Patent ID: 6555810
Filing Date: 2003-04-29
Classification: G02B

Abstract:
An optical scanning device comprising:a plurality of optical scanning units, each of said units including, a light source configured to emit a light flux, a scanning input optical system configured to direct the light flux emitted from the light source to a deflector, said deflector configured to deflect the light flux so as to cause the light flux to scan a single surface, and a scanning and imaging optical system configured to condense the light flux deflected by said deflector so as to form a beam spot thereof on said single surface to be escanned, said single surface to be scanned is scanned in a manner such that the plurality of optical scanning units scan respective different divisions of said single surface, wherein said optical scanning device scans said single surface to be scanned continuously through coordinated movements of said plurality of optical scanning units, and the respective scanning and imaging optical systems of adjacent at least two of said plurality of optical scanning units have one lens in common.