JP2001188189A - Multi-beam light source device, and multi-beam scanner using the device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multi-beam light source device easy in positioning such as optical axis adjustment of optical components, and in adjustment of the spacing of subscanning directions of plural light beams, and which can be miniaturized. SOLUTION: A movable table 101 on which a half mirror 11 position-adjusted previously and a bisected sensor 14 are held integrally is movably held to a base 100 which mounts semiconductor lasers LD1 and LD2 and a stepping motor 15. Adjustment of the spacing between light beams is performed by making the stepping motor 15 rotationally drive and by moving the movable table 101 relatively to the base 100.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-beam light source device for use in, for example, an image forming apparatus, which emits a plurality of light beams at intervals, and a multi-beam scanning device using the same. The present invention relates to a technique for adjusting an interval between light beams.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A multi-beam scanning device used in an image forming apparatus or the like can scan a surface to be scanned with a plurality of light beams at a time, and therefore, can write an image at a higher speed than when scanning with a single light beam. However, if the interval between the light beams in the sub-scanning direction is not properly adjusted, the writing pixel density becomes non-uniform in the sub-scanning direction, and a good reproduced image cannot be obtained.

As a technique for adjusting the interval between light beams in the sub-scanning direction, for example, there is a technique using a half prism, a galvanometer mirror, and a two-divided sensor. In this conventional technique, light beams emitted from two semiconductor lasers are respectively reflected by a galvanomirror, are incident on a half prism, are combined, and are emitted in substantially the same direction. On the other hand, a part of each light beam is guided to a two-divided sensor for detecting the interval of the light beam in the sub-scanning direction by the half prism, and the angle of the galvanometer mirror is adjusted based on the detection result to perform the sub-scanning of the light beam. The direction spacing is adjusted. The semiconductor laser, the half prism, the two-piece sensor, and the galvanomirror are fixed to one frame with screws while aligning the optical axes with each other.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, in order to scan the light beam on the surface to be scanned in the sub-scanning direction at a predetermined interval, the position at which an optical component such as a half prism or a two-part sensor is mounted is determined. It is necessary to adjust with an accuracy of a micron unit, and this adjustment is very difficult. In addition, in order to correct errors due to instrumental errors, the distance between light beams in the sub-scanning direction is finely adjusted using a galvanomirror after the adjustment is completed.

Further, in the case where final adjustment of the position of each optical component is performed after the optical component is incorporated into a large apparatus such as a copying machine, an operator inserts an adjusting tool such as a driver from the outside and checks the position while adjusting. Space is required for the operation, and the size of the apparatus increases accordingly. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a multi-beam light source device and a multi-beam scanning device using the multi-beam light source device, which can easily adjust the position of an optical component and adjust a beam interval in a sub-scanning direction without increasing the size of the device. The purpose is to:

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in a multi-beam light source device according to the present invention, a plurality of light sources and a synthesizing element for synthesizing light beams emitted from each light source are provided as optical components. A detection element for detecting a beam position of the combined light beam in the sub-scanning direction, and a multi-beam light source device for emitting a plurality of light beams at intervals, wherein A holding member that holds at least two or more optical components except for all combinations of light sources and combining elements, a moving unit that moves the holding member relative to other remaining optical components, And control means for controlling the moving means so that the light beams are at a predetermined interval with reference to the detection result by the element.

Further, the moving means linearly moves the holding member in a direction in which the interval between the combined light beams changes. Further, the multi-beam scanning device according to the present invention is a multi-beam scanning device that scans a surface to be scanned with a plurality of light beams having a predetermined interval in the sub-scanning direction, and uses the multi-beam light source device as a light source. It is characterized by having done.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, an embodiment of a multi-beam scanning device using a light source device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of the multi-beam scanning device 10.

The multi-beam scanning device 10 includes a light source device 1, a collimator lens 12, a polygon mirror 3, a scanning lens group 4, a return mirror 5, and the like. The light source device 1 is configured to emit two laser beams at predetermined intervals in the sub-scanning direction, and the two laser beams emitted from the light source device 1 are collimated by a collimator lens 12. After that, the light is condensed in the sub-scanning direction by the cylindrical lens 2 for surface tilt correction, and is incident on the mirror surface of the polygon mirror 3. Since the polygon mirror 3 is rotated in the direction a by a motor (not shown), the two laser beams are reflected by the mirror surface and deflected in the main scanning direction. The photosensitive drum 6 is scanned.

