Patent ID: 6115165
Filing Date: 2000-09-05
Classification: G02B

Abstract:
An optical scanning apparatus comprising:a plurality of light emitting portions each having a plurality of light emitting points each of which can independently be light-modulated and which are disposed in a predetermined direction;an optical system for imaging light beams emitted from said plurality of light emitting portions on a surface of a photosensitive member; anda deflecting unit for simultaneously deflecting the light beams emitted from said plurality of light emitting portions to a main scanning direction intersecting the predetermined direction so as to scan the surface of the photosensitive member,wherein said plurality of light emitting portions are disposed such that intervals among scanning lines scanned by light beams emitted from adjacent light emitting points of each of said plurality of light emitting portions are mutually scanned so as to perform interlaced scanning, andassuming that n is the total number of the light emitting points, m is the number of the light emitting points of each light emitting portion, L is the number of the light emitting portions, P is an interval between adjacent scanning lines on the surface of the photosensitive member, .beta. is an imaging magnification in a direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction, .gamma. is an interval between the light emitting points on each light emitting portion, d1 is an interval between scanning lines on the surface of the photosensitive member which is scanned by the same light emitting point and d2 is an interval between scanning lines on the surface of the photosensitive member realized by a predetermined light emitting point of an .alpha.-th light emitting portion and a light emitting point of an (.alpha.+1)-th light emitting portion corresponding to the predetermined light emitting point, the following conditions are satisfied:m.gtoreq.2, L.gtoreq.2, n=mL, P=(.beta..multidot..gamma.)/L, d1=nP, d2=P and (L-1).gtoreq..alpha..gtoreq.1 (where .alpha. is an integer).