JPH02253274A - Optical scanning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the deflection vibration of a reflecting mirror and to maintain high printing quality by providing a buffer member on the side of a plane intersecting orthogonally with the reflecting plane of a reflecting mirror. CONSTITUTION:The buffer member 36 is provided on the side of the plane 30c intersecting orthogonally with the reflecting plane 30b of a first reflecting mirror 30. Rubber and polyurethane foam, etc., are used for the buffer member 36 provided on the almost intermediate part in the longitudinal direction of the first reflecting mirror 30 and inserted into the inner plane of the optical housing 21 to be fixed. Since the deflection vibration of the first reflecting mirror 30 due to the vibration of a scanner motor 28 and other devices are absorbed by the buffer member 36, a scanned laser beam L is guided to a photosensitive body by a polygon mirror 27 without receiving outside influence.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention can be applied to electrophotographic devices that record images on recording paper using an electrophotographic process, such as laser printers, copying machines, and facsimile machines. Specifically, the present invention relates to an optical scanning device that forms an electrostatic latent image by scanning a surface to be scanned (photoreceptor) with a laser beam or the like in such a device.

Previously, in this type of device, the reflection mirror caused deflection vibration due to vibrations from the scanner motor, etc.
As shown in FIG. 8, there is a problem in that the scanner bends or moves, causing defects in the image on the scanned surface 2.

As a technique to solve this problem, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 6
There is one described in Japanese Patent No. 0-244921. In the optical scanning device described in the above-mentioned publication, light from a light source is directed to the surface to be scanned (
The vibration of the reflecting mirror is suppressed by sequentially superposing a buffer member and a metal member on the non-reflecting surface side of the reflecting mirror that guides the photoreceptor.

However, in the conventional device, since the buffer member and the metal member are polymerized, there is a problem in that attachment work such as adhesion is difficult.

In addition, the entire non-reflective side of the reflective mirror is buffered and
When polymerizing parts and metal parts, the cost increases, but when partially polymerizing the reflective mirror,
In addition to work such as adhesion, work to fix the metal member is required, which has the disadvantage of complicating the installation work.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to eliminate difficult external installation work such as gluing and complicated installation work, and to reduce the number of parts and cost.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an optical scanning device including a light source and a reflecting mirror that reflects the light from the light source and guides it to a surface to be scanned (photoreceptor). A feature is that a buffer member is installed on the side of the mirror that is perpendicular to the reflective surface.

Therefore, the deflection vibration of the first reflecting mirror is absorbed by the buffer member.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic configuration of a laser printer equipped with an optical scanning device according to the present invention. In FIG. 5, 10 is a printer main body;
Reference numeral 11 denotes a paper feed cassette provided in the printer main body 10.

The paper 50 fed from the paper feed cassette 11 in the direction of arrow A is timed by a pair of registration rollers 12 and transported to a drum-shaped photoreceptor 13 which is a surface to be scanned. The photoreceptor 13 is rotated clockwise, and at this time, the surface is uniformly charged by the charger 14, and the optical scanning device [
15 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 13. This latent image is made visible by toner when passing through the developing device 16, this visible image is transferred to the paper 50 conveyed to the photoreceptor 13 by the transfer charger 17, and the visible image on the transferred paper 50 is made visible by the fixing device. Fixed by 18. And the fixing device! The paper 50 that has come out of the paper 18 is discharged, for example, to paper discharge sections 19 in the direction of the arrow. on the other hand,
A cleaning device 20 removes residual toner from the photoreceptor 13 after the visible image has been transferred.

By the way, the optical scanning device 15 according to the present invention is as follows.

It is constructed as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Reference numeral 21 in the figure is an optical housing, and a laser unit 22 is attached to the optical housing 21. Inside the laser unit 22, a semiconductor laser 23, a collimator lens 24, and an aperture 25 are housed.6 Also, a cylindrical lens 26 is attached inside the optical housing 21, and the laser beam transmitted through the cylindrical lens 26 is scanned. Polygon mirror 27. A scanner motor 28 for rotating the polygon mirror 27 at high speed, an fθ lens 29 for keeping the laser beam scanned by the polygon mirror 27 constant on the photoreceptor. First and second reflecting mirrors 30 and 31 are attached to guide the laser beam that has passed through the fθ lens 29 onto the photoreceptor 13.

Then, as shown in the fourth Ts, the semiconductor laser 23 emits laser light, and the laser light is transferred to the collimator lens 23.
4 to convert it into a parallel beam. after that.