The light source device 1 comprises two semiconductor lasers LD1 and LD2 as optical components, a half mirror 11 for synthesizing laser beams emitted therefrom so as to travel in the same direction, a condenser lens 13, and a laser. A split sensor 14 for detecting the beam position of the beam is provided. In addition, the light source device 1 includes a beam interval control unit 20 that controls the laser beam interval to be a predetermined value with reference to the detection result of the two-part sensor 14.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view for explaining the mounting structure of each optical component in the light source device 1, and FIG.
It is the side view. The semiconductor lasers LD1 and LD2 are fixed to mounting brackets 121 and 122, respectively.
Reference numerals 21 and 122 denote semiconductor laser LDs as shown in FIG.
1, the laser beam emitted from the LD 2 is attached to the base 100 with screws 123 and 124 so that the principal rays are orthogonal to each other.

The base 100 is provided in such a manner that its side surface is set upright so as to be parallel to the rotation axis of the polygon mirror shown in FIG. 1, and is formed in a U-shape in a side view. The rails 102 and 103 having a triangular cross section are provided on two opposing sides of the inner edge of the concave portion 100a shaped like a square. A flat moving table 101 is provided in the recess 100a.
Is arranged.

The movable table 101 has a rail 1 of the base 100.
02, 103, at the corresponding end, engage each rail,
Grooves 202 and 203 having a triangular cross section are provided.
When the rails and the corresponding grooves are engaged with each other, the movable base 101 is moved to the base 100 in the direction of the arrow A (the semiconductor laser L).
(A direction parallel to the laser beam emitted from D2).

The movable table 101 has mounting brackets 111,
131, 142 are attached with screws 112, 132, 143, and a half mirror 11, a condenser lens 13, and a two-piece sensor 14 are fixed to each of the attachments 111, 131, 142, respectively. The half mirror 11 is a movable table 1
01 and the mobile platform 10
It is attached so as to form an angle of 45 ° with the first sliding direction A.

The optical axis of the condenser lens 13 is
01 and is attached in a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction A of the movable base 101. Two-part sensor 1
4, each light receiving element 1 is provided on the light receiving surface 141 as shown in FIG.
41a and 141b are provided side by side. Light receiving element 141
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a and 141b are arranged in order from the left side in the direction A, and are mounted such that the optical axis of the condenser lens 13 is substantially at the position of the boundary between the light receiving elements 141a and 141b.

The distance between the condenser lens 13 and the split sensor 14 is determined by the fact that the laser beams emitted from the semiconductor lasers LD1 and LD2 are transmitted or reflected by the half mirror 11 (hereinafter, the laser beam transmitted through the half mirror). The beam is referred to as a “transmitted beam” and the reflected laser beam is referred to as a “reflected beam.” The distance is kept.

On the back surface of the two-piece sensor 14, a nut member 152 is fixed to the movable base 101 with an adhesive or the like. On the other hand, a stepping motor 15 is fixed with a screw 153 at a position on the side surface of the base 100 corresponding to the nut member 152. The screw portion provided at the tip of the drive shaft 151 of the stepping motor 15 is screwed to the nut member 152. When the stepping motor 15 is driven, the movable table 101 is reciprocated in the direction A by the screw feeding action. Can be done.

The moving amount of the moving table 101 is as follows.
It is determined by the number of drive pulses sent from the beam interval controller 20 to the stepping motor 15. The position adjustment of the half mirror 11, the condenser lens 13, and the two-piece sensor 14 is performed before the movable base 101 is attached to the base 100. Then, after the movable base 101 is attached to the base 100, the position of the semiconductor laser LD2 is finely adjusted so that the reflected beam of the semiconductor laser LD2 comes to the center of the light receiving elements 141a and 141b of the two-piece sensor 14. Although not visible in FIGS. 2 and 3, the screw 124 is loosened because the screw hole of the mounting bracket 122 into which the screw 124 is inserted has a long hole extending in a direction orthogonal to the sliding direction A of the movable base 101. If the position of the mounting bracket 122 is moved along the long hole in this state, the position of the semiconductor laser LD2 can be finely adjusted. Once the position of the semiconductor laser LD2 is finely adjusted in this way,
The sliding direction of the moving table 101 coincides with the direction in which the laser beam is emitted from the semiconductor laser LD2, and the two-piece sensor 14 and the half mirror 11 are mounted on the same moving table 101.
, The reflected beam is always applied to the center of the light receiving elements 141a and 141b even if the movable table 101 moves.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the beam interval control unit 20. The beam interval control unit 20 calculates C
PU21, comparison unit 23, ROM 24, LD drive unit 2
And 5, a stepping motor drive unit 26 and the like. The comparison unit 23 includes the light receiving element 14 of the two-piece sensor 14.
The detected values 1a and 141b are compared to obtain the difference, and the difference including positive and negative is output to the CPU 21.

