Patent · US Expired

Optical scanner, optical scanning method, scanning image forming optical system, optical scanning lens and image forming apparatus

US6999208B2 · kind B2 · utility

31Cited by
0References
120Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 19, 2001
Grant dateFeb 14, 2006
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 15, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG02B26/127
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

An optical scanner which performs optical scanning of a surface to be scanned by deflecting a luminous flux having a wavelength λ from a light source by means of an optical deflector, and condensing the deflected flux toward the surface to be scanned through a scanning image forming optical system, thereby forming an optical spot on the surface to be scanned. The scanning image forming optical system has at least one lens, and when the focal length fσ in the main scanning direction at a surface accuracy σi is defined as follows: fσ={2.6846 λ×√(k)×fm2/ω2}−fm where, fm represents the focal length in the main scanning direction of the scanning image forming optical system; k represents the number of lens surfaces; ω represents the aimed spot diameter of the optical spot in the main scanning direction at an image height of 0; σI represents the surface accuracy of the i-th lens surface as counted from the optical deflector side; n represents the refractive index of material of the lens having the i-th lens surface; and 1/l represents the spatial frequency in the main scanning direction on the lens surface; then, the surface accuracy σi, the focal length fσ, the refractive index n, and t…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.