It is molded through the aperture 25, injected into the optical housing 21, passed through the cylindrical lens 26, and then passed through the polygon mirror 2.
Put it in 7. The polygon mirror 27 is rotated at high speed by a scanner motor 28 and polarizes the laser beam sent thereto. Then, the light is focused by the ffj lens 29 and the first
It is reflected by the second reflection mirrors 30 and 31, and the optical housing 2
The liquid is injected to the outside through an opening (not shown). Then, the image is formed on the photoreceptor 13 through a tilt correction lens 32 on one side.

As a result, the emitted laser beam scans the photoreceptor 13 with polarized light.

Now, the first reflecting mirror 30 of the optical scanning device M15 described above is specifically constructed as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Ribs 34 are provided on the inner surface of the optical housing 21 at predetermined intervals. The ribs 34, 34 are the thin portions 3
4a and a thick portion 34b.

A first reflecting mirror 3 in the form of a long and narrow plate is attached to the ribs 34, 34.
0, and fixing member 3 at both ends in the length direction.
Fix it at 5.35.

The first reflecting mirror 30 includes the thick portions 3 of the ribs 34, 34.
The non-reflective surface 30a of the reflective mirror 30 is provided in contact with the reflective mirror 4b. Further, the thin portion 34a has a reflection mirror 30 thereon.
A surface 30ctt perpendicular to the reflective surface 30b is provided in contact with the reflective surface 30b.

The fixing members 35, 35 are formed into a long and thin plate shape from a metal member or a plastic material, and have one end 35a in the length direction.
is screwed into the thin wall portion 34a of the rib 34, and the first reflecting mirror 3 is attached to the bent holding portions 35b and 35c.
0 is fixed to the ribs 34 by pressing its reflective surface 30b and the opposite side 30d of the surface 30a orthogonal thereto in two directions indicated by arrows A-B.

A surface 3 perpendicular to the reflective surface 30b of the first reflective mirror 30
A buffer member 36 is installed on the 0c side.

The buffer member 36 is made of rubber, foamed polyurethane, or the like. Then, as shown in Figure 1, a first reflecting mirror 30
The optical housing 21 is installed at approximately the midpoint in the length direction of the optical housing 21, and is fixed by being sandwiched between the inner surface of the optical housing 21 and the inner surface of the optical housing 21. Further, the buffer member 36 has ribs 3 on the optical housing 21 side, as shown in FIG.
8 is provided in a frame shape and fitted into the frame, thereby preventing the buffer member 36 from moving.

According to the embodiment described above, the deflection vibration of the first reflecting mirror 30 due to vibrations from the scanner motor 28 or vibrations from other devices is absorbed by the buffer member 36, so that the polygon mirror 27 absorbs the scanned laser beam. is guided to the photoreceptor 13 without any external influence.

In the embodiment, the buffer member 36 is installed at the center of the first reflecting mirror 30, but a plurality of buffer members 36 may be installed along the entire length of the reflecting mirror 30. Also, in order to prevent the buffer member from moving, .

As an example (not shown), the buffer member may be bonded with double-sided tape.
Although the description has been made regarding the reflecting mirror 30, the invention may be similarly applied to the second reflecting mirror 31 and other reflecting members.

From the above explanation, according to the present invention, since the buffer member is installed on the side of the reflecting mirror that is perpendicular to the reflecting surface, it is possible to prevent the deflection vibration of the reflecting mirror by absorbing it with the buffer member. Print quality can be maintained.

Further, since the structure is simple in which the buffer member is installed, the number of parts can be reduced and costs can be reduced, and the installation is easy and work efficiency is improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 5 show an embodiment of an optical scanning device according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a support structure for a first reflecting mirror, FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a part thereof, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an optical scanning device, FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram explaining its operation, and FIG. 5 is a laser printer equipped with the optical scanning device. The overall schematic configuration diagram of its internal mechanism is shown. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment for fixing the buffer member, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are schematic configuration diagrams illustrating defects in images caused by deflection vibration of one reflecting mirror. 13...Scanned surface (photoreceptor) 15...
. . . Optical scanning device 30 . . . First reflecting mirror 30b . . .
...Reflecting surface 30c... Surface 31 perpendicular to the reflecting surface...
...Second reflective mirror 36...Buffer member Fig. 1 Fig. 4b Fig. 2 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 Fig.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An optical scanning device comprising a light source and a reflecting mirror that reflects light from the light source and guides it to a surface to be scanned, characterized in that a buffer member is installed on a side of the reflecting mirror perpendicular to the reflecting surface. Optical scanning device.