The ROM 24 is provided with semiconductor lasers LD1 and LD2 for adjusting the interval of the laser beam in the sub-scanning direction from the operation panel 22 when the operator gives an instruction.
And a program for controlling the operation of the stepping motor 15. The LD driving section 25 drives the semiconductor lasers LD1 and LD2 to light up in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 21. It should be noted that the LD driving section 25 optically modulates the semiconductor lasers LD1 and LD2 based on image data stored in an image memory (not shown) during laser beam scanning.

The stepping motor drive unit 26 includes a CPU
The stepping motor 15 is driven in response to the drive signal from the controller 21. The CPU 21 controls the operations of the LD driving unit 25 and the stepping motor driving unit 26 based on the sensor output of the two-piece sensor 14 according to the control program stored in the ROM 24 to adjust the interval of the laser beam in the sub-scanning direction. Do.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control operation in the beam interval control unit 20 for adjusting the interval of the laser beam in the sub-scanning direction. For example, when assembling the apparatus or the like, when an operator instructs adjustment of the beam interval through the operation panel 22 (step S101:
Y), only the semiconductor laser LD1 is turned on (step S)
102).

The laser beam emitted from the semiconductor laser LD1 is reflected by the half mirror 11 as shown in FIG.
The transmitted beam LB1 traveling in the direction of the split sensor 14 and the reflected beam LB2 traveling in the direction of the collimator lens 12 are separated. The transmission beam LB1 is irradiated on the light receiving elements 141a and 141b of the two-piece sensor 14. FIG. 7 shows an example of the position of the spot 144 of the transmitted beam LB1 applied to the light receiving elements 141a and 141b.
7A shows a case where the spot 144 is shifted toward the light receiving element 141b, and FIG.
1b shows an example located at the center of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7A, for example, when the spot 144 is shifted toward the light receiving element 141b,
The output from the comparison unit 23 becomes a value other than 0, and the CPU 21 (FIG. 4) of the beam interval control unit 20 transmits the transmitted beam LB1
Is determined to be shifted from the center of the two-piece sensor 14 (step S103: N). Then, the stepping motor 15 is driven while referring to the output value from the comparison unit 23, and the moving platform 10 is moved in the direction in which the value becomes zero.
1 is moved (step S104).

When the output value from the comparing section 23 becomes 0, the spot 14 of the transmitted beam LB1 is set as shown in FIG.
4 is located at the center of the two-piece sensor 14 (hereinafter, the position of the movable base 101 shown in FIG. 7B is referred to as “reference position”) (step S105: Y), and the stepping motor 15 is determined. Is stopped and the semiconductor laser LD1 is turned off (steps S106 and S107).

If it is determined in step S103 that the spot 144 of the transmitted beam LB1 has already been positioned at the center of the two-piece sensor 14, the semiconductor laser LD1 is turned off (step S107). By the above control, the movable base 101 is adjusted to the reference position indicated by the solid line in FIG. At this reference position, for example,
When the semiconductor lasers LD1 and LD2 are turned on, the reflected beam LB4 from the semiconductor laser LD2 is just split into two parts.
4, the transmitted beam LB1 from the semiconductor laser LD1 substantially matches the reflected beam LB4. The reflected beam LB2 from the semiconductor laser LD1 translates with the transmitted beam LB3 from the semiconductor laser LD2 in the sub-scanning direction (a direction orthogonal to the sliding direction A of the moving table 101) with a distance d1. The distance d1 is a value determined depending on the thickness and the refractive index of the half mirror 11.

