The diffraction lens surface has an area A having a shape similar to that of the ring-band structure with a height h?, where h?h?. The ring-band structure has a function of correcting a fluctuation in focal position of the scanning beam on the scanning surface, and the area A has a function of expanding a focal depth of a light spot on the scanning surface.