Patent · US Active

Image forming apparatus, optical writing device, and optical writing method

US7986334B2 · kind B2 · utility

4Cited by
8References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 9, 2008
Grant dateJul 26, 2011
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 15, 2030

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG03G15/0435
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of image carriers and an optical writing device including light sources that emit light beams of different wavelengths, a deflector that deflects the light beams emitted from the light sources and synthesized on an identical axis in a sub-scanning direction, a first beam separator, a second beam separator, a first imaging device, and a second imaging device. The first beam separator and the second beam separator are located between the first imaging device and the second imaging device and transmit or reflect the light beams according to travel directions or wavelengths thereof. One of the targets is scanned with the light beam transmitted through the second beam separator. Another target is scanned with the light beam reflected by the second and first beam separators. The first and second imaging devices narrow the beams in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, respectively.

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