After the movable table 101 is adjusted to the reference position, the stepping motor 15 is driven to rotate by a predetermined drive pulse (step S108).
The movable table 101 is moved from the reference position so that the interval between the two laser beams in the upper sub-scanning direction becomes a target value. The moving distance of the moving table 101 from the reference position and the distance between the two laser beams will be described below.

For example, as shown by a dashed line in FIG. 6, when the movable table 101 is moved from the reference position to the left by the arrow A by a distance d3, the reflected beam LB2 from the semiconductor laser LD1 reflected on the surface of the half mirror 11 Is moved in parallel from the position indicated by the dashed line to the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. At this time, the reflected beam L of the semiconductor laser LD1 is
The distance between B2 and the transmitted beam LB3 from the semiconductor laser LD2 in the sub-scanning direction is d2 larger than when at the reference position.

The distance d2 that the laser beam has moved in the sub-scanning direction and the distance d that the moving table 101 has moved from the reference position.
Since it is proportional to 3, the distance between the movable table 101 and the reference position may be controlled in order to adjust the distance between the two laser beams in the sub-scanning direction. The movement distance of the movable table 101 from the reference position when the two laser beams are spaced on the photosensitive drum 6 in the target sub-scanning direction is stored in advance in the ROM 24 (FIG. 4) as the number of drive pulses of the stepping motor 15. If the stepping motor 15 is driven by the number of drive pulses in step S8, the distance between the laser beams in the sub-scanning direction can be adjusted to a target value.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the base 1
Adjustment of the mounting position and the optical axis of the components mounted on 00 and the moving table 101 should be completed in advance before being incorporated into the apparatus.
After the installation, only the positional relationship between the base 100 and the movable base 101 is automatically performed based on the detection result of the two-piece sensor 14, so that the adjustment work conventionally required after the installation is eliminated.

Further, since it is not necessary to provide a space inside the device for fine adjustment after the device is assembled, the degree of freedom in design is increased and the size of the device can be reduced. <Embodiment 2> In Embodiment 1 described above, the half mirror 11 and the two-piece sensor 14 are integrally held on the movable base 101 and are moved with respect to the base 100, so that fine adjustment after assembling is performed. To eliminate the hassle. However, the combination of the optical components mounted on the moving table 101 is not limited to this, as long as the combination is not integrally held by a combination including two semiconductor lasers and a half mirror.
The distance between the two laser beams can be adjusted by moving the movable table 101.

FIG. 8 shows one example of the combination.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a light source device 1 when a plurality of semiconductor lasers and a two-piece sensor are mounted on a movable base. The second embodiment has basically the same configuration as that of the first embodiment except that some optical components and the arrangement thereof are different. Therefore, description of common parts is omitted, and different parts will be mainly described. I do. As shown in the figure, the base 104 has a U-shape in side view, and rails 106 and 107 each having a triangular cross section are provided on two opposing sides of the inner edge of the U-shaped recess 104a. The movable table 1 is provided in the concave portion 104a.
05 are arranged.

On the moving table 105, the rail 1 of the base 104
At the end corresponding to 06,107, engage each rail,
Grooves 206 and 207 having a triangular cross section are provided. By engaging each rail with the corresponding groove,
The moving table 105 is slidably held on the base 104 in the direction of arrow B (the direction parallel to the laser beam emitted from the semiconductor laser LD1).

The movable table 105 can be reciprocated in the sliding direction B of the movable table 105 by a screw feed mechanism using the stepping motor 15 as a drive source, as in the case of FIGS. The semiconductor laser LD1, the half mirror 11, and the condenser lens 13 are fixed to the base 104 in a state where the optical axis is adjusted in advance. In addition, a mounting bracket 161 is attached to the base 104 with a screw 162 on the back surface of the condenser lens 13.

A folding mirror 16 is fixed to the mounting bracket 161, the folding mirror 16 is in an upright position with respect to the side surface of the base 104, and its reflection surface is the focusing lens 1.
It is attached at an angle of 135 ° to the optical axis No. 3. The movable table 105 holds the semiconductor laser LD2 and the two-piece sensor 14 integrally.

The semiconductor laser LD2 moves the movable table 105 so that the emitted laser beam travels in a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction B of the movable table 105 and is orthogonal to the transmitted beam from the semiconductor laser LD1 on the surface of the half mirror 11. It is fixed to. The two-divided sensor 14 has light receiving elements 141a and 141b arranged side by side in the direction along the sliding direction B of the movable base 105, and is used when the transmitted beam from the semiconductor laser LD1 and the reflected beam from the semiconductor laser LD2 substantially overlap. The laser beam is fixed to the movable base 105 so that the laser beam is turned 90 ° by the turning mirror 16 and almost comes to the position of the boundary between the light receiving elements 141a and 141b.

The light source device 1 according to the second embodiment performs substantially the same control as that of FIG. 5 for adjusting the distance between the laser beams in the sub-scanning direction. Hereinafter, different portions of the control will be mainly described, and the same portions will be described. Is omitted. In step S102, only the semiconductor laser LD2 is turned on. The laser beam emitted from the semiconductor laser LD2 is split by a half mirror 11 into a two-part sensor 14 as shown in FIG.
The transmitted beam LB6 traveling in the direction and the collimator lens 12
And the reflected beam LB5 traveling in the direction. The reflected beam LB5 is irradiated on the light receiving elements 141a and 141b of the two-piece sensor 14.

In step S104, the value is set to 0 while referring to the output value from the comparison unit 23 at this time.
Then, the stepping motor 15 is driven in the following direction to move the movable base 105. When the output value from the comparison unit 23 becomes 0, in step S105, the transmitted beam LB5 is located at the center of the two-piece sensor 14 as shown in FIG. 7B (hereinafter, FIG. 7B (Referred to as “reference position”) (step S10).
5: Y), the stepping motor 15 is stopped, and the semiconductor laser LD2 is turned off (steps S106 and S1).
07).

By the above control, the movable base 105 is adjusted to the reference position shown by the solid line in FIG. For example, when the movable base 105 is moved downward by the distance d4 from the reference position in the direction of the arrow B, the semiconductor laser LD2 and the two-piece sensor 14 move to the positions indicated by broken lines in FIG. Therefore, the principal ray of the transmitted beam LB6 also moves from the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line to the position indicated by the broken line in the sub-scanning direction (the sliding direction B of the movable table 105).
Shift by four. Therefore, the distance in the sub-scanning direction between the transmitted beam LB6 and the reflected beam emitted from the semiconductor laser LD1 (not shown) also increases by the distance d4.

The moving distance d of the moving table 105 from the reference position
4 and a distance d4 at which the transmitted beam LB6 is shifted in the sub-scanning direction.
Therefore, if the moving distance of the movable table 105 from the reference position is controlled, the distance between the laser beams on the surface of the photosensitive drum 6 in the sub-scanning direction can be set to a desired value, as in the first embodiment. It can be. As described above, even when the movable table 105 that integrally holds the semiconductor laser LD2 and the two-piece sensor 14 is linearly moved, the reference position between the semiconductor laser LD2 and the movable table 105 can be easily adjusted with a simple configuration. It can be carried out. Further, since the adjustment of the interval of the laser beam in the sub-scanning direction can be performed almost simultaneously, the trouble of the adjustment can be omitted.

The folding mirror 16 is required as compared with the first embodiment. However, as compared with the prior art, the apparatus does not require a space for an operator to insert a screwdriver from the outside and adjust the position of a component. The size itself can be reduced. <Modifications> The multi-beam light source device according to the present invention has been described based on the first and second embodiments. However, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. It can be implemented in various forms.

In the first embodiment, the semiconductor laser L
Although the mounting position of the semiconductor laser is adjusted in advance so that the position of the spot of the reflected beam LB4 of D2 is exactly at the center of the sensor surface of the split sensor 14, the light source device 1 is incorporated into the device body. Even if this adjustment is not performed, it is only necessary that the spot of the reflected beam LB4 passes over the light receiving elements 141a and 141b of the two-piece sensor 14.

To adjust the beam interval in this case, first, only the semiconductor laser LD2 is turned on, and the output value of the comparison unit 23 at that time is stored. Next, the semiconductor laser LD1
Is turned on, and the movable base 101 is moved until the output value of the comparison unit 23 at this time becomes equal to the stored output value. When these values become equal, the semiconductor laser LD1
It is determined that the transmitted beam LB1 from the laser beam and the reflected beam LB4 of the semiconductor laser LD2 coincide with each other, and
The process of step S108 may be performed using the position of No. 1 as a reference position.

As a beam position detecting element, a line CCD sensor or the like may be used instead of the above-described two-part sensor 14. In this case, since the interval between the two beams can be directly detected based on the output of the CCD sensor, it is not necessary to temporarily move the movable base 101 to the reference position. In the first embodiment, the adjustment of the interval between the laser beams in the two semiconductor lasers has been described. However, even if the number of the semiconductor lasers is three or more, the number of movable stages is increased in accordance with the number of the semiconductor lasers, and other optical If it is configured to move relative to the component, it is also possible to adjust the interval between a plurality of laser beams.

Note that two or more semiconductor laser arrays that emit a plurality of laser beams may be used. In this case, first, each semiconductor laser array is tilted at a predetermined angle in the main scanning direction, and the distance between the laser beams emitted from each array in the sub-scanning direction is adjusted to a predetermined value, and the above-described adjustment is performed. As described above, some optical components can be mounted on the movable base, and the positional relationship between a group of a plurality of laser beams emitted from each array can be adjusted.

In the first embodiment, the adjustment of the distance between the laser beams in the sub-scanning direction is performed at the time of assembling. However, the adjustment may be performed automatically when the power is turned on or when the environmental temperature changes. In this case, even if the position of each optical component is shifted due to the vibration of the apparatus or the thermal expansion of the mounting bracket, the writing pixel density on the surface to be scanned can always be maintained at a high accuracy.

When employed in an image forming apparatus in which the printing density can be changed, it can also be used as an adjustment method for changing the interval between laser beams in accordance with the printing density.

[0048]

As described above, according to the multi-beam light source device according to the present invention, at least two or more of the optical components forming the light source device except for the combination of all the light sources and the combining elements. Holding the optical components of the same holding member, moving means for moving the holding member relatively to the other remaining optical components, the interval between the light beams with reference to the detection result by the detection element Since the moving means is controlled so as to have a predetermined size, at least with respect to the optical components mounted on the holding member, adjustment such as optical axis alignment can be performed before assembling into the device, and control is performed after assembling. The means automatically controls the spacing of the light beams.

This eliminates the need for troublesome fine adjustment after being incorporated into the apparatus as in the prior art, thereby improving the assembly efficiency. Further, since there is no need to provide a space for fine adjustment by inserting an adjusting tool from the outside after the assembly, the degree of freedom in designing the device is increased and the size of the installed device body can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a multi-beam scanning device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a light source device used in the multi-beam scanning device.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the light source device.

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram for controlling adjustment between laser beams in the light source device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the content of control of the interval between laser beams in the sub-scanning direction in the multi-beam scanning device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining adjustment of an interval between laser beams of the light source device in the sub-scanning direction.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a two-divided sensor for detecting the position of the laser beam in the sub-scanning direction.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a light source device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining adjustment of an interval of a laser beam in a sub-scanning direction of the light source device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 light source device 10 multi-beam scanning device 11 half mirror 12 collimator lens 13 condensing lens 14 two-part sensor 15 stepping motor 20 beam interval control unit 23 comparison unit 100 base 101 movable base 102, 103 rail 141a, 141b light receiving element LB1, LB2 semiconductor laser

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An optical component comprising: a plurality of light sources; a combining element for combining light beams emitted from the respective light sources; and a detecting element for detecting a beam position of the combined light beam; A multi-beam light source device that emits a plurality of light beams at intervals, wherein, among the optical components, a holding member that holds at least two or more optical components, except for a combination including all light sources and a combining element. Moving means for moving the holding member relative to the other remaining optical components; and controlling the moving means so that the light beam is at a predetermined interval with reference to the detection result by the detection element. A multi-beam light source device comprising a control unit. 2. The multi-beam light source device according to claim 1, wherein the moving unit linearly moves the holding member in a direction in which a distance between the combined light beams changes. 3. A multi-beam scanning device for scanning a surface to be scanned with a plurality of light beams having a predetermined interval in a sub-scanning direction, wherein the multi-beam light source device according to claim 1 or 2 is used as a light source. A multi-beam scanning device characterized by the above-mentioned.